The Births of Gordon
and Sara.
GORDON'S BIRTH
My name is Diana Bachmura. I have a wonderful husband and 2
beautiful children, Gordon age 3 and Sara age 1. Gordon was
ripped from my body in a traumatic cesarean section in a
military hospital on February 22, 1998. I was 2 weeks past
due (by the doctor‚s count), and as a military member
was 'ordered' to be induced. At 7:00pm on Thursday evening I
went to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, CA and Cervidil
gel was placed on my cervix. I then I went home hope hoping
labor would start. The following morning, (Friday), at
7:00am I went back to the hospital, having felt not one
contraction, to be hooked up to an I.V. with Pitocin. I had
complete confidence in my doctor. How could I have known
what was about to happen? At around 9am, after 2 bags of
I.V. fluid were pumped into me, the Pitocin was started. I
was barely contracting by 5pm even though the nurses kept
upping the "pit" So the doctor on call decided to stop the
pitocin for the night so I could either go into labor on my
own or get some rest and prepare for the hard work ahead. So
at 8am Saturday morning I was taken back to labor and
delivery (I had spent the night in the post partum ward) and
pitocin was started again. My contractions had all but
stopped during the night. By 11am I was feeling
uncomfortable for the first time. Also keep in mind I hadn't
eaten since 6am Friday. The nurse checked me and I was 4 cm
dilated. It was decided that my water was to be broke, and
that would speed things up. I don't recall being part of
that decision. By noon the contractions started coming on
strong and hard. My husband, Gordon, had gone to the airport
to pick up his mom; the baby was supposed to be here by now!
I asked for something to take the edge off, those pitocin
contractions were no joke! I was given something to drink so
I wouldn't get nauseous from the narcotic. I don‚t
think they ever asked me what I wanted or told me what they
were giving me. Things went downhill from there. I started
to feel like I was floating, then I started throwing up, and
throwing up, and throwing up. They continued to turn up the
pit and even though I was so high I could hardly speak, it
did NOT take the edge off. Those pit contractions were no
joke!
After half an hour later, approx. 12:30pm, I was begging
for an epidural, and thankfully it came quickly. From the
moment I started to feel the effects of the epidural, my
labor was a blur of sleeping, vomiting, periodic increases
in the pitocin, vaginal exams, and more vomiting. I was on a
fast I.V. drip because my blood pressure kept dropping. I
was starting to look very bloated by mid-afternoon; at least
that‚s what my mother-in-law and husband tell me. I was
pretty much a snoring blob. By early evening the pitocin was
at the maximum level and not much was happening. As soon as
the pit was turned up my contractions came on hard and fast,
but would peter out in about 10 minutes. I was dilated to
about 6 cm by now. The on call doc was getting concerned and
got authorization to turn up the pit some more. By around 9
or 10pm everyone noticed the urine bag had not been emptied
in a long time and the stuff that was in there was
fluorescent yellow. Around midnight I was at 7 cm, and talk
about a cesarean section started. At 4:45am Sunday, February
22, 1998, I was filleted and a beautiful 9lb 11oz baby boy
was yanked out of my stomach. I lay on the operating table,
convulsing, arms tied to the table, vomiting, with a tube
down my throat. Who cares how he was born? You have a
healthy baby, that's all that really matters right?
Ultimately, yes. However, I wondered what was wrong with my
body that I couldn't give birth as God intended?
In the weeks that followed, I was in and out of the
emergency room for uterine infections and external wound
infections. The tops of my feet were as big as grapefruits.
I couldn‚t roll over and pick up my crying baby. My
brand new son lost over 1 and 1/2 lbs in his first week of
life because the pain medication I was on were drugging him
as he nursed. He would wake up screaming every 1/2 hour
because he was starving. Of course the doctors said the meds
were safe for nursing and didn‚t figure it out until it
was almost too late. I pumped and threw it away while we fed
him formula until I was well enough to get of the meds.
Every year on my son‚s birthday my mother in law calls
me to say, "We almost lost you that day, I'm glad you're
here." My recovery was long and difficult. Would I ever
elect to do this again? NO WAY! It took a long time and a
lot of research, but I would try a VBAC at home next
time.
SARA'S BIRTH
This time was going to be different. I had researched
books, magazines, and statistics. I even spoke with a few
women who had done it. I needed to find a doctor who would
support me while I did it; a vaginal birth after cesarean. I
went through 3 doctors before I found one who trusted in the
birth process. The closer I got to labor the less I wanted
to go to the hospital. Then it happened, at around 35 weeks,
we decided to birth at home with an incredible midwife team
and a doula whom I‚d hired when I first got pregnant.
My doctor gave his blessing. He knew and trusted the
midwives I had chosen and agreed to be my back-up doc.
On Saturday afternoon, the contractions I had been having
for weeks changed. I started feeling them in my back. I
called my doula, Leslie, and asked her to come over and give
me a massage. I didn't know if this was it, but I needed
some relief, (Leslie is a massage therapist - bonus for me!)
I began scrubbing the floors and bath tubs etc - in case
this was it; I couldn't have everyone coming over to a dirty
house! Leslie arrived around 7:45pm and set up her table. By
now I was hurting pretty bad in my back, I suppose scrubbing
the floor on my hands and knees didn't help that much!
