Birth Story

I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks… It is ridiculously long and I don’t expect many people to actually read it all :)

I decided I wanted to write out Caleb’s birth story before I forget it all!  (I doubt I’d really forget it all, but wanted it to be “fresh.”)  To really tell his birth story, though, I have to back up and start one week before he was born!

The short version of this part of the story is… Beginning in the afternoon on Thursday, October 2^nd, I had regular contractions that got closer together and more intense over the next day.  My parents came over on Thursday night to help us get a few last minute nursery things ready.  We finished up our hospital bags and straightened up the house, etc.  Eventually, after I was up most of the night due to contractions, we decided to call my midwife’s office.  At that point, my contractions were over a minute long and were about 5 minutes apart; this had been happening for 1-2 hours.  My progression had been pretty much “textbook” and I was told to come on in to the hospital.  I had been feeling hesitant because nothing felt “hard/painful enough” to be labor.  I was assured that it was just because it was earlier in labor; the people we talked to (my mom, my childbirth educator [a nurse and family friend], the nurse at the midwife’s office, etc.) all seemed to think I was in labor.  So, we got all packed up and headed to the hospital.  On our way to the hospital, my contractions got closer together.  They were about 3 minutes apart in the parking garage!  I got all checked in and hooked up to the monitors.  As soon as that happened, my contractions stopped!  I was so frustrated, upset, embarrassed, etc…  When the midwife checked me, despite those 24 hours of “labor,” my body hadn’t progressed at all.  So, I was sent home.  We were frustrated/disappointed because we thought we were going to meet our baby.  I was also really confused by the whole thing :/  It was a hard and exhausting day!  I went home and slept 12 hours that night.  I continued to have contractions over the next several days (stronger than the Braxton Hicks I had been having in the previous weeks).

Flash forward to Tuesday, the 7^th, and I had a midwife appointment again.  I was thrilled to have an appointment where my blood pressure was low and I only had trace amounts of protein in my urine.  Pete and I talked that night about how nice it was to have an uneventful/normal appointment.  Later that day, I began having regular, time-able contractions.  I was able to sleep through the night, but the contractions continued in the morning as I got ready for work.  They were mild/weak, but they were there :)

While I was working, I noticed I had a voicemail from my midwife.  She had done a urinalysis after my appointment and was concerned about one of the results.  In fact, she gave me her personal cell phone number to call her back ASAP.  When I called her back, she asked me to go to Highland to have some tests run to see if there was any change in the results.  She also warned me that we may have to discuss induction and I should come to the hospital prepared to stay, just in case.

Eventually, we decided that my mom would take me in to Highland and Pete would keep working until we heard results.  When we got there, around noon, my blood pressure was running a bit higher than it had at any other point in the pregnancy.   We thought maybe it was a fluke, but it continued to be high through the rest of the day.  They ran a Non-Stress Test; they were really happy with the results of that.  They also ran a bunch of bloodwork.  They did an ultrasound and estimated his size to be about 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

When I came out of the ultrasound, I ran into my midwife and she said something along the lines of: “Oh!  They gave you pictures… You’re gonna see him soon :)”  At that point I knew I was staying.  I wasn’t sure if I should be excited to meet “Junior” or if I should be disappointed at this not going the way I had planned.

When I went back to triage, my midwife came in to explain what they were recommending.   After she discussed my results with a doctor, she was diagnosing me with Gestational Hypertension and she was recommending an induction.  I asked about waiting it out until my next appointment (Tuesday, October 14^th) and she was obviously not comfortable with that.  She explained that I would be walking out of the hospital against medical advice.  Apparently their policy is to induce anyone who has Gestational Hypertension and is 37+ weeks along.  Since I was 39 weeks (nearly 40), I fell into that criteria.

When the induction process was explained, it sounded like it would potentially be very long.  Although I was having contractions, they were mild and they weren’t helping my body to progress (I wasn’t effaced at all and pretty much wasn’t dilated).    We put off starting the medicine for a few hours so that Pete could come from work.  So, my mom and I went to Subway at the hospital and got food!

