This picture was taken just moments after delivery...at first I didn't want to post it, but actually I love this picture...with the sweat and blood and Maggie is bundled under the blankets nursing.]I awoke at 6:30 with a crampy feeling and thought this is "the day". I didn't want to bother Lee or Hutch (who had joined us in bed around 4:00am) so I snuggled in for a few minutes more. Lee had to get up soon to check in at the track and get a program under way so I waited for him to wake up. I was having breakfast not fifteen minutes later when I realized that "Hey, during this one bowl of cereal I've had like 3 contractions...how long does it take to eat a bowl of cereal??". I called the doula around 7:00 to let her know that "things were on the move". Teresa, our doula, had jokingly e-mailed on Friday that Saturday would not be good for her since she had a childbirth and breastfeeding class to teach so perhaps I could wait until Sunday...ha ha ha! She told me over the phone that the contractions needed to be a minute in length to be making any real changes to my cervix so perhaps I was just in the very early stages of labor. I told her I'd call the midwife and then call her back later.
I hopped in the shower and again thought "Hey, during this shower I've had about 4 contractions and I know it doesn't take that long to get a shower...these are coming pretty fast..." Same thought process while I was blowdrying my hair...it doesn't take me but 5 or 6 minutes to dry and during that time I think I counted 3 contractions.
Lee got a quick shower and was off to the track. My mom and dad were up and moving by this time and helping to play with Hutch as I was a bit distracted by the contractions at this point. I started to make a pile of clothes for Lee to put in his hospital bag and made sure I had all my toiletries packed. During this time I began feeling a little anxious...I tried to lay down and then tried to sit outside in one of our rocking deck chairs...but to no avail. I was basically pacing the house looking for distractions until Lee got home around 8:20. Mom and Dad hugged me and Lee and I jumped in the car.
The car ride to the hospital took about an hour and it was not pleasant. It wasn't like a tv drama with Lee peeling around corners and I didnt' have my legs braced on the dashboard. I just opened my mind and let the contractions come. I'd count through them and they were lasting at least 45 seconds each. Lee started to time when I'd first sigh to the time I reopened my eyes. I believe I began to moan during the car ride.
Upon entering the hospital I grabbed a wheel chair to walk behind, no way was I going to sit down. The people behind the desk seemed a little concerned that the sick person who should have been riding in the wheelchair was not there...then I suppose they noticed my huge belly and realized "this girl's in labor". They pointed me through the doors and Lee moved the car into a parking spot. He rejoined me not far down the hall as I was having to stop and focus every few feet.
We checked in and my labor nurse checked my vitals and then hooked me up to the fetal monitor to check on the baby. She checked me after taking me off the monitor and said I was at 6 cm. Since everything was fine she let me get up and move around off the monitor. I sat on the birthing ball and proceeded to enter "laborland". Lee sat facing me and would hold tight to my hands during each wave. He matched my strength and gave me encouraging words. It felt good to squeeze his hands and press my forehead against his. I told myself to relax and allow everything to open up. I could imagine my cervix getting wider with each contraction.
Kay, the midwife on call, arrived at some point and quietly joined us. She sat nearby on the couch and occasionally would hold the fetal monitor on my belly during a contraction. At one point, while on the ball, I thought my water broke. It hadn't and in retrospect I think it was my cervix reaching full dilation. It wasn't long after that popping sensation that I was struck by the urge to push at the end of each contraction.
Teresa, the doula, arrived sometime in this time frame. She rubbed my back to let me know she was there and added her words of encouragement to Lee's. After one of the pushing urges I looked at her and said "I think I was pushing". She just laughed and said "I think so!".
I couldn't sit on the ball anymore I had to stand. Teresa raised the bed (which has more controls on it than the space shuttle)so I could stand and lean on the end of it. Kay asked to check me at this point and when she did my water broke. Thank goodness I was standing on several layers of towels and those blue backed absorbent pads. For the next few contractions I hung on Lee. I could tell he was afraid I was going to collapse to the floor because I wasn't giving him much to hang on to. I just sort of slumped into each contractions and let my legs go soft.
