Richard Oliver Musick’s Birth Story
Let me start by saying that I am so in love with this kid. Perhaps the difficult sacrifices we made to get him here attached me more deeply to this little 
person I just met. I can’t stop staring at his beautiful happy face.
Richard was conceived around Valentines’ Day, a love baby. It took every ounce of faith and courage I had to get pregnant again. I get pregnant embarrassingly easy but then have difficult pregnancies. Our babies have consecutively come earlier, with our last being pre-mature. Before getting pregnant I get depressed anticipating the sickness and loss of independence.
I had morning sickness up until about 7 months along. The nausea was significantly less at about five months and Zofran helps take the edge off the nausea. Along with nausea comes the urinary tract problems associated with dehydration. I managed to have few infections this time but had frequent bladder spasms due to all the irritation and scaring of past infections triggered by dehydration. At 20 weeks we went into Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions about 4 minutes apart. The next day we went in again and I was given Brethine to relax the contractions. I was told I had an irritable uterus (maybe caused because with Cynthia the placenta wouldn’t detach after delivery so the uterus had to be scraped) and would have to take it easy for the rest of the pregnancy. I couldn’t stand more than five minutes without triggering frequent contractions.
The ward helped us out for a few weeks with meals and babysitting and then that is when my angel of a Mother rescued me and became a frequent visitor to our house. After applying for a genealogical mission, the church misplaced her papers. Just about this time Taryn my sister-in-law and I found out we were pregnant and I went onto bed-rest. I don’t think it was an accident that she wasn’t given the calling because the Lord had another calling for her; to help my family. She had just had reconstructive surgery done for her double mastectomy and she was taking care of me. I remember her scraping out the mud in our gutters just 2 weeks after surgery. The kids love hanging out with “Grandma Lacey” (distinguished from other grandmas because of her Australian Sheppard- Lacey dog). She makes house chores fun and entertaining. I could never repay her for all she has done and given us. She lifted my spirit on hard days and gave me hope. It was the faith of her and others prayers that brought Richard full term and healthy.
At 30 weeks I started having painful contractions. Usually, between 12 and 2 AM. I learned that the only difference between false-labor and real-labor was that with one of them you ended up with a baby; equal in painfulness. After going to the hospital two more times I was given a prescription for Nortriptaline or Brethine to relax the uterus. The medication made me shake I felt like I was having panic attacks twelve hours after taking the medication. In general I have just hurt a lot. At 36 week we went to the hospital, after five hours of nauseatingly painful contractions, and then went home with no baby. We thought that when I went off the medication at 37 weeks we would soon have a baby. But to our surprise the hours of contractions stopped occurring.
It you know me, I’m independent and active, so being down for so long was REALLY hard. Four months of bed-rest gave me a chance to read a lot of books, learn to accept service from others (become more dependent), re-evaluate the important things in life, simplify my life and gave me time to think about deep gospel principles. Spencer has taken on the role of mother and father, he has been so kind and patient through the whole ordeal.
I was induced on November 10, my due date (or one week before my ultrasound due date). On the morning of Monday, November 10, we were schedule to be induced but had to wait until 10:00 pm because there was “no room in the Inn” or UVRMC. The storm had triggered labor in a lot of women so we had to wait for an opening. I was extremely anxious to “be done.” It was hard on my self esteem to have gained over 50 pounds. I snacked to keep the nausea at bay and sat on the couch for 4 months of bed-rest. I have lost significant amounts of muscle and find simple things exhausting. It’s going to be a lot of work to get back into shape, but he is so worth it.
Labor went slowly, after hours of maximum amounts of oxytocin (pitocin), my cervix was only dilated to a 4+. The contractions were painful so I was given a painkiller called Nubain into my IV, it felt fabulous. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been without pain. I had forgotten that you could actually live without pain. Life could be pleasant and void of restless leg syndrome, nausea, hip, and contraction pain. It’s funny that I had to go into real labor to be pain free.
I told the nurses that if they would break my water things would advance quickly and it did. I had the epidural put in and was ready to push in less than 2 hours. After the amniotic fluid was gone Richard’s heart rate dropped with every contraction. So they pumped saline solution back into the uterus and put a monitor on his head. With the other kids I did very little pushing. But Richard was posterior for most of the pushing and has a huge head. So the pushing part of the labor was difficult and long. I’m sure 4 months of bed-rest didn’t help my pushing strength.
person I just met. I can’t stop staring at his beautiful happy face.Richard was conceived around Valentines’ Day, a love baby. It took every ounce of faith and courage I had to get pregnant again. I get pregnant embarrassingly easy but then have difficult pregnancies. Our babies have consecutively come earlier, with our last being pre-mature. Before getting pregnant I get depressed anticipating the sickness and loss of independence.
I had morning sickness up until about 7 months along. The nausea was significantly less at about five months and Zofran helps take the edge off the nausea. Along with nausea comes the urinary tract problems associated with dehydration. I managed to have few infections this time but had frequent bladder spasms due to all the irritation and scaring of past infections triggered by dehydration. At 20 weeks we went into Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions about 4 minutes apart. The next day we went in again and I was given Brethine to relax the contractions. I was told I had an irritable uterus (maybe caused because with Cynthia the placenta wouldn’t detach after delivery so the uterus had to be scraped) and would have to take it easy for the rest of the pregnancy. I couldn’t stand more than five minutes without triggering frequent contractions.
