Birth Story

In celebration of Thomas being one month old today, I thought I'd finally get this written (before I forget anymore of it!).

The evening of December 11th, I got the giggles something fierce. It was more than just the giggles, they were big belly laughs. And everything was hilarious to me. I joked to Joe that I was going to laugh myself into labor. Turns out I did. 

After calming down enough to fall asleep, I woke up about an hour later with contractions. These were more intense than anything I had felt so far. I stayed in bed and tried to sleep some more, hoping they would just go away because Joe had his ONLY in class final the next morning. They kept coming pretty steadily every 10 minutes or so for the rest of the night. I ended up moving to the couch so I could use the heating pad to help manage the pain. 

Joe got up around 6AM and I told him the news. I didn't really know what to do because they weren't really progressing very much, and Joe's final was only going to last until noon. I knew that if he stayed home labor would pretty much stop and this baby wasn't going to come for another three days, but I was also worried that if he went I was going to end up having this baby alone, in the bathtub. So I called the midwife while Joe got in contact with the Dean. We ended up deciding he should go ahead and take the final. The law school let him take the final in a room by himself so he could leave without disturbing the other students, and they gave me the phone number for the registrar and the Dean to call in case things got going for real. 

Thankfully, things pretty much stopped. I didn't have ANY contractions while he was gone. After lunch we decided to drive out to the Morton Arboretum to let Lily run around the children's garden and maybe walking a bit would start contractions again. Pretty much as soon as we got on the expressway they did. And fast. So we decided to just drive to my mom's house instead. By the time we got there, they were 5 minutes apart. We got Lily inside, walked around the block once, they dropped to 4 minutes apart, and we called the midwife again. 

Gayle, the midwife on call, agreed to meet us at the office even though the office is closed on Wednesdays. I am still so thankful for this. I was pretty sure I was in labor, but the contractions were pretty easy to deal with, and I wasn't sure enough that I wanted to go right to the hospital. But I was also afraid of having the baby in the car. Remember, last time I was induced so all of this happened in the hospital and was I carefully monitored the whole time. I didn't want to be one of those women who ends up walking around the hospital for hours OR has the baby in the parking lot. So off to the office we went. 

Gayle was so kind and reassuring and told me that I was dilated 5 cm and definitely in labor but that the baby wasn't going to fall out. She said we could go back home if we wanted, or if we would be more comfortable going to the hospital that would be fine too. We decided to go to the hospital. I was sort of surprised that I wanted to go there as much as I did. After last time, I was sure that I wanted to labor at home as long as possible and be at the hospital for as short a time as possible. But I'm also a really anxious person, so worrying about not getting there in time was really stressing me out so we just went. We checked into triage around 4PM. 

Shortly after, we moved into one of the alternative birth center rooms. The contractions were getting slightly more intense, still about 4 minutes apart. Joe was doing a great job applying counter pressure to my lower back and after a while Gayle suggested getting into the shower both for nipple stimulation to increase contractions and for the heat for pain management. Pretty much as soon as I got in they dropped to 2 minutes and having the water stream onto my lower back was amazing. I felt like I could have stayed there all night. Seriously, I would have a contraction for about 45 seconds, and it would suck, but then it would be done and I was fine. Like smiling and laughing and joking fine. It was so nice to be able to move around, and the warm water was soothing, and I wasn't hooked up to any machines. When they needed to check the baby they brought in the wireless fetal monitor and just held it on my stomach to get the heartbeat. I thought this was going to be a total breeze...

Things stayed pretty much the same for a couple of hours, so at 9PM we decided it was time to have my water broken. I was feeling ready for things to be moving forward again. That was when the midwives had a shift change, so Gayle left and Brigitte took over. Most of my final appointments had been with Brigitte, so she knew how worried I had been about pre-eclampsia and how I was terrified of having to be induced. I was glad to see her. Actually having your water broken doesn't hurt, but it does suddenly intensify your contractions. I got back in the shower and it just wasn't working as well as before. 

Joe and Brigitte helped me get to the labor tub. The warm water all around my abdomen as well as the shower head on my lower back really helped with the pain, but it was getting to be really intense. And my mental state changed really quickly. I went from being fine between contractions and able to have a conversation, think clearly, and make decisions to being completely out of it and unsure of anything. I had been sort of leaning forward on my knees when I first got in the tub, but that wasn't feeling good anymore. Brigitte suggested that I try reclining, but I just kept saying "I don't know! I don't know!" I was completely unable to communicate anything coherent. I knew that I was uncomfortable as I was, but I was also really afraid of making it worse by changing anything. 

Joe was trying so hard to be supportive. He was sitting by the side of the tub telling me I was doing a good job, and to keep breathing, and other nice things. I found it supremely annoying, and told him so. So he just stayed there and held my hand and the shower sprayer when needed. 

Finally I felt I needed to push. After a couple of pushes while still leaning forward, I ended up leaning back and reclining like Brigitte told me to earlier. It was better. But still, I was done. I looked at Joe and said it's time to consider taking something. We had agreed beforehand that I would need to ask for pain meds after two contractions before they would give me anything. Brigitte said no, that by the time they kicked in the baby would already be born. So no meds this time. At this point Joe is trying to hold my head above water as I kept leaning back with one foot up on the side of the tub. Brigitte was trying to give me a pep talk/calm me down by telling me that these were the last moments I was going to be pregnant, that my baby was coming, to be present in the moment. I was having none of it. I'm pretty sure I told her I didn't care, I just wanted to be done. A couple of pushes later his head was out and I distinctly remember saying "Just pull him out!" Brigitte, graceful as she is, said just one more big push, and then Thomas was here! 

He was born completely underwater, and they lifted him up and laid him on my chest. He was breathing fine and really calm. I guess that's pretty common with water babies, they don't really cry right away. After a while Joe cut the cord, held him against his chest while I delivered the placenta and then got out of the tub. Then we all got to snuggle together on the queen size bed for the rest of the night. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't have imagined it going any more perfectly.