‘“My name is Sandy. I will be your nurse. I will either be your best friend or your worst enemy, that is up to you.”
That was how our labour and delivery nurse introduced herself when I was checking in to Regina General to deliver our first baby. I knew I was going to play nice. We were in a very good and happy space during my pregnancy. Ian and I were married on Labour Day in a barn on a hot, stormy night. We found out we were pregnant on our honeymoon and came home to move into our new house, which we had bought for $98 000. We were on top of the world.
I loved being pregnant; we both got fat and were so happy, setting up our little house, working hard, surrounded by family.
I was two weeks overdue and scheduled to be induced when my contractions started. They were slow and felt like waves of PMS rolling through my body, each wave getting progressively more uncomfortable. We stayed at home until the hospital called for us to come in for the induction. Off we went, Ian, my mom and I.
It was a long night. Even though I was in labour, I was induced, to pick things up. It helped, but it was till long and slow.
I was induced around 7pm, epidural around 2am, around 4am our baby’s heart rate dropped and things started getting crazy. The next couple of hours are a blur – lights flipping on, beeping machines, doctors, nurses, worried looks, talk of an emergency c-section, faster faster, you have one chance to push, let’s try, doctor comes in with a big plastic mask on that looks like a welding mask and gloves up to his elbows, forceps, vacuum, I’m shaking, thank God for the epidural. Our baby. 9 pounds 6 ounces. 6:04am Niko looked pretty beat up when he was born, from the vacuum (!) and forceps (!) Me, with a 3rd degree tear and hemorrhoids to prove it…but happyhappyhappy.
It’s a powerful force, giving birth- to feel your body just take over like that, to be so helpless.. Even though it was a scary experience, I have never felt so loved (by my husband, mom and sister who were there) and also so safe, so thankful to be in Canada, to know I would be well taken care of.
Much respect to the women of the world who have not been in such fortunate circumstances.
To sum up, I have since had another baby and it was an entirely different experience. I guess each delivery is as different as the little people, the little miracles produced. For both deliveries I was very very polite to the nurses and they were exceptionally nice back…”
That was how our labour and delivery nurse introduced herself when I was checking in to Regina General to deliver our first baby. I knew I was going to play nice. We were in a very good and happy space during my pregnancy. Ian and I were married on Labour Day in a barn on a hot, stormy night. We found out we were pregnant on our honeymoon and came home to move into our new house, which we had bought for $98 000. We were on top of the world.
I loved being pregnant; we both got fat and were so happy, setting up our little house, working hard, surrounded by family.
I was two weeks overdue and scheduled to be induced when my contractions started. They were slow and felt like waves of PMS rolling through my body, each wave getting progressively more uncomfortable. We stayed at home until the hospital called for us to come in for the induction. Off we went, Ian, my mom and I.
It was a long night. Even though I was in labour, I was induced, to pick things up. It helped, but it was till long and slow.
I was induced around 7pm, epidural around 2am, around 4am our baby’s heart rate dropped and things started getting crazy. The next couple of hours are a blur – lights flipping on, beeping machines, doctors, nurses, worried looks, talk of an emergency c-section, faster faster, you have one chance to push, let’s try, doctor comes in with a big plastic mask on that looks like a welding mask and gloves up to his elbows, forceps, vacuum, I’m shaking, thank God for the epidural. Our baby. 9 pounds 6 ounces. 6:04am Niko looked pretty beat up when he was born, from the vacuum (!) and forceps (!) Me, with a 3rd degree tear and hemorrhoids to prove it…but happyhappyhappy.
It’s a powerful force, giving birth- to feel your body just take over like that, to be so helpless.. Even though it was a scary experience, I have never felt so loved (by my husband, mom and sister who were there) and also so safe, so thankful to be in Canada, to know I would be well taken care of.
Much respect to the women of the world who have not been in such fortunate circumstances.
To sum up, I have since had another baby and it was an entirely different experience. I guess each delivery is as different as the little people, the little miracles produced. For both deliveries I was very very polite to the nurses and they were exceptionally nice back…”