The ward helped us out for a few weeks with meals and babysitting and then that is when my angel of a Mother rescued me and became a frequent visitor to our house. After applying for a genealogical mission, the church misplaced her papers. Just about this time Taryn my sister-in-law and I found out we were pregnant and I went onto bed-rest. I don’t think it was an accident that she wasn’t given the calling because the Lord had another calling for her; to help my family. She had just had reconstructive surgery done for her double mastectomy and she was taking care of me. I remember her scraping out the mud in our gutters just 2 weeks after surgery. The kids love hanging out with “Grandma Lacey” (distinguished from other grandmas because of her Australian Sheppard- Lacey dog). She makes house chores fun and entertaining. I could never repay her for all she has done and given us. She lifted my spirit on hard days and gave me hope. It was the faith of her and others prayers that brought Richard full term and healthy.
At 30 weeks I started having painful contractions. Usually, between 12 and 2 AM. I learned that the only difference between false-labor and real-labor was that with one of them you ended up with a baby; equal in painfulness. After going to the hospital two more times I was given a prescription for Nortriptaline or Brethine to relax the uterus. The medication made me shake I felt like I was having panic attacks twelve hours after taking the medication. In general I have just hurt a lot. At 36 week we went to the hospital, after five hours of nauseatingly painful contractions, and then went home with no baby. We thought that when I went off the medication at 37 weeks we would soon have a baby. But to our surprise the hours of contractions stopped occurring.
It you know me, I’m independent and active, so being down for so long was REALLY hard. Four months of bed-rest gave me a chance to read a lot of books, learn to accept service from others (become more dependent), re-evaluate the important things in life, simplify my life and gave me time to think about deep gospel principles. Spencer has taken on the role of mother and father, he has been so kind and patient through the whole ordeal.
I was induced on November 10, my due date (or one week before my ultrasound due date). On the morning of Monday, November 10, we were schedule to be induced but had to wait until 10:00 pm because there was “no room in the Inn” or UVRMC. The storm had triggered labor in a lot of women so we had to wait for an opening. I was extremely anxious to “be done.” It was hard on my self esteem to have gained over 50 pounds. I snacked to keep the nausea at bay and sat on the couch for 4 months of bed-rest. I have lost significant amounts of muscle and find simple things exhausting. It’s going to be a lot of work to get back into shape, but he is so worth it.
Labor went slowly, after hours of maximum amounts of oxytocin (pitocin), my cervix was only dilated to a 4+. The contractions were painful so I was given a painkiller called Nubain into my IV, it felt fabulous. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been without pain. I had forgotten that you could actually live without pain. Life could be pleasant and void of restless leg syndrome, nausea, hip, and contraction pain. It’s funny that I had to go into real labor to be pain free.
I told the nurses that if they would break my water things would advance quickly and it did. I had the epidural put in and was ready to push in less than 2 hours. After the amniotic fluid was gone Richard’s heart rate dropped with every contraction. So they pumped saline solution back into the uterus and put a monitor on his head. With the other kids I did very little pushing. But Richard was posterior for most of the pushing and has a huge head. So the pushing part of the labor was difficult and long. I’m sure 4 months of bed-rest didn’t help my pushing strength.
On Nov 11th Veterans Day at 7:50 AM, 10 hours of labor, Richard came out and screamed for a long time. The nurses asked if our other kids cried like that, they weren’t. He weighed 8 pounds 1 oz and 20 inches long. He seemed huge to Spencer and I. He had a double chin, flattened nose and thick chest. When I first saw him I started crying. I tried not to bawl because it made my stomach shake while Dr Wolsey was still working on me. After being cleaned up Richard nursed like a pro and finally stopped crying.
We were in our room waiting for Richard to return from the nursery when we heard a baby screaming. I said, “Here comes Richard.” Sure enough it was our baby. We were worried that this was a fore shadow of the next six months. We joked that baby Richard took after Grandpa Richard—Grumpy. But now that we have got to know baby Richard we know that he is super good natured. They say that newborns can’t smile. But this sweet babe has the happiest face. He smiles all the time as if to say, “I got a body and get to be a part of this family.” I cry all the time when I think about him. The last nine months have been hell but he is worth it. Like I said before, I am so in love with him.
We were in our room waiting for Richard to return from the nursery when we heard a baby screaming. I said, “Here comes Richard.” Sure enough it was our baby. We were worried that this was a fore shadow of the next six months. We joked that baby Richard took after Grandpa Richard—Grumpy. But now that we have got to know baby Richard we know that he is super good natured. They say that newborns can’t smile. But this sweet babe has the happiest face. He smiles all the time as if to say, “I got a body and get to be a part of this family.” I cry all the time when I think about him. The last nine months have been hell but he is worth it. Like I said before, I am so in love with him.
1 comment:
Congratulations!
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