The Birth Story... coming soon

this spot reserved for the birth story... coming soon!

I hope you are all enjoying this site. Bobby is doing an awesome job keeping you all informed... i, on the otherhand, am busy doing other "stuff." I promise to get a story posted here soon.

mich

ps bobby is such a great daddy already. he is my sanity in these trying times.



(I love you so much, baby. Thank you for everything, especially our son. Now, I have everything I need. mwah xo)

edited 4-4-05 to add:
Birth Story – Robert Anthony Trifiletti III

Our induction was scheduled for Monday, March 28^th at 8am.

I woke up early (2:30am – typical during the last weeks) on Monday morning - starving, but not allowed to eat – doctor’s orders. I did some last minute chores in the house –took out the trash, ran the dishwasher, made sure the place was tidy for when we returned with our new arrival. I had been trying for weeks to just keep up with the housework since I wasn’t sure when we would be going anyway.

I jumped in the shower at about 6am and then woke up Bobby. We were both so anxious and excited. It was cold and icy outside when we left. The front steps were covered in a sheet of ice and so was the windshield on the car. As we got closer to the hospital, the icy mix became rain. John Mayer’s “Daughter” played on the radio as Bobby drove. I turned to him and said “do you hear the song? I bet it’s a girl.” Little did we know!

We parked the car in “stork parking” and entered the hospital as a couple – hard to believe that when we would exit those doors, we would be a “family”.

When we got to the Labor and Delivery floor to check in, the receptionist asked us who told us to be there at 8am. Apparently, we were supposed to be there at 7am, and the nurse who scheduled us mixed up the message – no big deal.

We immediately met our L&D nurse, Judy. She took me to L&D room 309 and prepped me. I was hooked up to a monitor and asked tons of questions. I was very surprised that the monitor was showing that I was having contractions every five minutes. I wasn’t feeling anything. We determined that I was probably dehydrated since I had hardly any liquids in the past 12 hours. Once my IV was started, the contractions started to spread out.

Dr. Ricardo Alverez came in to introduce himself. He explained that he would be working with Dr. Kriner (whom I was hoping would be on call - he was my favorite doctor in the practice) Dr. Alverez was a first year resident at the hospital and he seemed to ask me the same questions over and over… (in a think Spanish accent) “is this your first child? Do you have any allergies? How old are you?” He was obviously a nervous first year resident and he seemed to be thinking more than listening to my answers. He was very nice, nonetheless.

Dr. Patel came in next. He was also a resident, but seemed much more confident. He worked with Dr. Alverez, prepping me and the room for my delivery.

It was 10am before my pitocin drip was hooked into the IV. (Pitocin is a synthetic form of oxytocin – the hormone a woman’s body produces to make the uterus contract to signal labor.) My cervix was already 70% effaced thinned out) and 1-2cm dilated before the drip started.

I began to feel contractions within 20 minutes. (so… that’s what it’s supposed to feel like!) I was constantly asked to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. My pain level remained below 5 for about an hour.

My cervix was checked at 11am and I was 3 cm and 80% effaced. I explained to the doctors that I wanted to have an epidural as soon as I was allowed. They told me that having it too early would increase my chances of needing a C-section. I told them I would hold on for as long as I could, and would let them know when I was in severe pain. At about 11:45, I was unable to speak through the contractions. Dr. Alverez ordered that I have Stadol through my IV. This would take the edge off the pain until I could (hopefully) get an epidural. I felt drunk and loopy within seconds of receiving it. I wanted to sleep. I closed my eyes to rest. It was hard for me to not speak the crazy thoughts that were racing through my mind. I liked this drug!

I was 4-5 cm when the anesthesiologist came to administer my epidural. It was about 1:30pm. Judy wanted me to empty my bladder before getting the epi. I was still feeling quite high from the stadol. She and Bobby helped me to the bathroom, where I fell asleep on the toilet several times before they had to come get me. I don’t remember the epidural hurting very much. I was half asleep while it was administered. I remember feeling some pressure, but I squeezed a pillow and leaned into Bobby the whole time.

