Part One of Nellie's birth story ended on our drive home from the zoo, with a couple contractions coming four minutes apart. When we arrived home, the contractions continued to come at four minute intervals, steady and noticeable, but not painful. I made dinner (don't be impressed, this just involved heating up Costco chicken burgers) and ate with the family.
After dinner, Mark packed his hospital bag and then gave me a Priesthood blessing. In the blessing, he said that I would, "have a clear mind and be in control," while in labor, and that everything would go well. That was exactly what I needed to hear. With Graham, I'd been so completely exhausted that I found it hard to maintain focus and I did not want a repeat of that experience.
Following the blessing, Mark wrangled the kids to bed while I laid down on the couch. I was torn between wanting this to be real labor, and desperately wanting to avoid laboring all night and being exhausted again.
By 8pm, the contractions stretched to 6-7 minutes apart, but became increasingly stronger. In the long spaces between contractions I'd think, "That's it! I'm going to bed!" Then a long, hard contraction would come and I'd think, "Let's get in the car and go to the hospital now!"
At 9:30pm I made the decision that we should indeed go to the hospital. As we left the house, my mom stopped us to take a picture. As I smiled for the camera, she commented, "You're smiling...doesn't that mean it's too soon to go to the hospital?" She was likely correct, but I really did want to avoid laboring all night and I was concerned that if my water broke at home, we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time.
On the 40 minute drive to the hospital, and the walk to the labor and delivery rooms, my contractions stayed consistently 6-7 minutes apart. When we got to triage, the nurses also noticed I seemed "a little too smiley" to be in labor. Thankfully, a contraction hit just when the nurse and midwife came in to set up the initial monitors and check for dilation. Then they could see that I was serious.
The midwife on call, Melissa, is one of my favorites in the practice. She checked me and delivered the happy news, "You're at a 6 and the baby has dropped to a low enough station that I feel totally comfortable breaking your water. Let's get you officially checked in!"
Hallelujah! I will admit, this was the only point when I at all considered getting an epidural. Not because I was in pain. No - because I knew the pain was coming, and I'm not a fan of pain!
Within minutes we were heading down a long hallway to our hospital room. When I realized our room was at the very end of the hall, I joked, "Oh, I see how it is. You put the lady who's planning to delivery naturally as far away from everyone else as possible!"
I had two nurses, one regular L&D nurse, and one student nurse. The student nurse commented, "I'm graduating in two weeks and I've never seen a natural birth. I'm really excited to see how this goes!"
No pressure, eh?
At 10:50, Melissa was ready to break my water. Before-hand she'd warned me, "I think you have a LOT of amniotic fluid," and she and the nurses had prepared for a major flood. However, when she broke the sac, only a small amount ("a handful") of water came out, and it had meconium in it. Meconium in the water was a first for me, but Melissa did not seem overly concerned. She listened to the baby fairly regularly during and after contractions and said Nellie did not appear to be at all stressed.
Normally, once my water breaks, we expect to have a baby within an hour. So, I braced myself for the inevitable increase in contraction intensity and the craziness that is transition. The hospital bed was positioned with the back up and the feet lowered, and I was sitting pretty comfortably in this make-shift chair. At this point I was kind of enjoying labor. Between contractions I was chatting with Mark, Melissa, and the two nurses. We were telling growing up stories, and past labor stories. When a contraction would hit, I would close my eyes and breathe through it, but it still felt quite manageable.
I knew that if I stood up or moved around, it would speed up the labor process, but it's hard to knowingly and willingly bring yourself more pain. I could also tell that with each contraction Nellie was making significant downward progress. So, I stayed just where I was, and soon an hour had passed with no baby.
At 11:52, however, my water really broke. Turns out Melissa's instincts had been correct - I did have a LOT of water and it gushed and gushed and gushed. Every time I'd try to move so the nurses could change out the sopping, nasty, meconium tinged pads, more fluid would pour out. It was fairly hilarious.
No surprise, that's when labor started to get intense. It's also when details start to get hazy in my mind. By 12:10 am I started to get shaky. Mark (who was an absolute STAR) put his hand on my forehead, "Nope," he commented, "she's not clammy yet." Then he proceeded to explain to the medical staff exactly what they could expect with the remainder of my delivery. He was spot-on. Even in the midst of transition, I was impressed.
At some point my hands started to get tingly. "Remember to breathe!" Melissa gently reminded me. Then my feet got tingly too. Much later (well after Nellie was born), I realized that my "breathing" had mostly been breathing out. Someone needed to remind me to breath in!
Soon, I felt Nellie low in the birth canal. "She's coming down!" I cried. Melissa asked the nurses to call in the NICU nurses, explaining, "This is her fifth baby. If she says the baby is coming, then we believe her."
I heard the baby nurses arrive and started to feel a little "pushy" (or maybe just a little over-anxious for all this to be over). Melissa stopped me, "Erin, I'd like to check you once more before you start pushing just to make sure you're complete."
She checked, then told me, "You're at an 8."
I felt like a fool. I wanted to say, "I'm sorry, please tell the NICU nurses that they can leave."
I didn't have a chance, though, because with the next contraction I realized that what I thought was Nellie "coming down" was nothing like what it really feels like when a baby is ready to come out (and I also wondered, "how did I ever forget THIS?!").
Then I really yelled, "Aaauuuggghhhhhh! She's coming NOW!"
A few intense moments later, Nellie was in my arms.
Since she came out pink and screaming, she didn't need any extra treatment as a result of the meconium in her water, and the NICU nurses left quickly. It was 12:27am.
Melissa commented that when she checked me and said I was at an 8, she'd seen the NICU nurses look at each other and roll their eyes. When Nellie was born just moments later, she said, "and that's why we don't wait to call them!"
The student nurse said, "You make a compelling case for going natural." I wish I'd had a chance to ask her more about what she meant, but I was a bit preoccupied, and I didn't see her again.
Overall, I think Nellie's birth was my favorite of all five. I didn't tear at all, or even have any after-birth pains (I took two Ibuprofin just in case, but they were unnecessary). I don't know that I could've asked for it to go any better. I feel extraordinarily fortunate and blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment