Laetitia

Part two:

Upon our arrival (4:17 AM, according to my bracelet), I changed into the lovely hospital gown and answered the 174 questions they have to ask. The nurse checked me, and I was a good 6 cm dilated, so I was definitely staying! One of the questions they asked was whether or not I had a birth plan. Hubby got it out of the bag and handed it to the nurse. My husband took the list and the cell phone out into the hallway and started calling our immediately family.

This hospital has more than 30 very nice LDRP rooms that are all private. We never had to change rooms, and there was never a chance that we would have a roommate. We had been in our room less than 30 minutes when his parents arrived. Mine followed shortly after. (My parents are divorced, but they got there within minutes of each other.) After the heparin lock had been placed in my arm and I had been attached to the fetal monitor long enough, I got out of bed and changed into my own clothes. The baby’s heart rate wasn’t changing during contractions, so they had me lay on my left side to try to get a reaction. Then, we went for a walk around the maternity ward. We stopped at the “snack room” for some water and ice chips and then returned to my room.

I lay down on my left side (as I was told to) with all the lights out and a nice relaxing tape playing. I honestly don’t remember much of the passing time – I was focusing on being relaxed and quiet. I answered questions as needed and made my desires known, but I focused on breathing and remaining quiet. I stayed in control of my reaction to my contractions. I’m not saying that they didn’t hurt or that I didn’t feel the pain. I just kept myself focused, relaxed, and quiet as opposed to making noise and tensing up. In my opinion, that’s why I was able to have the birth experience I wanted.

However, I do remember one funny thing.

My dad was really tired, so he stretched out on the bed/couch provided for family members and promptly fell asleep. Just as promptly, he began snoring. (He snores REALLY loud!) I pointed to that side of the room and said, “That has GOT to stop,” so my mother-in-law woke him up. I mentioned that there was a bed in the family waiting room, and that we wouldn’t let him miss anything. So, he apologized and left the room.

As the time passed, my mom and husband came and brought me ice chips and cold washcloths and rubbed my back or arm as asked (and stopped when asked). During transition, I was super-hot and sweaty and nauseated. The air conditioning was turned down as low as it would go – it was like 65 degrees Fahrenheit in the room. My mother-in-law was wearing her jacket and almost asked for my robe to go on top of it! When all that started to happen, the nurse (Joanie) checked me and I was at 8cm – squarely in transition (this was one of four pelvic exams through my entire labor). My mom and husband kept the cool washcloths coming for my head and neck, and I was OK. They brought me an emesis basin, but I didn’t need it.

At about 8:00AM, the feeling of my contractions had changed, so Joanie checked me again, and I was fully dilated. My MIL left the room to go get my dad. She asked if I felt any urge to push, and since I didn’t, she said I didn’t have to. However, I did have to pee. She asked if I was sure that it was an urge to pee and not poop. I assured her that I knew the difference. Then, she let me get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I had long abandoned my shorts and underwear, so we carefully wrapped a sheet around my belly (like a towel) for modesty’s sake.

Sitting on that toilet HURT, but I had to go, so I went. When I came out of the bathroom, a contraction hit, and my husband was standing right there next to the door. I flung my arms around his neck, put my head on his shoulder and started rocking my hips back and forth. I had him put his hands on my hips and squeeze them together a bit, which was a great momentary relief. We “danced” for a while, and then I had to pee again! Upon emerging from the bathroom for a second time, my mom was the closest person, so I “danced” with her for a while, too. (The video and photos of this time are fantastic – very moving.)

Joanie asked if I was getting any urges to push, and since I wasn’t, said she wanted to check me again. I moved towards the bed, and she said she could check me standing up. I put my feet about shoulder-width apart and squatted. My mom stood behind me for support. Baby only had a couple of inches left to go, so I got back in bed. This was right at 8:30. The cell phones came out again, and our extended family and friends were called. My husband stood on my left, and Mom was on my right. My mother-in-law was behind the head of the bed with her camera (she took like 250 pictures during the whole labor and delivery), and my father-in-law was behind my mom with the video camera (he took two hours of video – most of it’s me pushing). My dad was behind the nurse/doctor’s stool, just watching.

I don’t remember much of the details of pushing, other than counting to myself (per my birth plan) and using the stirrups because my husband and my mom aren’t the same height. It was a lot easier for me to rest my legs in the stirrups and then have mom and hubby push back on my feet during pushes. I did have the mirror, which was great. Seeing baby’s head really gave me the incentive to push harder and longer. I did my best to keep the rest of my body relaxed while pushing and did not cry out at all. I think this was very important – although the contractions hurt and the pushing hurt, I remained in control of myself and just kept breathing and saying, “It will stop hurting when the baby is born,” in my head. Nobody told me what to do, when to do it, or anything. I did it on my own. In fact, I was the one who told them when I was going to push. They did encourage me to push 2-3 times with each contraction, but that was it.

At about 9:45, the doctor (not my regular OB, but one of the ladies from the practice) broke my water. I didn’t realize it hadn’t broken – fluid had been leaking with each push. (Early on, I had asked if that was amniotic fluid that I was feeling with each push to make sure I wasn’t peeing on myself.) The last 15 minutes were really intense. When baby’s head was crowning it hurt so bad! Talk about the ring of fire – they’re not kidding. The doctor said, “I know it hurts but you have to push through the pain – push through it and it’ll be over a lot faster.” After that push, I made the only comment about pain for my entire labor and delivery – “OK, that one hurt.” Everyone laughed! When the head was fully delivered, I opened my eyes, and watched the doctor pull the cord from around the baby’s neck. Apparently, she wasn’t happy with baby’s appearance, as I was not told to rest and blow after that – she told me to keep pushing: “Harder harder harder, now now now - get this baby out!” So, I did, even though I wasn’t having a contraction.

Baby didn’t make any sounds at birth, but was quickly put up on my chest, where my husband peeked between the legs and made the announcement – “It’s a boy!” (We hadn’t found out the baby’s gender.) He cut the cord, and they whisked our son over to the incubator. Baby wasn’t doing well – purple, floppy, and unresponsive. (His one-minute Apgar was 4.) They massaged him vigorously and put an oxygen bag over his face to help him out. After his Vitamin K shot, he perked up significantly. He was in my arms within 15 minutes. During all of that, I delivered the placenta (it was really kind of cool-looking) and received my only anesthesia – a tiny bit of local for my one stitch. The really weird part was when the OB checked to make sure that the entire placenta had delivered – by reaching her hand up INTO my uterus! I looked at her and said, “Well, that’s ONE handshake I’m never going to forget.” Then, we had to decide what to name him! We both agreed like he looked like a Spencer.