First, Nitrous Oxide Mask, Oxygen

By Licia Martins

It was on June15. I was at home and started to feel some contractions with 15 to 20 minutes between each one. It was 8:00 a.m. When it was 10:30 a.m., My back was hurting a lot and I asked to my husband to take me to the hospital.

It was 11:00 a.m. when I've entered in the hospital. They wheeled me into the pre-labor room. They gave me a internal exam and told me I was 3 centimeters. Then they changed my clothes to a hospital gown and they decided to place me in a room until the labor time. I was placed on a room bed and a nurse come to insert an IV and give me pitocin drip. The contractions started to get stronger. The hooked me to an external fetal monitor. I heard some beeps from the machine indicating my uterine contractions and the baby's heart beat.

It was midday. I felt something in my heart beat and called a nurse. She called my obstetrician and he said that they would hook me up to a heart beat monitor. And I spent a lot of time hearing the beeps from the fetal and the cardiac monitors. It was 12:45 p.m. and the doctor came to exam me again, an internal exam again. He said to me, Good news... you're 7 centimeters!!! and I said to him that the contractions were hurting me a lot. They asked me if I want some medication to help me pass through the contractions more comfortable. I said yes, and he called the nurse and went out. Some minutes after, the nurse came back to my room with a little cart with a small gas cylinder, a tubing and a mask. She opened the cylinder valve. I could saw a rubber bag inflate. Then the nurse offered to me the mask and taught me how to use the nitrous oxide mask. When my contractions began, I put the mask over my face and inhaled the gas. While I was inhaling the gas, I could saw the rubber bag attached to the cylinder inflate and deflate while I was breathing. The gas reduced a lot of the pain.

It was just 2:00 p.m. when the doctor came again and gave another internal exam. I was breathing through the gas mask and I was feeling something between sleepy and awake. I heard the doctor say, OK, you're ready to deliver. Let's move her to the delivery room.

I saw some guys come with the wheeled bed to transfer me to the delivery room. I was still connected to the monitors and hooked to the gas mask. When I arrive to the room, they transferred me to the birth table. My legs were placed and strapped to the stirrups. I felt something strange in that position. Then a nurse came to me and took of the nitrous mask and hooked me in a green rubber oxygen mask. She told me that I was needing a lot of oxygen during my labor. Again in the oxygen delivery machine, that was just on my head's side, I saw a big green rubber balloon, that inflates and deflates while I was breathing through the oxygen mask. Than the doctor said, Take a deep breath, hold on and push as you can...

I take a deep breath, the balloons deflates and I started to push. I've pushed for 10 to 12 times until the baby's head crowns... I was almost tired, with quick breath (quick balloon movements). Then I've pushed for five more times until the baby's birth.

I was so happy at that time that I took some deep oxygen breaths, recovered from the job and saw my little girl, just on me. She calls Sarah....