Ben Part 2

At this point things were really getting intense and I told Travis to please drive like a bat out of hell because things were happening. I also let him know that I was going to look like I was not OK but that I was going to be fine and not to worry and just focus on driving the 15 miles to the hospital. At 2am the roads are fine and no one is on them so going 80 mph on hwy 26 is fine. We get to the hospital and I told Travis not to park in the emergency lane and that I could walk. Not realizing that it would take me almost 10 minutes to get about 300 feet. When we got in the ER there was a line and the hospital was under construction. Great. The lady at the desk, after about 3 contractions, realized what we were here for and buzzed us in. We had not been into the birthing area from this entrance and because there was construction going on we had no idea where to go. I finally had Travis just drop me off amongst some tarps and a guy filling up a vending machine to go and figure out where I was supposed to go.

He came back to me hugging a column, swaying, and breathing hard and the vending machine guy a little concerned and white faced. He directed me to the front desk where the nurses had no idea who I was or why my papers were not showing up in the system. Well this is swell. Here I am having a baby coming out of me and trying to stay calm as we stand at the front desk discussing the situation and me cracking jokes between contractions. Finally a wonderfully smart nurse says that she will take me to my room now and that they will figure out all the paperwork later. Thank you lovely nurse.

Here I am walking down the hall as fast as I can trying to reach my room and having to stop and labor and the nurse who I thought I loved at that time is looking at me like “Jeez lady let's get to your room.” I notice this and try to make a joke after I can talk again and she just looks annoyed. I finally make it and they have me undress and change into the awful hospital garb when my knight in shining armor, other than Travis, walks into the room. Oh Stacey! I comment on how good she looks and how I was sorry for waking her up. The nurse has me lay back and checks me and she is no longer looking at me like I am an annoyance because she has figured out that I am at 8cm. I labor pretty well and can keep it pretty light hearted for quite a while. She must have thought that I was a weakling and at like a 2 or something. She changed her tune after that.

I was able to keep joking between contractions for a little longer and then things picked up a bit and I hit transition. THIS is when the hospital staff decided that they needed all my info that they had “Lost” with my pre-registration papers weeks ago. Seriously?! I had also tested positive for Group B Strep so here they were also trying to get me hooked up for the antibiotics which need 4 hours to work. Stacey and I looked at each other and we were both like “Does it really look like she has 4 hours to go here?!”

My midwife had arrived at the hospital and checked me and told me that I had to get up off the bed and squat because I had such a short way to go and this would speed things up. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was lay in bed but would anyone let me? No. This was the worst of it by far. I had not gone through transition with Claire and that was such a breeze compared to this. This time I was crying a bit but I had a great support team. Travis and Stacey were so great with encouragement, support, and love that it made all the difference in the world.

One of the nurses came to check me and see how the baby was doing and after a few minutes she said that she didn't like how he was reacting to the contractions. She asked me to lie on my side and so I did. I thought I was going to die. This was the worst pain I had ever felt in the entire universe and if I had to stay in this position one more second I was not going to make it. I started to feel like I needed to push and the nurses were telling me I had just been checked and that I had some time to go. For any of you who have birthed a baby you know that when this time arises you are no longer in control. Your body is in control and it knows what to do and you just have to listen and do what it's telling you to do.

One of the nurses called the midwife back in to check me. She came in and checked and what do you know? I was ready to push. A lot happened in that moment. My water broke, nurses were running all over the room, my bed was transforming, and Travis, Stacey, and I were in the thick of it. The midwife had told me in a stern voice, so I would pay attention to her, that I needed to listen to her and stop pushing when she said to. I nodded and pushed. I pushed with my face relaxed and quiet. I did this through 2 contractions and his head was out. She gave me the OK to push the rest of him out and I did.

I saw his chubby body in her hands and she was unwrapping the cord from his neck. Before I could say anything she said he was fine but that was why he started to do a little poorly before I was ready to push. She also said that he had come out sunny side up. No wonder I had had so much lower back pain. He never turned! I was crying and looking at my beautiful baby, my wonderful husband, and my fabulous Doula. I loved them all. They placed him on my chest and I just looked into his eyes and I loved him. I forgot about all the pain and the ridiculous hospital nonsense. It was just about him.

After he had been weighed and cleaned up and I had my bed restored Travis and I looked at him. We looked at him and we were not sure about what name he should have. We had picked out 3 names. I looked at him and said "Are you David?” And he cried. “Are you Nicholas?” And he grimaced. “Are you Benjamin?” And he looked up at me and was content. You are Benjamin.