My Wonderful OB, "Brett’s Birth"

I found out in September of 1997 that I was expecting. We were quite surprised as this was our first month trying. I found out that I was due May 20,1998. I had an extremely easy pregnancy. I had just a bit of nausea in my second month, but that left as quickly as it came. At 18 weeks my husband, Adam, and I went in for an ultrasound and found out we were expecting a boy.

May came and my due date came and went. I was huge and feeling miserable. I had begun to swell pretty bad and wasn't able to walk for long without my back aching. I was begging my Dr. to induce me. At 9 days late on May 29, 1998 she did decide to induce me.

Well, the morning of the induction came and Adam and I were pretty excited. I went into the Hospital at 7:30am. My nurse started an IV around 8am and the Pitocin was added shortly after. My contractions began at 8:50am. My Doctor came in around 11am and broke my bag of waters and told me that I was only 2cm, but fully effaced.

By 2pm I was in quite a bit of pain and asked my nurse for some meds. to relieve it. She gave me some Nubaine and that felt so much better except it didn’t last very long and I was asking for more. That was a big mistake as the second dose just made me vomit.

My OB came in in the midst of my nausea and checked my cervix. She said that I was 3-4 cm. She told me to let her know if and when I wanted the epidural. I really wasn’t able to talk much and my wonderful husband was quick to say “she’ll take it now”. Shortly after my request was made the Epidural God came in and after just a small prick I was human again. I was even able to talk on the phone. This is such a wonderful drug!

Somewhere around 8:30pm my doctor came and checked me. She was surprised to find that I was at 10 with just a lip left to dilate. Around 9pm I was wanting to start pushing so my husband called the nurse and I began pushing. I tried a lot of different positions to push and was making a lot of progress at first. My nurse was sure that I would deliver by 10pm. She was wrong!!! By 11pm my doctor was trying to get me to consider a c-section, but agreed to give me 15 more minutes to progress to a point where she could help with the vacuum. By 11:30 my nurse called my OB back to show her that I had indeed progressed and it was agreed that the vacuum would be tried. At this point I had been pushing for 3 hours and was quite tired, but still determined not to have a c-section. Finally around midnight the vacuum was in and I was pushing while my Dr. pulled. Well, the baby was quite stuck and the vacuum popped off his head twice. (leaving 2 sores afterward).

Now my only chance not to have a c-section was forceps. While my OB was getting the forceps in place everyone in the OB unit (it seemed) was called into my room as well as a few nurses from pediatrics and there was also paramedic student there (I agreed to let him observe). There was an oxygen mask put near my mouth and it was time to push with the forceps. I pushed twice and then heard my husband say that he saw the head and that gave me enough energy to push 3 more times during that contraction and my baby boy was here.

He was quite blue at first. He was whisked across the room to be evaluated after such a traumatic birth. His first APGAR score was only a 3, but his second score was an 8. They needed to take him to the nursery pretty quick so My husband, who was crying and sweaty, carried him to me so I could kiss him before they left me.

There is much more to the story so I will summarize it. He was born at 12:24am on May 30,1998 and weighed 9lbs. 7oz. and was 22inches. I went on to have more complications that morning. I retained the placenta and my OB had to go in after it. I had 4th degree lacerations and need quite a bit of suturing. Halfway through the suturing the pain blocker wore off and the second dose of it wasn’t effective. I was in so much pain that they took me into the OR and put me under anesthesia to finish the job. I woke up in recovery not really remembering what happened, but my amnesia was short lived. By 6am I was wheeled by the nursery to view my baby through the glass as I was still too groggy to hold him safely. I slept only 2 hours before I began begging for my son. I was unable to breast feed him that day, but the next day with the help of a lactation consultant he latched on like a champ and is exclusively breast fed now. It was a tough birth, but so worth it.

My Ob/Gyn, Dr. Angela Ferebee, is such a wonderful person. She didn't even nag me about my weight as I am about 100lbs. overweight (I have since lost all 50lbs. of pregnancy weight plus 10 more by breastfeeding) She was wonderful through my delivery and let me continue pushing for 3 1/2 hours because I really wanted to avoid a C-section because I knew the increased risks to an overweight woman. She tried the vacuum at my request and them delivered my son with forceps. She then had to take me into the OR for 4th degree laceration repairs as the pain relievers weren't effective. All in all with pushing and the repairs it lasted from 9pm til 6 am and when I got out of recovery she was already calling my nurse to see how I was and my nurse was telling her to get some sleep. Now I know why as she had surgery scheduled for 9 am. This just amazes me. As tired as she was and knowing that she had to be up in 2 hours she would still call and ask about me. Also she wasn't even on call the day I delivered...she scheduled an induction for me(9 days late) so my husband could be there as he is in the Navy and was getting ready to deploy. I admire her so much and wish there was something I could do to show her how much her understanding and patience meant to me and my husband. Dr. Angela Ferebee has a practice with her husband Dr. Matthew Whitted in Chesapeake, VA and I would recommend both of them to anyone.