Okay, Okay, I know! I have been really bad about posting news on here lately. I would have posted the day she was born, but the hospital did not have wi-fi, and I didn't have the wireless internet card with me.
Here is the story of how Adeline Claire entered this world....
Around 12:30am on 12/11/08 I began having contractions about 15 minutes apart. During the past month, I have had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, but I knew the contractions I was having that night were going to help deliver my baby sometime soon. In between the contractions I tried to sleep, but I was so excited by the thought of meeting my baby soon, that I didn't get much rest. Around 4:00am I gave up on sleeping, and decided to jump in the shower and get ready for the day. Honestly, I was thinking if I am going to have this baby today, I want to be looking cute, and that meant, showered, shaved legs, make up on, and my hair straightened. Looking back, by the time I delivered, I was far from looking cute. My hair was a frizzy mess from getting wet and then air drying, my make up from 4:00am had long worn off, I was sweaty, and you know what, I no longer cared! After getting out of the shower, George gave me a long back massage, and then my contractions really spaced out.
We went to see our midwife, Beth, that morning for our scheduled appointment. In the office, I had another nonstress test to check on the baby. The baby's heartbeat was great, the rest of the visit was uneventful, and at this point I was only having a contraction every hour or so. This contraction pattern continued until around 4:00pm. At that time, I started having strong back pain about every 10 minutes. When this first started, I was not sure if what I was feeling was really contractions or not since all of the Braxton Hicks contractions felt completely different. It didn't take long for me to realize I was in labor, and the pain I was feeling was contractions.
George tried to get me to eat some dinner, but I didn't feel like eating. Around 6:00pm the contractions started to get more intense, and closer together. I realized that all the back pain I was feeling was indeed contractions. I was not timing them with a watch, but I would say they were now about every 5 minutes. I took a long, hot bath, and turned the jets on for awhile. The contractions continued to increase in intensity, but remained mostly in my lower back, and by 7:00pm I was really having to work to stay relaxed throughout each one. George was still taking care of Owen so I was trying to do it all by myself. The most comfortable position I could find was sitting on the toilet with my hands balled up in fists pressing on my lower back as hard as I could. George kept coming in the bathroom checking on me, and encouraging me to drink some water. The contractions started to get closer together, and around 7:30pm, I told George he needed to call his aunt to come over to watch Owen because I could no longer handle the contractions all by myself. At that point, he timed my contractions (really for the first time with a watch, all the rest of the times are guesses), and they were 2-2.5 minutes apart, and lasting one minute each. I continued laboring on the toilet, and when our childcare arrived, we decided it was time to go to the hospital.
We arrived at Clark Memorial around 8:30pm, and by the time we got up to the labor and delivery unit, got hooked up to the monitor and examined, it was 8:50pm. At that point I was 5cm, 90% effaced, and the baby was at -1 station. I was really discouraged because I thought I was going to be further along than 5cm, but I tried to think back to what I learned in my Bradley classes. We learned not to focus on the number, afterall, you can be 3 cm, and deliver just a short time later. Once they got a baseline assessment of the baby, I was taken off the monitor, and was free to move around. I went back to the toilet, and had George start filling up the labor tub. Once the tub was full, I labored in the tub with George rubbing my shoulders. He did such a great job getting me to remain relaxed through the contractions and try to rest in between. At 10:15pm, the contractions became very close together, and the back pain was almost unbearable. I started feeling a lot of pressure so Beth wanted to do an exam and see what my cervix was doing. I was then 6cm, 90% effaced, and the baby was 0 station. I got hooked back up to the monitor to check the baby's heartbeat for about 5 minutes, and then was able to move freely again. I tried walking around the room, sitting on the toilet, and lying on my side in the bed. George remained putting pressure on my lower back, giving me sips of water to drink, and reminding me to change positions frequently. At 11:15pm, I was on my hand and knees, and started begging for drugs. I kept saying to George, " I can't do this anymore!!!!" He kept encouraging me, and trying to get me to calm down. At one point I remember telling him, "that's it, I am calling the nurse so she can tell Beth I need drugs!" I was in the bathroom and the nurse pull cord was right there, and at one point I put it in my hand and said, "don't you see, I am going to pull this cord!" I was begging for drugs, but knew that I really didn't want them. George kept telling me how strong I was, and he knew I could do it. He also said he knew how disappointed I would be in myself if I got the medication. By this time, Beth and my nurse had entered the room, and they too were encouraging me that I was doing great, and that I could deliver this baby without medication. At 11:40pm I was back on the monitor so they could check on the baby. Beth checked me again because I was feeling so much pressure again. At this time I was 8cm, and 100% effaced. I continued to beg for drugs, but didn't really want them. It was a strange phenomenon that I can't really explain. I am sure if my nurse would have really come in with a syringe of medication, I would have asked her what in the heck she was doing with medication in my room. Beth said she thought if she broke my water, the baby's head would then be applying total pressure on my cervix, causing it to dilate quickly and I would be pushing in no time. She assured me that even after she broke my water I would still be able to move around. Since arriving at the hospital I had been in the bed only for a few minutes on a couple occasions to monitor the baby and being able to move around was helping me cope with the discomfort so I wanted to make sure that would still be allowed. George and I decided that we wanted her to break my water, and she did so at 11:49pm. At 11:55pm, I had the most intense pressure, and felt like I was ready to push. Beth checked me and I was completely dilated all but a small cervical lip. I started pushing a short time later. Beth told me she thought I would only push a few times and have my baby. Once I started pushing, my contractions spaced out for a little while which allowed me to get a little rest. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. So much for only having to push a couple of times!!! Beth then told us that our little baby was trying to come out looking up (posterior) instead of looking down like they normally do. This is the explanation for all the back labor and pressure I had been feeling for hours. This is exactly the same way Owen tried come into the world. I guess my pelvis just doesn't allow babies to turn the correct way. We tried several different pushing positions to try to turn the baby around, and she just wouldn't budge. Squatting was the most comfortable pushing position for me. We had lowered the bottom of the bed, so that I was squatting on the low part, and my back was resting against part of the bed. I had a squatting bar to hold onto. Finally after, 1 hour and 20 minutes of pushing, our baby finally turned her face down. After the head was out, Beth reminded everyone in thr room that George was going to announce the gender since we didn't know. (For all of you out there that don't believe us, we REALLY didn't know!) I finally pushed the baby out at 1:15am, and she was placed on my chest. At the same time, George said, "It's a girl!" and I said, "Oh my gosh, I have my little girl!" We were both so excited. George cut the cord once it stopped pulsating. Her apgar scores were 7 and 9. Adeline was wide awake, and I immediately let her start breastfeeding which she loved, since she stayed latched on for about 25 minutes. After spending quite a bit of time with her, the nurse took her over to the scale, and we could not believe our little girl was not so little afterall.....8lbs 8oz! Later we found out she was 22 inches long. All along, Beth and I were thinking 7.5lbs, not 8.5lbs!!! I had only a small first degree tear, which tore down the same line as my episiotomy scar from Owen. I only had to get a couple of stitches. Adeline stayed with George and I for the next 90 minutes, until I was ready to be transfered to the postpartum unit. During that time my mom, dad, and grandma came in the room to meet Adeline. Once I was transferred, George went with Adeline to the nursery for her assessment.
I am so proud of myself for having a drug free labor and delivery! I am also so glad that I could provide my baby with the very best gift right from the begining. The healing and recovery time for me has been so much faster and better this time around. A big thanks goes out to my Bradley instuctors, Nicole and Angela. I don't think we could have done it without the knowledge and skills we learned during our classes.
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