Birth Stories - open
Cora Rosemary Noreen - November 1st, 2008
We had a big night Halloween so Andy let me sleep in. He took Cressa downstairs to watch cartoons and make breakfast. I slept in for a long time, until around noon - I was hungry =] I almost decided to stay home, I was feeling crampy and wasn't sure I was up for a walk, so we drove up to Snap! for some yummy sandwiches and brought them home. I called my parents to let them now I was feeling kinda crampy but that we were still planning on going to the concert that night, so they'd be babysitting Cressa. Andy and I had said that if I was still pregnant, we'd go see Kings of Leon. We were both excited about the prospect of going to the concert, but we kept telling Cora we'd rather meet her.
So, Cressa went down for a nap around 1:00 and so did Andy and I. The whole time I was feeling cramps and they seemed to be coming in somewhat regular intervals, but I was still able to sleep mostly. At about 3:00 Andy's mom called to drop off cupcakes and say hi quick. By that point I was sure they were contractions, coming from 7-12 minutes apart, barely on my radar. I told her she had good timing and she stuck around.
By 4:30 or so looking out my bedroom window at the leaves being blown in the wind and lounging around with Andy wasn't cutting it anymore and I felt that it was time to get to the hospital. Joanie went with, she was wrangling Cressa. not believing I was really in labor. I was dealing with it all inwardly, looking outside at the end of autumn when the contractions peaked, and just breathing calmly through the rest. The car ride sucked, of course. But we did get to listen to some Kings of Leon, which was great. Every time the car stopped or slowed I just tensed up, but I was able to be completely calm and comfortable between the contractions otherwise, they were about 4-5 minutes apart at this point. It was a lot different than with Cressa's birth. With her I was more outward I guess. With Cora I was more focused on getting it over with and just dealing with it. I wasn't reacting as much to what my body was going through.
Once we got to the hospital, went to the desk, "How can we help you?" uh, duh, is it not obvious when I'm in labor? That happened with Cressa, too. The cop was all like, what's going on here? ha. We got into the room and they got me hooked up to the IV (for GBS). It was kinda freaky for me, I don't like the hospital aspect of it all. But, I stayed focused and the midwife finally came in to check me out, it was about 5:15, I'd say. The first thing she told me was that they didn't run some blood work, and I wouldn't be able to have a waterbirth this time around. I was really devastated by that, I was prepared for the tub, I know it works, that was the reason I went the hospital route again... She checked my progress and I was only at 5 cm which was a bummer, I was hoping to be further along. My water broke in the process, there was meconium present, so I wouldn't have been able to do the waterbirth anyway, and another concern. It got on Andy's pants. He took it quite well, it was pretty gross, I think he was actually kinda proud of the fact that he was there to get splashed on a bit. Then she said Cora wasn't moving as much as they'd like, that she seemed sleepy and that they would have to keep an eye on that. I was surprised about that, too, I don't remember with Cressa her moving around that much during labor either. She just kinda went into position and slowly came out. After that, my blood pressure was getting really high, so that was just another thing added to it. I was getting freaked out. The midwife asked if I felt any urge to start pushing, I said no (why would I? I wasn't far along), and she left.
I was definitely stressed from all of that and my contractions were coming closer together. I felt like I should just scrap the whole natural thing all together since I was freaking out and nothing was going the way I wanted it to anyway. Andy was supportive but said to give it a bit of time to see how things unraveled a bit longer. I really didn't want everything to go wrong, but I was freaking out. I was trying to tell myself that it'd be worth it, it'd be the one thing that did go the way I wanted it then.
Five minutes later, my body took over and I was pushing, telling the nurse to get my midwife back in here. My body and Cora must've gotten the memo that I was freaking out. Andy held my hand while I screamed through some pushes, it felt a lot different than with Cressa. With Cora, I wanted to clench up and pause it all when I started pushing. I was quiet between them and focused, it was going so fast, though. Especially because in early labor my contractions didn't hurt at all, and in that last hour or so, it all just happened, hard and fast. I didn't want anyone to talk at me or look at me, mostly I didn't want to put my attention on anything but what I was doing. My mom was there by then and thought my noises were too much for Cressa and wasn't sure how long it'd be, so they all went to get some food down the hall. I was on my back, which I hated, but couldn't move easily with the IV and everything, plus my body wasn't in the mood to move, they were fighting me to get my knees back far enough to get her out.
