Here's my obligatory "I had a baby and this is my birth story" post! There's not much to tell because everything went so smoothly. Although not my fastest labor, it was by far my easiest.
I went to bed around 10:00pm on Wednesday night, but I felt weird as I crawled under the covers next to my husband. Although I couldn't describe how I felt, I remember saying to him: "I could be totally wrong, but it might be soon. I feel different."
I fell asleep and dreamed of contractions. I can't remember anything else about the dream except that I was having contractions and they were killing my back! Suddenly, I woke up with a full bladder, cramps, and sharp back pain. I thought maybe the cramping was because I had to pee, but even after I went to the bathroom I was hit with a pretty hard contraction. And so I was also hit with a realization: I'm in labor! I looked at the clock and it was just a few minutes after midnight. Her due date.
I woke my husband up and told him it was starting. He very sleepily and reluctantly got out of bed to start timing my contractions with me. They were 10 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long.
The house was dark and entirely silent as I paced around the living room. Already this labor was proving itself different from my others which had all started during the day. I had never labored in the quiet of the night and I found the still darkness very peaceful.
I hadn't bothered to pack a bag for the hospital, so I went ahead and did that in between contractions. When that was finished, I went back to pacing and I pleaded with Sts. Philomena and Dymphna one last time to pray for me. My specific intentions were that everything would go smoothly during the birth and that I would keep a calm, collected head throughout labor. With my previous three births I had a tendency to give in to fear and anxiety, and I was really hoping to avoid that this time.
So all was calm as I paced and had contractions in the dimly -lit living room. I even told a friend later that I felt kind of bored in between contractions - everything was so serene and slow! It was not the frenzied excitment I was used to, or the fierce turbulent contractions. "This is going to a LONG labor," I whined to my husband. "It's normal to feel pessimistic," he assured me, literally reading from the labor handbook.
But actually the contractions picked up within an hour or so. They were only a few minutes apart now and had increased in intensity. I kept asking my husband when we should leave for the hospital, but he said not yet. They wouldn't admit me until I was 6cm dilated and we both knew I wasn't there yet. Despite that, I had an urgency about getting there, I think because I was paranoid that we wouldn't make it in time.
Eventually the contractions were becoming so intense that I couldn't remain quiet through them and I was worried about waking up the kids. I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was about 2:30 when I asked if we could PLEASE go now. He said yes, although he knew I still wasn't 6cm yet. "I know I'm not either, but I just want to go!"
So we woke up the babysitter (who was staying the week with us just in case this exact scenario happened), I threw on a coat, and we walked out to the van. I had a contraction between the front door and the van. I had two more in the car on the way to the hospital (which is only a 5 minute drive). I had one in between the car and the hospital entrance. And then I had three more in the hospital halls before we reached the "birth center." As we walked past the hospital's chapel, I took advantage and blessed myself with the holy water outside the door. I'm pretty sure I heard my husband chuckle when I said, "Holy water!" and ran to the font.
When we made it to the birth center, we informed the nurses that I was in labor and they brought me to a triage room. A midwife came in and checked my dilation: 4.5. I sat on the bed in the triage room, breathed through contractions, and waited to see if they would admit me or not. A doctor came in to assess the situation and asked if I could feel any pressure. Yes, yes I could - quite a bit of pressure. I think the contractions were still about 2-3 minutes apart at this point, but they were lasting 60-90 seconds now. And the pressure was gradually increasing.
They admitted me, took me to a birth room, and I sat down on another bed. "Don't you want to stand up?" The nurse asked. "Walk around? Squat? We have birthing balls. Whatever your body tells you to do, you can do."
"My body is telling me to sit." Oddly enough, that was true. I had no desire to move. Not even during contractions. I just wanted to sit there.
The doctor checked me again. "You're at 7 now. Would you like me to break your water?"
"Already?"
"It's entirely up to you. I do think you will have the baby shortly after I break it, perhaps within two or three contractions."
"What? Go ahead and break it, I guess."
He did.
Suddenly, I was dilated to 9.
"You can start pushing with the next contraction."
"Are you sure?" I was in disbelief. "Yes, I see the baby's head." Everything was happening so fast, and the contractions weren't even very painful - in fact some of them didn't really hurt at all! I was so confused.
