Birth Story of Jeffrey Todd, Jr

Jeffrey Todd, Jr
August 13, 1995
8 lbs. 12 oz.

You were born on Aug. 13th, 1995, weighing in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. You were somewhere between 21 1/2 inches and 24 inches, depending on who measured you! Your head was a whopping 16 inches! You were in the correct position to be born and I almost didn't make it to the hospital with you! After 24 and 26 hour labors I didn't know what a short labor was like!

At about 3 p.m. on the 12th of Aug. I felt sore in my lower back. I stretched and layed down and soon found comfort enough to fall asleep. At about 7 p.m. your daddy didn't think he had to worry about me being in labor and even if I was he'd still have time to run to the airport and back to pick up his brother anyway. By 9 p.m. I was so uncomfortable I couldn't really sit or stand. I had no regular contractions, just some pressure. I couldn't tell if it was labor or not, but I knew if it wasn't that something was wrong. I called the dr. and he said to go ahead and come in and be checked. It was Saturday night and your induction was scheduled for Wednesday anyway. You were a big baby and the dr. wasn't sure if I'd be able to deliver you if you got much bigger!

You still were only 37 weeks. Daddy got home shortly after I got off the phone and we packed up your brother and sister and took them to Grandma and Grandpa's. While waiting for Daddy to finish chatting (he knew he was in for a long haul!) I started to feel really strong contractions and yelled at him to hurry up! On the way to the hospital the contractions got so strong we wondered if we should just pull over and call an ambulance. We kept going. I couldn't sit very well through the contractions and was almost standing, if you can imagine trying to stand in a little car! I had remembered to waterproof pad on the seat in case my water broke, but hadn't brought anything else in case you would be born before we could make it.

When I got to labor and delivery it was not a hospital I had been to before, but I had been in once for a preterm labor check so we were pre-registered. Nobody could find our papers and it was 11 p.m. when we arrived. An admitting clerk was asking all kinds of dumb questions and bugging me. Finally, I yelled at her. Just before she came in the nurse determined my water had broken on the way to the hospital and I was dilated to 9. I got so frustrated and was yelling for pain medicine hoping for an epidural, but not anethesiologist was available. Have some nubain they said. That shot was a joke! I was so angry my labor stalled at 9 cm!

Finally they got the admitting clerk out of the room and I called my mom. She's a massage therapist and talked me through my contractions. Finally a dr. was available so I could push. Your head popped out and then your shoulders. It was 12:21 A.M. I was still on the phone to your grandma! I told them you were to be breastfed only and they fed you water and whisked you away to the nursery before I could hold you. I was taken to a post-partum room and told to get some sleep. They didn't tell us why you were in the nursery and wouldn't let Daddy go with you. I was angry and crying. I asked several nurses where you were. I wasn't their patient so they didn't know. They said they had a nurses shortage that night and were busy. At 5 A.M. I threaten to call and report them for kidnapping if someone didn't bring me my baby! The nurse looked shocked and said she didn't know I wanted my baby and he was just in the nursery. They brought him right to me. I left early that day, because I was so angry about the way I was treated. I was bleeding a lot, but the dr. had given me a shot right after you were born to help with the bleeding. I swore I'd never have a baby in that hospital again!

On a lighter note. I was so prepared at home for your birth that I had bought over 300 diapers so we didn't have to stop at the store on the way home like I did for your sister. It didn't take long for you to catch up to your brother. He is only 13 1/2 months older than you.