The midwife took awhile to get there, after 10 minutes of pushing, (Andy claims 5) I was looking at the clock the whole time thinking maybe she'll come right at 7:00, on the dot, but Cora was out at 6:58. Her cord was all kinds of wrapped around her head and neck, the midwife was back in time to untangle her quickly and Andy cut the cord. Then promptly lost it and on his way to lay down on the floor, passed out. They checked her out quick - some Resident peeked in to voice their retarded opinion that she looked 1 month or more premature - and then gave her to me to snuggle with right after. She was 7 lbs 10 oz, had toes and fingers longer than anything I'd seen and a head of hair. The moms and Cressa were back by then, in shock that it was over already. They came in and gave Cora lots of love. Andy was back up by then and we just took it easy and cuddled all together.
Looking back, even without the blood work and meconium issues, I wouldn't have gotten into the tub anyway. And I'm glad it went fast, since I was freaking out. But man, it was a lot easier to deal with my first birth, I had just long enough to process what was going on and react to it in the right manner (after the initial freak out/bewilderment of what's happening). I wish Cressa had been in the room with me, but she was there not even a minute after, so that worked out well. I wouldn't have been able to talk to her or anything before Cora was out anyway, I was out of it during that time.
Cressa May Henri
August 12th, 2005 - You called me at 4:15am to say you’d been awake since 2:45 with contractions that were now about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. You were feeling some back pressure and were in the bathtub leaning forward. You called again at 5:00am to say you were ready for me to join you.
5:30am - When I arrived, you were sitting on the couch and standing or going to your hands and knees during contractions. Chris relieved some of the pressure by pressing on your lower back. To try to get you in a position where you could rest comfortably between but still be upright and forward during contractions, we placed the birth ball in front of the couch. But the couch was too low so we moved next to the bed where you sat on the ball and leaned into pillows. Chris breathed with you while I squeezed your hips.
6:00am - You were feeling the contractions more in the front now and felt Cressa move and said, “That felt different.” You were still sitting on the ball, leaning back onto Chris seated behind you, listening to music in the candlelight. Chris sang “Blue Moon” quietly into your ear, and you looked through your maternity photographs. Our doula-in-training, Rachael Kulick, arrived.
7:00am - You alternated between standing and walking, doing figure-8s with your hips, and hands and knees on the couch. By 7:30 you felt briefly nauseous and were restless, having a hard time staying in one place. Your contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and about a minute long.
8:00am - You stood and swayed and made fantastic big circles with your hips. During contractions you would lean forward on Chris, and Rachael and I squeezed your hips and rubbed your back. For a while your contractions picked up to 2 minutes apart and you leaned over the ball on the bed, then moved into a cross-legged position on some pillows. Chris held a cool washcloth to your face.
9:00am - Your nausea worsened and you vomited. Your contractions were then 4 minutes apart, giving you a little more break in between. At 9:30 your water broke with a pop, and a small amount of the clear fluid spilled out onto the towel on the bed. Soon you were feeling back pain again, and moved back to hands and knees with a hot pack on your lower back. At 9:55 you vomited again, and we talked about going to the hospital.
10:15am - We left for the hospital. When we arrived you chose to walk to your room rather than ride in the wheelchair. You were coping so beautifully. At 11:00 you vomited again, and we were a bit concerned about dehydration since you couldn’t keep anything down, so we switched you to ice chips instead of liquids. This seemed to work. Your contractions were now shifting into strong labor at 2-3 minutes apart. Your back was still hurting and Chris helped by squeezing your hips. An exam at 11:25 showed you to be 3-4cm dilated, 90% effaced, and baby low at 0 station. You moved to the bathtub where Chris poured warm water over you and you tried to relax and rest a little.
12:00pm - You left the tub and went back to sitting in the bed. Your back was really bothering you and you were struggling to find your breath. Chris helped you breathe in a pattern of hee-hee-hoo and you regained your focus. Your contractions were powerful and frequent, and by 12:50 you were 7-8cms and almost completely effaced.
