We're Havin' a Baby... Part Two!

Part Two of a story... read first part HERE.

Prenatal classes had informed me about having to push out the ‘afterbirth’ or placenta shortly after the baby came out. I had no idea what this entailed or what it looked like as it wasn’t something they’d shown on the 200 plus birthing TV shows I’d watched up to this point; in each episode baby would come out – cut to getting in the car going home scene.
A chill came over me as the water crossed over to the cool side of tepid. My body began to shake a little, Beth telling me that hormones were now flooding my body causing me to quiver. The baby was taken from my arms to get cleaned up and checked out.

“OK Dalyn let’s get this placenta out! Puuuuushhhhhhhh!” Beth pulled on the cord and the water went from clear to a deep shade of red. I lay there calmly, not knowing what to expect… What was normal in such situations? How long does it normally take to get these things out? Why is the water red? When can I hold my baby again? A few minutes passed with no result and I was pulled from the water, dried off and helped over to the bed we had set up in the living room. I lay there naked with a towel draped over me and they placed the baby at my breast. I looked down at her perfectly squishy face. Her mouth opened and took in my nipple… and she had her very first meal. Now, normally the baby staring to feed tells something in my body that its time to release the ol’ placenta, but for some unknown reason my uterus just wasn’t going to let it go. The midwife gave me a shot in the leg – oxy-something-or-other and minutes later I felt a surge within me… the contractions were staring again! They increased in length and then in pain, but still no afterbirth!
“OK Dalyn, were going to get you to stand up and push. Zol, you’re going to have to take the baby OK?” His face was stricken with the “But I don’t even know how to hold a baby!” look. Taking off his shirt he sat there on the couch, cradling our baby as I was lifted up to stand. Jess stood by my side, looking concerned. Beth pulled and pulled on the cord…. Nothing. More pulling… nothing. With blood dripping onto the pad below me Beth said, “Well Dalyn! The good news is your blood is clotting nicely!” I looked at Jess as she said this. Standing there naked, umbilical cord swinging between my legs I cracked a smile at Jess and gave him the two thumbs up signal. He smiled back nervously, returning my hand gesture. What better time for a little comedy?

A wave of exhaustion fell over me, and becoming dizzy I was laid back down. The painful contractions continued, but with nothing to show from them and with the clock ticking, Beth made an executive decision. We were going to the hospital. An ambulance would be arriving any minute to pick us up. Oh… OK. I hadn’t planned for this… I hadn’t planned for this at ALL. In my blind belief that nothing would send us to the hospital on the night of the birth, the personal bag for the baby and myself had not been packed. Jess raced about the house trying to put together what he thought might be useful for my stay there. Standing in the doorway, he held up a pair of 5 year old ‘period’ underwear that NOBODY was ever suppose to see (ladies, you know the ones I’m taking about!?). “Will these be OK? Do you wear these?” I nodded in embarrassment and he disappeared again to gather more things.

“The ambulance won’t have the siren on will it?” I asked desperately. A needle was being jabbed into my wrist for the second time, and an IV bag was then hooked up to it. Things began to happen quickly around me in preparation for the paramedic’s arrival. I heard footsteps on the staircase outside and looked up to see two men standing calmly in the doorway. Dizziness set in again…
Lifted into a sitting position, my head swelled with the heaviness of passing out… a dead weight inside your brain that you are unable to fight. Blind spots flashed in front of my eyes and my head bobbled in its fight to stay alert. They laid me down again.

