Our little miracle decided to enter this world in the most surprising and miraculous way.
I will start from the beginning, so about a week before the
birth I was having irregular contractions. Except, I didn’t know they were
actual contractions, I thought they were just stronger Braxton Hicks. On
Saturday, the day Alice came, they were a little more regular, but went away
when I laid down for bed. At my 39 week appointment on Tuesday (Feb 12th), I asked the
Doctor about them and he said they were probably Braxton Hicks and my body was
gearing up for labor, but don’t get to excited it could still be a while. I
went about my day, and finally finished packing our hospital bags. Then about
10 that night, I started to feel crummy, and went to bed. Brody come to
check on me a little later (he and Alice were watching a movie) and he thought
that I might be in the early stage of early labor. I didn’t think so. In the
morning I emailed my Doula with some questions and asked about the
contractions. She said to distinguish between false labor and real labor, to
alternate activity and rest. So, I sent Brody to work and school, and Alice and
I worked on finishing up some things I wanted to get done that day. Around 2 that afternoon, Alice and I went for a walk around the block to see what the contractions
would do. The contractions didn’t stop, nor did they become closer together, but
they did increase in intensity.
Also around 2 Brody asked if he needed come home or should go to
class, I told him to go to class. After class he wanted to know if he should go
back to work, and I said it was time for him to come home. The contractions
were stronger, but I was still in denial that I was in labor. We hadn’t been
timing the contractions, so when Brody got home he started timing them. At 4.30
they were one minute long and about 5-7 minutes about, and so Brody called the
Doula. Because we hadn’t told her that I
might be in labor that morning, she wasn’t quite ready to come over. She got to
our place a 5.30. We had discussed not going to the hospital until my water
broke, or I couldn’t handle the contractions, which is why we were still at home.
ViviAnne, our Doula, watched us work through a couple of contractions
and asked about how I was feeling. I said I felt a little uncomfortable, and
that I felt like some of the contractions where in my back. She felt the baby’s
position and thought that he might be posterior. So we change my position to
hands and knees, and the contractions stayed in my back. At 5.50 we tried the
Robozo to see if we could get the baby to rotate. A posterior baby, will have
difficultly entering the birth canal, and then the rotation they need to to go
through is more difficult. The Robozo is
a Mexican midwife technique to move the baby. There are different ways to do
this. ViviAnne, “sifted” the baby, which can help they baby flip. We did the
Robozo for about 5 minutes, at which point I go, “I feel like puking!” ViviAnne stops
and asks if I felt the baby move. I hadn’t and so we wait and see what the next
couple of contractions were like.
Now through all of this I never felt “in pain”, like they
tell you will have nor did I feel like I needed to go to the hospital. I
actually I kept thinking this wasn’t actually in labor until about 6.10. At
this point I realized that the contractions, after doing the Robozo, were right
on top of each other. I started thinking that maybe we should head to the
hospital. At this point, ViviAnne also asks if I felt like my water had broken.
I responded no, but that I feel like the contractions on right on top of each
other. I was still talking through them, and still wasn’t in pain. Then at 6.15
I feel this urge to push, and I think to myself, “This is a different
sensation” so I calmly say, “Umm… I feel like pushing.” ViviAnne, looks at me
with the biggest eyes I have ever seen and goes, “Are the bags in the car? We
need to leave, NOW!” Brody and ViviAnne help me up off the floor (I had laboring
on hands and knees) and I throw a sweater on and some slippers and head out to
the car. Once in the car, I started to feel the most uncomfortable. We left the
house at 6.23 and were able to drive across Pullman without hitting a red
light, which is something that never happens. I kept telling Brody to slow down
and drive the speed limit, he kept telling me he was doing the speed limit.
Once we turned the corner to head up the hill to the hospital I feel this pop
and a gush of fluid, and go “Brody, I think I broke my water.”
We get to the hospital (it is 6.31) and Brody tries to park
in the parking lot, where ViviAnne tells Brody to park next to the birth place,
once we get there a nurse comes out with a wheel chair. I am helped out of the
car, wheeled into the birth place, and striped down. I get in the bed, and they
tell me they have to check to see if I can push. In other words, they wanted to
make sure I was fully dilated. I was at a 10 and plus 3, which means the baby
was 3 centimeters into the birth canal and fully engaged. I was ready to go,
the staff no so much.
My doctor had not been notified I was there, and I was
pushing, despite the nursing staff telling me to stop. They wanted to set up
the fetal monitor to check the heart beat, and they kept trying, but couldn’t
find it. The staff kept asking me questions, which was REALLY ANNOYING!!! While
they are trying to find the heat beat, they give me some oxygen to see if that
helps increase the baby’s heat rate. Which was really nice, cause I was
forgetting to breathe and Brody had to keep prodding me. They still couldn’t
find it so they put one of those finger heat rate things on me, and were trying to
find a doctor from my office.
The Doctor from my office that was on call, was the Doctor I
didn’t like and had got the other two doctors to finally agree to come instead.
So the staff was suppose to call Doctor Harper, who was on call, but ViviAnne
told them to call Hall, but in all actuality, my doctor, Jamie Bowman, was on
call. The staff, was so flustered that it could them awhile to figure out
who to actually call. But because it took them too long to call my doctor, the
staff kept asking if a doctor who was on the floor could come in. I don’t
remember, but I kept telling them no. ViviAnne, gets in my face and tells me
they need to have the doctor come in, and because I was on my knees holding the
back of the bed, I wouldn’t see who caught the baby anyway. I tell her "Fine, I don’t
care."
Then the nurse at the foot of the bed, says, we need to slow
this down, can you flip over? I finish the couple of pushes I was in the middle
of, and the flip, and push. The nurse, at that moment, turned to change her
gloves, and ViviAnne yells, HEAD! The nurse turns around, and just in time to
bare handed catch Zelner. He had the cord around his neck, and she unwrapped
that, and the next thing I know, I am holding my baby and the nurses are wiping him
off. He was born at 6.55 PM Wednesday, Feb 13th.
Seriously, I did not know I was going to have the world
fastest labor for a first time mom. If I had, we might have called ViviAnne
earlier, and gone to the hospital earlier. I was all prepared for a long labor,
like they tell you to expect.
Everything went well, I have a bruise tail bone, and had to
get stitches from tearing. I feel like I
am recovering nicely, but I also need to remember I can’t do everything
yet. Brody has been very helpful. He is
also so cute and loving with Zelner. We
are both trying to get some sleep, but it is hard sleeping for an hour or two.
Plus with school and work, the poor guy is stretched thin. He also has a hard
time leaving to do homework. I know that if he stayed home he wouldn’t get
anything done.
Well enough talk time for some pictures!
