12/31/14
This birth story, although not neeeaarrlly as exciting as Grace’s, is my favorite thus far. So, even though it might not be as enjoyable for YOU all to read, I’m so glad I can write it this way this time =)
I wasn’t anxious about this pregnancy until my braxton hicks contractions started at about 30 weeks. That’s about 7 weeks earlier than last time. I was so afraid I wasn’t going to know when to go to the hospital and that I wasn’t going to make it.... again. I had a scare at about 32 weeks, when I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes for a couple of hours, but that turned out to be nothing, and if you remember, I blogged about that. The constant comments of, "Are you going to go to the hospital this time?" "Think you'll make it" "Ben's really good at it, why go to the hospital?" also caused me to think about it CONSTANTLY.
The day I turned 37 weeks pregnant, I woke up to a contraction at about 12 am, was having dull lower back pain, had the shakes, and was having stronger contractions that my normal braxton hicks. I wasn’t sure if this was labor, but I had told myself I wasn’t going to take ANY chances this time. I woke Ben (and my parents) up and we headed to the hospital where I was monitored for most the rest of the night. It stunk to get no sleep... and NOT be in labor. It was pretty embarrassing to wake everyone up for a false alarm. I then became anxious about having more false alarms... HA!
I continued to have frequent braxton hicks for the next couple weeks, and kept praying I’d know the difference when it was time. There was A LOT of praying going on over here, and I know my family (and others) was praying for me often too (thanks!).
THEN it happened. Ben and I went to bed about 11 o’clock Nov 17, and I was having some more braxton hicks (or so I thought) before bed. I went to sleep and woke up at about 12:30 or so with a stronger contraction. I was kind of disgusted with it thinking, “OW. This is so unfair.... how will I ever know if I’m in labor and WHY must I suffer with these braxton hicks?!?!” I kept laying there wondering if I was in labor and praying I would know. I started shaking really bad because I was so nervous about it!! I decided to take a shower to “kill” the shakes. I did, and it worked... but then I had another stronger contraction during my shower. It was nothing terrible-- it was just slightly different than usual. After my shower, I went and sat on the bed and debated going to sleep. I was about to lay down, when I said to myself, “Melanie.... remember last time you went to sleep after a bigger contraction?” That little pep talk encouraged me to wake Ben up and tell him I thought I was in labor. I called my parents at 1:20 and asked them to come over and apologized in case it was a false alarm. They were very understanding ;)
I packed up a few things, and Ben and I headed to the car. We left the kids home alone for a few minutes this time.... they’re pretty good sleepers, so the chances of them waking up in the 10-15 minute home alone time was pretty slim. Maybe it was risky? Whatever. Aint nobody got time fo dat!! Amen? We headed to the hospital, and I didn’t even want to call my midwife in case it was a false alarm. I’m such a moron. I waited till we were closer and I had had a few more contractions in the car to call my midwife (well, really the answering service). We got to the emergency room, and they were able to bring me upstairs pretty quickly. That’s another thing I was worried about-- when I was there at 32 weeks having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, it took at LEAST a half hour to get me upstairs. It was seriously unimpressive and gave me another thing to be anxious about. And, can I clarify? I’m NOT an anxious person.... so this was horrible and new for me. I also gained a new apprecation for anxious people-- it's terrible.
Ben was trying to do some small talk with me on the way to the hospital, and I wasn’t very nice to him. He usually ended up asking me a question RIGHT when I was having a contraction. I was kind of freaking out in the car (am I in labor? am I going to have a baby in the next 15 minutes? will they just send me home? was that contraction stronger than normal?? I hope we don't have to pull over.. etc.), and so having him asking me questions and talking to me about unrelated topics was not helpful. But, he had no idea what was going through my mind because, as we’ve learned previously, I’m not very verbal when I’m in labor....