My mom took my last pregnancy pictures in the hospital while we waited :)

Wow! My hands were definitely swollen! Haha :)

When it came time to take the first dose of the medication, I actually wasn’t allowed to take it.  Apparently you’re not allowed to take it if you have more than 3 contractions in 10 minutes.  I was consistently having 3 contractions in each 10 minute span.  They were mild, but they were contractions nonetheless.  So, they actually gave me IV fluids to slow down the contractions enough to take the medicine.

I finally was able to take the first dose around 6:30PM.  It lasts for 4 hours.  The plan was that I would take 30 minutes off of the monitors at 10:30.  I would eat, walk around, etc. (just to get a break) and then I would get the 2^nd dose.  During that 30 minute break, I noticed I was feeling crampy.  Then the contractions started picking up.  Pete was a little bit frustrated that I wasn’t on the monitors at that point because he knew things were progressing, but the nurse wouldn’t see that since I was not hooked up.  At the end of that 30 minute block, they hooked me back up to the monitors to prepare to give me the next dose of the induction medication.

When they came to give me the next dose, the nurse said, “I think you know what I’m about to say.  You’re having way too many contractions.”  I was having 5 or more contractions in each 10 minute span.  They gave me fluid and waited it out, hoping they would slow down.  Because I wasn’t effaced or dilated at all when I got the first dose, they assumed I hadn’t progressed enough yet.  So, they really wanted me to get the next dose.

While we “waited it out,” my labor continued.  We were watching Parks & Rec on Netflix and I kept needing Pete to pause it in order to help me through contractions.  Eventually we were pausing the show during a contraction, I’d asked Pete to push play, and would be having the next contraction within something like 30 seconds.  So Pete turned the show off :)

Thankfully, Pete remembered to turn on the music I wanted to listen to during labor.  It was really helpful and relaxing!  I worked through contractions on the bed for a while, but it was getting more difficult to focus through the pain while laying in the bed.  I remember Pete telling me I was flailing or something :) I couldn’t keep my legs still through the contractions for some reason.  It’s like I thought moving them would help the pain? Ha! At this point, Pete suggested we try an exercise ball. 

I basically spent the rest of my labor bouncing on an exercise ball, leaning my upper body over the bed.  I remember at one point, my nurse (who we just loved, by the way) suggested I try slowly rocking my hips side to side on the ball instead of bouncing.  I didn’t even want to try :)  But I did – it did not help me at all!  During this time, Pete was putting cold washcloths on my lower back and on my neck.  He would dip them in the cold water and reapply them in between contractions… At some point, though, there stopped being enough time to do that!

I think some of that was difficult for him because he knew the washcloths were helping me, but I also wanted him holding my hand during the contractions.  He was also coaching me during this time, telling me I could do it, reminding me to breathe, etc… I can remember telling him to not talk so loud, but I can also remember telling him to talk in general when he wouldn’t!  (So sorry, Pete!  I guess I was very specific about the help and support I needed from you haha)

During this time, we had no idea if I was progressing.  Somewhere in here I had the thought that I didn’t know how long I could keep going like this; I still had in my head that it could easily be 24 hours or more.  Little did I know how close I was…

My nurse noticed how often the contractions were coming.  So, she asked me if I felt like I had to poop.  I hadn’t noticed that, but when she asked, I realized it did feel like that.  She asked if it felt like I needed to push.  I said no.  Then, one or two contractions later, I said yes :)

She contacted my midwife around that time to have her come check me.  When the midwife got there, I had to get up on the bed for her to see how I had progressed.  When I got on the bed and had a contraction, it was SO much more painful!  In fact, I looked at the midwife and said, “This sucks!”  Haha! :)  She checked me and found that I was already 10cm!  At that point, it was less than 7 hours from when they started inducing me (and I was 0% effaced and basically not dilated at all at the start of it).  I had progressed way faster than they expected!

Somewhere in here, Pete realized we needed to contact our families.  It had all moved ahead way quicker than any of us anticipated.  So, he called my mom very quickly between contractions just before I started pushing (I think).  They had left just a few hours before, when it seemed like it would still be a while :/ We had been told they weren't even going to check me overnight for progress because they didn't want me to be discouraged.  My parents left the hospital, but hung out in the area for a while.  Ultimately, we told them nothing was happening so they should go home and get a good night's sleep :) Ha! They hardly got any sleep...

