**If you are my mom or my Aunt Marilyn, don't read this while you are at work! ;-) If you do read this at work, just remember that you were warned!
If you are a man, you may just want to skip this post!
So, it took me a whole year to post this...do you remember me typing that I would post it soon after his birth?? Well, I feel that his 1 year birthday is a good time to do it, don't you?
So here it is...it's long!
My due date was October 30, 2009 but my little man decided that Friday, October 2nd would be his birthday! That Tuesday night before, I had some cramping while I was bathing Miss A. It was only on my right side and sort of reminded me of a stitch in your side when you’ve been running and you aren’t used to running. While I was having that cramp, I got on my hands and knees and that helped to relieve it.
On Wednesday at 35 weeks 5 days, I had my 36 week check up and my midwife checked me because I told her about the cramping I had the night before. When she checked me, I was at 3 cm, 50% effaced, and the baby was at -3 station so my midwife basically told me to go on pelvic rest till I was 37 weeks. She said she wanted the baby to stay in for another week and I whole-heartedly agreed! But after I left my appointment I felt a little pressure and I continued to feel pressure throughout the morning into the afternoon. During Miss A’s nap, I was cooking a meal for a friend and I had to sit down to cut some vegetables to relieve the pressure I was experiencing but that relieved it. The next day, I took Miss A to a praise playdate through our moms group and felt fine all day long…no pressure…no cramping. But that evening I had a weird dream. I dreamt that I had to have a c-section and no one would tell me why. I was so frustrated that no one would explain what happened and I just kept seeing all this blood.
The next morning I got up as usual, had breakfast, and went downstairs to update my blog with a picture of me that E had taken the night before.
These were the pictures I posted:
But I didn't post this picture...I thought I would get a chance to take another photo a couple of weeks later!
While I was typing, I felt a very small, low cramp so I thought I just had a full bladder. Around 8:30 a.m., I went to the bathroom and discovered blood. So, I called my midwives office and the midwife on call, Paula, called me back. She said it didn’t sound like I needed to go to the hospital since I wasn’t having any contractions and that I could come in to get checked. She said I could call the office and get an appointment. Well, the office beat me to it and called me! They asked how soon I could be in and I said I could come right away.
So, I called my friend, Michelle, and asked if I could drop off Miss A at her house. I threw on the same jeans and shirt I wore the day before. Then Miss A and I got in the car and I dropped her off at Michelle’s house, which was only 2 blocks away.
When I got to the midwives’ office, I told them my name and why I was there and only waited for a minute before they called me back. They checked my blood pressure and weight and then got me in a room. One of the midwives, Kim, checked the heartbeat and then checked me and I was at 4-5 cm but still just 50% effaced and the baby was at -2 station. However, she did tell me to go home and pack my bags because she thought this might be happening today. She asked if I was having any contractions and I said that I felt some very low, dull surges but that was it. I told her it felt similar to when I first went into labor with Miss A. I asked her if I could continue to lose the plug over the course of a couple of days and she said I could but she really thought that I was going to have that baby that day. She said she would let Paula know to expect me and also told me to go home and get some rest after packing my bags. I asked her with a laugh how I was supposed to get rest with a 20 month old?? She asked if I could ask my “babysitter” to just keep watching my daughter. Well, I didn’t really consider that so, I went to my friend's house to pick up Miss A. I chatted with Michelle while our girls played. Around that time, I noticed I would feel those low, dull cramps at intervals. So, I started timing my surges and noticed they were about 5 minutes apart and decided I should probably go on home. I took Miss A and went home and showered. Around 11:00, I called my husband to come home and called my doula, Catilin, to come over.
Caitlin had to come all the way from Alexandria so she had a drive. She said she would pack her bag right away and be at my house ASAP.
Meanwhile, I showered and while I was in the shower, I looked out periodically at the clock to time the surges (Hypnobirthing- speak for contractions). I then started packing my bag but that proved to be tricky. I was trying to time my surges, pack my bag, and start getting lunch ready for my daughter. While I was downstairs trying to feed Miss A and time my surges, E arrived home around 11:30. So, I went upstairs to finish drying my hair and pack my bag.
Before Caitlin arrived, in between surges, I wanted to get a few pics of Miss A with me and my pregnant belly...I thought I was going to have another month to take pics!
Around 12:00, Caitlin arrived. When she got there, I was really breathing through my surges so I was very thankful when she arrived at our house. She brought in a birthing ball for me to use but Miss A did not want to share the ball! Caitlin asked if “mommy could use it” but Miss A said “no”. J Thankfully, it was time for Miss A’s nap, so E took her to get her ready for nap. Meanwhile, Caitlin helped me labor on the birthing ball, which really helped!! While I labored on that, she spoke in such a soothing tone and rubbed my back and I immediately felt relaxed.
