It's Buttercup's Birthday, So I Shall Regale You With Her Birth Story. I'm Sure That's How She Wants Us to Celebrate.

One of my favorite parts of pregnancy is the anticipation.  There at the end, when each day you wake up thinking, "Is today the day?" the waddling and pressure on the bladder are just a little more fun and exciting as far as I'm concerned.  I enjoy making up all the contingency plans of who to call if I have to rush to the hospital.  Who is going to be the relative to drive to town?  Where will COW be when I go into labor?  Will I be driving myself?

I love it all.

With all of the boys, I was able to have that fun and unpredictableness of a normal delivery.  Not so with Buttercup.  It wasn't that anything was wrong health-wise, but that I was naive and didn't have the information I needed to make the right decisions.

I didn't know my doctor well when I began my prenatal appointments with her.  She was the same doctor I had with Phoenix, but I only saw her twice before he was born.  (We moved to Indy in the middle of the summer, and he was born three weeks early on Sept. 3.)  She was simply a referral from my doctor from Bloomington.  She was fine, if not warm and fuzzy, throughout the first 8 months.

When we got closer to full term, she started pestering me about my hospital choice.  I wanted to deliver at the same place I had Phoenix, while she wanted me to go to a different one.  It had nothing to do with the safety of the baby or me, but everything to do with her convenience.  I held my ground each time she asked.

Two weeks before my due date, the doctor asked if I would like to have the baby over the weekend.  I was flabbergasted.  I had no idea a woman could schedule a date to have a baby unless it was Cesarean.  COW and I went through the pros and cons as we knew them.

Cons:  We'd have to deliver at the hospital the doctor chose.  Scheduling a birth just didn't feel right, either.

Pros:  We didn't know anyone in town to call to watch Phoenix if I went into a quick labor.  It would be handy to have someone already scheduled to be here.  Plus, COW could relax and not be so worried about going to work as the due date got closer.  And, when Phoenix was born, it was proven that COW is a horrible packer of the hospital suitcase.  With an induction, I could do it, and do it correctly.

We agreed to the induction.

My sister came to town to watch Phoenix, and at 6:00 on Saturday morning we headed to the hospital.  It was quite bizarre, really, to go in without a single sign that the baby was ready to come out.  It didn't feel right.

I was already 2cm dilated, so the doctor went straight to Pitocin.  So began the most unnatural 8 hours of my life.

Once the Pitocin was started, I wasn't allowed to leave the bed.  This is a problem when one is hooked up to an IV.  The amount of fluids being pumped into a pregnant woman is crazy, and that pregnant woman has to pee.  Frequently.  My doctor wouldn't let me go.  Instead, she insisted I use a bedpan.  While being held over it by COW and a nurse.

Sorry for that image.  Delete it from your mind.

I had no idea that, in fact, I am in charge of the delivery.  I was too naive to simply ignore the woman and go to the bathroom.  Fellow life-long rule followers, you know what I mean.

In case you are unaware, Pitocin is one horrible, nasty drug.  Pitocin makes your body have contractions against it's will, thus making them much more painful than natural labor.  I did not know this at the time.  I just knew that by 9:00 I was in some unbearable pain.  I called out loud and clear for the epidural.

The epidural was in, but unlike the one I had with Phoenix, it didn't work.  One side of my body was fine, but the other felt every single contraction.  There was some relief, but it was still beyond uncomfortable.  There was some fiddling with it, but no change in pain management.

With the epidural now in place, and the contractions coming faster and harder, there was no way I was going to be able to use a bedpan.  The doctor ordered a catheter.

I will stop there.  No need for visuals.  Just know, they are no fun.

I was getting close to the end.  Contractions were right on top of each other, and I was ready.  Unfortunately, my doctor wasn't.  I had noticed that I barely saw her all day.  As I was nearing the pushing phase, I found out why.  I wasn't the only patient she had scheduled for induction that morning, and two of us were ready to pop.  The doctor kept running back and forth to see which baby was going to be born first.  Apparently I lost, as I was told in no uncertain terms that I wasn't to push until the doctor arrived.

So we waited.

I have to admit I was a bit confused as to why they were so nervous about me pushing.  With Phoenix, I pushed for 2 hours, and for most of that time the doctor wasn't in the room.  I was curious as to why I wasn't allowed to now.

Finally, the doctor rushed into the room and told me I could push.  I pushed twice, and Buttercup was born.

I could not have been more shocked.  Two pushes??  That's it??  Shocked, I tell you.

As I held my baby, the doctor cleaned up and waved goodbye.

A year later, I was talking with a woman, and she told me about the delivery of her daughter several years prior.  The story sounded similar to mine in that she was induced before her due date, more than one woman was scheduled the same day, and the doctor was running back and forth to figure out who was delivering first.  The only difference is, my friend's baby almost died.  The doctor wasn't around to see what was happening, so she couldn't do anything to fix the situation.

We had the same doctor.

I learned a few things through this delivery.  First and foremost, I would never, ever be induced again.  Secondly, I learned to ask more questions when looking for a doctor.  I didn't want a doctor who made medical decisions based on her desire to make her own life easier.

It was a good thing I learned these things, as I became pregnant again when Buttercup was only 5 months old.

We shall end this story with the one beautiful thing to come from the experience.

(You had to know a photo montage of the birthday girl was in your future.)

Happy 14th Birthday Buttercup!

First day of preschool

She could not have been more thrilled with the cats (and new kittens) which came with the house.

Once the pigs get past this size, she isn't nearly so happy to go in the pen with them.

First Holy Communion

with COW's grandpa.  He loved her best.  Every single time we visited, she stuck to his side the entire time.  He cried every single time the visit ended.

She perfected that look at a very young age.

She has been reading to her brothers since she was 3 years old.

If you are a glutton for a birth story, you can find the others by clicking the boys' names:

Phoenix
Giant
Turken
Cuckoo

You will notice that Star is missing.  His birthday is in June, so look for his story then.

Have a lovely day!