The Story Of Mommy

I want to tell you about my wife, Tyler's mommy. She is the most amazing woman I know, and she proved it during labor with Tyler. Kelly began to feel contractions around 4am on November 15th, 2005. It wasn't until 7am that they became frequent and consistant. We called the doctor at 8:30am and were told that this was really it and it seemed to be happening. Kelly's labor was painful, but still manageble so we were able to stay home until 11:15am, timing her contractions. Being that this is the first time she'd ever felt this, she was doing very well. We arrived at St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital at 11:45am and signed in. Kelly was hooked up to a monitor as they watched the intensity and frequency of the contractions. I could see the numbers rise as they became more intense, and I watched the monitor as it timed them with a graph and showed the intensity in peaks. Kelly began to experience some intense contractions here, approx. 1pm. I held her hand as we breathed through them, allowing myself peaks at the "number" of intensity. A couple of times the number reached over 100 and those proved the most painful. Satisfied that Kelly was in labor and they didn't need to send us home, we were admitted to the hospital and brought to the Labor Delivery Rooms. Kelly's contractions continued in frequency and in intensity and it became harder and harder for her to go through. When she was dilated 4cm, they administered an epideral, which was extremely painful to get started, but once the drugs got in, she was able to relax a bit. The contractions came at the same intensity and intervals, but she only felt pressure and no pain. She was in great spirits, joking and smiling with the nurses and staff.
This continued for many hours, until the epideral gave out on her left side and she took on the full strength of those contractions. They adjusted the postioning of the epideral and she had her relief again. Around 8pm, Kelly was just about fully dilated and the doctor told us it was time to push.
This is where Kelly's strength, both inner and outer, shined. She pushed for 2 full hours, giving 3 pushes in 3 breaths each time, bearing down with all she had. I watched the intensity of her pushes, which climbed to 110 and higher in some cases. For those 2 hours, Kelly gave it her all. We tried different positions, and different things, and Baby Boy had still not made too much progress. These 2 hours exhausted her beyond anything I've seen. Yet, she kept going. Kept giving it her all, still pushing just as hard at the 2 hour mark as she was in the beginning. At one point the doctors were watching her and the baby's heart rate as they both increased.
Baby Boy was L-O-T, which means he was head-down, but facing Kelly's right hip. This is the widest postion of his head and made it hard for him to get through her pelvic area. The doctor could reach and move his head, but because he had not descended enough to the pelvic area, his head would turn right back to the side when adjusted.
So, after 2 non-stop hours of intense pushing, it was decided that Kelly needed a C-section. I made phone calls to family to inform them, and had to do it in the waiting area. When I got back to the room, they had already taken her to the surgery room to prep her. I had my scrubs on, and waited for 15 minutes outside the room for her to get prepped. Then I walked in and sat next to Kelly's head as they were doing the procedure.
No, I did not look. I stayed by Kelly, holding her hand and head as she shivered from the anasthesia (sp?) and drugs in her body.
Then, at 11:44pm, I heard "There he is" or something like that, and I dared a look. I saw my son laying flat. From this angle, I could see his legs and upper torso, but not his head. Because he had some marconium in his amniotic sack, I was not able to cut his cord, because they needed to take care that he not swallow any of it upon breathing. I was allowed to go to the warming table and there, completely naked, was my son. Tyler Christopher Kolchuk. The doctor's asked his name, and I told them. Then said, "Let's let mommy look at him too, just to make sure she agrees."
I am disappointed I couldn't cut his cord, but I had a moment that will make up for it. When I first started talking to him on the warming table, as the techs rubbed his hands and feet, he arched his back and turned his head towards me. When he saw that the voice was coming from me, he locked his eyes on mine and just stared, as I continued to talk to him.
Tyler knew my voice.
My son knew my voice.
Because Kelly could only hear him cry, I took some digital pictures and brought them to her to see. She was a bit out of it, but was able to see him. When the doctors finally brought him to her, I took a bunch of pictures. Those two had been through a lot together. To this day, as Tyler lays on Mommy's chest curling into her neck with his head, I can't help but feel the bond they share. I can't put into words what I see, but it just looks to me like Tyler is an extension of Kelly, and they had this shared experience that they both know they shared and can find comfort in each others arms. I can picture Ty saying "Look what we've been through Mommy," then breathing softly on her chest, feeling safe and secure with a certain understanding.
Kelly spent 90 minutes in the recovery room, where I held Tyler while she rested and was attended to by nurses. We were admitted to the Mother-Baby Unit at 1:45am, where she spent another 45 minutes or so being attended to. I was able to call family at 2:45am to share the good news, and we were able to get to sleep at 3:30am...to be woken at 5am the next morning.
Kelly gave it her all. 16 hours of labor, 2 pushing, and a C-section made for a very rough experience. But when she held Tyler for the first time, she looked at him and said, "It was all worth it."
Kelly is recovering from the C-section, and also as if she had delivered normally. She got hit with a double whammy because she pushed for 2 hours. She experienced tremendous pain that I'll never know, nor pretend to. But, she gave it her all, gave everything she had, and the end result was the birth of Tyler Christopher Kolchuk.

Kelly is a courageous, strong, determined woman, who, by these qualities, gave everything she had, not just on 11/15, but for ten months, and as a result, I can finish writing this post, and go upstairs to where she is, and where my son is, and together we can be a family.