1:00pm - You started to feel some rectal pressure with the contractions as you sat on the ball by the bed. At 1:20 you got into the birth tub with Chris supporting you from behind. I poured some warm water over you and held a cool cloth to your face, and admired the tight connection you and Chris shared as he worked through each contraction with you. By 1:45 you were pushing spontaneously at the peaks of the contractions.
2:00pm - Your midwife, Julia, checked you and found baby “right there” at +3 station. You reached in and felt Cressa’s head and Chris did as well. Chris pushed with you, looking into your eyes and encouraging you every time. “Send it all to me! My babies!” he said, and told you how beautiful you were. Soon he could see her and said, “She has my jet black hair!” You pushed so powerfully and we all soon saw a full crown of Cressa’s dark hair, and soon…
2:37pm - She was born! Her head emerged into the water soon followed by her body and she was brought up to you and you pressed her tiny body to you. She looked toward your voices and cried out her greeting to you. Soon you moved to the bed to push out the placenta as Chris bonded with his daughter. By 3:05 she was latched on to your left breast as you said, “I can’t believe I got through that!” The grandparents arrived around 4:00 and Cressa was weighed and measured. Your nurse, Necole, said that Cressa looked to be 39 weeks gestational age.
*I lost my mucus plug on Thursday at noon and posted "can I have my baby now?" I tried not to get too excited because I knew it didn't always work so quickly, but at a quarter to three I woke up to go to the bathroom and felt like I was having menstrual cramps. I wasn't sure if it was anything, or if it would continue but they became stronger and I poked at Chris to wake up saying "I think..." "I think..." After cuddling in bed for about an hour my contractions were growing so we moved to the tub and lit candles. I got a bit ansy and we gave Gina, our doula, a call letting her know what was going on. Once Gina got there I calmed down a lot, lettin my body rest between contractions. Pressing on my back helped a ton! We moved to the bed and lit candles, looked at the photos she had taken. It was so nice to see them, I felt beautiful and empowered and knew today was the day I'd lose at least part of the belly. I would miss the time alone with her. But I was so excited to see her finally. We turned on jazz music, listening to Sentimental Mood, Favorite Things and, of course, Blue Moon. I loved the jazz... The doula in training came and we were moving through the contractions and I was resting between. This whole time was very surreal, she was really coming out, and on time! It helped a ton to sway my hips in a figure 8. When the contractions grew I got overwhellmed and threw up. I ended up throwing up three times in all, once at the hospital. It was actually kind of nice, a different sensation to distract me. My water broke when I was on my bed and it was such a relief. The fluid was clear so I would be able to do the waterbirth. Once I threw up again I was getting overwhellmed and thought it would be best to get to the hospital before the contractions got any stronger. I'm not sure how we made it to the hospital. I kind of put everything on hold and just did it. I got out of the car and went in through the ER doors and a cop asked me what was going on. I said I was in labor and he asked me to sit in the wheelchair. I wanted to walk through the contractions, get to the room. The hospital kind of freaked me out. So, hospitally... Chris got music going which was really nice. We listened to a random mix of music, all familiar. I remember a few sticking out in particular while I was on the bed, hanging onto Chris. To get through the contractions I thought of my cliff on Moose Lake, the sunset and shore in the Boundary Waters. I became very anxious while we were in the hospital room. There were two times where I wasn't sure I'd make it through. My mind wasn't working with my body. Chris helped so much going through each step with me, staying strong and focused. I really wanted to be in the birthing tub, but was not dialated quite enough. Soon it was time and once Chris and I got in the tub I calmed down. Everything seemed to be open and real. My mind switched into go-mode. Pushing was harder than expected, but easy in comparison to getting through the contractions. She kept peeking out and going back in. Once I felt her head it really clicked. There was really someone in there trying to get out! I pushed extra hard and long and she came out, eyes open and whimpering, then wailing. Her cord was short so Chris cut it and I got out of the now cloudy tub. Her and Chris bonded and then she was brought to me. I was so amazed and felt great, no tears, only a a skid mark. I am so blessed.