"This isn't like my other labors," I said. My husband smiled, "No, not at all."
"How do you want to push?" The nurse asked. "You can push in any position you want."
But for some reason I still did not want to move off the bed, so I just stayed there. I think I was pretty much sitting up but leaning back just a little. With the next contraction I pushed and everyone cheered, "Yeah! Good! Do that again!" I pushed again and everyone was excited. "Here she comes!" The third push was harder and longer, but I felt her shoulder, then her other shoulder, then her butt, and then... relief! Isabelle was born!
They put her up on my chest right away and she was crying so loudly! I saw her fuzzy little hair and bright blue eyes and thought of her big brother, Oliver. Her nose and lips were just like Eli's, her long fingers were just like Anja's. Her ears were so tiny and perfectly round.
I delivered the placenta quickly afterwards, and they allowed us to do delayed cord clamping (hooray!) My husband actually cut the cord this time - fourth child, but first time cutting the cord!
We stayed skin to skin and I latched her on to nurse. She was a natural - her latch was perfect and she nursed from each side for 30 minutes. And the hospital staff left us alone the whole time. Only when I called them in did they finally weigh and measure her: 7 pounds, 7 ounces; 20 inches. She was cold, though, and an hour of skin-to-skin plus a heated blanket didn't bring her temp up. I took a nap and ate a hot breakfast while she slept under the warmer, and she did eventually manage to warm up. It was all pretty nice, actually.
I didn't tear, I was able to get up and walk around without problem, and guys, it didn't even burn when I peed. Everything about this birth felt miraculously easy and I am so thankful.
The best word I can think to describe Isabelle is "sweet." She is just such a sweet baby. She's content, alert, and she smiles and laughs in her sleep. She is most content in her daddy's arms where she isn't distracted by boobs. When I hold her, she just immediately wants to nurse! She almost never stops nursing and it's a little exhausting, but I'm grateful that I've already established a great supply. I don't think we'll encounter any issues with breastfeeding.
My husband has been a tremendous help, but that's not surprising because he always is! We try to tag-team holding her while the other sleeps, but we are both really exhausted.
I went to bed around 10:00pm on Wednesday night, but I felt weird as I crawled under the covers next to my husband. Although I couldn't describe how I felt, I remember saying to him: "I could be totally wrong, but it might be soon. I feel different."
I fell asleep and dreamed of contractions. I can't remember anything else about the dream except that I was having contractions and they were killing my back! Suddenly, I woke up with a full bladder, cramps, and sharp back pain. I thought maybe the cramping was because I had to pee, but even after I went to the bathroom I was hit with a pretty hard contraction. And so I was also hit with a realization: I'm in labor! I looked at the clock and it was just a few minutes after midnight. Her due date.
I woke my husband up and told him it was starting. He very sleepily and reluctantly got out of bed to start timing my contractions with me. They were 10 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long.
The house was dark and entirely silent as I paced around the living room. Already this labor was proving itself different from my others which had all started during the day. I had never labored in the quiet of the night and I found the still darkness very peaceful.
I hadn't bothered to pack a bag for the hospital, so I went ahead and did that in between contractions. When that was finished, I went back to pacing and I pleaded with Sts. Philomena and Dymphna one last time to pray for me. My specific intentions were that everything would go smoothly during the birth and that I would keep a calm, collected head throughout labor. With my previous three births I had a tendency to give in to fear and anxiety, and I was really hoping to avoid that this time.
So all was calm as I paced and had contractions in the dimly -lit living room. I even told a friend later that I felt kind of bored in between contractions - everything was so serene and slow! It was not the frenzied excitment I was used to, or the fierce turbulent contractions. "This is going to a LONG labor," I whined to my husband. "It's normal to feel pessimistic," he assured me, literally reading from the labor handbook.
But actually the contractions picked up within an hour or so. They were only a few minutes apart now and had increased in intensity. I kept asking my husband when we should leave for the hospital, but he said not yet. They wouldn't admit me until I was 6cm dilated and we both knew I wasn't there yet. Despite that, I had an urgency about getting there, I think because I was paranoid that we wouldn't make it in time.
