Birth Story

Warning:  This is one of those long posts for posterity.  If you're not up to reading the whole story, here are the bare bones facts:

• baby overdue = scheduled induction at 41 weeks
• tried to go natural
• 7 1/2 total hours of labor
• 6 hours without drugs
• second dose of induction drug = one awful, endless, hour-long contraction which = one hour of shaking and nausea.
• only dilated to a 2 after aforementioned hour-long contraction
• an epidural saved the day
• my water broke about 45 minutes after epidural
• I dilated from a 2 to a 10 in about 45 minutes
• I pushed the baby out in 2 contractions at 7:57AM
• 7 lbs, 10 oz
• 21 1/2 inches long
• gorgeous, healthy baby boy with chubby cheeks and lots of hair

Now, if you're up for a looooong read... brace yourself.  I'm not kidding, it's a novel.  Enjoy!

Back Story:

As seen in previous posts, Henry was fashionably late.  At my 40 week appointment my OB put us on the schedule to be induced at 41 weeks.  I REALLY did not want to be induced, so I never gave up hope that we could get things done on our own.  I ate the 'old wives tale' cervix ripening foods (pineapple, basil, oregano), went on LOTS of walks, had plenty of business time, etc. etc. etc.  Sadly, folksy remedies and hope weren't quite enough to get baby Baby Hank here without intervention.  

Induction Day:

On induction day, during a 3AM potty break, I noticed the beginning of what is called 'the bloody show'.  I was excited my body had actually started to make some kind of progress on its own, but it was too little too late.  I wasn't having real contractions or any other signs of pending labor.  Oh well.  Good try, body.  Better luck next time.

Later that morning I called my OB's office to let them know about the slight progress I was showing and they told me they wanted me to go in to Labor and Delivery to get checked.  I thought that was kind of a CYA move on their part.  As I was feeling great, wasn't bleeding heavily, or showing any signs of labor... I decided to make the most out of my last childless day by getting stuff done around the house.  Good move.

I went back to bed to sleep in for what I knew would be the last time in a LOOOONG time.  Scott went to work for 1/2 day and I made a fabulous to-do list (I LOVE a good to-do list) to keep my mind occupied.  I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the nurses, finished the last of our laundry, put clean sheets on all the beds, and took care of some last minute details around the house.  Scott came home from work, we loaded the car, had lunch, watched some random 80's movie on TV, had a glorious nap, showered, and got all gussied up for the big event.  Finally, we went on our last childless date and took our sweet time enjoying the evening.  I couldn't have asked for a better, more relaxing pre-delivery day.

The Big Event:

We were scheduled to start the induction at 10PM but decided to go in an hour early as we really didn't have anything else going on for the rest of the night.  I'm actually glad we went early b/c, despite being pre-registered, it took FOREVER to get checked in.  It was 10:30 by the time they had run some basic tests, checked my cervix (I was almost at a one with little to no effacement. Dang!), and installed a Hep Lock -I wanted to avoid being tethered to an IV if I could help it-

The band made it official.  No turning back!

*NOTE:  Scott and I chose to attend Husband Coached Childbirth (AKA Bradley Method) classes because I wanted to experience giving birth without any analgesics.  Despite hearing induction horror stories from several women, I still had some confidence I would be able to pull of a natural birth (well, as natural as one can when the birth itself is started unnaturally by meds).  I did meet one woman (our awesome Bradley instructor) who had made it all the way through induced labor THREE times with no pain meds.  She helped further bolstered my confidence that I could go natural despite being induced.  However, I made sure to keep an open mind that pain meds or even a C-section could end up being necessary to get our baby here safe and sound.  No matter how our delivery went, I felt we were incredibly well informed and prepared for whatever situation labor could throw at us.

At around 10:45 I unceremoneously swallowed my first dose of Cytotec.  

*NOTE:  In our Bradley class we were given a paper on why Cytotec (a synthetic prostaglandin designed as an ulcer drug) was a dangerous, off-label way to induce labor--the manufacturer sent out a press release discouraging the drug's use in labor induction b/c a few women had uterine rupture.  Yikes!-  After my OB told me Cytotec was her preferred way to induce patients with a cervix like mine (completely unripe), I did a lot of research of my own.  In short, after reading lots of articles and talking to several health care professionals, I decided the benefits of Cytotec outweighed the risks and chose to proceed with my OB's plan.  I do not regret that decision... Cytotec made Henry's safe, speedy arrival possible.  Our friend Elizabeth (a L&D nurse for 20+ years) calls it a 'miracle drug'.

My Mom/Henry's Nana drove up from St. George to be there for the delivery and to help us around the house as we adjusted to being new parents.  She showed up at the hospital around 11 to say hi and get a key to our house.  We figured I would be in labor for a long time and thought it would be better for her to get some good sleep at our house.  The plan was to call our Moms when I was dilated to an 8 so they could be there for the pushing and delivery part.  More on this later...

