THE LENTZ'S: Our Ordinary Miracle

I heard this quote before Will was born, but didn't fully appreciate it until after:

"Childbirth is the ordinary miracle, you can't believe it happens everyday."

Birth Story- Part One

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was overcome with horribly itchy feet and hands. I would lay awake at night digging at my feet. I can't tell you how many times I got out of bed in the middle of the night to soak my feet in ice water, put on anti-itch lotion, anti-itch powder, or sit and scratch using my super long back scratcher (of course, b/c there's no way I could really reach my feet with my hands!). Anyway, it was Sunday, April 19th at 2:00 am and I had woken up because my feet were driving me crazy. So I sat up to get my back scratcher when I felt that something was wet- (down there... sorry!). I wondered if I had wet the bed- not because I had before, but because I had heard that pregnant women do that sometimes. So I get up to go to the bathroom, and that's when the water starting running down my legs and onto the bathroom floor. I flipped on the light and bent down to look at it closely. It kept coming and was clear- not pee. All I could say was, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," and then, "Um, Steven, I think my water just broke". Two and a half weeks early! Did not expect this!

So he jumped up and examined the growing pool on the floor. Thankfully, just that night I had watched a Lamaze video and I guess Steven had heard it while he was cleaning. He had decided that the house should be completely cleaned and our bags put by the door just in case something happened soon (strange!). So anyway, he recalled exactly what the video said to do: "Stop, sit down, note the time, call the doctor". I was not having any contractions at all, so we decided that things were probably not going to be happening any time soon. Steven took a shower as I tried to manage the flow of water coming out of me. I must have soaked at least 4 washcloths before we even left the house and then another walking into the hospital.

What a crazy feeling! So surreal! You imagine it in your head for 9 months, but when it finally comes time, you just can't believe it. We get to Labor and Delivery, where they put us in a room and hooked me up to the monitors. Then they got this little piece of litmus type paper to test the fluid coming out of me to see if it really was the "baby water". The paper did not turn blue. The nurse then begins to explain that many pregnant women pee in their sleep and get confused. I tried to tell them that I DID NOT PEE. So two hours and two litmus tests later... they finally believed me, admitted me, and started my I.V.

The monitors were showing contractions, but I was not feeling a thing. The nurse decided to start me on some Pitocin unfortunately. When I got there I was dilated to a 2.5. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to wait until I could actually feel a contraction before getting the epidural. Let me just tell you now that at no point did I ever entertain the idea of not getting an epidural. Anyway, the nurse upped the "pit" drip and about an hour later I began to feel a little bit uncomfortable, at which point I asked the nurse to go ahead and call the anesthesiologist b/c I had heard it can take awhile to get that ball rolling.

That's when things started going downhill.. this is getting too long, so I'll try to abbreviate the next few hours...

I went from 3cm to 7.5 cm in one hour- the hour that it took the anesthesiologist to drive in from EGYPT! I have never begged for help more in my life! I thought I was going to break the bed rails off.

Pain doctor finally arrives, and thanks to the I.V., I was so swollen and puffy that he had to stick my back three times because he "couldn't find it". After it was in I was able to relax for awhile.

Finally, I reached 10 cm, but the baby was not low enough so we waited about another hour for him to come down some more. The nurse decided it was time to push around 1:00. The contractions were so strong. I couldn't believe that I was feeling so much with the epidural. I could move my legs and everything (which is what they want-but not me!). Anyway, little baby boy was stuck behind my pubic bone. Steven and the nurse held my legs while I pushed for 2 1/2 hours. I was so exhausted and literally thought I was going to die. I couldn't see straight. I thought I was passing out. It was so hot in there- ice chips do not help! I kept begging for someone to help me and get that baby out. Eventually, the doctor did an episiotomy and used the vacuum to help sweet Will out. I was in so much pain and was really freaking out, I barely even got to see my boy. They didn't even bring him right to me like I wanted. Honestly, it was probably best b/c I was still gripping the bed rails. The doctor came back in and gave me some more epidural b/c I was in so much pain. All I could think was, "There is no way people do this every day!"

Once the stitching was done with my level 4 ( or stage 4 or something) incision, I was able to hold my baby and relax a bit. I just couldn't believe he was really there and that I had pushed him out! Honestly, I was also feeling very let down that his birth had been so horribly traumatic for me. It was just awful, not how I wanted it to be. I didn't think it would be a cake walk, but I thought at least with an epidural it wouldn't be so bad!

At least I had my precious boy. I was in love!

The rest of the story is awful and wonderful, but that will have to wait for another post. The following pictures are out of order. sorry