Birth Story
Sophie is 22 days old now and it's getting more and more difficult to remember her "birth story." So I'm gonna try to remember before my "mommy brain" becomes complete mush...
Sunday, October 29th. I felt... funny. I was making "gau gee" for Ben's 1-year-birthday party (for Ben's mommy, of course... it's, like, one of Naomi's favorite foods!) and I started to feel "crampy." Almost like menstrual cramps, for those of y'all that know what I'm talking about. I had heard that's what contractions feel like but it was so MILD I figured it was nothing. I called my mom to let her know that it might be that time and she said, "with my first pregnancy I wasn't sure I was having contractions until it was time to push!" Well... that was promising. I certainly didn't want to have a painful labor, and there's something to genetics, right? WRONG. Oh, and my mother also mentioned her first labor experience only lasted 5 hours. I was so misled by this woman. Keep in mind that my labor started on Sunday sometime before noon and Sophie, my beautiful baby, showed up Monday night at almost 9pm.
So I keep making gau gee, right? I mean... nothing too troubling was going on. Zak and I started to time these NOTHING contractions... these barely noticeable sensations I was having. Funny, lo and behold, they were coming exactly 18 minutes apart. OH HAPPY DAY! I was quite naive at this point. But there was still nothing of alarm so we headed for Mr. Ben's birthday party. Good times, people. Zak and I continued to keep track of what we weren't entirely sure were contractions or not. Ben made a huge mess of his birthday cake and it was rad. I ate a couple of cupcakes. We were there much longer than I thought we'd be because the contractions got less predictable. Eventually, though, I was pretty sure "it" was happening so we headed ...well... the OPPOSITE direction from the hospital and back north to our humble abode. I needed to pack a bag for the hospital, can you believe it? Me not prepared already? I know you're shocked. I had packed Sophie's bag weeks before, so there. The contractions started to get stronger, by the way. MUCH stronger. It became evident that this was not my mother's labor. I actually started crouching down on the ground when they came because I read somewhere that it would help. WHATEVER. The contractions were coming 2 minutes apart but I could still talk during them and, okay, I called the doctor and she said that when I _couldn't_ talk during the contractions I should head for the hospital. Now I was a bit torn because I thought, "but I'm hardcore, right? I'm not going to get to a point where I can't handle this." Oh hahahahahahaha...
So a couple of hours later we head for the hospital. Like, 10 p.m. or something? We get there, they look up my woohoo, and say that I'm 60% effaced but only 2 cm dilated. This is not promising. The nurse tells me to walk around the hospital for an HOUR and then come back and she'll check me again. Oh, holy moly. Zak walks me around the hospital in what was probably the lamest hour of our lives UP TO THAT POINT except for the anticipation of our baby arriving ... any minute? Heh. The pain was getting, er, indelicate. I couldn't really remain dignified, if you know what I mean. I also took the opportunity to, er, attempt some bathroom breaks because I didn't want something, uh, indelicate to happen in the delivery room. You know what I mean.
We went back to the triage nurse and she checked me again. One hour of walking and now I was 80% effaced... and still 2 cm dilated. There was no point in my hanging at the hospital. The nurse shot me up with something "to help me sleep" and sent me back 35-minutes north to our home. You know the last place I wanted to be at that moment? In the car. But at least I had this sleeping medication to help me out, right? WRONG. I didn't sleep a wink. OH, and, if you're squeamish you probably shouldn't be reading this... but at one point after an hour of walking and having STRONG contractions every two minutes ... I PROJECTILE VOMITED into a trashcan in the triage area. Nobody was around at all except for Zak and I so nobody got to see my awesome Exorcism impression. Zak was a super-speedy helper and angled the trashcan at the ... stream... and caught it at a cringing arm's length. Bless his heart, he realized partway through that it wasn't "sensitive" to be so far away and tried to get closer. Aaaaw.
Back at home Zak tried to get some sleep because he knew he'd have to drive me to the hospital again in a few hours. I tried to sleep, too, but I had to get up to "walk it off" every 2 to 5 minutes so that just wasn't happening. I can't even begin to explain the pain at this point. So I won't bother. But the grogginess from the sleeping drug (I forget it's name) that wasn't quite working was NO HELP, no help AT ALL. I, honest to goodness, got up every 2 to 5 minutes for at least 10 hours to walk through the contractions. I guess my doctor was shocked that I did that. She told me later that she was expecting me to come back to the hospital a couple of hours after I left. Not TEN. Well, I did good work because I was 5 cm dilated by the time I went back. But I was OUT.OF.MY.MIND. I had been in labor for about 24 hours at that point and ... all those jokes people had told me about begging for drugs? Too true. I had planned for a completely natural birth. I had taken classes, practiced "breathing" and "relaxation" every day so I can "handle it." But 24 hours, y'all? I was exhausted and getting very unable to handle anything. I was a bit embarrassed to lose it in front of a bunch of strangers but I fairly quickly made my point to the labor and delivery nurses, I WANT DRUGS. I didn't get the epidural until an hour or so after I arrived at the hospital, though. But I was a changed woman, let me tell you. I started to thank EVERYBODY. And apologized.
