Tyson Chase Kimball

Tyson Chase Kimball
5/6/2010
9lbs. 5oz.
21.5 inches

We had been planning for a Cinco de Mayo baby. I was scheduled for induction 5/5/10, 5:30am. I called the hospital that morning to discover that they were full to capacity and to call back @ 7:30am. Same response, call back @ 9:30am. At 9:30 they still didn't have room, and my Doctor had asked that if they couldn't get me in by 10:30am that I wait until that evening when she would be available the next morning for the delivery. It wasn't what I wanted to hear as I was already past due and couldn't wait to get our little guy here. Also, with the prospect of no epidural, slightly nervous. This is when we should have realized nothing was going to go as planned. We arrived at the hospital that evening at 9:00pm. Blessings abound as things had greatly slowed down at the hospital, and I am sure we were lucky to get the best nurse possible. I got changed and they started an iv and the pitocin. Before they bumped it up, they had every anesthesiologist in the hospital going over my charts to see if it would be possible to put the epidural in higher and thread it down to where it would be effective. An hour later and the consensus: that it wouldn't be worth the risks; no epidural administered. The pitocin is bumped up and contractions begin. After two hours, I'm checked and contractions have increased in intensity, but dilaton has not progressed. Pitocin increased. Poor Phil, has pulled out the "comfy" chair bed, put in his ear plugs, and his eye shades to attempt to get some rest. Unfortunately, the tv in our room left little to be desired and having only three channels to choose from, which by the way were so fuzzy it was hard to tell what was on, I settled for listening to Bear Gryllis explain how to escape from a burning vehicle. Pitocin increased. Contractions have increased dramatically in intensity. I couldn't get comfortable at all laying down, so I sat on the side of the bed and rocked back and forth. Checked again, finally to a 4. Pitocin increased. Water breaks. For two hours I was in immense pain, trying to remember all the advice from those who had gone unmedicated... unfortunately, nothing seemed to help, I was having no "down" time between contractions. Once they got unbearable, they checked again and I had gone from a 4 to a 10 in 2 hours. Time to push. Luckily my doctor was on her way. I have to tell you this is where I teased Phil that what happens in the delivery room stays in the delivery room. I really didn't picture myself as a screamer, I thought I would just internalize it and use that energy to help push. It wasn't pretty. I screamed. Louder than I thought possible, and the moaning was completely off key. They were able to do a pudendal block which helped immensely with the pressure, but did nothing for the contractions. They kept losing Tyson's heart rate if one of the doctors wasn't holding his head up, so as I'm having these unbearable contractions I have a dr, holding his head, and nurses pushing down on my stomach. I had to have oxygen and I think the real reason they put the mask on was to try to muffle the screams. I pushed for about an hour until my doctor arrived. She is amazing. She quickly assessed the situation, and she and a resident started pulling on Tyson with each push. He was posterior and turned just slightly, so she was trying to get him turned and ready to enter the birth canal. Even though I was to a 10 he was still up very high, and not descending with any of my pushing. Which was killing me. The nurses were wonderful, so encouraging and calm. Phil was trying desperately to help, I could tell he just wanted to take away all the pain, but holding my hand would have to suffice for the time being. There were at least 10 people in the room. My theory is they wanted to see who could possibly be making noises like the ones coming from my room. I could hear people whispering, but didn't dare open my eyes, clinching them and my teeth as hard as possible seemed to help. As I was desperately praying that he would come with each push, my doctor suddenly stopped everything to explain what was happening. He was up too high and not moving with my pushing, his heart rate was all over the place, and I was wearing out. So before it became an emergency she suggested we do a c-section right then. Instant peace. I knew I wasn't going to be able to push for much longer. They quickly wheeled me down the hall, thankfully, it was only two doors down, and prepped me for surgery. They would try a spinal block, and if that didn't work, general anesthesia would be used to knock me out. I was moved, and sat upright for the block. I have to mention that L&D nurses are saints. Our nurse held my shoulders still and let me use her shoulder to rest my head as I moaned (I'm sure in her ear) through each contraction as they tried 5 times to get the block past my scar tissue. Finally success. Again I have never been more grateful for modern medicine, instant pain relief, and now Phil would be able to be there for our son's birth. I do remember thinking how handsome Phil looked in his scrubs :). An incision was made and had to be made even bigger to get our little guys shoulders out. There were a couple of tense moments as the doctor kept saying come on little guy and there were no sounds coming from the other side of the sheet. Tyson had swallowed a bunch of blood and fluid and pediatrics had to suction him before we got the sound we were waiting for. Those amazing first cries that assure you all is okay. My doctor was amazed by his size and the doctors were taking bets on how much he weighed. He was whisked off to the nursery (as is protocol with c-section babies) and we were off to recover in our room. Phil is very convincing and when he went to go peek on him in the nursery, came back with him so I could meet baby Tyson. He has been the best little guy and we are completely enamored with him....