Introducing Baby Ezri!
Ezri Ana was born! 19 inches long, 7 lbs, on Dec. 30, 11:19 am local Seattle time.
As my two OBs predicted, it was a fast labor! At 6:47 am I went to the bathroom after feeling a weird sensation. Needless to say, my water had broken and I had a huge contraction. Sadly, I also noticed meconium (baby poo) in the discharge, which is an immediate warning sign for medical attention. From then on, I was having intense contractions every 3 minutes, and soon every minute and a half.
I of course called the hospital right away. The first nurse sounded a bit dubious (since I'm a 1st time mom), but once I explained the symptoms and my history of being 80% effaced and 4 cm dilated for weeks, she had me come right in.
They first admitted me to triage, as is their policy -- not to determine if I was in labor -- no one doubted that. But my blood pressure was slightly elevated, I was dehydrated, and they couldn't detect strong fetal movement (though Ezri's heart-rate was just fine). They eventually had me go up to my proper delivery-labor-birthing suite. Via my hypnobabies practice and mental preparation for a natural birth, things went pretty well. With IV and antibiotics pumped in me (due to me being GSB +), my blood pressure went back to normal, pleasantly surprising my doctor who thought I might have an emergency C-section. Oh, and within minutes of me being sent to my suite and being examined, it was found I was already 8 cm dilated.
It was only an hour of pushing later that Ezri was born, without any pain medication. I have to give a big kudos to Evergreen hospital for respecting unwritten natural birth plans -- I never once got pestered about "pain management", epidurals, or other intervention. The nurses were great about letting me use different positions to aid delivery, and both Brian and my doula were essential in supporting me.
Since I was leaking lots of meconium, respiratory specialists were already in the room ready to assist. Ezri came out crying and breathing on her own, but more rapidly than they would have liked. Also, they strongly suspected she might have swallowed the meconium, so they were vigorously suctioning her. As a result, I didn't get to see her for a long time, as she was surrounded by Brian and medical staff. In addition, I was hemorrhaging more than they preferred, so they made sure to give me pitocin and very roughly massaged my abdomen for a while. Not fun.
I only got to hold Ezri for a few seconds before they took her away to NICU for extra observation and tests (there was some concern that she was breathing quickly and could possibly have fluid in her lungs) and Brian went with her.
Ezri quickly passed all the tests with flying colors and got to rejoin us! She's been nursing pretty well (although she has trouble opening her mouth wide) and soothes easily (for now). Sadly, because my labor was so quick, I only managed to get half of the required antibiotics, so they are keeping Ezri an extra day for additional observation. We get to stay with her in a new room on the pediatric ward.
I ended up with a minor second degree tear, but otherwise have been recovering nicely. I kept surprising doctors and nurses by being up and about, and having a good amount of energy. I credit a lot of that to not having an epidural, along with a fast labor.