So having a baby literally leaves you with no time! I hate
that it has taken me SO long to write this, but here is our baby's birth story :)
Owen
was due Sunday the 2nd, so I was getting pretty anxious to have a
baby, but I was also doing my best to be very patient. That baby was going to
come when it was ready. The midwife I was seeing wasn't going to talk about
induction until the next week, but suggested stripping my membranes. It sounded
harmless and like a natural enough of a process that I consented. I went in for
an appointment to strip my membranes Wednesday morning April 5th. It was uncomfortable,
but not as painful as I had expected. I left the office that morning feeling
like I was cramping for my period, and that pain didn't go away all day. Around
1:00 I went to get a pedicure (I deserved to treat myself a little, right?),
and was starting to feel slightly painful contractions but I wasn't timing
them- they were maybe 20ish minutes apart and not extremely consistent. They
weren't killing me and I could ignore them for the most part. I was getting
excited but I wasn't keeping my hopes up. I went to a friend's house to hang
out, went grocery shopping, and then went home to make dinner. I made dinner
and it helped to walk around and take my mind of off the contractions. As we
were eating, around 5:30, they were feeling consistent and strong (but still
just dull pain in my lower back that I could mostly ignore), so I decided to
start timing them. 30 sec long, 3.5 minutes apart.
Greg
and I cleaned up dinner and sat down to watch Cinderella (live action). I was
uncomfortable from the contractions and the increasing pain in my lower back,
so I was shifting around a lot. I bounced on a yoga ball, and I stood and swayed.
I decided that I hated the pedicure I had gotten that afternoon, so I asked
greg to remove it for me- but I was in enough pain that I didn't want to sit,
so I stood and swayed while he sat on the ground and took off the polish. What a
champ.
I then
moved to the shower to help relax and relieve pain, and the hot water and
pressure on my lower back felt incredible! I literally stayed there until we
ran out of hot water. Greg came in to bring me water at one point and found me
on all fours with my head sticking out the side of the tub so I could breathe
and the water could still soothe my back. I then moved to the bed and labored
there for a little while. Around 9:00 I timed contractions again and at this
point they were about a minute long, and 2.5 minutes apart. And they HURT! I
was laying on the bed, breathing and moaning through contractions. I tried
listening to my hypno babies track to help me relax, but her voice mostly just
annoyed me. Greg started loading the car while I labored, and by 9:45 we headed
to the hospital.
I
remember being in the car and between contractions wanting Gregory to drive as
fast as possible… and during them I was bracing against the roof of the car
trying not to feel every bump and rail road track we crossed. Upon arrival, I
got out of the car and I felt like I was hardly getting a break between contractions.
They were coming hard and fast, and the pain in my lower back was intense. I
made it almost to the door and doubled over in pain. A stranger offered to park
our car, and I gladly accepted. He also grabbed me a wheelchair and Greg
quickly took me to the third floor. I was worried that they would need to check
my first before I was admitted, but I was in tears, and later was told that
they could tell I was in real labor, and they admitted me right away. I was SO
grateful.
I
wanted a natural labor, but once at the hospital I was desperate for some pain
relief, my back labor was awful. I was dilated to a 4 (I had been a 3 for a
week already and was REALLY hoping to have progressed more by that point), and
100% effaced. I had an epidural by just after 11:00 (at which point I was now
dilated to a 6), and my sense of time from here on out disappears. I was able
to get some rest before Owen came which was a huge relief. We both got some
sleep despite the adrenaline, and the nurses came in a few times to flip me
over. I could still feel some pain and pressure on my right side, though it was
mostly just annoying. Nothing too painful or worth worrying about.
At one
point, though I was numb, I thought I could feel something leaking and wondered
if my water had broken. A nurse came to check and just let me know that my
mucus plug had come out. So no baby yet, but one step closer! The nurse told me
that my water would most likely break on its own in the next hour. Just a little
while after that I felt something leaking again, and hoped it was my water. I
reached down with my hand to make sure I wasn't going crazy, and touched what
felt like a small water balloon coming out of me! The first nurse came in and
didn't know what to do, so the charge nurse came in to take a look. Apparently my
water HAD broken, but the sac had broken at the top, so the water was leaking
out internally. What I felt, was some fluid still in the sac, and the bottom of
the sac still intact, coming out of me. It was so strange! The nurse pulled the
rest of the sac right out, and said that we were still just waiting for baby's
head to come down a little farther until we could push.
A while
later we tried pushing, but there was little progress, so we decided to let the
baby 'labor down' for another 30 minutes before we tried to push again. When it
came time to push consistently, I was very excited and very exhausted. Even though
I couldn't feel the pain it was more work than I anticipated. The time went by
very quickly, but I imagine I pushed for about an hour. The epidural that I had
was perfect- I couldn't feel any pain, but I could feel pressure. I was able to
tell when a contraction was coming seconds before the monitor could pick it up,
so I was prepared to push. Having Gregory there was immense help. He held my
hand, fed me huckleberry ice chips, and encouraged me the entire time. Every time
he could see the baby's head come out a little more I could see it on his face
and it gave me some serious motivation. A couple times, as the baby's head was
crowning, I was able to reach down and touch his head. A baby was really coming
out of me!! I pushed hard. I developed a slight fever and some nausea from the
work, though neither was problematic. In fact, the final push that got Owen out
was from me throwing up…
When
they told me it was a boy I couldn't believe it… I had been so convinced for 9
months that I was having a girl. The cord was wrapped around his neck once, but
it was quickly resolved. They placed his beautiful, wrinkled, blue little body
on me, and I was overcome with such love.
He was perfect.
Owen Jacob Odell was born Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 3:58 am. He weighted 8lbs 11oz, and was 21.5 inches long. Healthy as could be and the light of our lives!