I stood and swayed at the end of the bed for a few contractions but then had to get up in the bed. I contemplated laying on my back in the traditional "as seen on tv" delivery pose, but as soon as my rear touched the sheets a contraction hit and I flipped onto hands and knees. This position worked great for the next several contractions. I remembered being at the beach and letting the waves come. The contractions slowed at this point and I was able to get a quick breather between them. Pushing was natural and I felt the baby moving downward.
Lee was getting more excited and was really cute and sweet at this point. Teresa and Kay encouraged Lee to come to the "other end of the bed" so he could see the baby's head peeking. He was a little reluctant but glad in the end that he had taken a look. They told him to tell me what he could see. He reported back that he saw the baby's hair and I told him that I knew the baby had black hair...I had seen it in a dream a few weeks back. I was deep into "Laborland" at this point, but between contractions I felt very lucid and would tap into the various conversations going on in the room.
It seemed that I wasn't making as much progress pushing as I'd like and I felt Maggie slip back up a couple times after she made good progress downward. Teresa leaned close and told me to hold my breath at the top of each contraction and then curl my body around my baby to help make better progress. This helped quite a bit as I had been arching my back too much. After a few pushes and a few rests I changed positions again and this time kneeled in the bed. I wanted to feel the baby's head. As I pushed I reached down and was able to feel the hardness of the baby's head coming down closer and closer as well as lots of blood and goo. I could feel my skin tightening and thought back to the video we had seen in our birthing classes. I placed both hands between my legs and cupped the baby's head as it crowned. I remember saying "here it comes" as I felt that I couldn't slow it any further.
The head emerged and Kay asked if I could stop pushing for a second so she could suction the baby. I said, "Sure!". The next contraction brought a screaming pink wet baby into my hands. I quickly pulled it in front so I could see if I had a girl or boy. "It's a girl" I cried as she wiggled and screamed in my hands. They clamped the cord and whisked her away while Lee and I smooched a couple times. There was a brief moment of panic as they realized I was sitting on a pair of scissors...but I quickly got up and flipped over so Kay could deliver the placenta. (By the way, the placenta was pretty amazing...it was much bigger than I imagined.)
Maggie was taken to the other side of the curtain where the "pit crew" cleaned her up a bit and checked her vitals. I had my own "pit crew" cleaning me up and Kay added just a few stitches to repair what she called a "minor" second degree tear. They brought Maggie to me and she had managed to poop on her little hospital blanket already! I stripped of my tank top which had made it throught the entire process...and here I had been worried about not having any pants on before all this started! Maggie immediately latched on and nursed.
Teresa helped the nurse to change the sheets on the bed and then got a washcloth to clean my hands...there was quite a bit of blood under and around my fingernails. She was insistant on making me presentable so that my mom would know I had been taken care of. Not much after the clean up crew finished a lunch tray was delivered right to the labor room! Apple juice on ice has never tasted so good!! I ate some of the pasta and a roll, but once we made it to the recovery room and mom and dad had arrived Lee headed out to Sonic for burgers.
I continued to drink juice on ice and managed to get up and go to the restroom on my own a few hours after getting to the recovery room. I felt so good after delivery. Recovery was MUCH faster than with my c-section with Hutch. I wasn't drugged and neither was Maggie. I could walk and sit up and get around really well. Of course those awesome hospital ice packs felt SOOOOO good and I made sure to take a few home.
Today is Maggie's two week birthday and we're all doing great. The second child is so much easier than the first. There's just not as much adjustment. We have all the "stuff" and know what to do with it. Thanks to family and friends Maggie's wardrobe has grown exponentially since she was born. I love that we didn't know what we were having until I delivered her into my own hands. I could not have asked for a better experience. I love that no one in the labor room told me what to do, instead I was allowed to progress naturally. There were no time limits set on my progress and I never saw a doctor. The hospital exam lights were not turned on until Kay examined me after delivery. I was not tied to a fetal monitor or blood pressure machine. Thank you Lee, Kay, Teresa, and Tracy! And thank you Maggie for being such a cooperative partner in labor and delivery!
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