A Baby Story: Miles William Golden

When I was in high school I used to watch TLC's A Baby Story almost every day. In hind sight, almost every episode featured a soon-to-be mother and nervous father, leaving their homes in the middle of the night, arriving at the hospital (almost always Cedar Sinae in LA) and then inevitably spending hours upon hours in labor - with several close-up shots of the clock to show just how long the camera crew was waiting around.  They would show the dad pacing, maybe making a trip to the vending machine and explaining that labor had stalled, yada, yada, yada. It made childbirth look awful, really.

37 Weeks

Fortunately for me, my babies come fast.  Is it painful? Yes. Absolutely. But only for a short period of time. Although I am not brave (?) enough to share the births of our babies on a basic cable network, I will share Miles' birth story on our little blog...no graphic videos, and highly selected photos (we had a lovely nurse who grabbed our camera as Miles was being born.  I am happy to have those photos, but they will not be making any appearances on the internet - ever).

Tuesday, February 2nd -

I referred to this date as my work deadline day --- I just had to get through this day before I could have the baby.  I had a meeting for planning out some details for the upcoming school year and one last IEP meeting for a student.  I had been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, but still felt pretty good.  That evening, Elsa and I met Erik in Bloomington for my 37 week check-up with the doctor.  As an over-planner, I was sure to have my hospital bag packed in the car just-in-case, and had left my sub plans on my desk.  I was right - at my appointment, Dr. Weaver informed us that I was already 5 cm dilated and that I would need to be monitored so they could decide if I needed to go straight to the hospital.  After about 15 minutes, I was not making many consistent contractions so they gave us a choice - we could go to the hospital to be monitored longer or to go home under the condition that if I felt anything (given my quick labor with Elsa and our 45 minute drive), we would need to go straight to the hospital.

We opted to go home and get things in order.  My parents met us at home, bringing dinner, and then taking Elsa with them for the night just in case.

Then we waited. Paced. Walked up and down the stairs. Repacked the hospital bag. Cleaned the kitchen. Tried to sleep. Watched the new OJ Simpson show on FX (the acting is not good, but it's addictive). I felt nothing.

Wednesday, February 3rd -

After not sleeping much, and not sure if I was really feeling anything or if it was all in my head, we decided to call Dr. Weaver to see what we should do. She suggested we come in again to the office that morning. So we packed up the vehicle and headed to Bloomington. I was still 5cm dilated, but now, my water was on the verge of breaking. Really not feeling comfortable sending us back home, we were told to go walk around the mall, go out for lunch, and come back later to be checked.

So we walked. We walked around Target, had lunch at Cafe Italia, and then walked around the mall.  Like most life's dilemmas, a trip to the mall was the cure. When we returned to the doctor's office, my contractions had started to become more regular, making it likely that I would be admitted to the hospital. We were sent over to Bromenn around 3:00pm.

After completing the medical history and being monitored again (I still had to prove I was in labor to be admitted), our lovely nurse, Lori, was unsure what would happen.  Although I was now 6 cm dilated, my contractions were not very strong. Since I was only about 37 and a half weeks along, they would not be allowed to take measures to induce labor. Thankfully, right at that moment, Dr. Weaver called and pretty much told the nurse that I was to be admitted regardless.

Erik - Elsa's birthday

Erik - Miles' birthday

Once we were settled in our room, Dr. Weaver came in and broke my water.  After about 30 minutes they started a small dose of pitocin to help things get going (I was almost 8 cm dilated and still wasn't having strong contractions - up until that point I'd had the type of labor other women may want to slap me for). It worked. Within the hour I was having non-stop, brutal contractions. My parents had come to the hospital and my mom joined us in the delivery room.  They started checking me after each contraction and the room started filling with a team of people - nurses for me, nurses for the baby, a couple of med. students, and finally the doctor.

Proud Daddy

At 6:57pm, after two pushes, Miles William was placed on my chest. He was beautiful - a head full of dark hair and the same pouty lips and chin as his sister. We were instantly in love.

Ready to go home!