March 2020 was the start of the most bizarre of times we’ve lived in. COVID-19 was just starting to hit the states and times were very tough for many people. They had limited who could go into the hospitals. Luckily at that time you could still have one person with you so my mom was able to come to my normal appointments.
My last doctor appointment was Friday March 13. I was showing 0 signs of going into labor. My doctor said it was still a good chance I’d deliver on time.
I went to work the following week. My boss kept joking that I was going to deliver 2 weeks late because then all my shipments would be done. I kept telling him that I wasn’t going to deliver early. Well Krew had other plans….
Thursday March 19 I went to work as usual. Nothing was out of the ordinary. That night I was watching TV with my parents. Station 19 had just ended and Grey’s Anatomy was on next. I hadn’t watched the previous episode so I went to my room to catch up and my parents could keep watching. Around 9 pm I had just finished the episode and was going to start the next one. I was tired so I decided to roll over and go to bed. So I shut the TV off.
A few minutes later I got a pain in my stomach. I laid there for a bit thinking it was just gas. It went away so I tried to go to sleep. I was almost asleep and there it came back. This happened a few more times and I realized each was about 15 min apart. At this point I thought that maybe it was contractions but didn’t think it could be. I still had 2 weeks until my due date.
I started googling things to see if I could pinpoint what I was going through. I got up a few times and went to the bathroom still thinking it was really just gas. My mom had gone to bed so I couldn’t ask her anything. I remember I kept thinking how tired I was getting and that Friday was going to be a long day on no sleep.
The pain was getting closer and closer together. It was now just after 1 am and it was about 5 min in between each pain. I decided to call the birthing center. I told them I had no idea what to expect so wasn’t sure if it was contractions or something else. The told me to come in and get checked just to be safe.
I got up and grabbed my bags checking to make sure I had everything I needed (which ended up being way more than I actually needed) just before 2 am I woke my mom up and told her what was going on.
Back tracking a bit, my mom had been sick that week. She’d had a fever, really bad congestion and all the COVID symptoms. As we drove there I asked if they’d even let her in with her cough.
We got to the birthing center at 2:15 am. We walk In and they ask all the COVID questions. Have you been sick in the last 14 days, have you traveled outside the country? I answered no but obviously my mom answered yes. So they told us she couldn’t come in. All my emotions kicked in. Then I was extremely frustrated. The nurse just kept saying my mom couldn’t come in and I was just standing there. I just wanted them to check my out and see if I was in labor instead of telling me over and over about the COVID rules.
I have to pause here, my experience at the Birthing Center was so phenomenal! I’ll share more on this throughout this post. These few min of my frustration does not explain my experience there. I feel for all the nurses! No one should have to tell people they can’t have their loved ones with them during these times. No hard feelings towards that nurse I was just frustrated and didn’t need to be told several times. I 100% know she was doing her job and put in such a hard place.
So I finally asked if we could move on and get me back to a room. I had to put a mask on and go outside and go around back to my room. I got in my room and put my gown on. Now I’m all alone and my mom is out in the car. A different nurse comes in and checks me. She said I was dilated to a 2…..only a 2? Part of me was relieved that it was contractions I was feeling but couldn’t believe it was just a 2.
The nurse told me me that she wanted to call the doctor to see what to do. She came back a few minutes later saying that they were going to start me on an IV with fluids. She said that if you’re dehydrated sometimes your body will start contracting.
She tried to get an IV in my right forearm but had no luck. She tried in my wrist with no luck. Next she moved to my left forearm and got it but my vein blew. She went to get another nurse to try instead of poking me more. At this post I’m so frustrated, emotional and tired I didn’t even care that I was being poked a lot. The 2nd nurse came in and tried the IV in my hand. She got it but it hurt so bad. She thought it was up against a nerve and said she could try again if I wanted. I told her it was fine and that if it started hurting too bad I’d let them know.
Almost an hour went by pumping fluids. I was freezing from the fluids so the brought in heated blankets. It was nearly 4:30 am. I was texting my family keeping them updated. At first I was just texting my mom but she told me everyone was awake now because she was texting them so I moved to our family group text.
Once the fluids were done I was checked again. I was then dilated to a 3. The nurse called the doctor back. They were going to admit me.
At this point I’ve now been up 24 hours and I’m exhausted. Just when I’d get comfortable again another contraction would start back up. I was hooked up to the monitors to watch not only me but baby as well. I laid there listening to his heartbeat trying to find something to watch on tv.
Sometime around 6 I asked the nurse how the epidural worked. She explained that I need to keep in mind that it takes about and hour to get him in there and get it all hooked up. She told me to not wait until I can’t take it anymore because I’d still have a while. I told her they better get it ordered. At that point I just wanted to be able to lay there without the pain. I know it was a total mental game but I caved fast.
They had me get up and go to the bathroom because I wouldn’t be able to get up anymore. The anesthesiologist came in and got everything set up. The nurse came in and explained that she’d be there to help me. She gave me a pillow, had me sit on the edge of the bed with my feet hanging over. They raised the bed so I was eye level with her and put a stool under my feet. when it was time to do the epidural I had to lean over the pillow and hold as still as possible. Once it was in they had me lay back down. The doctor explained to me that as Krew moved lower right before delivery I was going to feel pain again. That’s because an epidural doesn’t work that low. It doesn’t mean it’s not working.
