My sister-in-law recommended the Adler Center to me as a great OB practice.  She is a patient and they delivered my niece.  When I first got to the center, I was very impressed by the way that the staff interacted with me.  I felt totally comfortable right away, and knew I had made the right choice when it came to the care of my baby and me.  They took good care of me throughout my pregnancy, encouraging me through gestational diabetes and the other trials of pregnancy.

I went into labor on my due date (after hoping for a week before that to go into labor), June 1st, 2005.  Because I had gestational Diabetes, I had been at the hospital for a non stress test, and there were no signs of labor at that time.  Non stress tests are external monitors placed on the abdomen and they monitor the babies’ heartbeat and ensure the pattern is healthy.  This test is done once or twice a week with high-risk pregnancies.  Well, at 9:54 pm, I had my first contraction, and boy did they come on with a vengeance after that!  I continued having strong contractions every five minutes for an hour, and I called Sharon, who was on call, and she told me to come on in, that this was probably it.  It took me a while to get out of the house; with my husband running around crazy trying to make sure we had everything, and me having to stop every few minutes to breathe out a contraction.  I knew early on that we were in for a long night.  I was having major back labor and it was excruciating.

We got to the hospital around 11:45 pm, and I was taken to the labor and delivery room.  I would spend the next 14 hours laboring there.  Because of my positive GBS, I was hooked up to an IV, and stayed in the bed except to try to use the restroom.  The back labor continued, and my contractions were sometimes literally one after the other, with no relief.  I did not get the epidural, but I did ask for Stadol, which is a pain medicine used frequently in labor to help take the edge off of contraction pain and allows you to sleep in between (when there was an in between).  I did not want the full dosage because I don't react well to medicines.  But, it helped in the off time.  Believe me, I felt EVERY contraction.

I started my laboring at the hospital with Sharon, but went on for so long that Sara took over.  When it was time for me to push, I started pushing.  The baby's head crowned pretty early in the pushing game, and I thought we were almost there.  Little did I know that I would still be pushing 3 hours later.  It turned out that my son was "sunny-side-up" and he was not coming
out of the birth canal easily at all.  At about the 2 hour 45 minute mark, I would have thought that I was done and just wanted someone else to do it for me, if it hadn't been for the encouragement of Sara.  She had put the mirror up for me to see my progress, which helped immensely with my motivation.  She also kept me from tearing or needing an episiotomy.

So there I was, after almost 3 hours of pushing, and I had had enough.  I started taking control of my body and making it do what I wanted.  I wanted to see my baby.  I started pushing harder than I ever thought possible and when I was done pushing, I took one breath and did it again until he was out.  It was quite a relief.  When he came out, Sara had to unwrap the cord
that was around my son's neck three times!  She assured me that he was fine and wiggled him around so that he cried for me.  I saw that he was a boy and screamed it out for my husband, and immediately began sobbing.  It was the miracle I had been waiting for!!

After the hard part was over, Sara checked me over.  I thought she was crazy when she told me she needed me to push again to deliver the placenta.  But again, she encouraged me and assured me that it was almost over.  Sara was wonderful during my delivery, and she led me to my ultimate blessing, Colin James Miller.  He was born on July 2, 2005 at 1:23 pm.  He was 8 lb 13.5 oz, and had a beautiful full head of hair (even if it was conical!).  I am very thankful that I trusted the Adler Center with my health and the health of my baby.  I wouldn't have this beautiful son without them.