Sarah's Birth Story

Sarah Grace Dean is finally here! After 9 plus months of waiting and dreaming of "Baby Dean," not knowing who he or she might be, we have finally met HER!!! David and I have thoroughly enjoyed these first five or so days of her life, learning her various gas faces and favorite movements and what soothes her to sleep (sometimes) and how to wake her from her beloved mid-feeding naps! I realized today that ALREADY the pain of labor and the details of that day were fading in my mind in light of the joy of having Sarah with us, so before I get too forgetful I would share with you all (and record for the future) the story of the day(s) Sarah was born:

It all started on Thursday. My mom arrived in Thailand on Wednesday, and I was feeling fantastic. So Thursday we decided we'd go into town for some shopping and pedicures and dinner out before my OB appointment that evening. Unfortunately I was feeling kind of crappy on Thursday--just extra tired and kind of crampy, lots of lower back pain, etc. But we decided to go for our fun day out anyway. I remember walking in the mall--if I walked or stood up for more than 3 minutes at a time, I'd have to sit down for 5 to rest! Still, the pain I was feeling didn't feel like contractions, so I never thought I might be in labor. At our OB appointment that evening, the doctor informed us that the baby had un-dropped! I mentally prepared myself that Baby Dean's arrival was still a way's off.

That night at midnight, my water broke. It was the wierdest sensation, but I will spare you the details and just suffice it to say I KNEW what was happening. So, suddenly, we knew the Baby was coming! In the states and in Thailand they don't let you go beyond 24 to 48 hours after your water breaks before the baby is born, one way or another. So excitement set in, but also anxiety--what do we do now?? I wasn't having contractions--do we go to the hospital or wait for labor to start or what? We called the doctor and she said to wait a couple of hours and if contractions didn't start, to come to the hospital so I could be induced. Well, within a couple of hours I was having 30 sec contractions 5 minutes apart, so we decided to let nature take its course and wait till morning to head to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 7:30 a.m. My contractions were still just 45 sec long or so and 4 minutes apart--not very serious, labor-wise, but we were making progress (or so I thought). My initial exam showed I was LESS than 1 cm dilated. Already 8 hours had passed since my water had broken, so we needed to get this show on the road! So, the pitocin was ordered. Now in the states, you can get an epidural whenever you want and many women choose to get an epidural as soon as they learn they are doing to have to have pitocin, or the "drug from hell" as some women refer to it. But here they generally won't give you an epidural till you are already 5 cm dilated. So I braced myself for some pitocin-induced want-to-die labor and thanked the Lord that I'd learned at least a few natural childbirth labor techniques in the birth class we took here in Chiang Mai.

Fast forward 12 hours--7 or so hours of do-able pain and contractions, 5 hours of kill-me-now-12-on-a-pain-scale-of-1-to-10 contractions and back labor. I am now TWO cm dilated!!! I am begging for an epidural (and have been for 4 hours or so) and finally the doctor agrees to give it to me despite my lack of dilation. During this whole process the Lord provided Barb Krohn, a nurse here in Chiang Mai, as a labor coach for me and she was instrumental in convincing the doctors to let me have the epidural. Her rational was that either the epidural would speed things up, or I was headed for a c-section and I'd be getting an epidural then anyway. (By the way, the ONLY thing that got me through those 12 hours was David! He was absolutely AMAZING--my night in shining armor! He practically never left my side, constantly encouraging me, constantly doing everything he could to make me more comfortable! He is my labor HERO!!!)

I was absolutely giddy after I got the epidural. To be honest, the idea of an epidural freaked me out pre-labor, but in reality the pain I experienced when they put in the epidural was MAYBE 20% as painful as the contractions I was having at that time--NO comparison at all!! After this my labor actually DID speed up, though not by much. I started having contractions in the front (rather than all in my back) and it felt like they were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing! But 8 hours later I was still only dilated to 6 cm. So, since it had been 30 hours since my water broke and the risk of infection was increasing with each hour we waited, I finally consented to a c-section.

I was pretty freaked out by the idea of a c-section--major abdominal surgery and I was going to be awake for the whole thing!!! But, again, the Lord provided! The anaestesiologist was amazing! Not only was she of course watching my anaestesia through the whole surgery, but she talked to me and comforted me during my most anxious moments--mostly the 45 min or so of surgery prep they did when they wouldn't allow David to be in the room. Once they let David in, it was wham bam Baby is here!! David called out, "It's a girl!! Oh, and she's cute!! She's really really cute!!!" We were instantly thrilled! They gave the baby to David to hold and he brought her over for me to see. He said, "So her name is Sarah, right? Sarah Grace Dean." I said yes. It was time to sew me up and to take the baby to the nursery to be weighed and all that. David asked, "Do you want me to stay here with you or is it OK if I go to the nursery with Sarah?" I gave him permission to go, glad that at least one of us could be with her during those first few precious moments of her life!! Sarah was born Saturday morning February 7th around 7:30 a.m. and weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz.

So, that's the story! Oh, for those of you who've read thus far I have a special treat. Here is the link to some awesome photos our friends from birth class Vandenn and Danielle Krouch took of Sarah and us on Monday I believe. His camera is amazing, and the photos are fantastic. We'll be posting more soon, I am sure, but here is the link to these for now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vandenn/sets/72157613518607661/