Mum and I immediately realized we were not ready so after Frost went off with the carpool we made a long list of things to do and buy and headed off shopping for a few hours. First, I woke Joshua and told him not to go to work until he had checked in with me because I thought I was in labor. I also called our doula, Sarah, to give her the heads up because she has two little girls who might need childcare. She suggested I time the contractions but get on about my day as it sounded as if I was in very early labor. Then I scheduled the electrical inspector to come and do our final inspection that afternoon. I was feeling the same discomfit and decided Mum should drive but other than being unable to do anything during contractions I was very happy and keen to get out.
We did a HUGE shop at Safeway - over $200 - driven by this sense that it might be weeks before I had the ability to stock up on anything. I think this was a labor induced fantasy but it was fun. I even bought an extra case of Java-logs but asked Mum to carry and pack as I was feeling a bit physically distracted by the contractions which were about 8 minutes apart.
After our trip to Safeway we still had a few items on the list so we headed off to Whole Foods and had another pile of tasty treats in the cart when I decided we really should head home rather than having coffee there so I grabbed a raisin scone and we headed off home in the rain.
I should mention that it was a very very stormy day. There were gale force winds and horizontal rain. Trees were falling over power lines, half the traffic lights in our area were out and the lights in the house kept flickering. Outside, through the wind and grey skies we saw flashes of orange where a power line was grounding out. It had a Wuthering Heights feel to it and I think that helped add to this urge to stock up on provisions for the long winter!
We returned home around 11.15 and had some tea. Josh was up and we discussed what to do because while the contractions were uncomfortable and made me feel the need to be silent or breath, they were still widely spaced and I felt totally normal between them. Sarah suggested I have a warm bath for about half an hour to see whether that reduced them or made them more efficient. Apparently, in "false" labor a bath can stop the contractions while active labor is unaffected.
I had a long bath and finished my sci-fi book. The contractions almost vanished in the bath so I was starting to wonder whether I was really in labor or whether this was a phantom experience. The tough thing was that I was in two worlds that seemed to have completely different priorities. During a contraction I felt urgency and fairly spacey. I felt I needed to call the OB and get to hospital because THIS WAS IT. During the time between contractions I felt normal, keen to be busy and watched TV, rested, read, checked the web etc. I had a few meals and even started to make gingerbread!
Sarah was checking on me regularly and during these calls suggested I take a nap and that Josh have the job of timing contractions to see how frequent they were actually (I hadn't been timing them very well). We went to take a rest and figured out they were exactly 10 minutes apart. By this time they were serious enough that I felt the need to find good positions during the contraction. I also liked to make a nice loud exhalation which felt like riding down a wave. Standing up and leaning over was a lot better than lying down (when they felt much more intense) so I did a bit of that but groaning and imagining my uterus opening was the best thing so I did that for about 30 seconds each contraction. As you can see, the contractions were hard work but they were so spaced out that I had lots of time to relax and recover between them.
Sometime around 2pm the electrical inspector arrived - I heard his boots on the porch as I had a contraction in our bedroom - so Josh went to show him around. After the contraction passed I went out and had a chat with him and it seems we should get final approval after only a few small corretions. Hooray! We were all happy.
Around 4pm I started to think that I really SHOULD talk to the OB. I had called a few times during the day and spoken with the nurse who said to come in if I had contractions 5-7 minutes apart for 2 hours OR my waters broke. Since neither of these things had happened I hadn't spoken with them for ages. I called again around 4.30 and spoke with the nurse, telling her that the contractions were very serious but still 10 mintutes apart, what to do? She told me to call at 6pm unless something changed, that Tracy would probably want me to come in for a check.
I think I called before 6pm because I was having increasing difficulty dealing with the contraction pressure and they were slightly more frequent - about 8minutes apart. I think this was in part due to Sarah's recommendation that I walk up and downstairs sideways to help open my hips and get labor going. That seemed to make them a bit more intense. Anyway, Dr J wanted me to come in because they felt that once my waters broke labor would be rapid. Turns out they were right!
