From: seb1@druhi.ATT.COM (Sharon Badian)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Pamela's birth story
Date: 25 Aug 92 18:06:19 GMT


This is the story of Pamela's birth.

The cast of characters:
	Me - the mom
	Al - the dad
	Pamela - the baby and star of the show
	Dr. C - Dr. Christensen, my OB
	Kelly - our labor nurse
	Laurie - our childbirth instructor and assistant coach

On Thursday August 20 I went to work thinking this was going to be
a day like any other day. I had an appointment to see Dr. C that
afternoon and I was hoping for some good news - like something was
happening in there. My due date was August 24 and this being the
first one, I wasn't expecting a lot. But, you never know. Little
did I know!

Around 11 AM I started feeling aches in my lower back and abdomen.
I'm thinking "Could this be labor?" I had no other indications that
it might start. I had heard that lots of women feel a little sick
the few days before, but I had none of that except intermittent
sinus headaches. 

As the afternoon progressed the erratic aches started to organize
and I realized that they were associated with contractions. When
I got up and moved around they continued. I was starting to think
"THIS is IT!"

I left work at 3 PM for my appointment. On the way to Boulder I
timed my contractions which had gotten fairly regular and they
were 5 minutes apart. I didn't tell my husband and he said later
that it was a good thing. He would have freaked!

When I saw Dr. C. she said that I was in early labor. I was
dialated to 1 cm and 90% effaced. This was about 4:30 PM. Dr.
C. was on call that night and she said "I'm sure I'll be seeing
you at the hospital later."

We went home to wait. We decided not to wait. By the time we
got home the contractions were 3 minutes apart. We grabbed the
bags, kissed the dog and went to the hospital.

At the hospital - Boulder Community Hospital or BCH - they put
me on the monitor to run a 30 minute strip. Since my pressure
was running a little high, they kept me on it a little longer
than 30 minutes. They finally did release me to walk the halls
of the labor wing. I know that I was wondering the halls until
around 9 or 9:30 PM. A childbirth class was getting the tour
and that's about the time they would be around. I'm sure they
enjoyed watching this woman in labor stop every 2 minutes to
breathe through a contraction. I smiled between them and I
think they liked the bunny slippers I was wearing. Oh, before
I started wandering the halls, Kelly examined me and found
that I was still at 1 cm but I was 100% effaced. Good news.

When I finally went back to my room, Kelly checked me again
and I was at 3-4 cm. Since my water hadn't broken yet, Dr. C.
decided to break it to see if it would get things moving. I'm
guessing that she broke my bag of waters around 9:30 but from
this point forward my concept of time was pretty hazy. I lived
in the moment and had no idea what time it was when things
really happened. I'm estimating based on the last thing I
remember a time for - Dr. C. breaking my waters and the next
thing I know a time for - the birth of Pamela at 1:34 AM.

After Dr. C. broke my water, things really started moving
along. Lots of bloody show. The contractions got more intense.
Kelly said "lets take a look and if you're beyond 5 cms you
can go in the jacuzzi." I was at 6 cm so into the hot tub
I went. I guess this was around 10 PM. About this time Laurie
showed up to assist in the coaching. Her timing was perfect.
While in the hot tub, I went into transition and the contrac-
tions started taking wild turns. I would be going along with
one, breathing and moaning to stick it out and all of sudden
it would spike. It was like someone hit my uterus with 1000
volts. I'm sure I screamed for a few of those. My coaches
kept me focused and breathing. There were times when I really
wanted to deck them! But, I listened to their instructions
and followed them. I think the distraction factor here was
very important. The moaning helped too. I moaned on each
breathe out. The stronger the contraction, the louder I
moaned. Hey, it worked for me.

