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Pitocin Birth; Cord Issues

By Andi

On August 7, 1989 I went to bed around 9 p.m. I felt great. Our baby was past due by two days, and still the doctor believed it may be a week or so before anything happened. Since this was my second child, I thought labor may be quicker than the 26-hour labor I had with my first son. Around midnight, I woke up with a sudden start to my water breaking. I got up and used the restroom and then woke my husband. He called my mom and told her what was happening and that we would come and pick her up in 15 minutes. The hospital was 30 minutes away. By the time we reached my mom's house, the contractions were regular, but not too bad.

After arriving at the hospital and getting checked in, the contractions were getting stronger. Everything was going great until about 4 centimeters, when suddenly everything stopped. The doctor came in and suggested Pitocin. I had not experienced induced labor before, and was shocked at the intensity of each contraction with not the normal resting break in between. Still, even after I was on Pitocin for hours, things were still progressing very slowly.

Finally after 16 hours of labor, I told the nurse I felt the baby move down the birth canal. She checked me and said, yes the baby was crowning. They wheeled me into the delivery room with my mother and husband by my side. I only pushed two times when the head slowly emerged, but kept going backward when I would stop. The doctor believed the cord may be around the neck. The next time I pushed, the doctor wrapped both of his arms around my stomach and pulled toward him. That really seemed to help. As soon as he could get a grip on the cord, he cut it while the baby was still inside me with just the head sticking out. As soon as he did, the baby came out by itself. I looked down and was immediately frightened. She was completely dark blue. The doctor turned around quickly with her and began to give her air. I knew something was terribly wrong. My mom grabbed my hand and told me it would be OK. It took what seemed like an eternity, I finally started to hear her cry. The doctor handed her to me and told me that we were truly blessed. The cord was around her neck three times and had restricted her air supply. She could have died. I was so happy to see and hear her. I knew that she was OK through the whole ordeal.

She was born on August 8, 1989 at 4:30 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Today, she is a beautiful 11-year-old who enjoys horses, video games and playing her sax. We are expecting our seventh child in May.