So the next few hours are not of note. I tried to nap but couldn't. Watched "My Neighbor Totoro." Listened to a relaxation CD (which ALWAYS put me to sleep before, but no dice that day.) The doctor, at some point several hours after the epidural, had to break my water. Luckily this worked and I didn't have to take a drug called "pitocin" ... which was, like, my last stand in terms of a "natural birth." The nurses ordered it but I was prepared to fight them if they pressed it. But they never did because things started progressing. I was told to "start pushing" and that "pushing" phase lasted about 2 hours. Something was getting in the way of the baby coming out... something that the doctor had to cut and later sew up. It wasn't the perineum, it was something internal. Eek. The nurse put a bar over the bed, tied a sheet to it, and had me pull on the sheet while I was pushing. Man... it took forever. The put a mirror "down there" so I could see Sophie's head poking out. They had me touch the top of her head, I think for motivation. When I saw that DARK, DARK brown hair poking out of me I was really confused. Eventually all the pushing, and Zak's breathing/coaching paid off and Sophie popped out. She was CRYING the instant her little head came out which seemed to really surprise the doctor. I had requested she be put on me "skin to skin" as soon as she popped out and they did that. Unfortunately, it was a really short umbilical cord so she was on my lower abdomen. Zak bravely cut the cord which he said "felt like tough calamari." Then she got to come up to my chest and it was the most amazing moment of my life. I got to look at her in the eyes, and she looked at me. I held her for a long time before they took her to do all the hospital stuff. But she never left the room. Soon I was feeding her and holding her and people were grabbing my boobs and showing me "how it was done" and everything kept trudging along.
Her stats: born at 8 pounds 9 ounces, y'all! Almost 21 inches long!
We had to stay in the hospital for an extra day, Sophie went to the "NICU" or whatever it's called and I was quite upset the second day. But that part's not important. She's home now, my mom was here for more than a week, Zak's been home for almost a month... life has been heaven. I'm quite the nervous new mom but I couldn't be happier. Zak and my 14th anniversary came and went and we spent it reading to each other and Sophie in our room. It was our best anniversary. We are "stupid" happy, as the kids would say.
Sunday, October 29th. I felt... funny. I was making "gau gee" for Ben's 1-year-birthday party (for Ben's mommy, of course... it's, like, one of Naomi's favorite foods!) and I started to feel "crampy." Almost like menstrual cramps, for those of y'all that know what I'm talking about. I had heard that's what contractions feel like but it was so MILD I figured it was nothing. I called my mom to let her know that it might be that time and she said, "with my first pregnancy I wasn't sure I was having contractions until it was time to push!" Well... that was promising. I certainly didn't want to have a painful labor, and there's something to genetics, right? WRONG. Oh, and my mother also mentioned her first labor experience only lasted 5 hours. I was so misled by this woman. Keep in mind that my labor started on Sunday sometime before noon and Sophie, my beautiful baby, showed up Monday night at almost 9pm.
So I keep making gau gee, right? I mean... nothing too troubling was going on. Zak and I started to time these NOTHING contractions... these barely noticeable sensations I was having. Funny, lo and behold, they were coming exactly 18 minutes apart. OH HAPPY DAY! I was quite naive at this point. But there was still nothing of alarm so we headed for Mr. Ben's birthday party. Good times, people. Zak and I continued to keep track of what we weren't entirely sure were contractions or not. Ben made a huge mess of his birthday cake and it was rad. I ate a couple of cupcakes. We were there much longer than I thought we'd be because the contractions got less predictable. Eventually, though, I was pretty sure "it" was happening so we headed ...well... the OPPOSITE direction from the hospital and back north to our humble abode. I needed to pack a bag for the hospital, can you believe it? Me not prepared already? I know you're shocked. I had packed Sophie's bag weeks before, so there. The contractions started to get stronger, by the way. MUCH stronger. It became evident that this was not my mother's labor. I actually started crouching down on the ground when they came because I read somewhere that it would help. WHATEVER. The contractions were coming 2 minutes apart but I could still talk during them and, okay, I called the doctor and she said that when I _couldn't_ talk during the contractions I should head for the hospital. Now I was a bit torn because I thought, "but I'm hardcore, right? I'm not going to get to a point where I can't handle this." Oh hahahahahahaha...
