Third times the charm.
Right?
I seriously doubted
it.
I was happy to be pregnant again,
but filled with dread and apprehension.
Maybe I was going to be one of those women who could
never have children. I had began reading
about fertility and pregnancy loss. I
knew one more miscarriage would make me a “habitual aborter”. A terrible appellation. But necessary to get a doctor to take me
seriously and start testing. So, I was ready to
get this loss out of the way and move on to finding answers. I had a new OB. Dr S. had a problem with the anesthesiologist
at Texas County Memorial. He felt it
was unsafe to practice there, so he moved his practice elsewhere. If it wasn’t safe enough for him, it sure
wasn’t safe enough for me! So I started
looking. In No Man’s Land, it’s slim
pickin’s. I could go north, to Liberal
KS. Or south to Perryton TX. Or ninety miles east to Woodward. I’m a “Sooner, born and bred” and by golly
gum, no child of mine was going to be born in Texas if I had anything to say about it! So, Doctor H. of Woodward was an easy
choice. I fell in love with him right
away. He was very young, just starting
out taking over his dad’s practice. He
made me feel like I was his favorite patient.
He had a tragic story. His wife had just died from breast cancer, leaving
him with three young children. I felt
very sorry for him. You could see he was
hurting. I still pray for him from time
to time. He was an excellent
doctor. If I had any questions he
couldn’t answer he would say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” And he would.
He was never rushed. In hindsight
I find that quite remarkable. But, this
was Woodward after all. Maybe the pace was naturally slower. Maybe it
was because we were often the last appointment of the day. I just know I really appreciated the
time. I felt like I knew him. And I trusted him. My husband did too. He was able to accompany me to most of my
visits and I think that made all the difference in the world. Dr H. and Robert got along real
well. I think Robert felt like he had
entrusted his wife to a friend. Not just
some guy with forceps. The pregnancy
progressed well. I had a vigorous little
boy growing inside me. I was so happy, I
was bouncing off the walls! At five
months we went camping at Black Mesa.
Pregnancy didn’t slow me down one bit.
I was glowin’ and goin’!
I was
also learning. I love to read. So I read everything I could find about
pregnancy and birth. Eventually my
reading turned more to natural birth.
Homebirth was nowhere on my radar.
But natural birth, it made so much sense! My mother had 6 children naturally. So I had a good role model. From what I was reading (mostly activist books
from the 70’s and 80’s, we had a rather obsolete library) it was going to be a struggle to convince the
doctor not to cut an episiotomy, or force me to labor and push on my back , or
to not be shaved and prepped etc… I was
very glad to learn, after visiting with my doctor, that nearly everything in
those books are no longer routinely practiced.
Birth is such a more comfortable and family friendly experience these
days. I also learned to check the
publication date. If the book is older
than me, I probably shouldn’t waste my time reading it. Rob and I went to a birthing class. I watched a LaMaze video and read two Bradley
books. I was adamant that nothing and I
meant nothing would convince me to be induced.
I had heard my mother’s stories about how her first labor was the most
difficult because she allowed herself to be induced so her doctor could leave
the country. That was not going to be
me! Then my husband accepted a new job
in Miami, OK. I was due and we were
going to move in less than 2 weeks. I
very quickly decided that being induced was preferable to giving birth in a
U-Haul.
I still think that I made the
right decision. But I wonder if my labor
would have been any easier if it had started naturally. I labored without any medication for 11
hours. As the back labor increased I
became afraid that I would lose control and make a perfect idiot of myself. A cursing,
screaming, slobbering idiot. So I went
with the epidural after all. 11 hours
later I was ready to push. It seems like
the numbness had worn off by then. I
could feel everything pretty well. I was
so focused on pushing. It seemed like
only 30 minutes, maybe an hour had gone by.
Someone mentioned forceps. Which
I did not take well. Hadn’t my books
warned me about forceps? Then mom told
me I had been pushing for three hours and if we didn’t use forceps that I might
need a c section. So, forceps it must
be. And a 8lb5oz butterball named...
Time out!! Some of the blogs I read use pseudonyms and some of them don't. For now I will change the names slightly. If you know my family, you'll know who I am talking about...
Cy was born. On his due date. And, I must say, Doctor H. was very skilled
with the forceps. When we moved, 12 days
later, I stopped by his office on our way through town to say goodbye. I was very sad to leave his practice. He was my first real OB and I will always
have very fond memories of him.
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