Birth Story

I know some people aren't interested or care, but for those that are, here's our little birth story bringing Ellaria into the world.

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I never thought I would spontaneously go into labor.  All my miscarriages required surgery (DNC) or medically induced abortion (cytotec), and RJ was also induced.  I just assumed with my history, this 5th pregnancy would be like the rest and my uterus would need medical help to get going.

So my last appointment with the OB, I was 39 weeks and had never been checked because I figured what's the point, nothing will happen anyway.  So I was surprised I was 3-4 cm and he stripped my membranes.  With RJ, that OB wouldn't strip the membranes because I was strep B positive.  My OB this time said it didn't matter, which is what we thought when she refused with RJ since stripping membranes doesn't break the amniotic sack, but whatever, every doctor has their way of doing things.  But we scheduled my induction for Monday March 21 (tomorrow actually) anyway.

So that was Tuesday morning.  Rhett went to work from noon to midnight in the ER.  RJ and I ran some errands and in the late afternoon I started having random contractions.  I was surprised because I never had any Braxton-Hicks with RJ.  I actually remember walking into labor and delivery to be induced wondering what a contraction would feel like. 

So I had contractions throughout the evening, but they didn't hurt and were random.  I called my mom and she decided maybe she'd come down a few days earlier just in case, since she was originally coming Sunday to be here for the Monday induction.  I also shaved my legs, just in case, thinking it was just wishful thinking since I'd probably just be going in Monday anyway.

At 3:00 am I woke up because the contractions were intense enough I couldn't sleep through them.  So I started timing them and they were still totally random.  I took a shower and kind of fixed my hair, (just in case) then at 5:00 am the contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart.  So I woke up Rhett and in a sleepy daze he was questioning my validity in thinking this was it.  "Well how long have they been 5 minutes apart?" 

"I don't know, 20-30 minutes.  I've been awake for 2 hours though."

He slowly sat up and we had all the supplies and he checked me and all the sudden woke up and said: "You're a 6 I guess we better pack."  I had already packed my crap in case, so we got our stuff together, and I'm thinking, "CRAP!  It's 5 in the morning and I never talked to anyone about being willing to take RJ in case I ever went into labor!"  My mom was always going to be here because I was always going to have to be induced.

 So we're getting closer to go and Rhett asked what we were doing with RJ.  I told him, I'm not sure who to call because I haven't talked to anyone to give them a heads up.

He said: "So you're saying we have no friends."
Me:  "That's what I'm saying.  We have no friends to call at 5am to dump our kid on."

We both laughed and I told him to call our poor neighbor across the street who we've traded babysitting with a few times.  They didn't answer, which is understandable at 5 am.

So Rhett hung up and said: "So who do we call now.  We've lived here almost a year and we have no friends?  What the crap have we been doing?"

I suggested we call the other neighbor down the road with little kids.  They answered and she was actually awake and getting back from the gym.  So what a lifesaver to help us out without any warning whatsoever.

I was relieved, but felt like such an idiot not having planned or talked to anyone before then.

Rhett scooped up RJ and ran him down to the neighbor.  I stood in the driveway and vomited all over the pavement, and thought that it's nice it was raining, at least I won't have to worry about cleaning that up.  Rhett ran back and we got in the car, and still wanted to continue the conversation of us having no friends, and how well did I know her, do we really know her well enough to dump our kid on her last minute like that?  It was in the middle of a contraction and I just told him, "who cares how well I know her!"  I guess he'd forgotten I was in labor or something and I get feisty and not in the mood for conversation.

So we get to the hospital and walk up to Labor and Delivery around 6am.  The nurse comes out and is chatting with Rhett.  She asked if I was planning on having an epidural and I told her no, so she recommended going in the midwife room so I could labor in the tub if I wanted.  That sounded like a good idea.  So before we got the tub going she said she'd check the baby on the monitor and check me.

Baby looked great, then she checked me and looked at Rhett and said: "uhh...she's an 8 with a bulging bag." and ran out of the room.  We looked at each other and Rhett said: "I feel like an idiot.  I'm a freaking doctor and bring my wife in at an 8 knowing she's strep B positive?"  We both shrug our shoulders as 4 nurses rushed in, one setting up the sterile table for delivery, one admitting us into the computer, one setting up my IV, and the other getting the baby stuff ready.

So we get everything  settled and I'm laboring along, Rhett asked if he needed to press on my back like RJ, and I was totally fine without any help.  I was fine and in control with these contractions, where he helped on every single one with RJ.

So things are working along and the nurse can't get a hold of my OB. 

They keep calling, but have the other OB who is there for a scheduled c-section standing in the hall just in case he'll have to stand in as the attending.  At this point I'm in transition, and having to work through the contractions a lot as they get worse, and they tell me my OB was working out at the gym and was on his way, probably 10-15 minutes.

So I had to wait, and they hadn't broken my water to keep things from going any faster.  I made it through transition contractions and started feeling pressure and wanting to push when he showed up.  He and Rhett got gowned up and broke my water which was a relief.

I pushed a couple times, and my OB realized she was posterior (face up), so once she started crowing, he took her head and turned it between contractions, kind of uncomfortable, but worth it in the end.  After he turned her, Rhett took over and a few more pushes and he held up our little baby girl to show me and it of course is such a great moment.

Physical relief for sure, then the whole overwhelming feeling of seeing your baby for the first time.  Rhett delivered the baby, I held her for a minute, then they took her over to the heat lamps and he went with the baby.  The OB said something like: "sure... do the fun part and leave all the dirty work for me." 

Rhett just said "yep" as he was taking pictures of Ellaria.

