Giving Birth at MultiCare Good Sam, and Other First-Time Parent Lessons

Having kids is never easy. At least, this is what I've always been told. But as I learned only a few weeks ago, nothing can ever quite prepare you for your own experience.

From the ordeal that is labor and delivery to tossing your entire schedule out the window once you bring your little one home from the hospital, nothing is what I expected it to be (the latter helps explain the lateness of this post, for which I apologize to my readers).

Although becoming a parent for the first time is no easy task, it helps to have a solid support system behind you throughout the entire process.

MultiCare Good Samaritan was my first choice, both because of its close to my home in Bonney Lake and because I was very impressed by the improvements I saw during the grand re-opening tour a few years ago. I had also heard nothing but good things from my friends who had children there as well.

In this area, at least, I had some measure of confidence.

My contractions began on the morning of March 18 around 5:30 a.m., beginning as small, annoying things at first, that gradually grew to be extremely painful as the day wore on. By noon, I was ready to go to the hospital.

How can I describe them? Your entire stomach area contracts in regular, spasmodic intervals similar to a strained muscle. En route on highway 512, they became so great that I pounded my passenger door with my fist and screamed in attempt to alleviate my suffering.

Also, being stuck behind a three semi-trucks kept my husband driving well under the speed limit. I would never endorse speeding under any circumstances, but now I can at least understand the reasoning behind most portrayals of hospital runs in the movies, with a screaming woman holding her stomach in the passenger seat, have the partner weaving dangerously in and out of traffic.

I had filled out my paperwork ahead of time (highly recommended) so I was admitted to triage immediately. This is the place where one of the nurses on staff checks to see how far you are dilated, if at all. If you are not in active labor,you will be sent home again.

Most new moms, according to one nurse, will be dilated to only a one or two and demand an epidural right away. Needless to say, that's not going to happen.

When my OB (who was at Good Sam at the time) checked me, I was dilated to a five - halfway to the active, pushing labor stage. Everyone was surprised by how long I had already endured as a first-timer.

I was wheeled down to one of the far labor and delivery rooms. I had toured both the labor & delivery rooms and postpartum rooms not long before, so I was familiar with the general layout. This provided another measure of comfort.

I was hooked up to the IV's, given a short-term pain reliever, antibiotics and fluids to keep me hydrated at around two in the afternoon. A few hours later, around five in the evening, an anesthesiologist I'd met before during my tour, administered the epidural.

According to the book, "Understanding Birth," an epidural is a regional anesthetic administered, via a catheter in the lower back to numb pain [and other] sensations in the lower part of the body. Essentially, I was numbed from the waist down.

The procedure was highly recommended to me by my OB, and in the end, I was happy that I took her advice to heart.

It was a relatively painless process, one that is freakier to watch as an animation than to have it physically done, and I experienced none of even the most common side effects, which include headaches and dizziness.

The sharp pain of the contractions, which were considerable by this time, ceased altogether, and I was even able to doze off a little.

By ten that night, I was fully dilated. This is were what is called "active labor" begins - the full-blown, breathing, pushing, screaming kind of labor. Everything was going along as expected. So well, in fact, that everyone, including myself, expected my son to finally enter the world before midnight.

But, things can happen, as was the case for me. I pushed and pushed, relying on the nurses to coach me since I could feel hardly anything. But when the clock struck two and he still hadn't emerged, there was mild concern.

My epidural strength was taken down by half so I could feel the contractions and I was given some pitocin, a synthetic hormone via my IV to keep the contractions coming. After pushing for almost twenty-four hours straight, my uterus was becoming exhausted.

My three in the morning, with still little progress, my OB came in with some options; she could use the vacuum extraction to help him come through the birth canal, if that didn't work I would be prepped for a Cesarean, or I could push for an hour and see how far I could get him down.

Completely exhausted, yet unwilling to go through a Cesarean this late in the game, I optioned to push for another, grueling hour.

By four, I'd pushed him down far enough that my OB was more confident in the success of the vacuum extraction. By 4:07 on the morning of March 19, my son was being checked out by the nurses as I lay on the bed, barely able to move even my head.

When the nurses weighed him, he was 8 lbs, 6 oz. Everyone in the room, the nurses, my OB, my family, was astonished. Especially since I'm only 4'11'' and a small woman.

It was finally over. I was happy that my son was born healthy, and just as happy that I didn't have to push anymore.

What I Learned

4. Get checked-in a little sooner, and allow yourself to be checked as soon as possible. This is something that wasn't a huge deal, but it is important, and to some extent my case, critical to the health of both the mother and child.  

3. Don't have the epidural turned up so high, especially if you take well to anesthetics, as I do. The numbness has been attributed to needing assistance, such as a vacuum extraction, during delivery. Though this was likely not the cause in my case, I think I wouldn't have had to push so long had it been a little lower the entire time.

2. This one is for your spouse or partner, especially a male partner. Don't, under any circumstances, start discussing the "next time" while she is still in the labor and delivery room. As my husband learned (and later dad in the postpartum room), this will not be met with a cheerful or even an enthusiastic response.

1. Have a strong support system after the birth. This is something that has become critical in my life as a new parent. Parenthood is a wonderful, new experience, but it can also be a stressful one, even if there is two of you. Having a strong network of family and friends to call on for help with anything, even in the last moment, is absolutely necessary and highly encouraged. Also, joining a new moms support group, whether through the hospital, church, or other facilitator, can help you navigate the ins and outs of child rearing.

In retrospect, the experience was overall a positive one, and I have nothing but good things to say about the team of nurses, anethesiologist, and doctors at MultiCare Good Samaritan who both took care of me and helped bring my son safely into the world.