Fiona Rose: A Birth Story

A few weeks before Fiona was due, we decided to be induced the week of her due date. We were a little nervous about how big she'd be, since Ronan was 10 lbs 3 oz. And by "we" I mean me and the doctor who kept telling me I was gaining too much weight and if my baby got too big, I'd have to have a C-section.

So the inducement date was set for August 14th, a day before her due date. I had been dilating for a few weeks and she was in the ready position, so all things were going well. We dropped Ronan off at Papa's house (a dream come true for both of them, I'm sure), and were the first ones to the hospital that morning. They gave us the nicest room in the place! Our nurse, Ginger, told us they called it, "The Disco Room." Sweet! We were gonna have a baby in the party room of the hospital.

Something that did not feel like a party was getting my IV in, and getting the epidural done. It took them three sticks to get it right and one of the veins in my hand blew. That would end up hurting for a week. They told me I have legit crap veins. Believe me, docs, I know. I've had 'em my whole life. Every time I get my blood drawn I say a small prayer in my heart that they'll magically find a good vein the first time.

Anyway, I digress. My epidural probably wouldn't have been so painful if I hadn't made a crucial mistake. The doctor was listening to my direction when I told him my left side hurt when the needle was going in. But it just seemed to make things worse. So he found a new spot and everything was okay. Except poor Tim's face was white as a sheet. The doctors asked if he was alright. "I don't like seeing her in pain," he said. They ordered him to go get breakfast before he passed out. I told him I was fine now and I'd see him when he was done.

I kept the nurse up to date on my progress, saying my left leg was nice and numb, but my right was not at all. She tipped me to the left saying it would help. It didn't. My left leg got number and more tingly while my right still felt everything. I began to feel nervous that the doc would have to come back and move the needle. Then, she did a "do you feel this" test. She put a wet pad on my left leg. "Do you feel this?" "No," I said, "My left leg is still numb." She looked at me weird. "This is your right leg."

I slapped my hand to my forehead and laughed. No WONDER the epidural hurt! He was moving the needle to the opposite direction that I wanted because I was mixing up my left and right. I felt like the biggest dummy of all time.

Things started to even out after that and Nurse Ginger laid the bed down so the medicine could flow. Suddenly, I felt very heavy and sick. Things started going dark fast. "I don't feel so good," I said out loud. Nurse Ginger immediately was at my side, asking all sorts of questions about what was feeling not so good. "I think I'm going to puke," I said. "No, I think I'm going to pass out." Things started going darker. "Yep. Here I go." Before things went completely black, she grabbed an oxygen mask and put it over my nose and mouth and told me to breath deep and slow. "You're going to be just fine, your blood pressure is a little low so you need to just keep breathing in and out. Everything's okay, no need to worry. Just keep breathing." But I was worried about the baby. "Is she alright?" I asked. "Is her heart rate okay?" "Yes," Nurse Ginger answered. "She is doing perfectly fine. You just focus on you right now." So I sat there and breathed for a while, wondering when Tim would be back from the cafeteria.

My body bounced back after a bit and Tim returned when I was feeling okay again. Dr. Smith came in to say hello and broke my water. And that's when I found out why I'd gained 60 pounds this pregnancy. My stomach deflated by like 40%, I swear. It was weird and awesome since I'd been so worried about losing all the fatty fatness I'd become. Good ole water weight.

Then, we sat and waited for a loooooong time. A good couple of hours passed and family started to text us what was going on. "Nothing," we'd reply. "Just waiting for things to progress." I ate a couple popsicles, a bit of ice, Nurse Ginger came in and chit chatted with us here and there, but mostly we just wondered when in the heck this baby would be ready.

I am foggy on the times now, but I think around 3, they checked my dilation and it was about an 8 or a 9. They said two other women were in the hospital now who were right around the same progression I was and it was going to be a race to the finish. We all had the same doctor, Dr. Smith, who whenever I've seen her has always been cool, friendly, and encouraging. Today was no different, though I did feel a little possessive of her. We had picked this day especially because she would be the one to deliver our baby girl. Ah well, she must be pretty popular.

About 10 minutes after everyone left, I felt a great pressure and urge to push. I grabbed the side of the bed. "Whoa!" Tim looked concerned. "What?" "I think she's ready," I said. I felt it again. "Yep!" I pushed the call button. "Nurse's station, how can we help you?" "Uh, yeah, I think my baby wants to come out now."

A moment later, Nurse Ginger was back and checking me. "Oh yes," she said. "She is ready to go." "Okay," I said, "Where's Dr. Smith?" Her face fell a little. She explained I was second in line since one of the other girls got there just before I did and was having some trouble. I didn't feel possessive anymore. If that girl was in trouble, then Dr. Smith was where she needed to be. I was doing just fine, even though I really wanted to push every contraction.

It felt like forever, but everyone finally came in for baby girl's big debut. Nurse Ginger told me since my first baby was so big, this one will probably pop right out in just a push or two. That sounded nice. I decided to give everything I had right up front so I could tell everyone she came out in one big push.

Tim and I looked at each other. "Here we go!" I said, gripping his hand.

It took more than one push, but by the end of the second push, everyone in the room was excited over the color of her hair. "It is blazing red, Mary! It's so red!" Tim and I laughed. We knew we'd end up with an army of gingers! Third push, Nurse Ginger asked if I wanted to touch her head. No! She was not out yet and that would be weird, so no thank you. Two pushes later, she was out. Tim cut the cord. They weighed her: 9 pounds exactly! Nice and dainty compared to our big boy. "What's her name?" someone asked. "Well," I said to Tim with a shrug. "She's got red hair." "Fiona Rose?" he asked. I nodded. "Fiona Rose."

They cleaned her really quickly so we could snuggle, but when they brought her over, I was desperate for a barf bag. It was probably the worst timing of any timing in the history of the universe. Here she was, my little red-headed baby girl, right there ready to be held for the first time by her mama and her mama is too busy puking her popsicles out. "Give her to Tim," I said between pukies. "No!" he said. He'd talked to me before about how he got to hold Ronan first since Ronan had to have some fluid sucked out of him before I could hold him. He told me it was too cool an experience, holding him for the first time, and he didn't want to take it away from me again. So he patiently waited.

Finally it passed and I held our little baby girl. She was crying when they handed her to me, so I put my face on hers and sushed her. I told her how nice it was to see her and I was her mommy. She calmed down and I felt like supermom. I pulled her down to my chest to get a look at her. Only one of her eyes opened and squinted at me. Her tiny, red, confused face made me giggle. I looked up at Tim. "She looks just like Ronan did!" He nodded. It was so strange. We knew she was a different baby, but it took me right back to the first time I looked at Ronan and what it felt like to be a mom. The feelings here were just a little different. It felt so natural to hold her that I hardly thought about it. I couldn't stop looking at her. It was so nice to be able to see her and meet her that every question the nurses asked me, I just kept looking at her. She was mine. I knew I was her mommy and she needed me. "We're gonna take good care of you," I told her.

I'd like to say that every single person in that room was so encouraging and awesome. It was like having my own personal fan base sitting with me. We had a wonderful experience with Ronan's birth, and Fiona's was no different. Everyone was awesome and Nurse Ginger was so upbeat and positive, and very competent. I am very grateful to have had two healthy, relatively easy labors.

If only being pregnant was so easy.