Eventually the contractions were becoming so intense that I couldn't remain quiet through them and I was worried about waking up the kids. I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was about 2:30 when I asked if we could PLEASE go now. He said yes, although he knew I still wasn't 6cm yet. "I know I'm not either, but I just want to go!"
So we woke up the babysitter (who was staying the week with us just in case this exact scenario happened), I threw on a coat, and we walked out to the van. I had a contraction between the front door and the van. I had two more in the car on the way to the hospital (which is only a 5 minute drive). I had one in between the car and the hospital entrance. And then I had three more in the hospital halls before we reached the "birth center." As we walked past the hospital's chapel, I took advantage and blessed myself with the holy water outside the door. I'm pretty sure I heard my husband chuckle when I said, "Holy water!" and ran to the font.
When we made it to the birth center, we informed the nurses that I was in labor and they brought me to a triage room. A midwife came in and checked my dilation: 4.5. I sat on the bed in the triage room, breathed through contractions, and waited to see if they would admit me or not. A doctor came in to assess the situation and asked if I could feel any pressure. Yes, yes I could - quite a bit of pressure. I think the contractions were still about 2-3 minutes apart at this point, but they were lasting 60-90 seconds now. And the pressure was gradually increasing.
They admitted me, took me to a birth room, and I sat down on another bed. "Don't you want to stand up?" The nurse asked. "Walk around? Squat? We have birthing balls. Whatever your body tells you to do, you can do."
"My body is telling me to sit." Oddly enough, that was true. I had no desire to move. Not even during contractions. I just wanted to sit there.
The doctor checked me again. "You're at 7 now. Would you like me to break your water?"
"Already?"
"It's entirely up to you. I do think you will have the baby shortly after I break it, perhaps within two or three contractions."
"What? Go ahead and break it, I guess."
He did.
Suddenly, I was dilated to 9.
"You can start pushing with the next contraction."
"Are you sure?" I was in disbelief. "Yes, I see the baby's head." Everything was happening so fast, and the contractions weren't even very painful - in fact some of them didn't really hurt at all! I was so confused.
"This isn't like my other labors," I said. My husband smiled, "No, not at all."
"How do you want to push?" The nurse asked. "You can push in any position you want."
But for some reason I still did not want to move off the bed, so I just stayed there. I think I was pretty much sitting up but leaning back just a little. With the next contraction I pushed and everyone cheered, "Yeah! Good! Do that again!" I pushed again and everyone was excited. "Here she comes!" The third push was harder and longer, but I felt her shoulder, then her other shoulder, then her butt, and then... relief! Isabelle was born!
They put her up on my chest right away and she was crying so loudly! I saw her fuzzy little hair and bright blue eyes and thought of her big brother, Oliver. Her nose and lips were just like Eli's, her long fingers were just like Anja's. Her ears were so tiny and perfectly round.
I delivered the placenta quickly afterwards, and they allowed us to do delayed cord clamping (hooray!) My husband actually cut the cord this time - fourth child, but first time cutting the cord!
We stayed skin to skin and I latched her on to nurse. She was a natural - her latch was perfect and she nursed from each side for 30 minutes. And the hospital staff left us alone the whole time. Only when I called them in did they finally weigh and measure her: 7 pounds, 7 ounces; 20 inches. She was cold, though, and an hour of skin-to-skin plus a heated blanket didn't bring her temp up. I took a nap and ate a hot breakfast while she slept under the warmer, and she did eventually manage to warm up. It was all pretty nice, actually.
I didn't tear, I was able to get up and walk around without problem, and guys, it didn't even burn when I peed. Everything about this birth felt miraculously easy and I am so thankful.
The best word I can think to describe Isabelle is "sweet." She is just such a sweet baby. She's content, alert, and she smiles and laughs in her sleep. She is most content in her daddy's arms where she isn't distracted by boobs. When I hold her, she just immediately wants to nurse! She almost never stops nursing and it's a little exhausting, but I'm grateful that I've already established a great supply. I don't think we'll encounter any issues with breastfeeding.
My husband has been a tremendous help, but that's not surprising because he always is! We try to tag-team holding her while the other sleeps, but we are both really exhausted.
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