E was gone for about 20 minutes during this time and I thought he was really taking a long time while he was in there. (Right after FJ was born, I found out that he had fallen asleep in there! Yes, my husband fell asleep while I was in labor but I figured he must have really needed his sleep to have enough energy to be there for me!)
When E got back to the room, I was laboring on the ball and I felt nauseated. That should have been a sign that I was in transition but Caitlin said she thought I was too relaxed to be in transition. They helped me to the bathroom and I took a look at my belly and couldn’t believe how much it had dropped! I also felt so out of it at that point. I was in such a zone. After the trip to the bathroom, I wanted to lie on the bed.
Around 1:30 I was kind of ready to go to the hospital but no one could come over to watch Miss A at that moment. My mom in law had painters at her house, our other family friend was sick, and my friends all had children of their own who were taking naps. While E was making some phone calls in our closet (he was trying to be quiet so I wouldn’t get worried), I told him through a surge to call Doug because he was temporarily unemployed and he is the husband of our friend, Laurie. They had a 10 week old daughter at the time and Laurie is a SAHM too so I knew one of them could watch their daughter. And they only live 2 blocks away. Thankfully, Laurie was able to come over to our house and she got there at 2:00. When she came upstairs, it was so nice to see her sweet smile. I was lying on the bed at this point doing some serious breathing. She was one of a handful of people that I would ever want to see me in labor. I was really glad to see her.
I then tried to get out of bed with the help of E and Caitlin. When I stood up, another surge hit so I had to lean into Caitlin. Then I walked down the stairs and Boom! another surge hit while I was on the stairs so I had to lean into E. Then I continued down the stairs and out my front door and Boom-another surge hit and I leaned into E again.
He got me into the car and leaned the seat all the way back for me. On the drive I said to E, “When I get there, I may want something for the pain.” He, being the loving husband, said, “Whatever you want!” We had two speed bumps on our street that we had to drive over and those were the WORST!
The hospital was just 10 minutes away but I stayed laid back in the seat pretty much the whole time, only glancing up one time to remember the drive (even though the drive was a frequent drive for me).
We got to the hospital at 2:10 and Caitlin asked if I wanted a wheelchair and I said yes. But as I was sitting in the car with E, I said, “I can’t just sit here. I have to move!” So, I got out of the car and we walked into the hospital. But when we got in, they stuck thermometers in E and Caitlin’s mouths to check for H1N1. They didn’t check me I guess because I was laboring so much. I saw my midwife Paula and I was so relieved! A nurse put me in a wheelchair and asked if I should be taken to triage. My midwife said to skip triage and took me straight to my room.
When I got in the room, I took a look at the clock and it was 2:15 p.m. Paula told me that when I was ready I could get into the bed. She asked if I just wanted to stay in my tank top and just lose the shorts instead of getting into a gown. I said, “Yes!” I got into the bed and lie on my side. Paula said that was a good position to be in. I then told her, “Paula, it may be too late, but I might want something.” She asked me if I meant pain medication and I just said, “whatever...just something but I know it may be too late.” (I had forgotten that the classic sign that it’s almost time to push the baby out is when the woman says she is done!) She said she wanted to check me and then we could decide. When she checked me, it was pretty uncomfortable but she said three beautiful words: “You are COMPLETE!” She said my water just hadn't broken yet but that if it had, I would have had my baby in the car!
She said the best pain medication would be to have that baby so she offered to break my water to bring my baby boy into the world. I thought about it for a second and then decided that would be absolutely fine with me. I definitely didn’t like how it felt when she was trying to break it. I remember telling her that whatever she was doing, really hurt! But once she broke it, I felt this big warm gush and it felt like such relief. Meanwhile, they were trying to put in an IV in my arm because my GBS test hadn’t come back yet and they thought I might need antibiotics. But the nurse couldn’t get the needle in and it was really hurting. My midwife told her to stop and just leave me alone. I was so thankful for that. After that, Paula walked out of the room to do some paperwork and I had another surge. Then my surges went right into the last stage of labor and I felt my body just take over. I called out for Paula to come back and kept calling for her till she walked back in the room. I felt his head pushing and I was halfway on my side and halfway on my back. She asked if I wanted to move all the way to my back but I really wanted to get on my hands and knees but I had no energy to do that. So, I just mumbled and didn't really answer and just stayed half on my back and half on my side. E was holding my leg watching and encouraging me and Caitlin was rubbing my head with a washcloth. I reached down to feel my baby boy's head and the nurse asked me to move my hand out of the way so they could see. I then felt my baby's head push again and then again and then again and then again one more time. It only took about 5 pushes and my baby boy was born at 2:35 p.m.!!! 20 minutes after I was wheeled in the room!
FJ arrived content and pretty mellow and weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long.
An after-labor kiss-
Our new baby boy-
A sweet moment-
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