From around 8-9pm I began to feel some relief from my
lower back pain as Leslie worked her magic. As I sat up to
get off the table my water broke. I guess this WAS it. Kaye
and Lindy, my midwives, arrived well, I don't know when. But
by midnight or so, Leslie had to go help another lady in
labor, so Amy, my friend, childbirth educator, and doula,
came over to help me. By the time she arrived, I was having
some pretty rough back labor. My baby had turned posterior
on me. I was vomiting every time I'd try to drink something,
and I was moaning very, very loudly. But I didn't care. Kaye
and Lindy had me try a few positions to try and get the baby
to turn with no success. Gordon, my husband, and Amy were
taking turns putting immense pressure on my lower back. The
contractions were coming back to back and incredibly strong,
but when they came down, the intense back pain was still
there. I was just not progressing, I was at 4 cm by 5am.
Around 5:15am we decided to transport to the hospital. Some
time before then Leslie had come back and Amy had gone
home.
We arrived at the hospital around 6am. As soon as I
checked in I asked for an epidural thinking if I could
relax, maybe that would help. So they paged the doctor, not
my doctor of course, his wife was sick so I had a back-up,
back-up doc. I was wearing a tank top and my robe. When I
got into a room, the nurse threw a paper gown on the bed and
told me to put it on. I asked if I could wear my own
clothes. She said it was against hospital policy. I told her
I would sign an Against Medical Advice waiver. She got angry
and left the room, but I was wearing my own clothes. Kaye
and Lindy left to take care of another lady in labor. It was
a full moon, there were lots of women in labor. The next
nurse who was assigned to me treated me with utter distaste
for trying to do this at home. I GOT another nurse assigned
to me. This labor was rough enough without having to fight
the staff too. The new nurse paged the doctor too. He didn't
respond until almost 9am! At home I was dealing with the
contractions, not very well, but I was making do. Now that I
was in the hospital, hooked up to and I.V. and fetal
monitors, I couldn't move. The pain in my back was
unbearable. At 8:30 my new nurse (the 3rd one now)
mercifully called for the anesthesiologist and said she'd
get ahold of a doc to order me an epidural. The guy came to
do my epidural at 9am and was astounded that I had asked for
it at 6:30. My husband and Leslie were not allowed to stay
with me during the procedure. He kept telling me to relax my
back - HA!
Right after the epidural started to take effect, the
doctor came to see me. Finally! He was very rude. He said
Babies die when people try homebirths, and a VBAC at that!
He told me I should just give in and have a c-section right
now because the baby was not going to come out of me unless
he took it. I begged for a chance to labor. I said that I
would not sign for a c-section unless he could give me a
valid medical reason; unless my life or the baby‚s life
was in danger. Then absolutely, until then hands off!
Visibly angry he said he'd give me 2 hours. No pressure.
Absolutely terrified and crying, Leslie called Kaye and
Lindy to let them know what was happening. True to his word,
the doctor showed up 2 hours later on the dot. He checked
the baby and I and we were both fine. I said no surgery. He
went away again and told my new nurse, (finally one who
treated me with an ounce of respect), to call him in an
hour. She didn't, she waited for him to call. When he did,
he wouldn't even speak to me. He asked to speak to my
husband. He told Gordon that I was being irresponsible, how
long was he going to let me do this. That's how babies die
you know! My poor husband.
I was progressing very, very slowly. The doctor came some
time in the late afternoon. The nurse told him I was a good
8 cm so he did a check too. He told her no way was I at 8cm,
he said I was only a 6 at best! He told me he'd like to get
this over with before dinner, and that if he left, he
didn‚t want to come back in the middle of the night. He
ordered pitocin to be started. I fought and lost. Crying
again, I called Kaye and Lindy, they were just finishing up
at the other birth and would be back in a little while. Poor
Leslie, this was more than she bargained for I think. Kaye
and Lindy returned and had an idea. They spoke to the charge
nurse who created a diversion down the hall. Kaye stuck her
arm up me, pushed the baby out of the birth canal, and
turned her. Bam! I was at 9 ½ cm with a little lip. Kaye and
Lindy and the charge nurse had me start pushing as they held
back the lip. I was doing it! This was really going to
happen. I'd show that jerk! But there was a lot of blood,
(probably from Kaye‚s arm inside me up to her elbow!)
But the charge nurse was concerned about uterine rupture.
The doctor called and ordered a blood test as it was getting
close to 24 hours since my bag of waters broke, and he
wanted to check for infection. I tried to fight it because I
didn‚t have a temperature, but I was getting tired of
fighting. The results of the test revealed a high white cell
count, (incidentally, it was the same as it was when I was
admitted but-) The nurse said it was probably from uterine
rupture, hence all the blood. That could kill my baby or me.
She also informed me that the doctor had begun
administrative procedures with the hospital staff to court
order me to have cesarean. I had lost. I signed the consent
form and started to cry. Gordon, Kaye, Lindy, and Leslie
tried to be supportive, but I had failed again. As I was
wheeled in to surgery and the stronger drugs began to take
effect, I fell asleep. Gutted again, a beautiful 9lb 10oz
baby girl was pulled from my belly. On the plus side, Gordon
and Leslie were allowed to be with me during the surgery,
although I wasn't aware of it.
The doctor asked Gordon if I had had problems with the
first surgery because there was a lot of scar tissue. I
believe his exact words were, "it‚s a mess in here!" My
uterus had adhered to my abdominal wall so completely, he
couldn't take it out to sew it up, (standard c-section
practice is to take the uterus out of the abdominal cavity
to repair it). He said he cleaned it up the best he could
and told my husband that from now on, I would need to
schedule a cesarean section. NO WAY! I'll never consent to
major elective surgery. Now I am on a mission.
|