My delivery with Sammie was, I think, the most unique of all of my deliveries. I believe this has to do with the fact that I'd decided months ago to deliver her naturally and I actually stuck to it (yes, I'm super surprised about that too). I guess it all started over two years ago with my delivery of Josie. I delivered her naturally. Not on purpose, but because the epidural wasn't administered early enough to be effective. Because of how fast things went, Justin suggested that for our next baby I could probably go natural because it was so fast. I'd thought about that for a while and shortly after we found out we were pregnant with Sammie, I made up my mind. I was going to do it. Natural childbirth.
I spent months preparing. Justin and I talked in depth about what I did and did not want to happen in the delivery room, I made a long playlist that I hoped would last the length of my labor, and I packed one of my own robes to labor in. I was pretty scared (I remembered how much it hurt with Josie), but I felt ready.
About a month before delivery, I was dialated to a 3 and about 75% effaced. This is pretty normal for me. However, when I was checked again on my due date and there was no change, I was pretty discouraged. I'd been having contractions for weeks and had hoped that things would have changed by my due date. Nope. I did, however, learn my new least favorite word: ballotable. Ballotable basically means that the baby's head hasn't entered the birth canal. The doc can still move the baby's head around. This is not a good sign. Obviously the baby needs to be in the birth canal before birth can take place. So I waited. And waited. I know four days overdue isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you're already the size of a small planet, every additional day that you have to spend with your girth seems like an eternity.
Saturday the 27th - I'd been having some pretty strong contractions and I was hoping and praying that this meant that she was coming soon. Justin and I took the kids to a church activity where I intentionally spent as much time as possible chasing the kids around and carrying Josie.
9:30 p.m. the 27th - I started timing my contractions. Every 3-4 minutes apart and pretty hard. I can still walk/talk through most of them though.
10:30 p.m. the 27th - My contractions are still 3-4 minutes apart and haven't gotten any harder. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if we should go to the hospital or not (I didn't think I could emotionally handle being told I wasn't really in labor).
11:00 p.m. the 27th - We call my brother and sister in law to come over. We figured it would probably be better to have them come over at 11 as opposed to deciding we needed them at 3 a.m.
12:00 a.m. on the 28th - My S.I.L. comes over to spend the night and Justin and I head to the hospital.
12:30 a.m. the 28th - I'm in triage. My contractions are staying consistent. The nurse checks me and I'm a 4 and the baby is still ballotable (grrrrr). The resident that was on that night was an intern (first year resident) who was doing his first ever night on OB. I don't know if it's just professional courtesy or if he just felt sorry for me, but he called my doctor and convinced her that I needed to be admitted. YAY!
1:00 - 3:00 a.m. - get admitted to my delivery suite and meet my nurse Karin. She is delightful and I'm really glad that she's my nurse. Justin discusses with her my wants/demands and we go over my birth plan. No drugs. Scary. I labor in the delivery room for a couple of hours. Nothing changes.
3:00 a.m. - My doctor appears. She didn't have to come, but she figured that I wouldn't want the resident in the room and so she came in just for me. Have I mentioned that I love my doctor? Well, I do. She checks me again. Still a four. Still ballotable. I want to cry. She asks if she can break my water to see if that will get things going. I know from past experience that once my water breaks it's pretty much game over, so I agree.
3:00 - 5:00 a.m. - After my water is broken I notice immediate changes. My contractions are much harder (I can no longer walk/talk through them). I realize though that they are going to get MUCH worse before they get better so I try to just suck it up and deal with it. We start my L&D playlist and I try to focus on the songs instead of my body (I had a lot of hard, upbeat songs on the playlist so they were easier to get lost in). I try laboring in several different positions: laying in the bed, sitting upright in the bed, standing and bracing myself against Justin, the exercise ball, a rocking chair, etc. Obviously when you're in that kind of pain nothing is super comfortable, but it helped to be able to mix things up.
5:00 a.m. - I told Justin that I was starting to feel some pressure and that I wanted to be checked again. He got Karin and she checked me. I'm at a 5 (WHAT!?!?!) but the baby is no longer ballotable!!!! I feel like cheering. She's still pretty high up in the birth canal though. Things aren't looking good. I tell Justin that I want to have the baby by 7:00 and if that doesn't happen then we might just need the drugs.