My Mom hung out for about an hour and then headed home to get some sleep.  Scott's Mom was snug as a bug in her own bed in SLC.  I started having a few irregular contractions around 11:30 and was in full blown active labor by 12:30 AM.  

We learned a lot of really great relaxation techniques in our Bradley class that made the contractions really manageable.  Scott and I walked the halls, he rubbed my back, I bounced/rocked on our birthing ball, we did the 'labor dance', and I was able to keep my mind and body relaxed during each contraction.  Scott did an amazing job coaching me and we were actually having a great time.  We even tried to get a little sleep at around 1AM.

Check out Scott's sweet pegged pants!  He didn't want them dragging on the hospital floor while he was bringing things in from the car.  I LOVE him!

Scott shot this pic as I was timing a contraction during a fetal heart monitor session.  The nurses wanted me to wear the external fetal heart rate monitor for 15 minutes every hour.  We could have been a little more diligent about that, but we were pretty close to complying.  (about every hour and a half).  

We loved being able to hear Henry's gorgeous heartbeat and the little thuds the monitor picked up as he kicked against the electrodes.  Yes, that's chocolate milk in my hand.  I was allowed to drink up until midnight, so I made the most of it.  I loves me some chocolate milk.

*NOTE:  I took a second dose of Cytotec at around 4AM.

We used a super simple contraction timer app on my iPhone that is basically just a big button.  -Let's be honest, during a contraction all one can handle is one big button.-  It showed my contractions were lasting just over a minute and kept getting closer together.  Everything went really well for the first 5 hours of labor... then, about an hour after the second Cytotec, I had one terrible, horrible, endless, hour-long pain fest.  I'm not kidding.  I maybe got a 2 second break between each full blown contraction.  The pain level would have been manageable if I would have been able to take a little break, but after about 45 minutes of non-stop contracting I started to shake uncontrollably and got really nauseated.  

*NOTE: We learned about the signals for different stages of labor in our class and I thought for sure I must be in transition at that point.  Sadly when the nurse (who, BTW, was really nice but had friggin' Hobbit sized hands.  Ouch!) checked me I was only dilated to an effing TWO.  A TWO!?!  The shaking and nausea made relaxation almost impossible, so Scott and I decided to go for the epidural to help me relax and progress.

It took around 15 minutes for the woman I now call the epidural angel to get things rolling.  She did a fabulous job and gave me just the right balance of numbing meds that took the edge off the pain but still made it possible for me to feel what was going on.

*NOTE:  As I was waiting for the epidural I basically lost my mind and started mumbling all kids of 

cliché, labor-driven madness like "No more.  Make it stop.  Help!"  It was pitiful but a little bit funny.  I tried to keep a sense of humor about the whole deal.  When the shaking got out of control I even made a lame joke about earthquakes.  

*NOTE:  I submit that a woman in labor doesn't have to take responsibility for pitiful statements and/or lame jokes.

*NOTE:  I have shattered my hand, torn my ACL, had my appendix out, broken my foot twice (and stupidly reset the bone myself after the second break), had a few concussions, and run 11 marathons.  I told myself the only way I would get an epidural would be if the pain of labor was worse than several of those things combined.  I can't emphasize enough how badly I wanted to go natural and how much that non-stop contraction hurt.  In essence, I did not take the decision to get an epidural lightly.

I had to enlist some major Jedi mind power to stop shaking long enough for the epidural angel to properly place a ginormous NEEDLE into my SPINE.  It was pretty crazy.  I couldn't have done it without Scott coaching me through it.  I asked him to snap some quick photos after she was done so I could see what it looked like. 

Once the epidural kicked in Scott and I decided to get a little shuteye.  We figured we'd be in the labor trenches for several more hours and wanted to get as much rest as possible.  We could not have been more wrong.

After about 5 or 10 minutes of post-epidural nap time the nurse came in and said Henry's heart rate was fine, but not fluctuating like they wanted to see, so they gave me some oxygen.  I wasn't a huge fan of that, but was more than willing to do whatever it took to keep our baby safe.  While the nurse was there she checked me and told me I was at a 4.  Progress!  I called my Mom to let her know we would still be a while, but we were at least making progress. 

After about 30 more minutes of napping I heard a pop and felt a huge gush of fluid.  I then started to feel lots of pressure.  I was 99% sure my water had just broken and may be ready to push.  I woke my peacefully sleeping husband to assess the situation.  Poor Scott only slept for about 45 minutes that night.  Welcome to parenthood!

Sure enough, Scott said we were in business.  The nurse must have sensed she was needed because she walked in about 5 seconds after Scott verified a broken bag of waters.  The nurse checked me and proclaimed I was at a 10 and ready to push.  There are no words to describe how surprised we were by that little newsflash.  How in the world could I have progressed that fast!?!  The hour of torture must have made more of an impact than it initially showed.  I quickly called our Moms and told them to get in the car pronto b/c a whole team of people somehow magically appeared in the room and had started taking the bed apart.

