Eshiva’s Story

Eshiva Lillith Grace Johnpoll
Born February 10, 2005 at 3.51 AM, weighing in at eight pounds, one ounce and 22 inches long.

This journey started way back in May 2004. Let’s fast forward some! Ok, let’s fast forward lots, I’ll worry about the 10 month lead up later on. Monday (the 7th) I went to the hospital because I got the flu, was slightly past due, and needed fluids to head off something nasty happening. I got my bags of fluids, some antibiotics and got sent home (surprise! was not expecting that!). Wednesday Michael got sent home from work early, and that kind of clinched that it would be that night, seeing as he was sent home because he was sick and that would make it the most inconvenient night of all. Around 11.50 I was woken up by a very strong and quite painful contraction. I spent a couple of hours labouring, playing around online, just getting through them. They were every three minutes from the get-go, and all started in my back, wrapped around like a hug and ended in my back.

Around 3.00 AM I had Michael go get my mom, since I had no clue what to do to make the back pains stop. My last labour I slept through, until about two hours before Chai was born. She came up and massaged my back for a while, and something inside me decided to go to the hospital. I don’t know what or why. I knew I wasn’t getting any pain meds, but this was so not right. So off we went. Mom took me while Michael got cleaned up (he had been sleeping and sweating since about 5 pm) and came after.

I was yelling in the ER, still contracting, still in my back, every three minutes on the dot. They must of gotten closer, but at last timing it was three minutes. I must have been in transition at this point, my leg was shaking through the contractions, something it wasn’t doing before.

They got me into a room and up on the bed and put in an IV with a bag of fluid. The nurses were doing whatever they do, mom was trying to get me to stop yelling/making noise and start breathing through the contractions. I was very in transition by now. I rolled to my side and clung to the side rail on the bed through them, which for some reason helped. Maybe it didn’t, but *shrugs* I did ask for meds. I wont lie, and I am not ashamed of it. I also knew it was too late for them, so no harm in asking I guess. I felt the water break at this point (I have no clue what time it was, but I don’t think we even got into the room until 3.30 or so) and there was meconium in it. I was not told about this until a bit later. I could feel her head pressing. I had to push. The nurses kept telling me not to push, the doctor wasn’t there yet (they called whoever was on call I guess, since I didn’t have a doctor or midwife to call). I told them I was not waiting, her head was coming out and out she came.

I reached down to feel her crown and they told me to move my hand. Um, no. My mom did pipe up and asked why, since I had caught both boys in the same way. And so Eshiva came right out, two pushes. One for the head, which hurt like hell and one for the rest of her. Before I could push the rest of her out they had to do major suctioning b/c of the meconium. At this point I was told about it and I am glad I went to the hospital. I know meconium is not the end of the world, but I honestly don’t know how I would have reacted to it. Breech I was ready for, among other potential issues, but I never really prepared myself for meconium in the waters. Maybe it hurt so bad and I took it as a bad sign because of this. Maybe something deep inside me just knew.

They did cut the cord immediately, something I hate, but apparently because of the meconium there was need for extra suctioning or something. No other “standard” procedures were done, and she took to nursing like a champ.

Michael arrived just after the birth, but before the doctor. The doc arrived in time to deliver the placenta, which came out about half an hour or so later. I was absolutely pissed b/c he was tugging on the cord to get it out and I had to tell him to stop. Oh, and we got the placenta and will be burying it out back by the banana tree.

Moved into a room around 5 am, and we got home around 2 pm on the 11th.

So while on one hand I feel like a complete failure for not having my UC, on the other hand, I am very pleased with myself for not forcing the issue to myself and going to the hospital. If she has aspirated meconium there could have been problems. No, I am not “lucky” and the nurses didn’t do anything spectacular. I did it myself, just not where I planned to.