We got to the hospital, and I immediately felt RELIEVED. I was so happy to be there. Ben commented later that after being short with him the car, I was a QUITE peppy to the nurses. But, in my defense, being at the hospital improved my mood by a gazillion. Once you know you're not going to have a baby on the side of the road or in your bathroom-- your mood can change really fast. Ben came in the emergnecy room with my suitcase, and I actually had him bring it back to the car because I was afraid I wasn’t in labor and would look like an idiot for thinking I was. How stupid is that? And poor Ben again. (he’s amazing)
When I got upstairs around 2 am, I was checked and told I was 5 or 6 cm! I threw my hands up in the air and felt VICTORIOUS!! I DID IT! I’M REALLY IN LABOR... AND I’M AT THE HOSPITAL!!! (I was 1 cm at my appointment earlier that morning). They hooked me up to the monitors and had me sit there for a little while to see how far apart my contractions were and to hear the baby. I was at St. Anthony’s in Crown Point, and I asked them to fill their amazing tub for me to labor in. After sitting on the bed for a few minutes, I couldn’t wait to get in the tub! My cousin’s wife gave me some lavender essential oil samples to use, so I put a couple drops in the tub. It was SOOOOO relaxing in there and smelled amazing. When we got into our room, Ben immediately laid down on the couch. I told him to go ahead and sleep. You never know how long labor will last. With Caleb it seemed like an eternity. I got in the tub, and my contractions were very manageable. The water really eased my discomfort-- it was amazing really. I got my ipad, and started playing some soothing music. The nurse and my midwife would check on me every so often, but I really found that I prefer to just labor alone. It makes me feel weird having people staring at me while I endure a contraction. Oh and I told my nurse and midwife that I told Ben to sleep and he would get up if I asked him to. I felt like he looked like a bum, and I wanted to clarify he wasn’t. HAHAHA.
Around 3:20 or so?? Things were really picking up. My contractions were REALLY REALLY intense and soon I was feeling the urge to push. I pulled the little cord thing in the bathroom to alert someone to get in there. My midwife suggested I go lay on the bed and have her check me since I told her I felt I needed to push. The idea was horrifying to me, so I said... “I don’t want to do that.”.... when you are in excruciating pain, the last thing you want to do is go lay on a bed and have someone perform a VERY uncomfortable procedure on you.... I feel like that’s torture. It should probably be illegal. (ok, that might be a LITTLE extreme). Anyway, I’m amazed that most people give birth laying down on a bed. Talk about going against gravity. Ok, I’m done... sorry, I get worked up.
Anyway, my contractions although SUPER intense were not completely on top of each other like they were with my other two kids. With Grace and Caleb towards the end I did NOT have breaks in between them. I remember always reading about how you can make it to the end because you have these pauses between contractions where you can catch your breath. I didn’t have that with Caleb or Grace. This time, I actually had a small break between those horribly intense contractions... and WOW, that makes a HUGE difference! I could give myself a “I CAN DO THIS!” pep talk in between! Pretty soon, I knew it was almost time for the baby to come, so I told the nurse she’d better wake up Ben. She did and he said he thought, “Whoa! Ready to push? I missed most of it!” He thinks he was there for 10 minutes or so.... lucky guy isn’t he? I hadn’t decided if I was going to actually deliver in the tub until it was time to have the baby, and my midwife told me to either get in the tub or get on the bed. I pushed in the tub, and out she came at 3:46am, caught beautifully by my midwife, (who was sitting outside the tub waiting to catch the baby in case you’re wondering how she was positioned ;)). Anna was handed to me immediately, and then I was told to keep her little body in the warm water while I snuggled her. I felt GREAT after. Water is SOOO soothing! She waited until the cord stopped pulsing, and then Ben cut it. After the cord was cut, I walked to the bed to deliver the placenta etc...... I know, it makes me feel weird too. (I’m including that because I know people are sometimes confused by water births)
They took her weight, made sure she was ok, wiped her off, and handed her back to me really quickly. I was able to hold/nurse her for about 2 hours before they took her away for a bath etc. She latched right away, which was a huge relief!
Although I think birth is always a little traumatic (I mean, we’re talking some INTENSE pain) this was the ‘easiest’ one I’ve had as far as pain during and how I’ve felt afterwards.
I was immediately in love with my sweet Anna, and I was so thankful for a safe/quick/regular ole (well kind of) birth.
And, I’d do it that way again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend trying a water birth if you’re wanting to have a natural birth! I used to think it sounded ridiculous, but I've officially changed my mind. So you can call me weird, a hippie, or whatever you want. A water birth is definitely the way to go!! ;)
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