This will not be terribly interesting to anyone else, but I
am recording it for myself. Eli's is certainly unique, so jump there if you
haven't heard my story already.
Hadley
I lost my plug the day before my due date, so I knew the
baby would be coming sometime soon. I woke up to mild contractions early in the
morning and they continued throughout the day. My whole family was visiting and
I remember chatting with my brother lying on the floor and letting him feel my
belly as I had a contraction. I sent my family away to go blueberry picking and
then head home because I didn't really want to labor all day in front of them.
It was a very long day of consistently strengthening contractions. I remember
trying to take my mind off of them by bouncing on a yoga ball and watching
Veggie Tales. Finally the length and spacing of the contractions matched what
the midwife had said should trigger us heading to the hospital, so we packed up
and left around 7pm. I remember crying as they checked us in because I was
scared of the pain. They checked me and told me that I was
only dilated to a 4. I was so sad because I was hoping to be farther
along than that and I couldn't imagine how much more pain I would have to go
through to make it all the way. The midwife advised us to go home to finish
laboring because we didn't want any medical interventions and it would be more
comfortable at home. That was such a good idea. I spent the next couple hours
laboring on the couch, trying to sleep in between contractions because I was so
tired. Josh crashed on the floor next to me and kept apologizing for sleeping.
I remember feeling utterly exhausted and frustrated that there didn't seem to
be anything that he could do. Finally around 10ish my water broke. I went to
take a shower and Josh called the doctor and they advised that we return. I
felt like it took a very long time for us to get checked in and for the nurses
to get around to checking how far along I was. When I finally mentioned to my
nurse that I felt like I was pushing she checked me and told me that I was
completely dilated and she would go get the midwife.
This was when I first met the midwife on call, Cathy. She
was so incredibly peaceful and encouraging. With her guidance and the support
of a sweet british nurse, I made it through the pushing stage quickly. I don't
remember excruciating pain, but it did certainly hurt a lot. I was really just
relieved that labor was going to be done soon and that I had finally made it to
the end. I felt triumphant for having the type of unmedicated birth that I had
hoped for. I felt that I had finally figured out the extent of my pain
tolerance and I was relieved that I didn't feel the need to yell or curse like
a crazy woman. Josh says that I was incredibly polite all through labor-
constantly thanking everyone for their help and just dealing quietly with the
labor on my own. I was glad to know that in my core I am a polite person
:)
I needed a couple stitches, but Hadley was perfect and we
went home the next morning. It is my opinion that it is nicer to recover with a
newborn at home, rather than in the hospital. I could sleep in my own bed and
not have hospital sounds or smells as we tried to figure out what on earth we
were doing with an infant.
Elijah
Hadley had been born on her due date, but when Eli's due date came and
passed, I decided that it was going to be another week or so. I wasn't in
any hurry to have another kid and was enjoying every extra day to get things
done and postpone the inevitable craziness. The day after my due date came and
went and I went to bed that evening with a little bit of an upset stomach. The
upset stomach feeling was still around the next morning, but the day started
out perfectly normally. Josh went to the back of the house to paint and I
chatted my mother online at 8am (yay for digital records) that "we're just
doing normal stuff around here". The plan was to let her know when labor
started, so she could hop in the car and be down here by the time labor got
intense (she is only a 7 hour drive away) so she could take care of Hadley
while I went to the hospital several hours before delivery (because of Strep
B). Mom headed out visiting teaching and I had breakfast with Hadley and
started reading books with her. I started to have gentle labor-like pains, so I
though I should start timing them, but hadley was needing me so I didn't get
around to that.
I chatted my mother at 9am "ok, i think i may actually
be in labor".
By 9:15, I was on my hands and knees trying to breathe
through some intense pain as I read to hadley. I decided to go back and tell
Josh and see if he could take care of hadley for a bit while I timed
contractions and put together a bag for her so she could go to our friend Joy's
house when we went to the hospital. Josh asked how I was doing and I told him I
was scared because these labor pains were pretty intense and I didn't know how
I was going to do with a whole day of that much pain. He asked if I needed him,
and I told him he might want to start cleaning up the paint.
He came to check on me 15-20 min later and I was back on my
hands and knees in the hallway, just trying to push through the pain. I hadn't
had much luck getting hadley's stuff together, so when josh asked what he could
do, that seemed like the most important thing. He asked if he should call the
doctor's office yet, but I told him that we should try to time the contractions
to see if they were long enough yet, and maybe to check with Joy.
I had sent her this email at 9:33 "ok yes, definitely
in labor. we will need you today sometime. how's your schedule looking?"
She emailed back at 9:45 that she had some errands to do that morning, but just
to keep her informed when we needed her.
Josh must have called her right after that email because she
came over about 5 minutes later. I had gone to the bathroom to use
the toilet yet again (I'd been on and off the toilet all morning- hello-
warning sign...) and I called out to her from there to thank her for taking
Hadley on such short notice. Josh came back from sending Hadley off and decided
that we should probably go to the doctor finally, so he called the answering
service to let the midwife know that we were on our way over.
At this point, I was thinking- Oh my goodness it is going to
be such a long day if it hurts this much right now. I might even consider an
epidural. I'm not looking forward to riding in the car feeling like this...
While he was still navigating the answering service menus, I
had the brilliant idea that I should have Josh check to see
how dilated I was, because I didn't want to go into the hospital too
early again. So I reached down to see how I should position myself and realized
that the baby's head had just emerged. AAAHHH! Clueless Heather...
Luckily Josh was 3 feet away and he came running over,
delivered the baby before he fell in the toilet, grabbed a towel to wrap him up
in and handed him to me. Then he hung up on the answering service and called
911. I just sat there and held the baby, and kept saying "oh my goodness,
oh my goodness..." That phone call was initiated at 10:05, so that's the
time we put on the birth certificate.
They sent an ambulance over quickly and we had amazing EMTs
rush in, assess the situation and then relax and start asking if there was
anything they could do to help. They took me and the baby to the hospital in
the ambulance and Josh followed in the car.
I was shaking and in shock, but giddy and so so proud of
myself. Labor in one hour start to finish, from uncomfortable to baby. Wow. Go
me.
We got a cheering welcome from nurses and staff as we
entered the hospital, many saying- "wow, that's the way to do
it!" I cannot even imagine what my next delivery will be like if kid
#2 was that fast. I guess we'll just plan for a home birth :)
The doctor on call came and delivered the placenta, stitched
me up and then I was done. I nursed Eli and then they cleaned, weighed
and measured him. It was about 11 in the morning and I felt great. I just
wanted to go home.
I hadn't had to get the IV of antibiotics that I had been
stressing about and I wasn't tired because I hadn't labored long. It sounds
silly, but it just felt like just another day- time to go get some other things
done! That was a long day of waiting. They wanted to monitor Eli for signs of
infection and he had to pass all the newborn screening tests. They finally let
us go home the next morning.
We chose the name Elijah for the old testament fiery prophet
and James for some family ancestors. Quite the entrance in the world for
such a mellow, sweet kid.
2 comments:
What exciting adventures you have!
So fun to read! :-)
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