Reester's Birth Story

Warning: This is going to be a long, long post that I think is important to record for posterity. It also might be a bit graphic for those with weak constitutions. With that said, I will begin.

The day Matthew turned 1 I was so sad because my baby was "growing up". Yes, I was only 19 but I was desperate for another baby and in my young mind a 1 year old is no longer a baby. Laughable isn't it? A little sweet talking to my lovable husband and about a month later we were expecting. I was thrilled and due August 18. There were no problems with the pregnancy, just a little morning sickness that passed after the 3rd month.

Being pregnant in the military in Alaska was interesting. Normally you choose your doctor and see them every month. You know them. You trust them. They remember you. ( hopefully ) Well, in AK in 1994 you just saw who you saw and it's not real personal. I don't know if this is how it is everywhere in the military, but this is how it was with me. It was fine, I was young and really didn't know any better, I just wanted to have my check-ups and get out of there anyway.

To do all the hospital stuff you needed to travel to the army hospital in Fairbanks. It was about 1/2 hour drive. The things from those few check-ups that stick out in my mind are:
Long gray halls with metal chairs. Sitting in a long row of elevated chairs waiting to get my blood drawn, the nurse jamming the needle in my arm, then handing me a comment card to evaluate her and seeing at the bottom of the card a ruler to "measure the bruise". I think it was about 3 inches.

The OB doctors in the Air Force took turns working in the hospital 1 week out of the month. One member of our bishopric was an OB doctor and my greatest fear was that I'd be having Reece the week he worked there. My friends were so kind and teased me about this often. : )

Wednesday August 24: I'm 6 days overdue and VERY LARGE. And HOT. The summers in Alaska can be quite warm and this summer was no exception. We house-sat for friends that lived on the Air Force base and she ran a day-care. She had a fenced yard with a ton of little tykes toys and coming from an apartment it was heaven to let Matthew run outside on grass! I remember sitting on her bench reading with the sprinkler pointed directly at me. Heaven! Back to the 24th, I was supposed to call the hospital to see about being induced. They couldn't promise me but would call me back. So of course I'm in tears. They did call back that evening telling me to come in the next morning at 6:30 and they would apply proxiglandin gel to get things going. Yay!

Thursday August 25: Matthew is dropped off at a friends house and my mom is on a plane. Kurt and I nervously drive to the hospital and get settled there. The gel is applied and the waiting begins. A few pains here and there, nothing to write home about. More waiting, then they decide to start pitocin. It's well into the afternoon by now and my friend has gone to the airport to pick up my mom. As they walk into the room I think I hear a familiar voice in the hall. I look up at Linda and she nods yes, Brother Hubner (from our bishopric) is working this week. Panic shot straight to my heart. He of course was very kind and pleasant, I was just 20 years old and wanted to run home immediately. But as all you mothers know, as the pain intensified the panic and worry over something so stupid fizzled away. By the end of the day I believe I was dilated to maybe a 1. (I never got over a 3 with Matthew before my c-section. I was desperate to have Reece naturally)

Friday August 26: (my brother's 18th birthday) More ladies are coming in to have babies and they needed my room so they kept shifting me around from room to room and at one point I was in recovery. Picture an old war movie hospital scene. A long room filled with beds separated by sheets. This was the recovery room I was in with all the new mommy's and their little babies while I was laboring to have mine. These women came in, had their baby, and went home so by Friday night there were rooms available for me again. We had thought Reece would share a birthday with Mitchell. Nope. I think I was dilated to a 4.

