Heather's contractions weren't peaking as high with the epidural, which means they weren't as effective; so Pitosin was introduced into her drip at 8:00pm. For the next hour, she was peeling no fain AND the Pitosin was encouraging labor. It was very strange to see the catheter and suction tubes wiggle on their own. I told Sam to keep climbing toward the light. By 9:30pm, she was 10cm dilated and ready to go! A mirror was brought in so Heather could see what was happening from the Doctor's angle.
That "mec" delivery Dr. Perlow calls out refers to the meconium in the amniotic fluid. It means that Sam is swimming in his own poop. Dr. Perlow needed to suction his air passages immediately when his head popped out.
...then she told me that as soon as she did that, I was to grab Sam around his ribcage with both hands and pull him out! There are no shots of this...which is fine. Words couldn't capture what it feels like the first time you bring your own son into this world and I think pictures or video would put too narrow a lens on it.
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...you did read the graphic warning in the beginning, didn't you? Heather pushed for all of 8 minutes. I pulled him out, cut his cord, and they put him on Heather's breast. Samuel scored an 8 and a 9 on his APGAR scores (they don't give 10s), despite the meconium threat. He weighed 7.2 lbs, and was 19 inches long. As you can hear, his lungs are strong. His arms are strong, too--I wish I had footage of him in the nursery when the nurse turned away to get some wet towels and he flipped on his side, accidentally hooked the plastic tray he was lying in, and curled himself up on the edge. It was not intentional, but it was instant, and the nurse almost slipped on her booties when I knocked on the glass to let her know about it.
Sorry about some of the sideways angles on the video--you'll have to tilt your head. I was planning on editing it here at home, but for some WEIRD reason, I don't have the time or the energy right now!