So that's pretty much it.  It was a butt to deliver the placenta.  I guess my uterus contracted down really fast, and wouldn't let it deliver, so it was actually really painful as the OB tried to pry it out, but then the umbilical cord started tearing off, and after a while, he finally got it all out, but the whole "placenta extraction" was surprisingly quite painful and I almost felt the same relief when that was over as I was with Ellaria actually being born.  Obviously not as intense as delivering the baby, as it's just a dead placenta, but I was glad that was finally over.  Really weird.

Then I got to hold her cleaned up and gooey eyed and that's always such a precious time to hold the baby really for the first time and to be done with everything and just to see a perfect little miracle that will change your life forever.  It makes it all worth it...especially if she has chubby cheeks and a lot of dark hair.

JUST IN CASE YOU'RE FURTHER INTERESTED:
Here's what I have to say about

NATURAL BIRTH:
Spontaneous Labor vs. Induction

So both deliveries I didnt' have any pain killers of any kind, well they did shoot me up with some Nubain? for the placenta extraction after Ellie was born, but for the labor/ baby birth I prefer natural birth.

There's lot of reasons I make this choice, but it's a personal choice and one way is better for someone and not better for others.  Saving money not paying an anesthesiologist is a big motivator for me, (yes this is the ultimate example of how cheap I am)  It probably sounds weird, but I like feeling in control of everything going on.  I like being able to feel what my body is doing and so I feel more in control of the whole birth experience going natural.  It's obviously more work I'd imagine, but I do feel pretty great after, I wanted to get my baby and go right home rather than go to the post-partum floor.  (I do hate staying in the hosptial though)  Other than being sore/ pain from the tears, etc. I felt better right after giving birth than I did the night before being 9 months pregnant.  Maybe that's the same for everyone though, who knows.

But moving on, in case you care, this is just from my experiences with each way.

Natural contractions are WAY easier than pitocin induced contractions.  I think naivety worked to my benefit being induced with my first.  I had no idea what contractions were like, and my OB said being induced doesn't cause any more pain than going into labor on your own.  It's just a muscle contracting and it can't produce more pain with pitocin.

So I labored through with RJ.  Through all my prep, I always tried to mentally prepare for transition, as it seemed that's where a lot of women lose the mental control and need epidurals/ spinal blocks.  So the whole time I'm in labor, Rhett is pushing on my back helping me through each contraction.  All the sudden I jumped up and ran to the bathroom because I felt I had to go, but it was actually the pressure contractions telling me to push out a baby, not take a dump.  I was so focused on being ready for transition, it had come and gone and I had never noticed a difference in the contractions as all.  They had just got closer through the process of labor, and all the sudden I was sitting on the toilet and my nurse was telling me to get back in bed, and I realized I was done, I'd made it through transition without knowing it, I was and ready to push.

So this time with Ellaria, I was interested to see if there really is a difference in pain to have a natural contraction versus a pitocin contraction.  I'd heard and read induction is a lot more painful, so I'd hoped that was actually kind of true, because this would mean this delivery would be less intense.

And it was.  Natural contractions were a ton less painful.  Like I'd say half the pain of a pitocin contraction...until you get into transition.

With Ellaria, Rhett was there, asking if I needed him to coach me through the contraciton, and push on the pressure points on my back as he did with RJ.  I knew I was at least 8 cm and was laying there and told him no, I was fine, these are way easier.

I'd compare the two kinds of contractions like a natural contraction's pain is like a wave.  It slowly builds, peaks for a second, then fades gently away.  As you progress, the wave moves a little faster, and may peak a little higher, but it's a gentle process, actually the whole time, even in transition.

A pitocin contraction goes from 0 pain to intense immediately, and stays there, then dies.  As you progress, the intensity increases, and the time you sit at intense gets longer.  So if I'd graph it from my experience, it would be a spike, plateau, and free fall.  I think that's why I didn't notice any change in transition.  It was like all of labor was transition, just shorter.

But with natural contractions, there was a big change when I did hit transition and while it was still a wave, it built faster and stayed intense then faded.  So the change was much more apparent and did require more mental control to work through, where being induced it was the same contractions I'd been having for hours, just longer without any real change. 

Pushing was pretty much the same being induced and natural contractions.  My babies were totally different, making the experience totally easier with a 7.5 lb peanut compared to a 9.5 lb rhino, but as far as contractions, I didn't notice a difference for pushing.  Probably because to me, it's not as much pain as stretching/ burning and you're focused on pushing, not relaxing through a contraction--you actually get to do something productive, so I think it feels good to be able to push.  Maybe not feels good, but kind of a relief to push finally.

Another thing I'm interested to ever experience, was the fact with Ellaria all my labor she was posterior, facing face up basically.  According to all the books I've read, and my mom's experiences, laboring with the baby posterior is more painful because between contractions you have the back pain due to their being the wrong position.  After the OB noticed she was posterior and flipped her the correct way, looking back, I did think how there was the underlying back pressure the whole time, even between contractions.  So what would be interesting is if I have another baby who isn't posterior to see if it is easier that way.

Hopefully I'll always be blessed to labor fast, she was just really 2.5 hours of painful contractions, and probably could have been born earlier had we not had to wait for the OB.  So nice to go fast and good to know to stay close to a hospital, and maybe next time make a friend and give them a heads up before you have to dump your kid on an unsuspecting, but totally kind and nice neighbor.

Also, I took some photos of the petechiae this time.  It's just the capillaries busting from pushing.  I don't know if I'm just more prone to get this and have wimpy vessels, or if I need to learn to put my energy in the pushing where it's useful rather than exploding my face, neck and shoulders.
It is interesting to see where you have more capillaries, like my red dot goatee with milk mustache of no dots.

Or I never thought there were so many in eyelids.

Kind of gross, well this whole post could be considered gross, sorry if you read this far and regret it.  I tried to warn you by having the jump in the post to make you click only if you really wanted to know.