5:00-6:00 a.m. - Karin suggests that I might like laboring in the jetted bathtub. I figure it can't hurt any worse to give it a try. Karin's a genius. It feels REALLY good. I am able to relax for the first time in hours. Justin is able to doze on and off. I have my music behind me and, for the first time in a couple of hours, start to feel again like I can do this.
6:00ish a.m. - I'm still in the tub, but no longer relaxed. I tell Justin that I feel like I'm going to throw up. He grabs me a bucket and holds it for me while I take turns vomiting and contracting. I've never in my life felt so trapped. I literally didn't know what to do. I was in too much pain to get out of the bathtub, but in too much pain to stay in the bathtub. Once the vomiting subsides, Justin tells me that I have to get out of the tub and back to the bed. What I didn't know until later is that vomiting during labor is a sign that a woman's body is progressing rapidly. Justin knew this though and he knew that I needed to get back to the bed. Once I was back in the bed, I ask Karin to check me again. I'm desperate now. I feel so hot that I almost can't stand it and I'm in so much pain that I just want to die. Karin checks me. A 7. I start to break down. I tell Justin that I can't do this. He was AMAZING throughout my whole labor. He assures me it's almost over and that I can do this, I AM doing this.
6:15ish-6:19 a.m. - **Things from here on out all happen so fast and all at once that I'm surprised I can remember it so well.** I tell Justin and Karin that I feel like pushing. Karin checks me again. A 9, but the baby is still higher up than she is supposed to be. I cry and swear (yep, I wasn't able to keep it clean, sorry). Karin does, however, page my doctor and tell her to come to the delivery room. As soon as Karin does this she and Justin tell me that if I feel like I need to push a little, I can. I go for broke. I give a big push and she crowns. No one is prepared for this. Karin only has one glove on and calls out for Justin to get her another glove. Justin says no way, and gloves himself up instead (have I mentioned how lucky I am to be married to someone who has done this a bunch of times? I am.). They both are telling me to stop, but that's just not going to happen. I don't feel mentally in control of my body anymore. It's all instinct now. Justin makes it down to the war zone just in time to make the catch. Sammie has the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her neck twice but there isn't time for Justin to remove it before the rest of her body delivers. Once she's out, he unwraps the cord and they lay my sweet new baby on my chest. This is the point where my doctor walks into the room. **Note: She was literally across the hall when she was paged. That's how fast this happened. Sammie was delivered in the amount of time it takes a person to walk across the hall.**
6:20a.m. - I feel SOOOOO much better. I'm so happy, and not as hot anymore. Everyone in the room is in shock at how fast this all happened. I did it. Natural child birth. I'm insanely proud of myself. I'm also really happy that I'm not hooked up to anything. I feel better than I've ever felt post-delivery. I don't think my baby is any more alert (I think that is a wives tale, truthfully), but I feel great! I honestly could have walked to my recovery room if they'd let me. I'm high on adrenaline. I will admit, it's a pretty intense feeling.
In conclusion: Would I do this again? Would I recommend it? Well, since this is my absolutely LAST baby I can say that I probably would do this again, but only because I know that I deliver so fast. If it had taken much longer, I probably wouldn't - I'm way too wussy. As far as recommending it, I honestly believe that there is no right way or best way to deliver a baby. Every woman has the right to choose for herself how she wants her experience to be. At the end of the day, whether you have had drugs or not, everyone gets a baby. There aren't any prizes for doing it without drugs. My recovery has been AMAZING though, so that's definitely something to consider.
One final fact: In all the chaos, I made a mental note to pay attention to the song that was playing when Sammie was born. "Raise Your Glass" by Pink. Interestingly, this is Josie's favorite dance tune. It's a happy song for our family. I'm weirdly happy that it was playing when she was born.
Here are a few pictures of what Sammie's been doing lately:
On her way to her first doctor's appointment:
Going to the doctor is quite tiring.
Awake and alert.
I do love the big bows!
I'm so amazed at how quickly they change. It's only been 5 days and she looks so much bigger to me already. We are loving this sweet little lady. I'm glad that she was able to get here when and how she did!
