Life With Payton: Payton's Birth Story...

Payton Caroline Schindler

Payton Caroline Schindler was born on Monday, January 12 at 10:08 PM. Here is a summary of the events that took place that day....

THE AMNIO

The amnio was a scary process. Dave and I arrived at Miami Valley Hospital around 7:00 AM on Monday, January 12. We checked into an office on the first floor of the hospital. A nurse did one final ultrasound before a doctor, whose name I still do not know, performed the amnio. He used the ultrasound to figure out where Payton was positioned, and then stuck a long needle into my stomach to draw out amniotic fluid. The scary part of the amnio had arrived....Payton moved...and the doctor accidentally stuck Payton several times with the needle....very painful to watch as you could see it all unfold on the ultrasound monitor. The doctor became visibly frustrated, and this made Dave and I extremely nervous. He had to withdraw the needle and try a second time in a different area. This time, the test was a success, and after they performed a "stress test" on Payton that monitored her heart rate while at rest and while moving, we received the results.....Payton's lungs were fully developed, and today was now set to "officially be THE day"...

THE LABOR

After receiving the results, we headed up to Dr. Horlacher's office on the 4th floor of The Berry Building in MVH. I was SO excited!!! Dr. Horlacher met us in the office, offered a quick synopsis of how I was going to be induced, and sent us on our way to check in. We grabbed our suitcase from the car, and were admitted to our room at 11:00 AM. Once we were settled into the delivery room, our nurse quickly administered my medication to induce labor. The medication sent me into labor around noon...much quicker than expected. Dr. Horlacher stopped in periodically to check on how my cervix was dialating. Once I was dialated to a "4", Dr. Horlacher attempted to break my water. This was unbearably painful to the point where he had to abort the plan. Meanwhile, my contractions continued to increase in frequency and intensity, and soon became unbearable. The anesthesiologists then arrived and at my request, they administered the epidural. Soon, I was not feeling anything below my waist. Once the epidural had completely taken effect, Dr. Horlacher successfully broke my water. Extreme contractions also continued...and they would come and go without me knowing. I was completely numb and remarkably comfortable, and I remained this way while visiting with both my family and Dave's family until around 8:30 pm when Dr. Horlacher announced that "it was time to start pushing"...

THE PUSHING

The "pushing" part of labor was much more organized and structured than I had imagined. Dr. Horlacher gave instructions while a nurse held my left leg and Dave held my right leg. He was the best husband ever as he was also in charge of giving me water in between "pushes" and taking birth pictures when Payton was being delivered. I didn't shout curse words at him like you see in the movies...but I did have to hit him on the hand once when he wasn't holding my leg at the correct angle...:) The pushing portion required me to give more effort towards pushing Payton out than I had ever given to anything in my life. The nurse would count to "ten" while Dr. Horlacher coached me through when to push and how hard to push. Dave chimed in with words of encouragement to keep me motivated to continue giving it 150%. The pushing lasted 10 seconds at a time. Every time a contraction begins, I would start pushing for the ten-second interval, and then would get a small break lasting between 10 seconds and a minute...depending on when the next contraction began. Towards the end of the first hour of pushing, Dr. Horlacher told us that Payton's head was now visible....a full head of thick dark hair!! THE VACUUM Once I had pushed for around an hour and 15 minutes, Dr. Horlacher explained that Payton's head was not going to be able to get past my pelvic bone. He asked us if it would be ok if he used "the vacuum" and added that "if it were his own child, he would opt to use the vacuum". We agreed, and he took out a tool that looked like a toilet plunger with a pump on the end of it. The plunger portion is attached to the baby's head while the "pump" at the other side is used to increase or decrease the suction of the plunger part on the head of the baby. Dr. Horlacher attached the vacuum to Payton, but had some trouble moving her through the birth canal. Twice the vacuum "popped" off of her head, which was somewhat unnerving. Finally, he was able to navigate her past the pelvic bone, and after a few more pushes, she was delivered.

THE ARRIVAL

When Payton was delivered at 10:08 PM, her heart rate suddenly plummeted and the Intensive Care Unit rushed into the room. It was one final moment of chaos which briefly delayed the euphoria that surrounds the birth of your child. Luckily, Payton's heart rate recovered and the Intensive Care Doctors did not have to take any action. Dave cut the cord (while I snapped a picture), and Payton was taken up to be cleaned and weighed. Payton Caroline Schindler was finally here...all 6 lbs., 5 oz. of her...and she was beautiful.