Nathan's Birth Story

Thursday, October 17
3:30pm  Arrive at SMH for induction

4:00pm  Hooked up for fetal monitoring

5:00pm  Checked by Dr Elaine Peterson, 1 cm dilated.  Induced with Cervadil.  Apparently my ultrasound from Tuesday showed high amniotic fluid levels (Polyhydramnios)...not high enough to induce me on Tuesday but high enough that they're slightly concerned that if my water were to break while I'm at home that the umbilical cord might come out first...so they're admitting me for the evening in anticipation of a possibly quicker delivery.  Once we were settled into our hospital room my Mom and I started walking the hallways, just like with Matthew and Kayla's pregnancy, in hopes of starting my contractions.

Friday, October 18
9:00am Finished breakfast (nasty hospital food).  Had random contractions last night, but nothing regular and I think only when I was awake.  Am waiting to be seen by the dr for the day so that the can do another cervix check to see if I've dilated more and can go on oxytocin or if they have to put a new Cervadil in me.

10:45am Checked by Dr. Ng.  1-2cm dilated.  Dr. Ng decided to remove the Cervadil and said I could get started on Oxytocin...we just had to wait for a nurse to become available to sit with me one-on-one to monitor me while being on Oxytocin.  They figured it would be a 2-3 hour wait.

2:50pm Cervix swept by Dr. Deidre Smith.

3:28pm Still waiting for a nurse to be available so that I can be put on Oxytocin.  Contractions have definitely slowed down and are irregular.  Mom says, "This is bullshit."  We think she's tired of waiting.

4:45pm No nurses available still, so Dr. Smith suggests that I go back on Cervadil because at least it's something...and maybe it's all my body needs.  Head back to Triage and Assessment to have fetal monitoring done again.  Jon went home to pick up a few things and to say hi to Matthew and Kayla.

5:10pm Second round of Cervadil started.

8:15pm Mom heads home as nothing is really happening.  Jon and I start getting ready for bed in hopes of getting some rest in case labour/contractions pick up overnight.

8:30pm Contractions have definitely picked up and become consistent/regular.  Jon calls for the nurses to let them know.

9:24pm Checked by Dr. Smith, am now 3-4cm dilated and so my water is broken.  Jon calls Mom to tell her to come back.  We are informed by the nurses that the Anesthesiologist is busy on a case.  If they call him out of the case, there is an emergency c-section that would probably require his attention first.  They are considering calling in a second Anesthesiologist.

10:00pm IV put in.  Tried laughing gas to ease discomfort but I didn't like it.

10:40pm Checked by Dr. Smith, am now 6cm dilated.  Started my first dose of Fentanyl (only allowed 6 doses) and felt very light-headed and dizzy.  Was told that they had called in another Anesthesiologist, but it would take 40 minutes for him to arrive and then there was still the c-section that had to be done.

11:10pm Checked by Dr. Smith, am now 8 cm dilated.  I remember saying to the nurse, "I'm not going to get an epidural, am I?"

11:25pm Checked by Dr. Smith, am now 9 cm dilated.  The nurses told me to lay on my left side to fully dilate to 10 cm because they thought the weight on it would help my cervix to finish dilating.  One nurse grabbed a towel to push at my rectum to prevent me from pushing.

11:43pm Started pushing.

11:59pm Nathan Herbert Struik is born, weighing 10lb 8oz, measuring 23" long, and has a head circumference of 38cm (average is 34cm).  Much larger overall than all the doctors had predicted (everyone had predicted an 8lb baby)!

12:06pm Anesthesiologist arrives.