All through transition (and all through labor actually) I
had a respectable break between contractions. I'm sure this
is what kept me going. I made sure to relax every muscle in
my body and my mind too. I would totally forget the previous
contraction and not think about the next one. I do remember
asking Kelly at some point "will it get much worse than this?"
She said that I was doing great with my breathing and she
thought that I would have no trouble getting through with it
once I got there. The strokes I got from Al, Laurie and Kelly
for working through it like I did really kept me in the ball-
game.

At around midnight I think, I got out of the jacuzzi so that
Kelly could check me again. I was at 9.9 cms!! Yippee! She
said any time you get the urge to push, go for it!. And it
didn't take long. Around 12:30 AM the urge hit and a powerful
one it is! It took a little while to get the hang of this
pushing business but I finally figured it out. The contractions
were no longer painful. In fact I don't remember much pain at
all during the pushing. Some pressure but not genuine pain.

Some time in there Dr. C. showed up for the delivery. Al
watched all this in awe. He couldn't believe he was seeing
his kid's head trying to push out! Me? I was too intent on
pushing to notice much at all!

Finally, we were there. Dr. C. did an episiotomy. It was a
2nd degree for those of you keeping score. I certainly don't
remember her doing it but Al does! One big push and out pops
the head. That split second when I pushed out the head was
the most intense instant of pain in my whole life. I screamed!
If they hadn't been holding me down I'm sure they would have
had to peel me off the ceiling! But, it was all over! We had
done it and pretty much according to our plans. The body was
delivered and Dr. C said "It's a girl!" and we all smiled.
I would have cheered but pushing really does tucker you out.
Dr. C. clamped the cord and Al got to cut it. We were all
beaming and so thrilled. They put Pamela on my stomach and
I just couldn't believe I had her. She was gorgeous! She
had a full head of dark hair and big, alert eyes. The nursery
nurse looked her over and pronounced her very sound. She
passed her APGAR's with flying colors (9 and 9). What do you
want from the child of two Bell Labs engineers? :-)

We spent the next hour or so alone with Pamela. She nursed
for the first time. It was weird when everyone else disappeared.
Kelly returned to help us to my room. She said watching me in
labor was inspiring. I stuck with it. In between contractions,
even in transition, I was able to crack jokes. Don't ask me how.
I guess those contractions weren't that bad even then.

Some impressions of the whole process...

On the way to my doctor's appointment, around 3:30, we are driving
down the big hill into Boulder. As usual there is a magnificent
view of the mountains and there is a hawk hovering and the swallows
are cruising around and I just got this incredible euphoric feeling.
I'm not a mystical or a spiritual person, but this is about as
close to a spiritual experience I've ever had.

The smells of labor and delivery - man, no one told me about all
the powerful odors. My husband noticed it too. How my sweat smelled
totally different. It's not something you can miss!

And just a note to the woman who sent me mail about drugs during
labor. I tried to mail back but it kept bouncing. She bet that I
would ask for them because if you say "I'll ask for them if I find
I need them" you almost certainly will ask for them. Well, pay up!
What do I win? :-) No drugs for this labor. Actually, the thought
of asking for them never crossed my mind once.

All in all I would have to say I was very lucky. Labor was short
and not too painful. I have a beautiful healthy daughter who mostly
likes to eat and sleep so mom and dad haven't suffered sleep de-
privation just yet. Everything is grand! My sister would say "It
figures!" She thinks I'm the luckiest person around.

Oh, one note on the staff at Boulder Community Hospital. They were
fantastic. Some of the nurses were just good. Others were down
right awesome. I really enjoyed my short stay there (I checked out
on Saturday after lunch) and hope that everyone gets the kind of
support that I did.

Sorry, this is so long! But, I didn't know how to stuff it into
anything smaller. I just had to talk about it. It was the most
powerful, exhilirating experience of my life. Even beat cutting
turns through untracked powder in Vail's Back Bowls. :-)

Sharon Badian, proud mom to Pamela Lynne Badian-Pessot
seb1@druhi.att.com

P.S. Thanks to all the misc.kids folks who sent their congratulations.
We are certainly enjoying our new little daughter!