My dad came in just before 7 am so that I wasn’t there alone. Once he came it was all a waiting game. I was now dilated to a 6 so they didn’t think it would be much longer.
My mom had to go watch my nephew for a bit at 7 because my sister in law had a doctor appointment that morning. She was 8 months pregnant at this time. When she was done she came back and was sitting in her car. She asked if she could come stand outside my window to at least be somewhat there during the delivery. The nurses said that was fine.
That day I had several appointments. I had my weekly doctor appointment at 8, I told my nurse I probably wasn’t going to make that one. I had a wax appointment at 11 because I knew I was close and didn’t want to worry about shaving. And my mom and I had pedicures at 3. I asked my mom if she’d call and cancel them all.
The next few hours kind of all blend together but I remember the nurse asking met water broke. I told her that if it did I didn’t notice it. I said the only time I could have and me not notice is when I went to the bathroom. She said she couldn’t feel anything so she said it had to have broken but that I would have noticed.
It was now around 10ish I was checked again and the nurse said she thought it was go time. The delivery doctor came in (my doctor was off that day so it was the other doctor who was on delivery duty). My dad went out into the hallway. My mom was out side the window. The nurses brought her a box of Kleenex. It was so cold and snowing so they knew if she wasn’t crying she’d need a tissue for the cold. The doctor checked me to get ready but she said it wasn’t quit time. She said that he was also turned so she wanted to see if he’d roll over before I started pushing.
Over the next hour they tried a few different things to get him to roll over. I laid on my right side with a towel rolled up under my back. Around 11:30 my teeth started chattering. It was like I was cold but didn’t feel cold. The contractions were starting to hurt again. The nurse kept asking if I was doing alright, she could tell the pain was back by the way I was breathing. I was then checked again. He had rolled back over to where he was supposed to be. This is when they determined that my water had broke but because of the way he was laying he was blocking the water from coming out. When he rolled over all the water gushed out.
A few min later the nurse came in and I was shaking. She looked at me and said “yep, you’re ready”. She said it was the adrenaline and my body was telling me it was time to deliver. The doctor came in and asked me if I was ready. They explained to me how I needed to push and that they’d tell me when to push and when to relax. Everyone got in place, I had a nurse on each side of me. It was go time. At 11:48 am the next contraction started and they told me to push. When that one ended a nurse stuck her head in the doorway. She told the doctor they had an emergency and asked if she could come out in the hallway. I remember her so clearly saying “um no, I’m kinda of busy. He head is right here…” she then asked the nurse what was happening. She said it was a code green. The doctor told her to call all the doctors from EIRMC and get them here. She also said to call Dr Casper, who was my doctor. She said she be there as soon as she could.
I pushed through 2 more contractions. On the last one I pushed for 10 seconds and told them I couldn’t do it anymore. At 11:52 am Krew Lee Barrington was born.
He nurses held him up for my mom to see and then wiped him off a bit. They set him on my chest immediately. They put a diaper on him and a hat. At this time one of the nurses left and went to help with the emergency. The doctor finished what she needed to do with me and then left as well.
I’ll never forget how calm she was with me. She never made me feel like she was in a hurry to leave. She took her time and did everything she needed to do to make sure my deliver was successful. I’m so beyond grateful for her!
My dad came back in and got to meet Krew. He said it was crazy out there when the emergency was going on. He said that the nurse that was out there told him it wasn’t me and everything was good. He said that he knew when Krew came because he could hear him cry. Which is crazy because I remember him crying but it didn’t stand out to me.
He left shortly after that to go get some lunch with my mom. Over the next couple hours it was just Krew and I. He laid on my chest, skin to skin, for nearly 2 hours. After that they came in and did all his measurements and gave him his bath. He weighed 7 lbs, 1 oz and was 20.25 inches long.
I was brought some lunch and ate while Krew laid with me. I answered all the messages I had for everyone. I still hadn’t told many people that I was even in labor. Only a few friends and my family knew. My doctor as well as Krew’s doctor came in to check on us.
My dad came back around 5ish and spent a couple hours worth us. he finally got to hold him. Earlier in the day my dad had gotten a cough. I didn’t think anything of it. I thought it was just because it was so hot in my room and his throat was dry but I was wrong.
He left a few hours later. I was eventually moved to my overnight room. One thing I absolutely loved about where I delivered is that Krew got to be with me at all times.
The rest of the day was spent with just Krew and I. I thought I’d be able to finally get some rest but I just couldn’t sleep. It would get 15-30 minutes at a time before I woke up again. So I cuddled with Krew and watched TV.
The next morning my brother text me and asked how I was doing. That’s when I learned that during the night my dad had gotten really sick. He obviously couldn’t come in to see us and because he was my designated person that meant I was to be there alone.
I was originally told we’d be there 24-36 hours after Krew was born. But because my mom had been sick, Krew’s doctor didn’t want us going home that soon. looking back I wish I wasn’t in such a hurry to get out of there. They treated us so dang good and it was alone time that we won’t ever get back. We ended up staying until Sunday. Uncle Ry had to come pick us up.
I wish I would have wrote all this down while I was at the birthing center. I feel like I have forgotten so many of the little things.
M&K Adventures 