18 months ago I had Connor in pretty textbook fashion. I was three days past my due date when labor set in fairly predictably. I was restless the night before he was born and woke with what I thought were another bought of Braxton Hicks. By about 6 am that day I realized they were fairly regular and getting more intense. I'd had a similar episode the week before but it never amounted to anything and my symptoms went away just as we'd decided to go to the hospital so I wasn't entirely convinced when it started happening the same way the second time around. By 7 am on October 4th, 2013 I realized this was the real thing and told Andrew it was time to pack it up. By the time we got to the hospital and into L & D triage the contractions were coming frequently and intensely. I wasn't prepared for the pain and was surprised when I actually vomited from the nausea they were creating. I have a generally high pain tolerance and was surprised to have gotten sick. In that moment I realized I could do pain, or I could do getting sick...but I couldn't do both so I asked for the epidural. It. Was. Glorious. I'm pretty convinced it slowed my labor down but I was able to rest and had an enjoyable afternoon napping and chatting with Andrew and my Mom while I progressed. I was even lucky enough to have my OB who followed me my entire pregnancy on service that day and she stayed past her shift to deliver Connor. By 4pm it was time to push and by 4:52 he was here! It was honestly such a peaceful and enjoyable process. Let's just say I had minimal trauma for birthing a 9lb 3oz almost 23 inch baby. It took a little while for my lower half to "wake up" from the anesthesia but I was able to walk around again within 2 hours of having him.
With Connor's birth, I went into it without a birth plan and we did the same with Declan, no plan. Not having one is sort of against my nature since I'm a "planner" by heart but for me, having some elaborate list of hopes and must-haves just seemed counter-intuitive to the process. Maybe it's because I'm in health care, and work in hospitals, but I VERY much subscribe to western medicine and all of the interventions it typically entails. I'm certainly not a "let's have the baby in a tub at home". NOT knocking those who do, AT ALL, but it's just not for me. I'm good with doctors, medicine, monitors...the works. I went into both labor and deliveries with a hope for a safe delivery with, in general, minimal interventions as appropriate. Andrew and I were both willing to see what played out. If I felt like I could control pain without medicine...we'd roll with it. If I was begging for the juice...hook me up. If a c-section was needed for the safety of the baby and myself....slice me doc. Childbirth is honestly just so unpredictable, as Declan's entrance would prove, and I was ultimately more comfortable with going into the whole process without specific expectations. We educated and prepared ourselves to some degree for a variety of scenarios and possible decisions and felt armed to advocate and make choices as the need presented itself.
My main consideration was mostly for how I was going to manage any pain. In general I have a pretty high pain tolerance so both times I was willing to play it by ear. We decided against participating in any classes to learn natural labor techniques...mostly because I felt like I already sort of practiced similar methods through yoga/meditation that I take and teach. I can't really recommend any specific labor technique classes since I never specifically researched them but I know many women who felt different programs were beneficial and if you don't already have a method that you think would be helpful to help you labor and manage pain, I'd imagine one of these techniques is worth a look!
As we approached Dec's due date, I started giving some thought to how his labor and delivery might go. Having only Connor's birth to compare it to, it was hard not to assume it wouldn't pretty much pan out the same way. With the exception of perhaps a different time of day, I sort of assumed labor would set in in a similar fashion, I'd have time for an epidural, and his delivery would hopefully go as pleasantly as Connor's did. In many ways, it couldn't have gone differently!
Declan was born on his due date on March 22nd and as his entrance would prove, he couldn't wait to get here. You wouldn't have known it two days before...that Friday, I'd had my last prenatal appointment before my due date and I felt like I would be pregnant forever. She had checked me the week before (I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced) so I opted out this time but my doc said that any measurement of progress was ultimately sort of meaningless. It was progress certainly, and she doubted I'd reach her threshold for induction (41 weeks) but she told me not to hold my breath either. That Wednesday before I had started to notice some symptoms of labor possibly being imminent. I'd mentioned to her that I was having Braxton Hicks more frequently and more intensely but nothing that I felt was regular or that I was able to time. I had some other symptoms as well but I'll spare you the details...you momma's may know what I'm talking about. On Saturday, the 21st, I felt pretty good. I had slept ok the night before but by that afternoon, I was noticing some increasing back pain and cramping. Again, nothing to write home about...nothing particularly painful, just sort of a fleeting dull, uncomfortable ache. We watched a movie that night with my parents and around 8pm I had to get on the exercise ball since it gave me some relief from the back pain which had become more intense but by 10pm, it had gone away completely. Little did I suspect that barely 2 hours later my water would break...which it did at about 10 to midnight. It woke me right away and I alerted Andrew. We were already packed so he helped me to the shower to freshen up and put our bags in the car. During this pregnancy, I had tested positive for Group B Strep so we knew we needed to get to the hospital so I could begin a course of antibiotics which protocol indicated needed to be administered for 4 hours before delivery. I was ready to leave the house within 20 minutes and by the time I got in the car, I realized I was in quite a bit of pain. Our hospital is only about 8 miles away but on the way, my contractions literally came out of nowhere and were incredibly intense. Connor's came on hard and fast too but little did I suspect I'd be giving birth within the hour.