So a couple of hours later we head for the hospital. Like, 10 p.m. or something? We get there, they look up my woohoo, and say that I'm 60% effaced but only 2 cm dilated. This is not promising. The nurse tells me to walk around the hospital for an HOUR and then come back and she'll check me again. Oh, holy moly. Zak walks me around the hospital in what was probably the lamest hour of our lives UP TO THAT POINT except for the anticipation of our baby arriving ... any minute? Heh. The pain was getting, er, indelicate. I couldn't really remain dignified, if you know what I mean. I also took the opportunity to, er, attempt some bathroom breaks because I didn't want something, uh, indelicate to happen in the delivery room. You know what I mean.
We went back to the triage nurse and she checked me again. One hour of walking and now I was 80% effaced... and still 2 cm dilated. There was no point in my hanging at the hospital. The nurse shot me up with something "to help me sleep" and sent me back 35-minutes north to our home. You know the last place I wanted to be at that moment? In the car. But at least I had this sleeping medication to help me out, right? WRONG. I didn't sleep a wink. OH, and, if you're squeamish you probably shouldn't be reading this... but at one point after an hour of walking and having STRONG contractions every two minutes ... I PROJECTILE VOMITED into a trashcan in the triage area. Nobody was around at all except for Zak and I so nobody got to see my awesome Exorcism impression. Zak was a super-speedy helper and angled the trashcan at the ... stream... and caught it at a cringing arm's length. Bless his heart, he realized partway through that it wasn't "sensitive" to be so far away and tried to get closer. Aaaaw.
Back at home Zak tried to get some sleep because he knew he'd have to drive me to the hospital again in a few hours. I tried to sleep, too, but I had to get up to "walk it off" every 2 to 5 minutes so that just wasn't happening. I can't even begin to explain the pain at this point. So I won't bother. But the grogginess from the sleeping drug (I forget it's name) that wasn't quite working was NO HELP, no help AT ALL. I, honest to goodness, got up every 2 to 5 minutes for at least 10 hours to walk through the contractions. I guess my doctor was shocked that I did that. She told me later that she was expecting me to come back to the hospital a couple of hours after I left. Not TEN. Well, I did good work because I was 5 cm dilated by the time I went back. But I was OUT.OF.MY.MIND. I had been in labor for about 24 hours at that point and ... all those jokes people had told me about begging for drugs? Too true. I had planned for a completely natural birth. I had taken classes, practiced "breathing" and "relaxation" every day so I can "handle it." But 24 hours, y'all? I was exhausted and getting very unable to handle anything. I was a bit embarrassed to lose it in front of a bunch of strangers but I fairly quickly made my point to the labor and delivery nurses, I WANT DRUGS. I didn't get the epidural until an hour or so after I arrived at the hospital, though. But I was a changed woman, let me tell you. I started to thank EVERYBODY. And apologized.
So the next few hours are not of note. I tried to nap but couldn't. Watched "My Neighbor Totoro." Listened to a relaxation CD (which ALWAYS put me to sleep before, but no dice that day.) The doctor, at some point several hours after the epidural, had to break my water. Luckily this worked and I didn't have to take a drug called "pitocin" ... which was, like, my last stand in terms of a "natural birth." The nurses ordered it but I was prepared to fight them if they pressed it. But they never did because things started progressing. I was told to "start pushing" and that "pushing" phase lasted about 2 hours. Something was getting in the way of the baby coming out... something that the doctor had to cut and later sew up. It wasn't the perineum, it was something internal. Eek. The nurse put a bar over the bed, tied a sheet to it, and had me pull on the sheet while I was pushing. Man... it took forever. The put a mirror "down there" so I could see Sophie's head poking out. They had me touch the top of her head, I think for motivation. When I saw that DARK, DARK brown hair poking out of me I was really confused. Eventually all the pushing, and Zak's breathing/coaching paid off and Sophie popped out. She was CRYING the instant her little head came out which seemed to really surprise the doctor. I had requested she be put on me "skin to skin" as soon as she popped out and they did that. Unfortunately, it was a really short umbilical cord so she was on my lower abdomen. Zak bravely cut the cord which he said "felt like tough calamari." Then she got to come up to my chest and it was the most amazing moment of my life. I got to look at her in the eyes, and she looked at me. I held her for a long time before they took her to do all the hospital stuff. But she never left the room. Soon I was feeding her and holding her and people were grabbing my boobs and showing me "how it was done" and everything kept trudging along.
Her stats: born at 8 pounds 9 ounces, y'all! Almost 21 inches long!
We had to stay in the hospital for an extra day, Sophie went to the "NICU" or whatever it's called and I was quite upset the second day. But that part's not important. She's home now, my mom was here for more than a week, Zak's been home for almost a month... life has been heaven. I'm quite the nervous new mom but I couldn't be happier. Zak and my 14th anniversary came and went and we spent it reading to each other and Sophie in our room. It was our best anniversary. We are "stupid" happy, as the kids would say.