JGY Birth Story
Sept 3, 2015 18:42:31 GMT -5
Post by jgy on Sept 3, 2015 18:42:31 GMT -5
Birth story/summary ... I'd been having light contractions for a number of days. Mostly in the evenings and nothing even remotely uncomfortable. Thursday during the day (at work) things just felt a little bit different. I decided that a walk was definitely in order that evening. I told my Sister and Wife that I wanted to take a walk before dinner, but that message didn't really get through. Everyone was off in different directions, so I settled for a family walk after dinner. What a disaster! My wife had to turn around after 1 block because the dog was being a pain in the a$$. Then my Sister insisted upon taking G to the playground, because he was pitching a fit. So off I trucked by myself to "Take my walk" around the neighborhood. Pretty much as soon as I turned to walk away, painful contractions started. They were bearable, and I realized they were coming every 1-2 blocks. I figured I should probably time them, but didn't have a watch (or phone, for effs sake) so I counted them off on my fingers. Hmmmm, about 45 seconds.
So I headed home after about 20 minutes of walking, and my Sister and I put G to bed. At one point I tried to sit down to rock him, but jumped right up. There would be no more sitting for the rest of the night. Kid was RIGHT on my tailbone. Anyway, we got G to bed and I went downstairs and started actually timing the contractions. Uh-oh. They were 3 minutes apart. BUT ... I didn't want to be a wimp and I didn't want to go to the hospital too early and dammit I just didn't believe that labor would progress that fast for me. Last time it was over 36 hours and ended in a c-section! So I called our Doula and I called the midwife. Both pros. They said to listen to my body, but to really pay close attention to what it was saying.
Our MW suggested perhaps a shower/bath might feel good and so we headed upstairs (S was a bit hesitant; she was getting really nervous - rightfully so - and was pretty sure we should head to the hospital. But god bless her she wanted to let me do my thing). I made it about 1 minute in the shower and had to get out. I looked down at my feet and the tile floor and wondered if there was any way I could get myself to the hospital or if perhaps we could cushion the tile a bit and have at it right there and then. Yikes. So off we went.
Our Doula arrived just as we were walking out the front door. She followed us to the hospital which, thank goodness, is less than 10 minutes away. Our MW actually met us AT THE CAR! We bypassed triage and headed right to a L&D room. At this point I was just pissed off. Pain makes me crabby and I was in some serious pain. But, the beauty of a normal labor (which I did not have the first time) is that you have built-in breaks. They might not be long, but they are breaks. And if you can just get to that next break, and then do it again, and again ... Anyway, the incredibly kind nurse went about getting the lock in my hand (a must for all VBAC attempts). She understood that it was the last thing in the world I wanted, but managed to get it done nonetheless. My MW let me know she needed to check me, though she readily admitted there was really no need since everyone and their mother knew I was complete and ready to push. So I had to get on the bed, and did so on my hands and knees.
Throughout the labor, the one thing that really helped my contractions was a double-hip squeeze, and S ROCKED IT on that. So when I got up on the bed and a contraction began, she jumped up behind me and applied pressure. Whammo, my water broke like a water balloon. It was crazy; one of those moments where everyone just stops in their tracks and laughs. Anyway, at that point I was inadvertently pushing so we got on about it and I trusted my body and about 20 minutes later Gideon was born. I tore from stem to stern, and the recovery has been rough (the repair took about an hour). But I pushed that baby out and he was perfect and it will always be one of the best moments of my life.
tl;dr real contractions started around 6:30pm, got to the hospital at 10:00pm, beautiful boy born at 10:45 exactly. 7lb 5oz, 20 in. happy and healthy Mommy, Mama, and baby.
Side note - little G did test positive for Congenital CMV. So we have a long road ahead of us. At this time he is asymptomatic, but there will be lots of monitoring and testing and retesting in our future. But today, we feel blessed that he is perfect.
So I headed home after about 20 minutes of walking, and my Sister and I put G to bed. At one point I tried to sit down to rock him, but jumped right up. There would be no more sitting for the rest of the night. Kid was RIGHT on my tailbone. Anyway, we got G to bed and I went downstairs and started actually timing the contractions. Uh-oh. They were 3 minutes apart. BUT ... I didn't want to be a wimp and I didn't want to go to the hospital too early and dammit I just didn't believe that labor would progress that fast for me. Last time it was over 36 hours and ended in a c-section! So I called our Doula and I called the midwife. Both pros. They said to listen to my body, but to really pay close attention to what it was saying.
Our MW suggested perhaps a shower/bath might feel good and so we headed upstairs (S was a bit hesitant; she was getting really nervous - rightfully so - and was pretty sure we should head to the hospital. But god bless her she wanted to let me do my thing). I made it about 1 minute in the shower and had to get out. I looked down at my feet and the tile floor and wondered if there was any way I could get myself to the hospital or if perhaps we could cushion the tile a bit and have at it right there and then. Yikes. So off we went.
Our Doula arrived just as we were walking out the front door. She followed us to the hospital which, thank goodness, is less than 10 minutes away. Our MW actually met us AT THE CAR! We bypassed triage and headed right to a L&D room. At this point I was just pissed off. Pain makes me crabby and I was in some serious pain. But, the beauty of a normal labor (which I did not have the first time) is that you have built-in breaks. They might not be long, but they are breaks. And if you can just get to that next break, and then do it again, and again ... Anyway, the incredibly kind nurse went about getting the lock in my hand (a must for all VBAC attempts). She understood that it was the last thing in the world I wanted, but managed to get it done nonetheless. My MW let me know she needed to check me, though she readily admitted there was really no need since everyone and their mother knew I was complete and ready to push. So I had to get on the bed, and did so on my hands and knees.
Throughout the labor, the one thing that really helped my contractions was a double-hip squeeze, and S ROCKED IT on that. So when I got up on the bed and a contraction began, she jumped up behind me and applied pressure. Whammo, my water broke like a water balloon. It was crazy; one of those moments where everyone just stops in their tracks and laughs. Anyway, at that point I was inadvertently pushing so we got on about it and I trusted my body and about 20 minutes later Gideon was born. I tore from stem to stern, and the recovery has been rough (the repair took about an hour). But I pushed that baby out and he was perfect and it will always be one of the best moments of my life.
tl;dr real contractions started around 6:30pm, got to the hospital at 10:00pm, beautiful boy born at 10:45 exactly. 7lb 5oz, 20 in. happy and healthy Mommy, Mama, and baby.
Side note - little G did test positive for Congenital CMV. So we have a long road ahead of us. At this time he is asymptomatic, but there will be lots of monitoring and testing and retesting in our future. But today, we feel blessed that he is perfect.
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