I want to share with yall the story of my labor and delivery. I'm going to include some less than glamorous photos just to keep it real. So here we go.
Last Tuesday I had my 40 week appointment where I had my membranes stripped. My midwife Natalie said that labor typically can follow within 48 hours and sometimes occurs the same day. By Thursday afternoon, I was thinking that baby wasn't budging. I had been having contractions on and off for days and trying to stick to an early labor diet (broth, toast, popsicles, lots of water, etc). Since baby's arrival didn't seem eminent, I threw the early labor rules out the window and requested one of my favorite pregnancy meals~ Taco Bell crunch wrap supreme, taco, and pintos! Every bite needed to be coated in their Fire sauce. Perhaps it was the spicy heat or maybe it was a family fast food tradition (my mom enjoyed a McDonald's Big Mac as her last meal before my big sister was born), but baby began to stir.
At 10:54pm I felt a little pop & release~ what in the world was that? Was that my water breaking? Only 20% of labors start with broken membranes; that's a minority. I didn't expect to be one of the soggy few! After a wardrobe change and a call to my OB, we had a plan in place. If my contractions didn't kick in by 3am we were to head to the hospital to be induced (i.e. given the drug Pitocin to start the contractions), and if my contractions came on their own we were free to labor at home until 5am. We took the time before the contractions kicked in to finish packing our bags for the hospital stay and showering one last time before our all-nighter. Then I got comfortable in the living room~ we decided to watch some Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and then Chuck (season 2~ thanks Miss Foo for lending them to us; I promise we'll give them back one day).
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| Though not an actual labor photo, the sleeping bag on the floor with napping sustained me while waiting for my contractions. |
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| Labor has started, and Kyle starts documenting the process. Those pjs didn't survive the amniotic fluids. In the movies & on tv it's just one big gush and everybody runs into action to get into the hospital. I experienced at least 3 movie-worthy gushes while we were hanging out~ pretty wild! |
At 2am my body started working. My contractions weren't necessarily painful; rather they were a lot of downward pressure. Kyle had been awesome at timing my weird scattered contractions throughout the week~ at this point he was a pro. I would tell him when they started and he would start the timer on his stop watch. It didn't take long for Kyle to give me a wide eyed look and say, "Again?". My contractions were fewer than 4 minutes apart almost immediately with some as close at 2 minutes 30 seconds. So by 2:45am we were loading into the car and on our way to Northside Hospital. Let me just say this was the perfect time to drive on the highway. We were in the parking deck at 3am!
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| Round 2 of pjs as we arrive at the hospital. This is not a pose, but an early indicator of how much trouble my back would be through the process. |
We got checked into our room really quickly, I got my hospital gown on, and nurses strapped the external monitor belts around my waist (one for baby's heart rate & one for my contractions). Those were pretty uncomfortable~ something I hadn't expected. After all the consent forms were signed (including a consent for vaginal birth~ as if I could opt out of that one!), it was close to 4am. I got my first exam~ already 4cm! The nurse was a little concerned though because she couldn't tell how the baby was presenting. I was positive he'd been head down since 28 weeks, but just to make sure all was well we got one last ultrasound. How cool to spy on the baby one last time before we met him! Sure enough he was head down, but since labor had started he had flipped sides. For the last 12 weeks he had been facing my right side and now all the sudden he was looking left~ how funny!
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| Feeling glamorous in my gown while Kyle rocks his stop watch and a cup of coffee |
Kyle and I decided to walk a couple of laps around the labor and delivery halls (a few more miles on the Hamiltrots counter? Not quite). My contractions definitely intensified during this time. Northside cleverly has installed railings all along the hallway so I would hold on to them, rest my forehead against the wall, and do my breathing exercises while Kyle counted for me and rubbed my back. I was back settled into my room by 6am in time to start my IV fluids. My nurse had some difficulty sticking a vein; with a bit of cringing on my part and some apologies from her, she gave both my arms a break and called for reinforcements. A second nurse came in and nailed it. My arms are still pretty bruised from the first attempts, but with a blood clotting disorder, it's definitely nothing new for me. Kyle popped in a Fred Astaire movie for me (Royal Wedding) and we were good to go.
My awesome midwife Natalie arrived at 7am. After a short chat, she left me to labor for a bit. At 8am I got checked again~ 6cm. Natalie was concerned I was not progressing as quickly as I could because I have some scar tissue from surgeries. She offered to manually break it up for me~ oooh! This was intense and uncomfortable like getting my membranes stripped, but I survived because it was for the cause. Natalie also offered me Fentanyl, a narcotic that should "take the edge off" as so many have told me. I was super grateful for it & enjoyed a new dose of it every hour to hour and a half. The Pros: It really relaxed me so I could really concentrate on breathing and force myself to rest the tension in my muscles during my contractions. It also relieved the crazy intense pain in my lower back which probably was caused by baby resting on a nerve. The Cons: Narcotics pass through the placenta to the baby so we needed a team of folks to take care of baby after birth in case he was groggy and his breathing or heart rate were depressed. We prayed lots that he'd be alert and healthy while we also trusted that we were in good hands in the worst case scenario.
