Sunday, August 11, 2013

The 13th of July (A Birth Story): Part II

(This is the good part of the birth story-fluids & all that warning).

Where were we? Aw, yes, what are the chances of me going into labor while Ben was 3 hours away? 

I'd say pretty good because that is exactly what happened.

Let's back up. I'd been having consistent contractions for a few weeks now & was at a solid 2 cm dilated. But baby was still pretty high up & not engaged-at all. I had been having some signs of impending labor a couple days before the 13th & was fully freaking out (internally, of course, I like to suffer silently). Because Ben's test was nearly 3 hours away, and the test started in the morning hours-he'd be leaving town at about 4 am on Saturday the 13th. I wasn't sleeping well that night, partly because I was nervous for Ben (he was sleeping soundly) & partly because I was extremely pregnant & paranoid. At some dark hour I rose to peed for the trillionth time when I noticed some (TMI ALERT!) fluid in my unders. Thus far this pregnancy I had not peed myself, but I was not above realizing that it could happen. There wasn't a ton of fluid, so I was wary of thinking it was my water (and also denying that could happen before Ben left), so I slapped on a pad & went back to bed. By the time Ben got up, I had leaked more fluid & was starting to flip a wig. I did not tell Ben and just smiled sleepily when he bid me goodbye. By the time Ben made it to his testing location (about 8am) I was pretty sure I was leaking amniotic fluid. I was only pretty sure since my water had never broken on it's own in my previous labors, that was always done by my midwife or doctor, so I had no experience with it outside of immense gushing. I had not told anyone I thought my water had broken, even my mom who was staying with us & taking care of all things domestic. It was like, if I say this out loud, it will be true & Ben will miss the birth of our third child. His test began at about 9am & we figured he'd be home around noon. I was contracting, but nothing too intense. Therefore I decided (because we're totally in control right?) I would not be pushing any baby out without my husband there beside me. Instincts be damned.

Ben was on his way home by 10am & things were starting to pick up. I had not wanted to tell Ben before his test because I wanted him to be able to focus (saintly behavior no?). But now that he was done & driving home, I decided to give it to him straight: hurry your bum up so you can take me to the hospital! I had been putting off calling my midwife in case she told me to go in-priorities. Finally I dialed her up & she asked me all the questions & since I wasn't feeling too much told me she'd call me in about an hour. Ben was home by 12:30, right when I was starting to get testy when people would DARE talk to me when I was having a contraction. The girls were picked up by my father-in-law (per before labor plans) & right around 1pm my midwife called. Things were more intense, but I was not ready to go to the hospital. She pulled rank on me & asked I come into her office. Just in case.

Ben & I pulled up to her office by 1:30. While checking my cervix, she declared I was at an 8! Good thing she pulled rank eh? So onwards to the hospital.

At this point Ben had been awake since 3am & had driven for 300 miles, but you wouldn't know it. He was so awesome & excited. It was great. The nurses went to work checking us in & getting a hep lock put in, hooking me up to monitors. But before all that, I changed into my labor gown. That's right, I brought my own gown. If you're wondering why I would do such a thing, I will tell you: I try and go at this labor/birth ordeal all natural. I was successful with my second & loved my experience. When I'm laboring I want to feel as great as I can & that means feelin' pretty (for me at least). After I put it on, I
During a contraction, rockstar status
knew I was ready to do this thing. One of the nurses commented it looked like a cocktail dress. And it did kind of. With holes & ties everywhere. It also looks nice in pictures (wink).

Apparently me being at 8cm & chatting between contractions was a sight, because tons of the folks coming in & out of my room were noting it. But really, things were pretty nice. My contractions were still 3-5 minutes apart and I had lovely rests in between (don't hate me). My amazing husband was with me, reading my signs like no one else can & acting accordingly. After a couple hours of this, my midwife checked again & I was more or less where I was when we got there. The baby's head was still way up in space & not engaged at all! She decided to see where his head was while I had a contraction & told me it came down, which was good. Finally, she checked me again while I sat on the toilet (glamorous!) and the rest of my water broke, gushing everywhere & getting this party started!

As I said, up to this point I felt really good. I could handle the contractions with breathing & focus. Ben had actually taken some photos of me while I was laboring, but they were deleted by mistake-darn! After I laid back on the bed, things got way more intense, very quickly. I was still breathing through them, but I was vocal & holding onto Ben as if for dear life. It was pushing time! This part is always hardest for me. But thankfully, it went quickly (by my past experiences) and he was born 22 minutes later. A whole 6 hours after Ben got home & a little over 4 hours after we'd arrived at the hospital. On July 13th.



Daddy & his boy

More pics here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.




2 comments:

  1. Congratulations! ( I think the pushing part is the worst too.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay! That's so great! I'm glad you didn't have to push for long.

    ReplyDelete

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