Birth Story

Cute picture of Reagan (11 days old) and Baba Dennis.

I wanted to just have a link to Reagan's birth story because it is so long but I was not sure how to do that. So when you get a little time..here it is!

It is hard to know just were to begin Reagan’s birth story because of all the weeks of early contractions. I am not going to discredit all the hard work I did before active labor actually started! I woke up Thursday (April 9th) morning feeling cranky and tired even though I slept decent. My abdomen was actually sore from contracting all night but all those contractions were nothing new.

I laid down for an hour ( 4:30pm) before Craig got home from work during which my contractions became more regular, coming every 6-10mins. They did not increase in intensity but they continued through the evening; I ignored them the best I could since this is what I had been experiencing most days for quite some time. I enjoyed a nice dinner with Sharon, Craig and Katya; went to Holy Thursday church service; and watched Survior. I was in bed at 10:45pm when I felt and heard two “pops” that seemed to come from the right side of my abdomen. Immediately I got a strong contraction. I thought about how some people have described a pop when their water broke but I did not have any fluid leak at this time. Another strong contraction quickly followed so I got up and went downstairs. I timed two contractions that were 5 minutes apart. With the next contraction got a small gush of fluid and I was pretty sure this meant my water did break. I went upstairs, woke Craig and changed. Contractions continued to be strong and quite frequent and it became increasingly obvious that my water did indeed break.

I phoned the nurse midwife on call and filled her in. She asked several questions and then said that she thought we should start heading towards the hospital. I told her that I wanted to labor at home as long as possible but I had the feeling I would not last long at home since things felt like they were progressing quickly. I also told her about the pressure I felt on my bum, which made her a bit nervous about letting me stay home. She said to come in when contractions were 2-3 mins apart. Immediately after hanging up we started timing contractions and they were 2-3 mins apart. Craig called the midwife back and told her we were heading in. I wondered if we were going too early but the contractions were so close together and quite strong. I had so much adrenaline flowing that I was able to talk through them but just barely. We left for the hospital about 11:30pm.

When we got to L & D they checked me right into a room and the midwife checked my cervix. I was 5-6cm dilated, 100% effaced and Reagan’s head was at a +1 station, which is quite low. The midwife left to do paper work to get me admitted but kept getting interrupted because I was progressing so quickly. The contractions were tough but only about 30seconds long and it was so different then when I was in labor with Katya. Between contractions the pain was very tolerable and I was able to rest. I was able to talk and tell Craig what I needed, like a drink of water or to be distracted (distraction was a really good coping mechanism for me; the staff felt bad having to ask me some questions to admit me but I did not mind because it distracted me). As things progressed my talking between contractions became just grunts and one word commands. When the nurse had to monitor the baby’s heartbeat she just held the Doppler to my belly and I was able to move around in the bed however I wanted. I was never strapped to a monitor and I had no IV. I labored on my hands and knees in the bed pretty much the whole time. I got up a few times but did not like being on my feet. I supported my upper body on a birthing ball between contractions to rest and pushed the ball away when contracting.

When I hit 8cm so quickly after getting there the midwife gave me 3 options in regards to the water birth. The tub had to be blown up in the room which is loud and would take about 40mins. My options were 1) forget the water birth 2) let them set up the tub while I labored in the room or 3) go to the Jacuzzi tub room to labor while they set up the tub and return to the tub for babies birth (they do not deliver in the tub room). It was really hard to make a decision like this when I was in hard active labor. Since I was in a groove and handling labor well were I was I told her to forget the water birth. I knew I did not want to do option number 3 because that required too much walking. In retrospect I wish I would have had them set up the tub. The midwife said afterwards that she thought it would have been disruptive to me and she thought I made a good decision. I am not sure that setting up the tub would have bothered me and I will never know if I would have liked laboring and pushing in the tub.

Of course the transition phase and pushing was really, really hard. Craig can attest to there being a lot of ‘primal’ screams, as he put it. The midwife was really good at calming me down when I was freaking out from the pain. It is hard to know how long I pushed for because we were not really watching the clock and because the midwife let me push when and if I felt like it. It was very different from an MD who when you hit 10 cm has you push a certain way, with each contraction. The staff kept telling me that my baby would be here really soon and I kept thinking that it could not possibly be soon enough! Reagan was in a very good position for delivery, although she did have a little hand up by her face. Her shoulders were difficult to deliver but after a last big effort my daughter arrived and was placed on my stomach; it was 2:01am. They covered her with blankets and a little hat to keep her warm and I snuggled with her while Craig cried for both of us:0)