9 years, 364 days ago

(WARNING: This is a birth story.)

I was pregnant. Very, very pregnant. For the fourth time, although the first three had been blighted ovums and hadn’t resulted in a baby. This time there was a baby and she was late. Very late and I was miserable. Steve was home now after being gone most of the pregnancy. He’d enlisted in the National Guard and spent most of my pregnancy stationed in South Carolina. He arrived home on May 8, the day after Autumn’s original due date.

I was supposed to be induced on May 16, but they decided I wasn’t ready after keeping me in the hospital all day. I wasn’t dilated at all and they decided to give me some cream to soften my cervix. When I left that day, I was cranky. I did not expect to be going home without a baby that day.

But on the 19th, Steve and I were back and at the hospital by 7 a.m. I was dilated to two. But this time they let me fill out the birth certificate information. We already knew Autumn was a girl. Nothing happened and hours passed. At 10 a.m., they gave me an I.V. and hooked me up to pitocin. My mom arrived and Steve headed home to get some sleep. He was convinced it was going to be a long night. My sister Dee stopped by. My mom left to get lunch, leaving my by myself.

A nurse came in and wanted me to roll over on my side. As I rolled over, my water broke! The nurse declared I was here to stay now. I was being admitted and I really wouldn’t go home until I had a baby to carry out the door with me.

They put straps across my belly, and found out I was dilated to a three. Autumn kept moving and they had a hard time getting her heartbeat. They wanted to attach a monitor to her head. The nurse tried twice, but Autumn was really active and trying to turn posterior. They transferred me to a birthing room.

My mom and Steve returned. Although Steve left again, this time with Dee, to eat lunch in the hospital cafeteria. My sister (a nurse) was working that day and was on her break. All the straps went back around my belly and they wouldn’t let me get up to go to the bathroom.

My doctor came in and discovered that Autumn got her way and she was posterior. I was dilated to a 4. At the doctor’s suggestion, I got on my hands and knees to get Autumn to turn back around. He attached the monitor to Autumn’s head so they were able to keep track of her heartbeat. And I began having back labor.

I’d now been dilated to a four for four hours and Autumn was still posterior. I was having all-body shakes and back labor. Dee and Steve took turns pressing against my back when I had a contraction. My mom wiped my face with a cool cloth. The doctor mentioned “c-section.” But Autumn turned around finally and when the c-section doctor checked, I’d progressed. I was now at a 6!

The c-section doc went out and at 6 p.m., my doctor checked again and I was at a 10! Those last four centimeters happened in less than a half hour. Steve held my left hand. My mom was down by my left knee and my sister, Dee, was by my right foot. Dee’s shift had ended at 6 p.m. Time to push. I pushed once, grunting. Autumn’s head came out, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. My mom gasped when she saw that. But the cord was loose and Autumn arrived without a problem. Steve cut the cord.

Then the nurses took Autumn to a corner of the room and cleaned her up and did tests. I waited, holding Steve’s hand. He stayed by me, but my mom and sister went to get their first glimpse of Autumn.

I remember the doctor holding up Autumn’s placenta, examining it and giving Steve and I a mini biology lesson. Her placenta was starting to deteriorate, and he showed us where there was now scar tissue. He estimated she was well over two weeks late.

They finally brought Autumn back and I was able to hold her. She didn’t have any of the white cheesy stuff newborns have. She was that overdue. Her skin was so soft. My nephew said she felt like a teddy bear.

My mom, sister Dee, and Steve were all in the birthing room with me. As were about 10 various nurses and doctors. Autumn was born at 7:10 p.m. She was 8 pounds, 2 oz and 20 inches long. Despite the scare during delivery, her apgar score was 8 at one minute and 9 at five minutes. She had a ton of hair and her fingernails and toenails were so long! Her skin was dry and peeling. Her fingernails had grown over the tip of her finger.

Autumn had deep dimples by her knees and elbows. I knicked her finger when I tried to trim her fingernails, making her bleed. And boy did she holler too!

Soon everyone went home to rest and I spent time alone getting to know Autumn. I remember watching the news, holding Autumn and hearing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died of cancer at 11 p.m. The nurses came and took her back to the nursery, but I kept getting up and getting her because I didn’t want to be apart from her. But everytime I fell asleep, they’d take her back to the nursery. Then I’d wake up and go retrieve her.

I didn’t remember all of this. I wrote each of my kid’s birth stories in their baby books just days after they took place. I referred to Autumn’s baby book when writing this for the details.

Autumn Lee Sherwood, May 19 1994, double digits.

Happy Birthday to Autumn. Now let’s hope I survive the birthday party on Friday.