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Patients Tell Their Stories - Karen Sise |
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Patients Tell Their Stories - Karen Sise
On Monday, October 17, 2005, after laboring in the Childbirth Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital for almost 24 hours, Karen Sise of Easthampton was on the brink of exhaustion, yet she had an important decision to make.
She'd been "stuck," as she puts it, at 5 centimeters dilated for six hours, and she needed help with pain management to get her to 10 centimeters, so that she could begin the pushing process.
From amongst choices that included a handful of narcotics or an epidural block, Karen chose a drug called Stadol for relief, and only 15 minutes later, she was fully dilated. "It was enough to relax me," she says.
At 1:30 p.m., Karen's daughter Zoe, the first child for Karen and her husband, Paul, was born.
Reflecting on that great experience several weeks later, Karen says she was able to make a clear-headed choice about pain medication while in labor, under tremendously stressful conditions, because she'd attended a Cooley Dickinson workshop on the topic early on in her pregnancy.
In fact, Karen attended three Cooley workshops in the Baby Wise series and found that all of them provided her with extremely helpful information that well guided her through her labor and postpartum experience.
"The hospital has a lot of tools to offer new parents or people who are going to be new parents," Karen says. "It was very helpful for me to utilize them and has made the first few weeks with a newborn easier."
Even while recovering in the Childbirth Center, Cooley Dickinson offered resources that were extremely useful, Karen says.
The nurses, for instance, were attentive and kind and didn't, "get in the way" but instead helped Karen and Paul find their own way. And Bridget Griffin Thompson, Coordinator of Complementary Therapies & Women's Health, paid a visit to Karen's room, offering information and inviting Karen to call with any questions she might have.
"There was this nice open door there," Karen says. "People are really willing to help you out."
The workshop on pain management, called "Pain Relief Options During Childbirth," was the first workshop in the Baby Wise series that Karen attended. It was held at the end of March 2005, when Karen was in the first trimester of her pregnancy. Workshop leader Amy Metzger, a certified nurse midwife, talked about the various options for pain management.
"I wanted to learn about the different options because I was really concerned about not having an epidural right from the get go," Karen says. "I wanted to know about all the different options that were out there. I didn't know [until then] about the narcotic options.
"[Amy] was really great about answering questions on misconceptions people might have about the different drugs," she adds.
At the end of April, Karen attended "Your Newborn: What to Expect," presented by Jonathan Schwab, MD, an area pediatrician. From this, she gleaned helpful information on choosing a pediatrician to care for Zoe and on the various vaccinations infants require.
May's offering, "Breastfeeding and Returning to Work," led by Jennifer Roche, MD, a pediatrician, helped her to understand how she can continue breastfeeding after she returns to her job as a sound engineer with Klondike Sound Company in Greenfield.
Karen, 29, took a leave from her full-time job until January 2006, and so has time to put what she learned about breastfeeding and pumping milk into action. A drop-in clinic on breastfeeding that she attended on the hospital campus was also helpful.
In addition to all that Cooley Dickinson has offered, there has been one other critical resource for Karen: her husband, Paul, who, at 30, owns the Pioneer Valley Fencing Academy and is a visiting professor at Westfield State College, where he teaches physical geology. Paul's flexible schedule has allowed him to be at home most of the time with Karen and Zoe.
"He's been great," Karen says. "He's a super dad."
For information on upcoming Baby Wise workshops, contact Bridget Griffin Thompson, Coordinator of Complementary Therapies & Women's Health, at (413) 582-2084, or check the events calendar at www.cooley-dickinson.org.
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