I loved reading all the really amazing birth stories out there as I got closer to my due date-(Design Mom has a
whole section of her blog dedicated to birth stories). They kept me going (especially as my EDD came and went). There is something about sharing the experience and remembering little parts of the day/night before the new one(s) arrive that is really amazing. So I am going to share how Deuce, aka Little J, came into the world. This is a story about birth so if you get squeamish at this sort of thing then just scroll thru to see the pictures and move along- if you are like me and love to hear the stories then keep reading...
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Here's the story
On Friday the third I had my 40wk doctor's appointment. I had been feeling a bit crampy and just really ready, but when the doctor checked me I was still at 1cm- the same as I had been for the past two weeks. She offered to induce me if I was wanting to be done, but I turned her down- As long as everything was checking out medically I really wanted this birth to start on it's own.( I found out via the Postpartum nurse staff, that Labor Day weekend had been crazy in the hospital, literally -labour day! they had to send home any gals that were there for non-medical inductions and only take they mamas who were coming in on their own- I guess both local hospitals had full beds too-so no overflow that way either!)
Saturday and Sunday were great, my Godparents came by with lunch one day, the neighbours in the cul-de-sac had a pot luck and we ran a few errands and did a few chores while hanging out around the house. I was having off and on mild contractions each night for about an hour straight, but then I would fall back asleep and wake up to nothing. My plug did start to let loose, so I had hopes that things were starting to move and we were getting closer.
Daddy-O photo
On Monday we woke up singing happy birthday to our little guy and spent the day celebrating his 2nd birthday. We spent lots of time playing with O and all of his recently acquired birthday toys (we are in matchbox car heaven over here!)That night we had some friends from down the street and my mom over for dinner and
happy cakes. By the end of the day O was singing happy birthday to himself, so stinking cute.
Early in the morning on Sept 7th (around 2:30am) the night time contractions started back up again-just like they had the past few nights. When they kept up into the morning I decided to not go into work that day and just hang out around the house with the boys. I downloaded a 'contraction timer' on Andy's itouch and realized things were staying pretty regular at 6-10 minutes apart. Nothing that would really stop me in my tracks, but definitely knew that there was something going on. We called my mom and asked her if she would mind taking O for the evening, Wednesdays are one of her regular days to have him instead of daycare so it would work out for him to just be at her house. We had all of our stuff packed and ready to go to the hospital and around 6pm dropped off the boy at my mom's. We then realized that we had forgotten a few things, so we went back to our house. Daddy-O went upstairs to grab some stuff and I decided to get the dishes in the washer so I wouldn't come home to a dirty kitchen. About an hour had passed by at that point and I realized that things had just about stopped. What the heck, was tonight not going to be the night?
Andy suggested we take a walk to get things going again. I put on my shoes and we to saddled up the dog for a walk around the neighborhood. My mom and O had actually come back to our house to grab something we forgot to pack for him and I told my mom that we would just drop him off if things started to pick up once more.(we live about 2 minutes away in the car or a 10 minutes by foot) I was frustrated at that point- had the whole day been all in my head?
Daddy-O photo
We got O in his jammies around 7:30ish and he and I were sitting reading "Go Dog Go" when things started to pick back up. I had to get a few random questions in to him when I felt things start up- "what color is that car" as to avoid having to actually read the words on the page. Each time this would happen O would look at me and ask, "Is baby pushing you mama?" (he is so crazy intuitive sometimes.)
