Harmony Melody Calame
Born: 15 August
2011 at 1:33 PM
8.67 lbs 20.5 inches
By Sunday the 14th the baby still hadn't come. We were scheduled to check in to the hospital at 5:00 pm to start the inducement process. We arrived half an hour late at
5:30 p.m. The nurses went through
asking all sorts of questions – the typical medical history, allergies,
etc. They tried starting the IV
and got it in the vein no problem but the catheter bent and wouldn’t go in
correctly. I squeezed Jackson’s
hand a good one as the nurse moved the needle and catheter around for what
seemed like forever. Then she said she was going to stop torturing
me and put it in my hand instead. Thank-you.
Once all the checking in and setting
up was complete, they put the first cervadil pill in me. I was still only dilated to 1 ½ and
only 50% effaced. I took a sleeping pill and slept soundly through the night. They put the
pill in every 4 hours through the night so by 7:30 a.m. on the 15th it was time for the 4th
one. But, Dr. Thoppil went ahead and ordered that they start the pitocin even
though I was only at a 2 and 70% effaced.
The first hour was full of cramping and towards the end I was having to
concentate on breathing through them.
I suggested we put on Netflix to help distract me so we started watching
Bella. I’ve been wanting Jackson
to see it for a long time. But,
about half way through the movie, by 9:30 AM the contractions were getting
pretty strong and I needed to concentrate completely on getting through
them. We turned the movie off and
Jackson stood by my bedside as I gripped his hand for each one. I started writhing, moaning, and
whimpering through them as time went on and kind of felt like crying but didn’t.
My family showed up at 10:30 AM as contractions
were getting really intense. My
parents, Dathan, and Shalynna all walked in at once. There’s a 2 person limit in the delivery room and they’re
not super strict about it or anything but I felt super overwhelmed with all
these smiling happy people walking into my room nonchalantly as I was writhing
in pain and going through this super intense experience. Jackson quickly fixed the situation and
my family took turns visiting.
They were just giving me pain medication through my IV when they
arrived. They gave me some through
my IV that was going to take effect quickly and then a shot in my butt that was
supposed to last longer. I have
been terrified about all the needles involved in childbirth and haven’t been
stuck anywhere but my arm since I was very very little (so little that I have
no recollection of ever being stuck anywhere else). Anyway, funny enough the spot where they put the needle was
on my butt but towards my hip and in a spot where I am very ticklish. So rather than hurting, it actually
tickled as the shot went in! I
found that humorous and shared the laugh with my mom and Jackson in between
contractions. The pain medication
did help, although I was definitely still in a lot of pain during
contractions. It really helped me
relax in between though along with making me woozy and tired. I had barely acknowledged anyone since
the contractions had gotten strong and that continued. I had to keep my eyes closed because
the light made me dizzy and I discovered very fast that noise really annoyed
me. I made everyone talk quietly
and if anyone tried to address me I had no idea because I couldn’t hear
anything over my breathing and I was completely consumed in working through
contractions. Jackson was great at
holding my hand and being a comfort at my side even though I hardly interacted
with him during this time other than to squeeze his hand really hard.
 |
| My husband is dang hott. And my miserable face peeking out from the corner makes me laugh. |
Looking back I’m kind of surprised at
how independently I handled it.
Don’t get me wrong, Jackson HAD to be there and I couldn’t have done it
without him but I’m surprised at how fully focused I was on me and my body and
not on anyone or anything else.
So anyway, at this point I was thinking I could never do this again, and
wondered how I was ever going to have another child. They had wanted to give me IV pain meds before the epidural
because I was only dilated to a 3 and the epidural can really slow down labor
so Dr. Thoppil ordered they hold off.
Periodically the nurses asked me what my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10
and I only ever got up to saying a 5 because I figured it was going to get a
lot worse. I was convinced I just
had to be a wuss because I expected labor to go on for another 5 to 8 hours and
knew that was a lot of time for things to get worse. At noon they called the anesthesiologist and started
preparing for the epidural. In
between intense contractions we got me sitting up, cross legged, hugging a
pillow, and leaning forward arching my back as Jackson held onto my shoulders. The anesthesiologist gave me my 3
options, 1 – he could give me a basic run down of the epidural and explain the
drug, potential risks, expected outcomes, etc. 2 – he could just answer my questions. Or 3 – he could just go for it and get
it in. I of course went for option
3. I have always been terrified of
an epidural, an apparently large needle going straight into my back has never
seemed like a cake walk. However,
anything sounded better than those contractions. He numbed me first and said the needle would feel like a bee
sting. It did sting but not nearly
as bad as I had expected. Then, I
didn’t even feel the actual epidural.