I spent months preparing. Justin and I talked in depth about what I did and did not want to happen in the delivery room, I made a long playlist that I hoped would last the length of my labor, and I packed one of my own robes to labor in. I was pretty scared (I remembered how much it hurt with Josie), but I felt ready.
About a month before delivery, I was dialated to a 3 and about 75% effaced. This is pretty normal for me. However, when I was checked again on my due date and there was no change, I was pretty discouraged. I'd been having contractions for weeks and had hoped that things would have changed by my due date. Nope. I did, however, learn my new least favorite word: ballotable. Ballotable basically means that the baby's head hasn't entered the birth canal. The doc can still move the baby's head around. This is not a good sign. Obviously the baby needs to be in the birth canal before birth can take place. So I waited. And waited. I know four days overdue isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you're already the size of a small planet, every additional day that you have to spend with your girth seems like an eternity.
Saturday the 27th - I'd been having some pretty strong contractions and I was hoping and praying that this meant that she was coming soon. Justin and I took the kids to a church activity where I intentionally spent as much time as possible chasing the kids around and carrying Josie.
9:30 p.m. the 27th - I started timing my contractions. Every 3-4 minutes apart and pretty hard. I can still walk/talk through most of them though.
10:30 p.m. the 27th - My contractions are still 3-4 minutes apart and haven't gotten any harder. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if we should go to the hospital or not (I didn't think I could emotionally handle being told I wasn't really in labor).
11:00 p.m. the 27th - We call my brother and sister in law to come over. We figured it would probably be better to have them come over at 11 as opposed to deciding we needed them at 3 a.m.
12:00 a.m. on the 28th - My S.I.L. comes over to spend the night and Justin and I head to the hospital.
12:30 a.m. the 28th - I'm in triage. My contractions are staying consistent. The nurse checks me and I'm a 4 and the baby is still ballotable (grrrrr). The resident that was on that night was an intern (first year resident) who was doing his first ever night on OB. I don't know if it's just professional courtesy or if he just felt sorry for me, but he called my doctor and convinced her that I needed to be admitted. YAY!
1:00 - 3:00 a.m. - get admitted to my delivery suite and meet my nurse Karin. She is delightful and I'm really glad that she's my nurse. Justin discusses with her my wants/demands and we go over my birth plan. No drugs. Scary. I labor in the delivery room for a couple of hours. Nothing changes.
3:00 a.m. - My doctor appears. She didn't have to come, but she figured that I wouldn't want the resident in the room and so she came in just for me. Have I mentioned that I love my doctor? Well, I do. She checks me again. Still a four. Still ballotable. I want to cry. She asks if she can break my water to see if that will get things going. I know from past experience that once my water breaks it's pretty much game over, so I agree.
3:00 - 5:00 a.m. - After my water is broken I notice immediate changes. My contractions are much harder (I can no longer walk/talk through them). I realize though that they are going to get MUCH worse before they get better so I try to just suck it up and deal with it. We start my L&D playlist and I try to focus on the songs instead of my body (I had a lot of hard, upbeat songs on the playlist so they were easier to get lost in). I try laboring in several different positions: laying in the bed, sitting upright in the bed, standing and bracing myself against Justin, the exercise ball, a rocking chair, etc. Obviously when you're in that kind of pain nothing is super comfortable, but it helped to be able to mix things up.
5:00 a.m. - I told Justin that I was starting to feel some pressure and that I wanted to be checked again. He got Karin and she checked me. I'm at a 5 (WHAT!?!?!) but the baby is no longer ballotable!!!! I feel like cheering. She's still pretty high up in the birth canal though. Things aren't looking good. I tell Justin that I want to have the baby by 7:00 and if that doesn't happen then we might just need the drugs.
5:00-6:00 a.m. - Karin suggests that I might like laboring in the jetted bathtub. I figure it can't hurt any worse to give it a try. Karin's a genius. It feels REALLY good. I am able to relax for the first time in hours. Justin is able to doze on and off. I have my music behind me and, for the first time in a couple of hours, start to feel again like I can do this.