Around 8:30pm we decided to head into the hospital as things seemed to be picking up a bit and I felt like I should at least be checked for where I was at and where baby was at. I kept hearing stories about how fast the second one comes and didn't want to be in the car having the baby. ") We were monitored for about 2.5hrs and they said we could go home if we wanted. I was only about 3cm and no change from the time we had arrived to when they said it was okay to leave. I was really hungry all of the sudden and just wanted to eat one of the peaches that I had gotten at the store on Tuesday. I knew the hospital wouldn't let me eat anything once I was there so this was part of my motivation to head back home. (so silly when I think about it!) So we headed back to the house. As soon as we pulled into the driveway we realized that the garage door was not going to open for (the battery in the remote was dead and the keypad outside wasn't cooperating either) and neither of us had a key to the front door of the house. Our housemate was home, but is a champion sleeper and didn't hear us knocking or ringing the doorbell (or Cloe-dog barking her head off!) and so we had to break into our own house. (moment one that I probably won't forget about this birth)
Andy had to get the ladder from the side yard and slipped in thru a second story window (visions of me driving his broken body, while in labor, back to the hospital did flash thru my mind more than once as I watched him on the roof). Once we were in, we tried to settled in bed and got about 2 hours of sleep. Then all of the sudden I felt a punch and a large POP - my waters broke! I found my way into the bathroom and sort of got stuck sitting on the toilet shaking and not sure what to do next. I knew I wanted to get in the shower, but wasn't sure how to navigate myself there. Andy had gotten up long enough to turn the water on and then got back in bed (have I mentioned that he is not easy to rouse when he is tried? um yeah). I found my way into the shower to rinse off, but I was shaking like crazy and was really scared I would slip and fall. I yelled for Andy to come back in and help me out, then said it was time to go back. I asked him to grab a dress for me to pull on and when I picked one out he asked me, "your going to wear
THAT?" I don't know if I said, "um, fashion police? really?" but I know I thought it. I just wanted something easy to pull on over my head and the green cotton dress looked so soft and light weight... (moment two that I will probably not forget, or let Daddy-O live down)
Daddy-O photo
We then headed back to the hospital (I should mention here we are only about 3 minutes away, so these back and forth trips aren't really that big of a deal). It was about 2am by this point and still shaking like mad, not only with each toe curling wave, but between each one as well. I kept trying to breathe deep and keep my face 'soft' but... I was having a hard time. I couldn't find a position that made things any more comfortable. Andy rolled out the biggest wheel chair I had ever seen from the ER area and piled all of our stuff in the seat next to me. He got me about two steps and I made him stop because I was having another surge and the movement of the chair was making me motion sick. We finally made it up the elevator and to the L&D-
The nurse checked me again and I had progressed to about 5cm by that point. They got me set up with an iv and drew blood. I would have really liked to do this all natural but I decided to opt for an epidural. I just couldn't calm my body down from shaking and I was getting freaked out with the intensity of things. (This is where I bow down to all you ladies who did this birthing work w/o medication, I am awe). I kept thinking if this is what 5cm is like I am not sure if I can take 10cm.
We got back to sleep once the epidural set in for another 1.5 to 2 hrs. But around 4:30ish I just couldn't stop feeling like I needed to bare down and push. Plus my entire left side was asleep and I was really uncomfortable. (they had put me on that side in order to get a better reading on the baby's heart beat. I guess as soon as I was on my right they would loose the ability to monitor her correctly or her heart rate would just dip because of the position I was/she was in)
Daddy-O photo
I woke up Andy and told him I though I needed to push and/or just be moved so he went and got the nurse. About an hour later (with about half an hour/twenty minutes of pushing) Little J came flying (almost literally) out with a gush of fluid behind her at 5:33am. She made a little squeak and one of the nurses said, "It's a......GIRL" I looked up at Andy in total disbelief! They had to take her over and get a bunch of the fluid she had swallowed out and finally they put her on my chest. Once they finally handed her over to me (I had to ask a million times), she took to the breast right away and nursed and nursed. I love that part of those first moments.
She weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5 inches long. Healthy and beautiful! Our pediatrician does his hospital rounds really early so he was in to see here by 6am (at only half an hour old!) and confirmed that she looked great.
We had a short list of names and one, that had just in the past few days, popped up that we really liked but weren't sure of. So she was just known as baby girl for the first 24hrs she was around. I love that the name we picked was the one that came last minute to us. I had been feeling like the names we had were wonderful, but not fitting some how or another.
photo by jojo
I am really happy with the way the birth went. It was SO much shorter (O. took forever to come into this world, I had been induced and it was just not how I had pictured things to work out). I am also glad I let my body do the starting work on it's own despite the multiple times I had been asked if I wanted an induction. Four days late isn't too bad, I knew I was close! Even though I didn't go 'totally natural' and had an epidural I am okay with that. Each birth is exactly as it should be and this one was so much closer to how I had imagined things to go.
She's here and awesome. Over the past few days she has been pooping, eating and sleeping really well. When she is awake she is bright eyed and checking out things all around here. She makes the sweetest little squeaks and coos. So far she only really cries when I'm not moving fast enough to get her dressed/diapered or when I haven't gotten the boob out fast enough for her to eat. MrO is adjusting well and has been so sweet with here so far. "Where my sister at?" and this morning he brought over a blanket and said, "I bring her special blankie, mama". He pats her really gently and says, "she's cute". I am sure we will have our moments, but so far so good and that is all that matters. I feel so much more at ease this time around- not sure if it is her or me(us), but I am definitely have a much more relaxed feeling.
I think she likes it here so far, don't you?
