Patrick Netani

Now that our new little man is six weeks old, I should probably record his birth story before I forget it.

Stats:
Patrick Netani Anderson
8 lbs 5 ounces
21 inches long
Born at 11:33 pm

When Patrick's due date came it was pretty clear that he wouldn't be making his appearance that day. Lucky for me, I was still feeling surprisingly well for being so far along. We wanted to get the process moving because there was a good chance that the baby would be extra heavy. The doctor stripped my membranes at our appointment (Friday) and we decided to set up an induction for Monday. Saturday night I got a call from a nurse to arrange the induction. I was scheduled at an out of network hospital and was disappointed to tell them I wouldn't be delivering there.

I went back to the doctor's office on Monday. We talked about inducing on Tuesday. For some reason I felt nervous about it and asked that we wait. I had the doctor strip my membranes again. Within two hours after the appointment I started feeling really crummy and uncomfortable. I called them back and told them to go ahead with the plan for an induction on Tuesday. When they called the hospital there were already too many inductions so they put me in as #3 for Wednesday. For family home evening Eric carved pumpkins with the kids while I timed contractions. They eventually fizzled out.

Tuesday was much the same as every day before it, except that I was more uncomfortable and impatiently waiting for a call from the hospital. By then I was looking forward to an induction. My hope was that they could give the epidural at the same time as the pitocin, allowing me to skip the labor pains entirely. The hospital finally called around 6:30 pm and we got everything arranged. It was just before the phone call that I had started to feel really yucky. After the call I realized part of the discomfort was from contractions. The rest of the evening was pretty much spent sitting or lying down try to get comfy.

After the kids were in bed I decided to take the shower the nurse had requested over the phone. I also hoped it would make me feel better. Contractions got worse rather than easier. It was while I was in the shower on my hands and knees to deal with the pain that I finally admitted I was in real labor. I had been looking forward to as close to a painless delivery as possible so I felt a little bitter that it was all happening on its own.

I put on my pajamas, we (Eric) packed up the kids, and called my parents to have them meet us at the hospital. We left about 9 pm. When we arrived at the hospital 25 minutes later my parents hadn't gotten there yet. I was determined to get my epidural ASAP and had Eric drop me off at the door while he waited for my parents. When the nurses checked me in and got a wheelchair I asked them to send the anesthesiologist straight to my room. I was changing into my gown when Eric came in. I was in my bed by 9:30. The nurse checked me and announced I was at 8 cm with bulging waters. Woohoo! I had previously decided that if I was to 7 cm. I would forgo the epidural. Instead, I threw that plan out the window and told them to send in the nice man with the horse needle. I just didn't want to deal with the contractions anymore.

The doctor arrived shortly afterward. Once the nurse knew it would be okay if my water broke she did a less cautious check on me and said I was really 9 cm. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the option to skip the epidural. I declined that option and rolled over so he could stick me. The doctor broke my water and then we started the waiting game. The nurse hung around for a bit, probably to keep an eye on me after the epidural. As she did something on the computer I started feeling nauseated. I said I was going to be sick. There was no reaction and I felt even more nausea. After a louder "I'm going to be sick!" from me, the nurse jumped and grabbed me a barf bag. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to avoid needing to use the barf bag. The next thing I remember is hearing the nurse say, "...and we've got her back." I'd passed out, just like I did at Ellie's birth. It was much less scary for everyone this time around. Eric tells me I was out for about a minute. They noticed my eyes had rolled back when they pulled me further up on the bed. When my eyes went back and I blinked they knew I was back. It was much better than coming to as I threw up, which is what happened when I passed out with Ellie. It was less than 20 seconds with her, so this time it was a win all the way around.

While it was just Eric and me in the room I remember looking at the baby care station in the room and being happy that this would be the last time I'd have to do this. I was not looking forward to pushing. Mostly I just groped in my mind for a way to make childbirth not be uncomfortable. As if. I must have been in transition because I just kept thinking how I wanted to get it over with because I didn't want to do this anymore.

I don't know how long we waited but I finally started feeling pressure and wanted to push. I glumly wondered how long I'd have to wait until the doctor and nurse came back to check me. Then I remembered that I'm in charge and told Eric to call them and say I was ready to push. They came in and said we could do a couple of trial pushes to see how it went. It obviously went pretty well. On the second or third contraction the doctor started repeating, "Ease up, ease up!" It didn't register with me until I took a breath and heard the nurse tell me to listen to my doctor. I had quite a few tears after apparently trying to shoot the baby out of my vagina cannon. I wanted the kid out. On the next contraction the baby was born. It was only 3-5 contractions' worth of pushing before he came out, easily the least amount of time I've ever spent pushing out a baby.

Patrick was just as alert as any of his siblings were after their births. We were amazed at how calm and observant he was right from the beginning, even within the first hour. We still are. He's pretty terrific and we all adore him.