A stretcher was brought in, a special one that was made for the sitting up position. Turns out that due to the big staircase out front I would have to be transported down the stairs in this ‘sit-up’ gig, and once down they would place me on the real stretcher, pop me into the ambulance and then speed off to the hospital. Sounds simple right? I suppose, so long as you haven’t lost a lot of blood and having painful contractions every few minutes. The paramedics lifted me up in their first attempt to place me in the seat. Never having passed out before I didn’t realize I was until the room went black before me within a matter of seconds. Back on the bed, lying down again, the dining room light came into view swinging above my head. Waiting until I’d gained full consciousness, they tried a second time and this is where everything just became a blur. I could hear metal clicking and clacking as they strapped me into the seat… my head was fizzy with lightheadedness, loose on it’s bearings and bouncing around like a bobble head doll. I felt myself being lifted up, and then tilted back in an attempt to get the blood back into my brain. A rush of cool air surrounded me and I saw the streetlight dancing through the trees. I heard footsteps going down the stairs… more clicking and clacking, I couldn’t stop my head from swaying side to side. At this moment something occurred to me. I could die. I could be dying right now… oh my god I had NOT planned for this! Then the weirdest thing happened. In a half awake state, my mind propelled itself into the middle of a dream – the kind you have when you are sleeping. I have no recollection now of what the dream was about, just that it was a short clip that had no beginning or end and made no sense at all. I felt my body laying flat now, blankets being wrapped around me. I opened my eyes to see an Indo woman in what I thought was a paramedic’s uniform looking down at me. She was saying something… everything went black. She was saying it again…

“Dalyn, Dalyn stay with me OK? It’s Beth, OK look at me… Dalyn, it’s me Beth!” I squinted my eyes but still only saw an Indo woman looking at me. I heard the sound of wheels on cement, the front gate clinking… it was so cold! Then LIGHTS! Big bright circles of light shone above me. I was in the ambulance now. A surge of pain rocked my body as my uterus contracted. “Good, good, you’re doing GREAT Dalyn.” Now I saw Beth beside me, her face shadowed from the blaring overhead lights. The ambulance began to swing back and forth as it traveled down what must have been the most potholed street in all of Vancouver! “So! The babies name, Graye… how do spell that?” I was confused by her question and a tad annoyed. You’re asking me how to spell my daughters name? “Ummm… G-R-A-Y---E… it’s… it’s a family name… OH GOD! IT HURTS!” I moaned and moaned my way through the contraction. Beth carried on with ‘light conversation’ all the way to the hospital. I realized later it was to keep me awake and coherent as my body was doing it’s best to pass out again.

Cue theme song to the show ER! Rolling down a sterile hallway, Beth at my side, people in scrubs passing by, long florescent lighting flashing above my head. Rolled into a room, another needle for another IV being poked into my arm, I came to as another contraction rolled through me. “Make it stop! PLEASE, just make it stop!” The events before me blurred again, doctors and nurses coming in and out. Then the familiar faces of Zol and Jess appeared, our baby swaddled in Zol’s arms. I smiled at him, his face racked with concern and confusion. Time moved slowly and after what seemed like an hour a doctor appeared at my side.

“OK Dalyn, bla bla, bla bla bla bla, OK? Bla bla bla and then bla bla bla and worst case scenario we will have to remove your uterus, alright?” I looked into his eyes and nodded, pushing out the words “OK”… I turned to see Zol’s face now ashen and white as a ghost from the doctor’s words. He handed off the baby to the midwife and leaning forward placed his head between his hands. Two seconds later his head lifted, his eyes rolled around like marbles and then back into his head. His body became limp and he slid off the chair and onto the ground beside me! Another contraction turned inside me as the nurse and midwife straighten him out on the ground…

I was being wheeled down another hallway… lights above me as we traveled to the operating room. What felt like 12 people surrounded me, their many conversations filtering in and out of my ears.

“OH PLEASE! Please, please… make it stop!” ANOTHER contraction! Still they spoke over me for what felt like half an hour. What the HELL was taking so long!??! Haven’t they done this before??? A nurse placed a plastic mask over my mouth. I couldn’t breath I couldn’t breath I couldn’t BREATH! “I CAN’T BREATH!” She released the mask a bit and I felt air in my lungs again… still the talking… KNOCK ME OUT!!! Oh SWEET jesus! Just KNOCK me OUT!!! My body began to shake uncontrollably… it shook and shook. A different mask was placed over my mouth… the room finally faded…

To be continued….!