A little more reproductive history

When I was about six weeks along with Cowen, I started bleeding a little. I was concerned and went in to the ridiculous midwife--not yet realizing how huge my error was in trying not to blame her for the horrificness that was Miriam's birth. She deserved a whole lot of blame. So, I went in and told her I was bleeding and WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ELSE, she announced I was having a miscarriage and sent me to a blood lab place to have my blood drawn, and then again 24 hours later.

By that time, I was feeling pretty sick. The bleeding was the same, but I was in a lot of pain. When the blood work came back perfectly okay for a good pregnancy, I went in to see said midwife again. She was all booked so I saw one of the other midwives in the practice. She actually did a urine test (duh), and found out I had a severe UTI. Hmm--explained the pain. So, the midwife told me to DRINK CRANBERRY JUICE. That was it--the entirety of her solution. May I remind you I was about six weeks along--which meant I wasn't keeping anything down.

Being stupid (oh, why do we always have to learn things the hard way--I am REALLY trusting of medical people . . . and everyone else), I tried to follow the cranberry juice solution advice (did anyone else just get a weird flashback to the movie the Peanut Butter Solution?? weird show). Within another two days I couldn't even walk. I was crawling around at my mom's house--literally, I couldn't walk, it was why I was at mom's house so she could babysit me and Miriam--when Mom in all her brilliance suggested I see Dr. Swift and get a second opinion. Since Brooke had delivered Maloree with Dr. Swift and really liked him, I agreed to go see him.

When I got there, I told him about the UTI and the cranberry juice. He's a very mild man. He looked at me with a surprised face and said, "She told you what?!" Then he gave me penicillin. I've been his devoted patient ever since.

It helped that when I delivered Cowen it was completely opposite of what happened with Miriam. I took castor oil (I won't be doing that again due to more hideously frightening Megan work stories), and it worked like a charm. I didn't want to attend parent/teacher conferences (yes, I was still teaching full-time) so I was determined to have Cowen that Monday night and avoid school on Tuesday. I had very mild contractions five minutes apart from 11:00 to 2:00. At that point, I figured I was doomed to attend parent/teacher conferences and should probably get some sleep. I went to bed and woke up at 4:30 with some serious contractions. I went to the living room and read for a good 20 minutes and then decided it was the real thing. Then I woke up Tim and took a shower while Timothy got Miriam loaded into the car and then we drove her to my mom's house.

We got to the hospital at about 6:30 or 7:00 and foolishly checked in at the main entrance instead of the woman's center entrance. The girl who checked me in walked us to the woman's center and kept harassing me about getting a wheelchair. Very annoying. My contractions were still five minutes apart so I only had to stop and breathe a few times on the way.

We did all the check-in stuff. I hit transition labor when I was changing into a gown in the bathroom--so easy access to a toilet to throw-up into. I thought that was handy. When they checked me I was at a 7. The asked me once if I wanted an epidural and I said no, and then they NEVER BROUGHT IT UP AGAIN. Isn't that beautifully amazing. I love Ogden Regional. If only I could deliver this baby there. Sniff, sniff. The nurse was amazing--exactly what I thought a midwife was going to be like. She never asked me how I was, never tried to get Tim to talk (that was one of the most annoying parts of Miriam's delivery--the nurses kept trying to engage my hubby in conversation--as though he's going to talk in a high-pressure situation to people he doesn't know. Besides, it bugged me that they were bugging him and they kept distracting him from his all-important job of holding my hand. Some people have no ability to appreciate quiet), and let me move around the room at will. I leaked fluid all over the place and she just toweled it up and told me to do whatever made me most comfortable. She brought me ice chips and basically hung out in the room without being the least intrusive. Absolutely the best nurse I've ever had.

I mostly sat on the toilet for the next 45 minutes and during contractions (still only five minutes apart) Timothy pushed on my back. The contractions hurt, but despite having back labor it was all very manageable. I always wondered how people knew when to push. I don't wonder any longer. When you have to push, you push--that is just all there is to it. When I got to that point the nurses called Dr. Swift and he was there within minutes. I pushed three times is all, and there Cowen was, in all his slimy glory. No episiotomy (sp)--Dr. Swift doesn't think they are necessary, no stitches or tearing. It made a world of difference in the recovery.

But here is where Dr. Swift really shines. He's patient. He's calm. He never acts like anything is a big deal. He never tells me things I don't need to know. When the placenta didn't come out right away, I panicked. I told Timothy to hit me over the head and put me out my misery because I'd rather die than have my placenta ripped out again. Dr. Swift told me to relax, that every person has their own time. He had a nurse give me one shot to help with the bleeding and then he waited. Chit-chatted. Pushed on my belly every once in awhile. A half an hour later, I felt a small contraction. I asked Dr. Swift what that meant, and he said if it happened again to push. I had two more contractions, pushed twice, and my placenta came out. Dr. Swift held it up for me to see because it was so strange looking (I think ALL placentas are strange looking, so I didn't really appreciate it), and then very quickly he checked to make sure that all the placenta had come out. It is hard to tell with mine because they are so strangely formed. That hurt, yeah, but it was NOTHING like Miriam.

Within an hour I felt FANTASTIC! Besides that, while I was waiting for the placenta, the nurse took care of Cowen in the room with me and she told me everything she was doing. It was this running commentary about how cute he was, how much he weighed, oh he's perfect--that sort of thing. It made me feel so much more involved. Did I mention I love Ogden Regional--they have the best nurses.

So the Cowen experience--wonderful, beautiful, fantastic. And I owe much of it to Dr. Swift. I had to get one more shot and extra blood pressure checks, but the bleeding never got so bad that anything else was needed. It was really a lovely, lovely experience.