This pregnancy I decided to deliver at St. Catherine's instead of St. Anthony's. This was largely due to our recent move since St. Anthony's was now even farther away. And, ever since I had Grace at home, I'm a bit apprehensive about needing to travel far when it's time to deliver. I also wanted to have another water birth like I did with Anna, and St Anthony stopped doing them. And finally, I'm rather picky about labor, I like to be left alone without any unneeded intervention, so I usually use a midwife (why I didn't choose Community). My midwife said she was going to be out of town the week before the baby was due and that there was another midwife I could use while she was away. EXCEPT, Oct 20 was a day that neither midwife was available. I was due Oct 26, tend to go a little early, so I requested a lot of prayer that the baby NOT be born on October 20.
So, on October 20 when I was having contractions all day, I started to panic that I would be having a baby on that day. "Come on", I thought, "Not today... any day but today"!!
I get braxton hicks like crazy with my pregnancies and this was no different. Oct 20 seemed to be a bit heavier than normal on the contraction front; but since I definitely didn't want to have a baby that day, I tried ignoring the possibility of labor. Smart huh? My friend and I had recently done a health challenge of some sort, (involving food and exercise) and that night we were going out to celebrate that we had done it! We got to the restaurant, and I was using my contraction timer app (seriously an amazing invention) to time my contractions. They were seeming closer than I liked, so I was poor company at Aurelios (a really great pizza place.) We were served our salad, and I started stuffing my face with it in a semi state of panic. I was panicking that I was going to have a baby in Aurelios. I was panicking that I wasn't really in labor. I was panicking that it was October 20. Basically, I was not having a nice time. I started getting the crazy labor shakes and told Ben I wanted to go to the hospital. We called my parents from the restaurant and they came to grab Drew since my friend didn't have room in her car for all four of my kids. She sweetly ended up feeding 3 of them pizza and dropping them off at my parent's house. What great family and friends I have eh? The table next to ours learned that I was going to the hospital to have the baby and bought all the kids ice cream after we left. How sweet is that?! THEN, Aurelios gave us a gift card for a future visit!
We starting heading to the hospital about 6:30 where, once again, I was not an awesome driving companion. Ben seems to have learned it is best not to talk to me when I'm wondering if I'm in labor. We arrived, and I walked up to the front desk and said "Hi, I think I'm in labor." She raised her eyebrows and said, "And WHY do you think you're in labor?" And I said, "Because I'm having regular contractions." She did not seem to believe me, but after I told her it was my 5th she sent me to a room where I could be checked. The first nurse came in and checked me for nearly a half an hour... ok, slight exaggeration, but it was QUITE ridiculous the length of time it took her. She said "She's a FIVE... or maybe even a SIX." Since I wasn't screaming or acting like a maniac I guess, the other nurse still didn't believe her, and checked me again verifying I was indeed 5-6 centimeters. My contractions naturally slowed down when I got to the hospital as well, so I commented to Ben that I wish I had been able to chill out and wait for the pizza to arrive first. I'm telling you, previously having a baby in the bathroom really messes with your mind.
The nurses said they would go call the midwife, and I said "IS THE MIDWIFE AVAILABLE?!?" You remember it is October 20 after all. She said she certainly thought so. Turns out, my midwife wasn't there, but the other midwife was in town after all. I was given the wrong date. *insert eye roll followed by praise hands*
I mentioned my desire for a water birth, and they tried crushing my dreams by saying "I don't think this midwife does that." ........
So, I got into my room and they started the tub right away. I met my midwife and decided it would be best NOT to ask her if she did water births. Genius right? If you don't KNOW she won't, then you can probably do it.
I labored in the tub for a while, listening to the soothing sound of Ellie Holcomb. Ben laid and slept on the couch in the room. Remember, I prefer to labor alone. The nurses kind of hung around, but they realized quickly that I actually didn't want them there. They were very sweet overall, and I understand I am a bit strange.