6:00ish a.m. - I'm still in the tub, but no longer relaxed. I tell Justin that I feel like I'm going to throw up. He grabs me a bucket and holds it for me while I take turns vomiting and contracting. I've never in my life felt so trapped. I literally didn't know what to do. I was in too much pain to get out of the bathtub, but in too much pain to stay in the bathtub. Once the vomiting subsides, Justin tells me that I have to get out of the tub and back to the bed. What I didn't know until later is that vomiting during labor is a sign that a woman's body is progressing rapidly. Justin knew this though and he knew that I needed to get back to the bed. Once I was back in the bed, I ask Karin to check me again. I'm desperate now. I feel so hot that I almost can't stand it and I'm in so much pain that I just want to die. Karin checks me. A 7. I start to break down. I tell Justin that I can't do this. He was AMAZING throughout my whole labor. He assures me it's almost over and that I can do this, I AM doing this.
6:15ish-6:19 a.m. - **Things from here on out all happen so fast and all at once that I'm surprised I can remember it so well.** I tell Justin and Karin that I feel like pushing. Karin checks me again. A 9, but the baby is still higher up than she is supposed to be. I cry and swear (yep, I wasn't able to keep it clean, sorry). Karin does, however, page my doctor and tell her to come to the delivery room. As soon as Karin does this she and Justin tell me that if I feel like I need to push a little, I can. I go for broke. I give a big push and she crowns. No one is prepared for this. Karin only has one glove on and calls out for Justin to get her another glove. Justin says no way, and gloves himself up instead (have I mentioned how lucky I am to be married to someone who has done this a bunch of times? I am.). They both are telling me to stop, but that's just not going to happen. I don't feel mentally in control of my body anymore. It's all instinct now. Justin makes it down to the war zone just in time to make the catch. Sammie has the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her neck twice but there isn't time for Justin to remove it before the rest of her body delivers. Once she's out, he unwraps the cord and they lay my sweet new baby on my chest. This is the point where my doctor walks into the room. **Note: She was literally across the hall when she was paged. That's how fast this happened. Sammie was delivered in the amount of time it takes a person to walk across the hall.**
6:20a.m. - I feel SOOOOO much better. I'm so happy, and not as hot anymore. Everyone in the room is in shock at how fast this all happened. I did it. Natural child birth. I'm insanely proud of myself. I'm also really happy that I'm not hooked up to anything. I feel better than I've ever felt post-delivery. I don't think my baby is any more alert (I think that is a wives tale, truthfully), but I feel great! I honestly could have walked to my recovery room if they'd let me. I'm high on adrenaline. I will admit, it's a pretty intense feeling.
In conclusion: Would I do this again? Would I recommend it? Well, since this is my absolutely LAST baby I can say that I probably would do this again, but only because I know that I deliver so fast. If it had taken much longer, I probably wouldn't - I'm way too wussy. As far as recommending it, I honestly believe that there is no right way or best way to deliver a baby. Every woman has the right to choose for herself how she wants her experience to be. At the end of the day, whether you have had drugs or not, everyone gets a baby. There aren't any prizes for doing it without drugs. My recovery has been AMAZING though, so that's definitely something to consider.
One final fact: In all the chaos, I made a mental note to pay attention to the song that was playing when Sammie was born. "Raise Your Glass" by Pink. Interestingly, this is Josie's favorite dance tune. It's a happy song for our family. I'm weirdly happy that it was playing when she was born.
Here are a few pictures of what Sammie's been doing lately:
On her way to her first doctor's appointment:
Going to the doctor is quite tiring.
Awake and alert.
I do love the big bows!
I'm so amazed at how quickly they change. It's only been 5 days and she looks so much bigger to me already. We are loving this sweet little lady. I'm glad that she was able to get here when and how she did!
37 weeks down...3 to go! I'm in the homestretch of this pregnancy. While I'm definitely ready to be done with pregnancy (forever), I am not ready for a baby yet. I've been procrastinating unearthing all our baby gear, doing baby laundry, and setting up a nursery. I need to get on the ball. Poor 4th baby, I've done practically nothing to get ready for her! I have never had a baby early (well, Noah was 3 days early, but Josie cancelled that out by being three days late - I'm calling it a draw) so I probably have about three more weeks of pregnancy ahead of me. Let's face it, I'll probably need all that time to get ready.
