Ridge's Birth Story

It all began around 9 a.m. on Friday, November 4, 2011. Previously, Cody, had planned a seminary party for that night (don't worry--it was with my permission) as nothing was progressing with the baby. Accordingly, I woke up on Friday and started cleaning. As I was vacuuming at 9 a.m., my water broke. Contractions started about an hour later. So what did I do? I started cleaning faster. Whether we were having a party or having a baby, I wanted the house clean! Then I got in the shower and got ready. Then I finished packing Jade's and my bags. Then at about 11/11:30 a.m. I called Cody, "Do you want to have this baby today?" His reply, "Can it wait until after noon?" Me: "Yah, that's what I was thinking. We would get Jade off the school bus at 12 and then head to the hospital." So that's what we did. Our friends came to pick up Jade just after 12 p.m., Cody and I grabbed some lunch, and then around 1 p.m. we hopped into a taxi to the hospital. By this time my contractions were getting pretty close together and pretty painful. That was the most uncomfortable taxi ride I've ever been on--every little bump hurt so bad! Good thing it was only a few minutes to the hospital!




To be admitted we had to check in at the Admissions Office.

The lady asked to see my appointment slip. Me: "Uhh... I'm going into labor." I gave her my Obstetric Record Card and she told us to sit down and wait. The wait seemed like the longest 15 minutes ever!! We kept asking each other, "Did she really just tell us to sit and wait?" Finally, around 1:30 p.m. an old man came to escort us up to the labor floor. We still kind of think he was a janitor or something because he wasn't dressed as a doctor or nurse and we did not see him again after that. It was kind of weird.

A nurse ushered me into the antenatal ward and into a hospital room with a bed and bathroom. As I was stepping into the dingy room, another nurse came in behind us and told Cody he couldn't be in there. He said okay and followed her out. I figured once they did the initial check, they would put me in a room and bring him back in. It was our understanding he could be with me throughout the entire labor and delivery. Wrong. A doctor came in, checked me, left without telling me anything, a nurse gave me some pajamas to put on, and I was taken to a room with seven (yes, seven!!) beds with ladies in pink pjs hanging out in them.

Now it was 2 p.m. A nurse hooked me up to a fetal monitoring unit and had me lay on my left side, staring at the the lady two feet away in the bed next to me with no curtain in between. And did I mention the sheets looked stained? But I didn't take a second look because I didn't even want to think about it.

I still hadn't been told anything--what the doctor saw or didn't see. Finally, around 2:30 p.m. I asked again what the doctor saw. There was confirmed leaking but I hadn't dilated at all. At some point in there, Cody had texted me, "Hey, what's going on?" It was only then I realized they hadn't told him anything either.

By this time I had realized where I was. I wasn't in the labor ward; I was in the antenatal ward, where women come and basically hang out until they actually go into real labor. I could tell I was the only person in that room actually having strong, regular contractions. A friend had told me about this place and that Cody could come in during visiting hours or I could go out to him. I had figured I wouldn't even be using that room because I wouldn't go to the hospital until I was actually in labor. Apparently I was wrong. I decide to go out to Cody. He had been sitting in the hallway by the elevators on a hard plastic chair (seen in picture below) just waiting and wondering. Now my contractions are so bad and so close together, I can't walk or talk during them and they're making me sweat. For some reason the pink pajamas remind me of one of those blow up sumo suits.


I decide to go back in and after a few more *painful* contractions I ask for another check (yes, I had to request an exam). Luckily, they pull a curtain around my bed now. Again, the nurses tell me I haven't dilated (though they didn't use that term--they said my "aux"? isn't open or something like that). I told them I want to go to a labor room, have an epidural, and I want my husband with me. Instead they bring in the doctor to do another check. I tell him what I want. He tells me as soon as my "aux" is open I can go into a labor room and I will probably dilate 1-2 cm per hour, we will have a labor pattern, and can then get an epidural. In short: they won't move me to a labor room. He suggests I receive some pain medication. Yes, please! But if I do, will I still be able to get an epidural? He tells me yes and a few minutes later they give me a shot of something (I don't remember the name) in my butt. Now it is 4:30 p.m., the contractions are 2-3 minutes apart, and are so painful all I can do is lay there on my side. I clutch my pillow and try to breathe through each one as they give me the shakes and sweats. Meanwhile all the other ladies in the room are just hanging out. I'm pretty sure my idea of actual labor and the doctor's is quite a bit different.

At 5:30 p.m. I can't take the pain anymore. As I hit the nurse call button to request another check, a contraction comes that is so painful, I can't help but scream. The nurses run in and do another check. I am already 4 cm!!! They rush me to the labor and delivery room, all the while I'm screaming "epidural, epidural." I think Cody is following after us, but come to find out later, he wasn't allowed in at first. They told him to wait while they ran some "tests." Then when they did let him in they asked him for the pads (we have to provide our own supplies at the public hospital: under pads, maternity pads, baby diapers and wipes, etc.). He pulled them out only to be told they were the wrong pads. Cody was livid, to say the least. After some arguing, the nurses win out and they send him down to Watsons to buy the right kind.

Meanwhile, I am still screaming and the nurses are trying to get me to change beds. How am I supposed to do that? I feel unable to move and control my body at this point. They help me over and through my screaming, they change my clothes (whose idea was it to put a laboring woman in pants in the first place?) and the nurses ask if I have the urge to push. I continue to scream "epidural, epidural," because I'm afraid if I admit that I do indeed have the urge to push, they won't give me one. They give me a gas mask and I think I blank out a little bit. They tell me to hold on, "baby is coming," and put my left hand on the bed rail and my right hand in Cody's. I look back and see that it is his hand, "Honey is that you?" I am so thrilled he is there all I can say is "I love you. I love you." He made it back (and at this point I didn't even know he had left). It was approximately 5:45 p.m. The first thing he asked the nurse was, "Have you given her an epidural yet?" The nurse told him, "No need, baby is coming." His reply, "No need? She is screaming!" Nurse (in all seriousness): "They all scream."

The nurses have started coaching me on when to push. I think to myself, "They are not going to give me an epidural. The only way to get this over with is to push him out." So I follow their direction and after what felt like maybe six pushes, Baby Ridge Cody Rowland was born.

He was born on November 4, 2011 at 5:56 p.m., 4.095 kg (9 lbs 1/2 oz.) in weight, 53 cm (20.87 inches) in length, and a 36 cm (14.17 inches) head circumference.


He is perfectly healthy and I am recovering well.