Things started picking up, and I knew that the baby would be coming soon, very soon. But I also knew that I wanted to wait until the very last second to alert the staff because I wanted it to be too late to make me get out of the tub. I wanted to alert Ben to wake up and come over, but he was on the other side of the room, and the nurses were lingering outside the door that was closer. I knew if I called for him, they would come, and I didn't think it was QUITE time for that.
Well... soon, I was pushing alone in the tub and having actual thoughts of "Maybe I can just catch the baby myself?" The nurse just so happened to walk right in and say "ARE YOU PUSHING?!" And I said.."Uh, I think so." (it's good to act like you're dumb in certain situations LOL) And then I felt the baby's head and told her so. She starting yelling (ruining the mood I'd say ;)), and pulled the string that calls everybody in.... it even woke Ben up. Unfortunately for her, I waited a little TOO long to sound the alarm, but in my defense, I got to the pushing stage WAY quicker than with the other kids (except for Grace). Anyway, the midwife walked in as calm as can be and the nurse caught the baby. She wasn't thrilled, but I'm sure she's over it now. The midwife was super chill about the whole thing, an in hindsight I think she would have let me stay in the tub. It was the best labor I've had. I just remember feeling like it had been so manageable. I had so many people praying for me, and I was just so thankful to the Lord for his kindness. Truly, he was so, so kind to me during that labor. It was the perfect length.
They said "It's a boy!" and I seriously could not believe it. I had been totally planning on a girl. I just had a "feeling." I had been right FOUR times before, so it really threw off my amazing record.
Ben got to see the very end, which I think is his preferred way anyway, and I told him "sorry" and why I didn't call him over sooner. He smirked at me and called me a sly dog or something to that effect. AND because of the semi chaotic ending no one had bothered to note what time it was. Ben looked at his watch at 9:45pm and assumed that we had had the baby 2 minutes prior. So he was officially...maybe born at 9:43pm.
When we had Drew, we didn't name him for a day or so, and it was my least favorite ever. So though we hadn't had a name picked out, I had REALLY been liking the name Luke. Ben wasn't crazy about it, so I didn't think that would end up being his name. Kind of out of nowhere he said, "How about Luke Elijah" I wasn't sure I thought Elijah had a nice ring to it, but I was so excited he was going for the name Luke, that I thought, why not!? And if you say Luke Elijah enough times in a row, you will find it actually does have a nice ring to it. Ben went home at midnight because he had to preach the next morning, which now I'm wondering if that's why we settled on a name so quickly?! I remember nursing Luke for a crazy amount of hours before sending him to the nursery, so I could sleep for a little while.
I felt SO good immediately after his birth. And for some reason this hospital didn't do that horrible pushing on your stomach or take my blood pressure every 3 minutes. It actually made me a bit anxious like, do they not care if I die? But finally I asked a nurse why no one was dominating my belly and she replied, "you're hardly bleeding and are really firm already." I'm telling you, the Lord was SO kind. Postpartum cramps weren't TOO bad, but I also am diligent to harass the nurses every 4 hours to make sure I get medicine for that. I have found that postpartum cramping pain is pain I HAVE to keep up with. (for those of you about to have your first, it wasn't bad until baby 2,3,4&5. It gets worse the more kids you have generally I think so do not fret.) I'm willing to have pain during labor but afterwards is just too much for me. Whether or not that is reasonable, I don't know or care, it's just how I roll.
I lived it up in the hospital for 48 hours as I usually do, and then headed home where I sat on the front porch waiting for my other four to arrive. My parents were heroes once again in helping with my kids. And I seem to remember my sweet neighbor Danae being especially wonderful during those first days being home. As they say, it takes a village!
So, there's Luke Elijah's Birth story written over a year and a half after his birth. The good news is I had a lot of the details on Marco polo with a friend that I could look back on, and I had started a blog post a while back that I never finished.
The Lord has surely been good to us.
Melanie
Man! I love reading your blogs...you are such a good writer and I'm always engaged from the start to the end. Thanks for sharing. You have such a sweet family. We miss you guys.
ReplyDelete