On the phone with one of our Moms.  Why in the world did they put the oxygen mask on upside down?  How in the world did I not notice that until I saw the pictures?  Weird.  Glad I didn't have to wear it for very long, that thing reeked of plastic.

My OB arrived a few minutes later and started suiting up.  At our 30 week appointment we had talked to her about Scott catching the baby (with a little help, of course) if everything was looking good... Well, everything was looking good, so Scott got suited up too.  Before I knew it I had my legs in stirrups and was able to check out all the action in a mirror they set up for me.  

We learned a lot about the best way to push in our Bradley class and I had spent a lot of time visualizing what it would be like.  Apparently those visualization exercises paid off because after pushing through just one contraction my OB said, "WOW!  That was some great pushing!  He's coming out on the next contraction!"  I was completely amazed by how quickly everything was happening.  It was like being in a dream.  I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing his beautiful hair-covered head crowning so soon.  I had planned on pushing for at least an hour.

Despite doing thousands of Kegel exercises over the course of the pregnancy, things were looking a little too tight for Henry to fit his head out of the chute without tearing me to bits.  My OB said she would do a pressure episiotomy on the next push, then the baby would be here on the push after that.  Dr. S actually gave Henry his first haircut during the episiotomy because his hair was so long.  Talk about a close shave!  -rimshot!-  (am I still exempt from lame jokes?)

The rest of the delivery happened so fast that it's almost a blur.  When it was time for the next push I focused, closed my eyes, pushed with all my might, and was suddenly holding Henry on my chest.  He let out the most wonderful, lusty cry.  He calmed down and looked right at me when I started talking to him.  Dr. S told me not to soothe him too much b/c they wanted him to cry a bit more to help get the fluid out of his lungs.  Ha!  It's pretty hard to stop a mother from wanting to soothe her crying babe!  I let him cry, but it was rough.  All I wanted to do was hold him and stare into his big, beautiful eyes.

I said, "Hi Henry"  Scott said, "Welcome to our family"  We both said, "We love you so much!" and "Happy Birthday buddy!" 

I feel we did a pretty good job as Henry's 'Welcome to Earth' committee.

Thank goodness Dr. S was on her game and realized we would probably want some pics of our baby.  She said, "Hey Scott, grab that camera and get some pictures of your baby!"  We all started laughing.  Check out my face in this pic... I couldn't believe I was holding my son.  I said, "Really?  This is him?  Wow!"

My expression in this photo also says a lot.  I was completely amazed that I just gave birth to a perfect, healthy, gorgeous little human being.

The blur continued.  Before I knew it Henry was being weighed, measured, and APGAR scored while I delivered the placenta and got stitched up.  

The face Henry is making here looks a lot like the grimace I make when I'm really mad.  I even squint with the same eye!  I'm pretty sure he was mad someone took him away from his Mom.

This pic makes him look massive!  How in the world did he fit in my belly?

Right after they stitched me up I basically stripped my gown off so I could hold Henry skin to skin and nurse him.  FYI, all sense of modesty goes out the window during labor and delivery.  I didn't care who saw my parts at that point.  I wanted nothing more in the whole world than to hold my baby against my chest and love on him.

Dr. S was done and gone before my Mom even arrived.  To put in perspective how quickly everything happened: it was probably 20 minutes max from the time I called our Mom's to the time my Mom walked in the room.  Scott's Mom got there about 20 minutes after that.

What a great photo capturing a 100% genuine look of surprise!

Our first family portrait.

The Grandmas!

Scott went to the nursery with Henry for his first checkup and first bath.  There was never a time in the hospital that Henry was away from either one of us.  Does that make us ultra-paranoid first time parents? Maybe.  Am I a little proud of that?  Absolutely!

Henry kept trying to suck his fingers while I was feeding him for the first time.  He finally got his way in the nursery.  Adorable!  He hasn't really done this since as he seems to prefer a pacifier.  Oh well.  I can live with that.

Scott played around with Henry's hair while he waited for the nurses to give the all-clear to take Henry back to our room.

Calling Henry's birth surreal seems like an understatement.  We love him more than we could ever imagine and can barely remember what our lives were like before him.

Giving birth was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced.  I think I can speak for Scott by saying it was the most amazing thing either of us have ever experienced.  I love that Scott was the first person to hold our son.  I love that Henry latched right on and nursed for 45 minutes shortly after he was born.  I love the look of complete bewilderment our Moms had on their faces when they walked in the room and saw me nursing a baby instead of pushing like they had expected.  I love that we were able to make informed decisions and have an uncomplicated birth.  I don't know if, given the opportunity, I would change a single thing about that day.

Hooray for Henry!