We left for the hospital a bit after 6pm and drove slowly through peak hour traffic, stormy rain and traffic lights which were out with the power. By the time we were in the parking lot I was like "just let me out of the car right here, I can't have another contraction in the car" - being seated was just plain BAD. We made it to L&D with me clutching my pillow and they set us up in a triage room for monitoring.
I remember groaning very loudly and not caring who heard me (last labor I was very quiet and quite anxious about making a noise) but I was still pretty okay between contractions. They ran a strip which showed my 8 minute contractions and the occasional milder one between these (this had been happening during the day too - 10 minutes between major ones with the occasional five minute minor one thrown in). Baby Wren's heartrate was reassuring and he didn't seem affected by the contractions nearly as much as I was.
By triage(7pm+) I was starting to feel more nauseas. Nausea had been building from about 5pm but I threw up for the first (and only) time in triage which felt great afterwards. Finally, I was examined by the nurse and she said I was 6cm. 15 minutes later my OB examined me and said I was 6 to 7cm and 80% effaced with a bulging bag of waters. Baby was head down so I could be admitted.
Admission took ages (another 30 minutes of groaning and jiggling my hips side to side during contractions) because all the L&D birthing suites were full except one which had yet to be cleaned. Apparently the storm had driven us all into labor! By the time we were ready to waddle into the room Sarah arrived. It was great to see her and have some different (less serious) energy. She was all happy and encouraging, telling me how well I was doing which was very helpful.
Here we are in the room, finally.
When I reached the room Sarah asked for a birthing ball and our nurse (Amanda) found one somewhere. I was trying laboring on my side but nothing felt good and in fact I was feeling a lot of pressure between my legs. Sarah held my leg so I could lie on my side but then suggested I try leaning over the ball or holding the end of the bed.
At this point things got a little crazy. I suddenly felt the contractions increase in frequency - I just wasn't getting a break between them and felt like fighting them instead of just relaxing. It was too hard. I still needed to rock and yet felt trapped with my uterus shuddering and starting to push even though I wasn't ready.
Then I had this huge contraction that was half a push and my waters broke in a huge gush all over the bed and I felt his head descend and pressure build up. Someone called my OB saying "spontaneous rupture" and also paged the NICU to call the "critical care team". Amanda was covering the table and telling me that I would now need to take off my underwear (at this point I was still wearing my own clothes!) and I was saying "I AM NOT MOVING".
Then my OB came in and told me to turn over and lie on the bed so we can have "a nice controlled delivery for this little guy". I think I said "NO!". Suddenly, everyone was urging me to move a bit, do this, do that between contractions and I yelled at them "THERE IS NO BETWEEN CONTRACTIONS!!" because there was a contraction then a push then shudder it just went on and on. Josh and Sarah tell me that this whole period lasted 10 minutes and was, of course, transition but for me it felt like a substantial period of time.
Eventually they got it through to me that turning over and lying down was necessary - not as a new position but in order to deliver the baby RIGHT NOW. I think I asked "what, you mean I am fully dilated? He's coming out?" and someone said, "yes" which made me a lot more helpful.
My OB told me to push and I gave one push then I could feel his hairy head coming out. She told me to wait a moment while she oiled his head and then I gave a slow push, another slow push and then one big one and WOOSH... he came out in one big slide. I could see him lying there and he started crying with gusto within a few seconds. Dr J offered Josh some scissors to cut the cord but he said Sarah could do it... but then I decided I would like to and SNIP.. he was free.
The time was 8.44pm... just over one hour after I was given the room and 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital. I am still in shock.
He weighed 8lbs 6 oz, 13" head, 21.5 " long.
2 comments:
Shannon, He is beautiful. I am thinking about you and hoping that Wren's heart can be repaired with the least amount of surgery possible. All my best! Stephanie
What a beautiful birth story! I've only been subjected to c-sections, so I'm terribly envious. In a good way. I love birth stories like these. A mother, in control, knowing what to do. It's very powerful.
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