I felt a bit nauseous after getting it. The doctors had me lay on my right side, and my blood pressure dropped considerably. (apparently very common after an epi) I was turned to my left side, and then given 2 doses of Effrin (sp) to pump up my blood pressure and an oxygen mask. I was so out of it at this point, I don’t remember much. I remember Dr. Alverez picking up my legs and resting them on his shoulder. I commented “I think this is how I got pregnant in the first place.” Everyone laughed.

I was checked again in an hour. I had gone from 4cm to 9 cm in only an hour! (usually, patients progress 1 cm every hour!) Dr. Alverez said he would check me again in 30 minutes.

By 3pm, I was completely dilated and ready to push! Judy (my nurse) was finished her shift at 3. I could tell she didn’t want to leave, she must have said goodbye to me ten times!

My new nurse’s name was Vicki. I really liked her, too. She and the doctors thought that maybe I should “labor down” for an hour before starting to push. I understand that to mean that we would let the baby move on its own so that I wouldn’t waste my energy pushing… especially since it was my first baby and I was expected to push for 2 hours.

Vicki said I could push right then if I wanted to. I told her I would try. They put up the stirrups and got everything ready. My parents left the room, and just then Bobby’s mom and sister arrived. They barely had a chance to poke their heads in to say hi. It was 3:25pm when I started to push. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing it… all those times I watched A Baby Story – this was nothing like tv at all. It was so surreal.

I was feeling pressure with each contraction, and was able to push three or four times through each one, only resting through one. Pushing wasn’t the really hard part… it was holding my breath through the s-l-o-w counts of ten. At one point, I motioned to Bobby to speed up his counting. I still had that dumb oxygen mask on my face, and I pulled it off each time I finished pushing.

As the baby’s head began to crown, I felt more and more pressure. I began to grunt and make noises as I pushed. At one point, I said what is typically heard in a delivery room, “I can’t do it anymore.” With Vicki and Bobby cheering me on, I had a surge of energy. I saw Drs. Alverez and Patel quickly get suited up, and Dr. Rao stood by to instruct the residents. I took control of the whole situation… I was announcing each contraction, and pushing like a mad woman.

Within minutes, Dr. Rao said the head was almost out and we were going to have a baby with another push or two. She insisted it was going to be a girl when she saw the hair on the baby’s head.

As the head popped out, the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around the baby’s neck. The doctor’s quickly clamped it and cut it. Bobby was relieved; he didn’t want to cut it anyway.

I always thought that once the baby’s head was out, the rest of the baby just kind of slithered out… well, the hardest part was pushing out the shoulders. This lasted only a few minutes. The doctors put lots of pressure on my belly, pushing the baby’s feet, downward towards the birth canal.

Within minutes the baby was entirely out, and Bobby shouted “IT’S A BOY!” Our families waited patiently outside the room, and we heard them cheer. (Later I saw pictures of their ears pressed against the door!) It was 4:07pm. I pushed for 40 minutes total. Everyone commended me on such a short labor and an excellent job pushing.

The baby was immediately taken to the “baby station” where he was to be cleaned up… I knew something had to be wrong, because Vicki had told me earlier that they would place him right on my chest when he came out. I looked over at him in a panic and asked if he was okay. I saw the nurses whispering and then make a phone call. The baby wasn’t breathing. Within seconds someone from the Neonatal Infant Care Unit arrived, but little Robert had already let out a good cry and we were all reassured that he was going to be okay. His Apgar scores were 5 and 9. I delivered the afterbirth (which was a blur). Bobby saw it… he said it was pretty gross.

Robert was bundled and bought to me, as I was stitched (10 stitches from a tear). Our families joined us, and we were all ecstatic as little Robert stayed very alert… looking all around and finding comfort by sucking on his fingers.

Vicki brought me dinner and helped me get cleaned up before I was moved to a recovery room, where we made some phone calls and had some visitors.

We stayed at the hospital until Wednesday, March 30^th. After Robert was circumcised, we were able to leave. Now we are home, and after a bit of the 'baby blues' we're adjusting well!

Robert Anthony Trifiletti III
March 28, 2005
4:07pm
21.5 inches long