As last we felt things, Lynsey was writhing in pain, had
numb lips and ringing in her ears. The
latter two symptoms we later learned were quiet common in women with failed epidurals. In fact, approximately 1 in
10 women have to have their epidural re-placed.
The root cause of the symptoms was that the epidural needle was placed
in a blood vessel rather than the spinal column, therefore most of the numbing
medicine that was supposed to be going to her legs, wasn't. The anesthesia doctors immediately
recognized the problem, pulled the original needle and inserted a second
time. Meanwhile, Lynsey’s contractions
were still getting closer together and more forceful. She was experiencing some serious pain, as
evidenced by the 3/8 inch indentation, the exact size of my wedding band, she
created in my middle and pinkie finger from squeezing the daylights out of my
hand.
The epidural was quickly replaced, but the full effects
would not be notice for another 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Lynsey’s breathing was becoming more rapid and labored. She was feeling the urge to push. I had to be a little forceful with her, make
her focus of her breathing and look me right in the eye. It had been two years since our parenting
classes with Mason, but it all came back to me pretty quickly and it was time
to stop thinking and take control of the situation and coach Lynsey through
this difficult time.
Seeing the urgency of the moment, our nurse checked Lynsey’s
dilation, and to all of our surprises, she had rocketed up from a 3 to a 10 in
less than 90 minutes. Now fully dilated,
that urge to push was not misplaced, it was spot on and she was ready to
deliver. The room started to bustle with
activity, positioning the bed, adjusting the lighting, arranging all the
sterile equipment needed for the delivery.
A few practice pushes and we were making visible progress. My official role was left leg holder and
counter, although no one deligated these tasks to me, it was the most I could
do to help with the situation and try to keep Lynsey calm.
With a lack of significant epidural, the pain was
excrutiating. When it became nearly
unbearable, Lynsey exclaimed, “Just pull this thing out of me!” A few minutes and pushes later, the doctor
told us to gear up for the big final push.
The baby was crowning and almost had her head out. With one more forceful contraction, out came
Caroline Gray Moore. Welcome to
world! And Lynsey’s memorable words upon
first seeing her daughter were, “Brian, she has hair!” You have to understand that is significant in
our family because Mason was bald until he was 13 months old. Shortly afterward, we agreed that beautiful
and perfect were better words to describe our new daughter.
Recovery, gave the doting father a chance to hold his little
girl, and Lynsey a chance to rest and recover.
Her transition to recover was much smoother than her previous delivery,
and the congratulatory remarks started coming in.
Being later in the afternoon by the time we left the deliver
suite, and Mason’s bedtime approaching, I went home to tuck him, and get him a
good night’s sleep. The next day, Mason
came to the hospital with me to meet his new little sister. He was enamored with her and immediately gave
her a high five. For months, Mason has
rubbed on her in the womb and kissed her goodnight, so he acted excited to see
her for real. Caroline also had a little
housewarming gift for Mason…
So there you have it.
The Moore family is complete. And
if you were wondering about that question that all the nurses asked us. You remember the one about how many
pregnancies Lynsey had experienced.
Being the good Mom that she is, she dutifully answered second each time,
however, after seeing how beautiful and healthy our young family was, we both
agree that the more appropriate answer should have been last.
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