By the time we parked the car with valet and got up to L & D triage I could barely move. The nurses were great and started assessing me right away, hooked me up for monitoring and got an IV in since I was supposed to get antibiotics and IV fluids as I was asking for the epidural almost immediately. Then things got interesting. The only way I was comfortable was sitting almost bolt upright in this awkward position. I heard the nurses whispering that my contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart...right on top of one another. No kidding. I could barely catch my breath. Honestly, I think I was managing the pain pretty well (thank god for meditation track in BodyFlow and knowing how to do yoga breaths!) but I was feeling it. I have to admit, I started getting a little nervous. I wasn't getting a break from the pain and the nausea started setting in. The doctor arrived, checked me, and I was at 5cm, 0 station and fully effaced. I suspect the nurses could tell on the monitor and through my pain that things were progressing quickly since she said they were ready to move me to a delivery room and called the anesthesiologist to hop to it to get to me. As they were rolling me down the hall, I had a moment where I realized I better prepare myself since I had a sinking suspicion this kid was making his appearance way before they were able to stick anything in my spine.
I had a moment of internal panic. I knew I could do it and Andrew was right beside me but I was starting to feel out of control. I wasn't screaming or anything but I could barely breath. As they set me up in the delivery room extra nurses showed up and they started calling for the doctor. I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. I feel a little crazy stating it this way but it sort of became an out of body experience. I tried hard to focus on breathing and not puking as each contraction hit almost continuously and had a moment were I almost asked them to give me oxygen because I felt like I couldn't breath. Then, I had this incredible urge to bear down. Not to be graphic but I panicked again out of pre-emptive embarrassment because it felt like I needed to use the bathroom! I spoke up and told the nurse and she looked at me and said, "honey, that means you want to push...DON'T PUSH!". And I was like, "honey, that ship has sailed..." I realized in that moment this baby was coming. The chief resident rushed in as the nurse was telling me to lay back. NO WAY was that happening. She pulled me to my side, the doctor hiked up my leg and said "ok, he's here!...". I don't recall exactly but I was asked to push to essentially get his body out. In retrospect, I don't think I really did anything. I remember pushing, sort of...I think twice.... and about 10 seconds of intense pain... and the next thing I knew they were handing him to me! We confirmed it was a boy and I looked to my right since I forgot Andrew was there. Haha I asked him later what he was doing during Declan's arrival and he was like, "standing there, holding your leg, in awe of how quickly it all went" essentially. He got to cut the cord, and that was that. Bing, bang, boom. Baby born at 1:29am. Essentially self ejected in less that two hours. I learned after the fact that this was considered precipitous labor...no kidding... it was like being shoved off a cliff.
Here's the interesting part...I felt AMAZING afterwards. I'm amazed that there truly is something to be said for an unmedicated delivery. I mean, I'm not sure I could willingly endure that pain for hours on end but apparently labor that happens that fast is thought to be more painful than it may otherwise be with a more normally progressing labor. Who knows. I'm just glad I practically blinked and missed it and that I didn't have him in the car. Honestly, if we dawdled by even 15 minutes I think this kid would have been born in the Shands parking lot. Anyway, I was able to get up an walk around almost immediately and once again, SUPER thankful to have had virtually no trauma if you get my drift. The bummer was that we needed to stay at the hospital for 48 hours so they could monitor Declan since I never received antibiotics. My recovery was remarkable. I felt amazing and feel almost back to normal as I write this.
Overall, it was pretty incredible. I'm sort of in awe about how the body just takes over. The speed with which it happened was a little scary and I did feel a little out of control for some of it but the staff and Andrew were great and the most important outcome, a healthy baby, was the icing on the cake. When all was said and done, Declan outweighed his brother by about 2 oz coming in at 9 lbs 5 oz and about 22 inches. We cook 'em big apparently.
I can't believe he's almost two weeks old! We've been very thankful to have my parents here offering a helping hand and helping to give Connor lots of attention as a new big brother. He's taken to the role almost immediately and loves giving the baby "kisses" and touching his feet...since the head is now off limits after a scratch from a game of peek-a-boo with the nursing cover. I'm going to be saying "gentle, gentle!" for a long time I think.
So how about you, anything unexpected happen during your labor and delivery? Did you have a birth plan? Did things go as expected or hoped or did you have to alter your plan on the fly? Anyone else get shoved off the cliff with a precipitous delivery?
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