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| So you see the 4 lines~ the second graph from the top are my contractions. I had 7 in 12 minutes from 10:40am to 10:52am~ yow! |
It wasn't until 11am that I got checked again~ 9.5cm and the dreaded lip. You are basically at the finish line but if you start pushing, you can cause your cervix to swell and go down to a lower dilation and stall your labor. Stalling labor is not an option when you've broken your water; there's a 24 hour time table to get that baby out au naturel before there is an intervention of some kind. They do this to prevent fevers and infections. So we decided to mix things up and try some new positions (up until this point I had been sitting upright slightly reclined in bed). It was super painful to move, and I was reduced to banshee-like screams/moans and many-a-tear. I first tried an all-fours position but was terribly miserable. Then I got up on my knees and faced the back of my bed putting my arms over the back of it. Natalie coached me to try to bear down a bit through my contractions. It was so so painful on my lower back, and I spent more of my energy hooting and hollering and feeling so guilty for probably unnerving all my epidural-happy neighbors with my horrible sounds. We weren't making any progress no matter how well coached I was by Natalie or Kyle. Poor Kyle at this point was fighting back the tears because I was hurting so much and he couldn't really help me.
On a brief aside, I had read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth recently and learned that these positions are often very helpful for natural births~ they use gravity and puts a woman in a more instinctual position for pushing (rather than lying on her back). I was pretty stunned when I found I preferred to be sitting and reclined a bit since there were many testimonies to these natural birth positions being more comfortable and easier on the body. Definitely a surprise.
I got back into my comfortable position when a half hour of pushing was unsuccessful. At one point a nurse came in and told us that the lady next door to me was praying for me to have a fast delivery since I sounded so miserable. My sweet nurse continued to provide me with heat pads for my back since it was aching so badly. I spent this time focusing and thinking about God as I breathed in 3 counts and out 4 counts while shaking my head back and forth to keep my rhythm. I had been practicing my breathing with my eyes closed while I walked on the treadmill the last month or so. Let me tell you that I was glad so many people recommended practicing before labor; it felt really natural to breath through my contractions and have a focal point (prayer and a mental image of God) because I wasn't just trying it out in the heat of the moment. If I opened my eyes, I lost my concentration and my tempo. Thank goodness for my workouts.
We waited for a little while until I got the urge to push; Kyle sought out my midwife and nurses to let them know. They set up the room for delivery and summoned the baby team. I started pushing at 1:10pm with Kyle by my right side speaking words of encouragement in my ear and cooling me off with a damp wash cloth on my forehead. My nurses Stacy and Monica helped hold my legs up while Natalie assisted me with stretching the appropriate area. I ought to brag on my midwife Natalie who gave me the tough talking when I needed it; if I was wasting energy screaming or crying, she would tell me to get in my zone in a stern voice and it totally worked. When I got discouraged she would tell me I could do it. The nurses were also so great at boosting me with calls to push.
When a contraction came on I would do 10 seconds of pushing with my chin to my chest then take a deep breath and repeat two more times until the contraction was over. In spite of pushing being difficult and there being some pain (hello, I now know what the "Ring of Fire" is), I was actually in more pain between contractions because my back hurt so badly. They would remind me that the baby was so close and even pushed hard on my belly to make sure the baby didn't go back up into my body. I was so glad for that. When I got the chance to touch his head as he crowned, I passed. I was kind of feeling wimpy and figured I'd touch his head plenty in the days to come. It took 43 minutes and finally I felt this amazing sensation of relief as the baby speedily slipped out of my body. Instantaneously he began crying with strong lungs and I collapsed in contentment as the hard work was over. He officially entered the world at 1:53pm.
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| Nurses smiling over my baby~ a very good sign! |
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| Baby's first stink-eye. He's thinking, "Unhand me, you knave!" |
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| What a little cutie with his purple hands and feet! |
Baby's exam began; he scored 9 on his Apgar score at 1 minute & 5 minutes (he lost a point for having purple-ish hands~ nothing serious). He was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces. Kyle went into action with taking pictures of those first precious moments of our little one's life. Meanwhile, I was delivering the placenta (easy peasy) and getting some repairs. I had two little tears~ one on the inside and one on the outside that required only 3 stitches total. As soon as it was apparent that the Fentanyl hadn't adversely affected the baby, I got to meet him!
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Kyle snapped a shot while we met. I couldn't really see him, but I loved feeling his little meaty cheek on mine. |
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| Look at that HAIR! |
I have to brag on my husband. He was so great. He and I both agree that we have never worked so well together on anything. I had prayed that I wouldn't say ugly things to him during labor; often I feel like because women are in pain, they give themselves the excuse to be ugly and surly to the people around them. I didn't feel like it would honor God or Kyle to say mean things or vent needlessly (turns out crying was more cathartic anyhow). Anyways, I would say that I've never felt more loved and covered in words of affirmation by Kyle in my entire life. From beginning up to this very moment he makes me feel like the best mother and wife. It was a wonderful experience that I can't imagine surviving without my sweet Kyle.
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| My husband spoiled me with a little bijou~ a new pendant with fancy yellow and white diamonds. Two new treasures in one day! I'm a very blessed girl. |
My water broke 15 hours before the baby was born, but we're counting only from when my contractions started at 2am. It was a total of 12 hours which I thought wasn't so bad. I've heard of some labors lasting much longer. To be honest the time seemed to just fly by (except the few minutes before it was time for a new dose of pain medicine). I had heard that women have a hard time remembering things from labor and sometimes even falling asleep between contractions in the transition phase. I was skeptical that I would experience those things because pain tends to make me super aware of everything and never sleepy. When it came to writing this blog entry, I had to admit to myself that I had fallen asleep at times towards the end of labor as well as ask Kyle to help me put together a timeline of the whole morning. I couldn't remember how it all went down for the life of me.
Now that it's over, I think I can imagine having another natural birth down the road. It seemed like an insurmountable challenge at times, and it probably would have been without God, my husband, my midwife, and a few great nurses. I thank the Lord that I came through it with good health for both Bennett and me. What a blessing.