The anesthesiologist did his job flawlessly and the epidural was
administered at 12:30 pm. Within
ten minutes I was feeling substantially better. But as soon as it took away the pain I felt really intense
pressure. I had been told they
would check me again in 15-20 minutes and was trying to be patient but I was
having to work just as hard through contractions to not push as I was earlier
to bear the pain. I was
concentrating on my breathing, squeezing the bar on the bed, and unable to talk
through the contractions because the pressure was so intense. I kept assuring my mom that it didn’t
hurt it was just a TON of pressure.
Right after the epidural kicked in Jackson went to get something to eat,
he hadn’t eaten all day. As he was
gone the urge to push intensified.
Finally, I called the nurse in.
I didn’t want to seem like an idiot thinking I was ready to push when I
still had another 5 centimeters to go or something but I couldn’t deny what I
was feeling and what my body was trying to do either. And I had to know because I knew I couldn’t push until I was
a 10 and I couldn’t hold it back any longer. She seemed a bit skeptical but went ahead and checked me and
got this cute smile on her face and said I was there. I was a 10 and 100% effaced. I could push!
Suddenly the room jumped into action. The nurse wanted me to labor down some more because the baby
wasn’t quite as low as they would of liked. I tried my best to not push but it was next to
impossible. I frantically had my
mom call Jackson to get him back in the room. Dr. Thoppil arrived shortly after Jackson, they had both
been in the cafeteria. Nurses
filed in, everyone got gloves on and delivery gear in order. They took apart the bed without me even
knowing it, got my legs straddled in the air and with each contraction I was
finally allowed to push. The nurse
and Dr. Thoppil were great at coaching me through and Jackson was fantastic at
encouraging me and re-enforcing what they were telling me to do. I couldn’t believe how fast it was all
happening. As the baby descended
everyone told me I was doing fantastic, they could see the baby’s head and I
was making great progress. I
wanted to see. I requested a
mirror. They brought one in but
after watching for a bit I had to look away because the hole I saw still seemed
far too small to push a baby out of and it was kind of freaking me out. After about 30 minutes of pushing, the
baby came out. It was a crazy
feeling. I felt the stretching and
pressure that I had always been so terrified of. Even with the epidural it stung some but there was such
purpose and I knew I was so close.
The baby slid out and there was such a release of pressure! Jackson cut the cord and the baby was
immediately placed on my chest. I
was overcome with endorphins. I
was full of so much joy and love for this little baby on my chest.
Apparently as Jackson cut the cord Dr.
Thoppil asked him, “So, what are you going to name him?” Jackson looked down at the baby’s face,
up at the board where the names “Emerson” and “Donnovan” were written, which
were the two names we were deciding between, and looked back at the baby and
said, “I have no idea”. Neither of
those seemed right to him. I
missed this conversation as I regained coherency. But, this cheesy baby was placed on my chest and I cried a
little bit and kissed the baby’s forehead and said hello and then I looked up and
my first words were, “So, is it a boy for sure?” The baby had been born for at least 3 minutes at this
point. The nurse pulled back the
blanket the baby had been wrapped in, and as we both looked the nurses eyes
widened and said, “Nope!” We had a
little girl! Jackson and I started
laughing and were shocked but not that shocked because we had felt very
strongly at the very beginning that we were going to have a girl, that our
little Harmony Melody was waiting to join our family, but 2 separate ultrasounds
had convinced us otherwise.
Jackson said, “Well then, her name is Harmony!” a name we had picked out for our first
daughter before we were even married.
I was overjoyed as I held her in my arms and spent the next half hour
trying to get her to latch on and start nursing. That was a little tricky to get the hang of and the nurses
were really good about staying with me and helping. We finally got her to nurse for a few minutes and then they
took her across the room to bathe her, do footprints, measurements, etc.
Family filed in and met her and about 2
hours after her birth I was wheeled to a recovery room where I would be staying
for the next 48 hours. I was
STARVING so my family left on a mission to Sonic to bring me back a bacon
cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry-banana-pineapple milkshake.
I snarfed it down and then ordered
dinner from room service and ate that an hour or two later.
Right after the delivery I told Jackson, “I could totally do that
again!” The whole childbirth process
was so much easier than I ever expected it would be. I had a 1st degree tear which meant it was very
small and only required a couple of stitches. My recovery was super easy, I felt fantastic. Even in the days following. Sore of course, but nothing
terrible. I created a reputation with the nurses as being the happiest and easiest patient they had. It felt amazing to have
my body back.
It was such a beautiful experience and happened so fast - 6 hours from when they started the pitocin to when I had Harmony in my arms. When we were checking out with the hospital, our nurse told us, "I've seen some great parents come through here, but you two have really got it together". She was so impressed at our team work and love and stability, even as 23 and 24 year old parents. We were flattered and are trying our hardest to continue "keeping it together". We love each other and we love our daughter. Hooray for becoming a family of 3!