The midwife told me I could push to break my water while she got ready for the delivery.  I believe I broke my water at 1:16am.  That was such a relief, being able to push.  Then I wanted to keep pushing, but I needed to wait for her to finish being ready.  At the time, I felt like she was not rushing at all… I felt like I was going to start pushing at any second, but she wasn’t there to catch.

She finally was all set and gave me the go ahead to push.  We worked through the typical push and then wait to try to avoid tearing, etc.  Unfortunately, that was unsuccessful (more about that in a second).  It was such a great feeling to be able to push.  That made the contractions actually feel productive.

I remember feeling like the midwife wasn’t ready to catch Caleb… She was just sitting on the end of the bed, watching – her legs were crossed and she just seemed so relaxed.  I realize this is ridiculous, but I felt like she was just going to let Caleb come out onto the bed vs. catching him! Haha :)

Caleb was born at 1:41am, which was 25 minutes after my water had broken.  They put Caleb up on me for skin-to-skin time.  I remember saying, “Oh, my baby!”  I just couldn’t believe, looking at him, that he was really here and he was really ours!  It was such a precious, emotional moment cuddling him on the outside, kissing him, and looking at him with Pete. By the way, Caleb was 8 lbs., 9 oz. -- not quite what they estimated at the ultrasound! :)

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was bleeding A LOT during all of this.  I think Pete realized, but was staying calm about it.  I had 2 different tears and one needed stitches.  The midwife worked on stitching that tear, but my bleeding was continuing.  So, she had to call a doctor in to do the stitches.  Getting the stitches was really painful until they finally gave me a pain med via IV.

The plan was that, as we moved to our room, I would be in a wheel chair holding Caleb and they would wheel us through the waiting room so our families could see us.  When they stood me up to get into the wheelchair, I almost passed out.  At that point, they said we just needed to go directly to the room.  I was too weak to hold him and just needed to get into a bed.  They decided I couldn’t be allowed to stand on my own, go to the bathroom on my own, etc. because I had almost fainted.  Somehow this policy didn’t get clearly communicated to the nurse that took over my care a few hours later, though :(

A nurse took me to the bathroom a little after 7am.  I was doing okay, so she left me in there on my own.  I’m sure she just wanted to give me privacy, but I shouldn’t have been left alone.  I stood up to wash my hands and realized I was going to pass out.  I tried to find the call buttons in the bathroom, but I didn’t know where they were and I couldn’t see clearly anymore.  I didn’t want to fall, so I bent myself over the sink to try to hold myself up.  Around then the nurse peeked in to check on me, thankfully!  She asked me if I was okay and I had trouble answering her.  I think I told her I needed help, but I’m not totally sure.  She pushed the call button for help and basically held me up while we waited.  Tons of people rushed into the room to check me, etc.  I guess they were concerned that I may have had a seizure, but I hadn’t.

A lot of people were noticing how pale I was in the early on pictures, even the ones from once we were home.  This blood loss explains that.

Whenever I stood up, I felt like my heart was racing; I would often get dizzy too.  I was ultimately given a blood transfusion on Friday morning and that helped a lot.  I started feeling more stable standing/walking short distances on my own.  We went home on Saturday morning and for the next week I was very weak.  I couldn’t really carry Caleb around or rock him to sleep or anything… After being on my feet for just a few minutes, my heart rate would shoot up.  Thankfully I started feeling better and feeling strong enough to at least carry Caleb.  I don’t feel like I have any residual issues from that at this point.  I am sure that my iron levels are still low, but I feel so much better than that first week.

The labor and delivery didn’t go how I expected, considering I was induced.  However, all things considered, I think it went well. It didn’t last for days on end like they were warning me :) The tear and blood loss made recovery more difficult, but we survived! :) We are absolutely in love with our little man and it’s so hard to imagine life without Caleb! <3

Caleb's first Sunday in church!