Orson - Birth Notes

Birth Notes

Liam wrote this brief chronicle of Orson's birth. It is not meant to exhaustively explain every moment, but rather to give an overview that might answer some of the obvious questions.

The Setup

Judy and Orson were a bit overdue (a week, pretty much) and the doctor felt that we should induce labor. We're not really certain why, as many first-time women give birth up to ten days or two weeks late, but Orson wasn't engaging (settling into the position required for birth) which might have been most of it.

So, we went in to hospital on October 30th and Judy had some gel treatment to get things going, first at around noon and again at 6pm. While there was something happening I think we all expected to be waiting until the next morning. Judy and I watched a film - Sleepy Hollow - on TV and she took some sleeping pills after the movie to try to get some rest (the discomfort she was having was termed "mild contractions - nothing really happening").

Half an hour later there was an audible pop and the "waters broke"...

The Labor

We were moved down to the labor ward around midnight. Judy was having contractions, but the staff felt it was still early days and recommended she get some rest. It didn't take long for the contractions to become quite painful, but most of the pain was centered around the back, an indication that the baby was not in the ideal position. This "posterior" position can be quite painful for the mother, and accounted for most of the pain which Judy felt during the labor, we believe.

We were using a relaxation method for labor which we'd been practicing during the leadup months. The idea is that by willfully relaxing rather than tensing up (as you do instinctively in response to discomfort or pain) the woman can ease the process and reduce the pain. That works pretty well for the contractions, I believe, but it doesn't do that much for the back pain of this sort of birth. On the other hand, reducing the pain of the contractions does at least reduce the total stress to the system. Judy did a great job at this. It required me to actively work on relaxing her through each and every contraction (I think I missed perhaps as many as half a dozen during the whole experience), which accounts for my exhaustion quite well. The experience was one I wouldn't have missed for the world - working that closely together felt right.

Judy had some Pethedine (I'm sure the spelling is wrong there) to allow her to get some sleep early on as she was fighting the effects of the sleeping tablets and couldn't concentrate on relaxation at that point as she has hoped. Then, as the labor really got going, she used only Nitrous Oxide for most of it (the gas takes the edge off the pain). The staff were extremely impressed with her ability to manage her pain, and all were convinced that she'd have been 100% fine without the back pain. Her contractions, while intense at times, were routinely about half the duration expected, leading to quite some surprises when she was examined and found to have made great progress getting dilated.

Ultimately we continued this way for quite a while, with things getting progressively more agonizing until we were told there was an anesthetist in the building and we could either get an epidural (a spinal tap that takes most of the pain away; consider the implications of that "spinal", though - just a tiny mishap with the needle and the dura could be punctured, or worse the spinal column itself) or forgo that option for hours, potentially, until he or someone else was around. Judy was almost entirely dilated (9.5 cm for those who keep track), but it was fairly clear that the baby was not going to turn easily, and he might remain in the painful posterior position for hours (or not turn at all). In the end the decision was simple, and the epidural was put in. Within minutes Judy was entirely relaxed and the pain was entirely gone. She slept (really slept) through an hour or more of intense contractions (that she really couldn't feel) as her body tried to turn the baby around.

The doctor came to visit for the final time about twelve and a half hours after labor started.

The Birth

Our doctor made an examination to determine whether the baby had turned (and could be delivered conventionally, with Judy being coached through the contractions she couldn't really feel), or not. As it happened, he was in the same position he'd been in all along, so a more "manipulative" approach was taken.

The theory was that with some babies, when you use a suction cup to pull them down, they spin around the right way automatically. So we tried that. Once, twice, each time with Judy being coached when to push (and pushing like her life depended upon it), the suction cup was used to pull the baby down, but he did not change orientation. And the suction cup (the "ventuse") detached from the baby's head twice - something that really doesn't happen. At this point he was on the verge of delivery (some of us could see the top of his head), and the doctor realized he'd have to use the forceps to effect a safe delivery. That required an episiotomy, and two solid pushes from Judy, and Orson was out in the world at 1:06pm on October 31st, 2002.

Not long after the birth itself a few tests were done to gauge Orson's "quality" - to determine whether there were any obvious problems. The main test (which I blinked and missed) is scored out of 10, and is called APGAR (although I don't recall what it stands for) and takes into account color, startle reflex, pulse, breathing and movement. Orson lost a point for being bluish at birth (not uncommon, especially for "assisted" deliveries, I believe), but when checked again a few minutes later he was suitably pink, and scored 10/10. His results gave us confidence that he must have all his fingers and toes, at least, although we didn't actually check that ourselves as there was so much else going on.

Orson was alert and calm quite quickly, and I had a long opportunity to cradle him as he looked around at me and the place he found himself, while Judy was tended to. In the end it took quite a while for the drugs to leave her system sufficiently that they were happy for her to get up, and we moved on to recovery.

Email After Birth

During the couple of hours after the birth, the announcement message was sent out. How? Judy had prepared in advance an empty letter with the addresses of everyone she could think of who might want to know about Orson's birth. Not long after the birth we spoke to my parents, and Bill (my father) composed a brief letter and hit "Send", giving the impression that Judy was at the virtual wheel mere hours after the birth itself.

Progress Update

Eventually (after the adrenaline wore off, I imagine) Orson was a bit drowsy from the birth experience and the drugs Judy (and he) had used, and suffered from a little jaundice (a condition where the liver doesn't recycle excess blood cells properly). Together, these conditions made it difficult for him to feed fully (he would fall absolutely asleep, and did not wake on his own). The result of this was that he was just a bit under weight when he had his three-day check up. With some concerted effort on the part of the hospital staff and ourselves, we managed to pull his weight up amazingly, and he was doing well when we went home, on the following Monday. Since that time he has taught us all his hunger signals and is on-demand feeding, and putting on weight very well indeed. We have no fears whatsoever for his well-being, and he's an alert and happy baby.

Judy spent the first two weeks after the birth managing pain from the episiotomy and bad bruising, and getting as much sleep as possible between Orson's feedings. We owe it all to our support staff (Bill, Diane, and myself, of course) who did - and are still doing - their best to make sure she can focus on her own health and the well-being of Orson.