Saturday August 27: (our 2nd anniversary) By this point I'm not doing too well. Pitocin this long isn't ever a good idea. I don't remember much from this day, I know they were giving me demerol to ease the pain. I remember my mom cross-stitching a Christmas stocking for my nephew with a Santa on it. I remember Kurt holding my hand and trying to sleep. They told me later I would sleep in between contractions but when the contractions would hit I woke up and cried for the doctor to give me drugs. They had to tell me I was already receiving drugs but I didn't believe them. They also told me I was talking about Santa coming? I'm sure because of the stocking! Later that day my water broke and nothing hurt more. It was like inside me there was a rubberband and Reece grabbed on, pulled it back and snapped it, breaking my water. OUCHY! Brother Hubner was thrilled after that because I jumped to a 6 pretty quick but the contractions were more than I could bear. I was exhausted. I wanted to go home. I missed Matthew. I was done. So Kurt said "get her an epidural NOW" Here comes the really fun part. There wasn't an anesthesiologist in the hospital. He was on-call so they called him and here he came with his motorcycle helmet in hand and a frown on his face. I don't think he was too thrilled with me for needing an epidural on a nice sunny day. He was very grumpy while he was telling me the risks, yelling really, and I wasn't sure anymore that I wanted to do this but Kurt said "YES YOU DO!" So I did and oh my. It was the best thing in the world. I was happy. I was smiling. I was alert and coherent. And by late that night I was at a 10. Oh happy day I get to push. I pushed and pushed and pushed. Reece never really dropped and was sunny-side-up so I would push him down, and the minute I stopped he just went right back up. They had me pushing on my knees on the bed, rocking my hips trying to get him to turn around. No good. 3 hours of this and the "real" doctor finally comes in. He checks things out and declares that there's no way I'm going to have this baby without a c-section. I was devastated but so ready to deliver this baby my devastation didn't last long. So once again, I'm being prepped for surgery. As they wheel me down to the OR I'm really wanting to push but it doesn't do any good. Kurt is off somewhere else getting all scrubbed up to come in and I think my mom went and found a bed somewhere and crashed. We thought Reece would share his birthday with our anniversary. Nope!

Sunday August 28: I'm laying on a metal slab that's, I swear, 12 inches wide. My arms are extended straight out from my sides laying on their own little tables and a green curtain is hung down to my chest blocking my view. I guess the plan was to just keep the epidural in to keep me numb and usually they test the numbness by poking with a pin. The didn't test and just as Kurt is being led into the OR they begin to cut only I'm not numb anymore. I yell out that I can feel what they're doing and they immediately cover my face and put me to sleep. Kurt is stopped from entering and came dangerously close to punching out the nurse. Reece was delivered at 12:10 am weighing in at 8 lbs 4 oz. I was blissfully sleeping but my mom said she counted his fingers and toes then turned to Kurt and said "take me home!" I woke up in the same recovery room I had be laboring in 2 days ago. I thought the labor pains were bad but no. NO! I couldn't move any part of my body without it screaming at me. This isn't what it was like with Matthew and the only reason I can think of is when you get a spinal you're awake and slowly start to feel things again. When you're put to sleep you wake up and you're not numb at all and the pain was excruciating. They wheeled me back to another room, put me on a bed and that's when I got to see Reece. We thought we were having a girl. I was surprised to have another boy but absolutely thrilled. He had a LOT of dark curly hair and chubby cheeks. He was perfect.

You might think this is the end of the story. No my friend. Not yet.

I had this perfect little person, Kurt brought Matthew to meet his new brother and give his mommy a hug and my mom was there. It was all great but I was in agony. All the IV machines on my floor were broken. I wasn't able to eat anything yet so I was without pain meds. I remember one nurse helping me to the bathroom (helping me go to the bathroom actually, lovely I know) and I just broke down on her shoulder. She asked me what was wrong and I just looked at her like, seriously? I could barely get the words out "I'm tired of hurting" Finally they found me a machine that worked and eased the pain a little. I could enjoy my time with my baby. That night they came in to tell me that they were closing the hospital. Uh, what? I didn't know that could happen! They informed me I could be transferred to a civilian hospital but my baby would have to travel in a separate ambulance. (again, WHAT?) OR I could be released and go home. HOME! I want to go home! I'd been in that stinkin hospital for 4 days. That night Kurt came and brought Reece and me home. It was challenging recovering from a c-section at home with a 1 year old wanting his mommy's attention, but thankfully my wonderful mom was there and took care of everything. I don't know half of what she did because I was so out of it, but I will be forever grateful. I'm also grateful I was so young and I could bounce back quickly. Everything I went through was worth it to have Reece in our family.