| Caide's birth story...Dad's perspective.
At the end of April, Caide seemed he was going to test our readiness and make an early attempt to join this world. He must have been excited, and didn't want to make his mom labor during a pre-summer heat-wave, but we convinced him that he probably needed another month to cook.
May was busy. Ally's birthday, mothers' day, a Memorial-day trip ti WI, and a visit from my sister kept us busy, but the month seemed to slog on. School was out for me, and, before Memorial day, the kids were out. Then, before I knew it, even though the month moved slowly, it was June.
Hot weather had set upon us, and that first week was suffocatingly hot. Heat and humidity set in above us and wore on you like wet clothes when you walked outside. I hoped it would cool off before Caide would get here and Ally wouldn't have to labor in such uncomfortable weather.
June 6 came, and we decided to have one last date-night with just the two of us, as, presumably, he was going to be born on, or after Monday, June 9, his expected due-date. We trekked down to Reynolds, IN for our dinner.
Reynolds, IN is a small town, a relic on the old Monon railway consisting of one stoplight, an ethanol plant, and one of the best places for a Filet I've ever tasted. Solly's offers an atmosphere like an antiquated Denny's, but with friendly waitstaff. Outside of the Nixon-era decor, the food is absolutely fantastic, and very reasonable. For an inconspicuous town on US-Highway 421, you would never know there is an establishment offering Filets that can stand up to Ruth's Chris' offerings. Our dinner was fantastic, and we decided to run and pick up some sundries at WalMart. Unbeknownst to me, Ally had been having some significant contractions, and, alas, after a restroom visit, shared with me that she started having some bloody show. In spite of my best efforts to educate myself in preparation for our planned home-birth, I was still excited, and wanted to speed home. She reassured me, and we did some laps, picking up our necessities, and heading for some ice cream. At home, in spite of my excitement, we took a walk to progress a bit. She convinced me to relax, and we watched a movie. The night was relatively sleepless, with the excitement eating away at me. In the morning, we took another walk, this one lengthy. I had my G-shock and pen/paper in-tow, calculating the differential between contractions, and was at-the-ready. By this time, the contractions had moved to about 2:30 apart. I had decided, at this point, that, in spite of my preparations, I was still a bit scared after his initial attempted early-arrival, and my nerves made me cave in to a desire to have a hospital birth. I did have the comfort in that the doctor was a very hands-off practicioner, and that the experience would be very non-intrusive. Ally was understanding, and we made our preparations to go. Earlier in the morning, I had notified my parents, who started their trek down from WI. They would be able to help with the kids, and keep everyone reigned in, as well as be the ever-present sources of entertainment for them.
We headed in, got checked in, were assigned a room, and we began to wait. Initial checks showed Ally was at 4cm, which she was happy about. Then, we waited...The afternoon progressed on, and further checks seemed to indicate that we hadn't moved from 4cm. The doc came in and broke her water, in hopes of moving things along...she reassured me that in her previous births, this moved things along. In spite of the time that had passed, and our treks around the hospital, as well as outside, we seemed to be stuck. The last check was exasperating for us, as we were trying to avoid dealing with pitocin. We both knew the pain she was in for, but the doctor moved her into pit. I must say, he did give us plenty of time to try and labor naturally. The pitocin kicked in quickly, and painfully. I did my bidding to keep things quiet, and try to offer a peaceful environment for her, as much as that was possible anyway. The afternoon waned into evening, and we were getting frustrated, and Ally was getting tired, and was in a tremendous amount of pain.
It was hard for me to watch her in such pain, but I could not even imagine how much she was going through. Coupled with the pain, Caide's heartrate began to decelerate during contractions, noticeably so. We had become so accustomed to hearing his heartbeat at a specific rate, then to have it drop by 70% was alarming. It would return, as the contraction subsided, which, the doctor confirmed was still normal, but it was frightening. This being my first birth, there did not seem to be any normal parameters when it came to his heartrate dropping, but that was my uneducated opinion. Ally was coaching him on as his heart-rate dropped, and I tried, in vain, to mask my concern. Eventually, they came by to deliver an epidural to help with the pain. I hoped sincerely that it would help her relax, and to progress. I had to leave the room, and walked around for a bit. I ended up back outside of her room, pacing. I had a hard time dealing with the sounds of her pain, but was relieved a short while after, when it started to take effect. After another 45 minutes, she had moved 2cm...YAY! Another 30 minutes, and another 2cm...she was at 8, and almost fully effaced. Ally and the nurse consulted eachother and decided to call the doc in. He arrived about 20 minutes later, as the contractions were growing stronger, and Ally said she was close to being able to push.
An entire spread of equipment was wheeled out, which was, in my opinion, intimidating. A small plastic crib underneath a heating element, and an incredibly bright light were brought on-line. The doc showed up, seemingly unaware of how quickly she had progressed. Their playful banter put me at ease, but Ally was pushing. He came back in, scrubbed in, and did not even have his left-hand glove on entirely when Caide seemed to slide out. I watched his head come out, and his turning-motion. From the time the doc walked in the room, I was fighting fiercely to hold my tears back. He emerged blue/gray, and I was concered, but Ally reached down to hold him and greeted him with tears and hugs. They cleared out his nose and he started to breathe but was relatively quiet. He looked around and met this world with open eyes and to parents with loving hearts. He was wrapped and I held him for the first time...his quiet, knowing eyes looking up at me, and I was holding him, tears dancing slowly down my cheek. He was finally here. |
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