I tried not to have any preconceived notions about this pregnancy, labor, or delivery. But having gone through it twice before, I couldn't help feeling like I knew what to expect. Based on my history, I was sure Samuel would come well before my due date, and that I would have a fast labor and delivery, which would begin with my water breaking. He decided to help prove that I don't know everything!
On Thursday, October 25 (just 2 days before my due date), I dropped Amelia off at school at 9:30 am, and about an hour later (10:30 am) experienced my first contraction. It wasn't painful, but was very clearly a cramp with a beginning and end. By the time we picked Amelia up, came home to eat lunch, and returned to drop Marley off at 12:30, I had experienced several more contractions. They were not yet regular or painful, but they were enough for me to call Jeff home from work.
Our initial phone conversation went something like this:
Jeff: Hello?
Me: Hi, it's me.
Jeff: Is everything okay?
Me: Yes, I'm fine.
Jeff: Okay, I'm in a meeting.
Me: Uh. Hello?
I had to call him back to clarify that while I was fine, I was also in LABOR! :) Since I was feeling pretty well still - the contractions were about the intensity of mild menstrual cramps - I drove to the U-District to pick Jeff up from work. I still wasn't sure that this was 'real' labor, but I felt a huge sense of relief having him with me. We had a little scare when Amelia dimmed all the dashboard lights while Jeff loaded his bike. We thought something was wrong with the car before we realized what she'd done!
Jeff got Marley from school at 3:00, and we went about our afternoon. I was still sure that my water would break before it was time to go to the hospital, so I didn't pay very close attention to the contractions. But, around 5:30 I decided to start timing them because they seemed to be coming more frequently, though intensity-wise, were still fairly mild. I was surprised to find that they were 3-5 minutes apart! I was trying to make a quick dinner, while Jeff entertained the kids. He offered to switch with me, but I didn't think I could concentrate on the game of Risk that Marley wanted to play:)
Around 6:00, I called the OB on-call (my regular OB was on vacation, so we had Dr. Okorn) and she thought we should probably head in. Jeff called his parents, and also Liz and Chris, to come over and stay with Marley and Amelia. Chris arrived first, so we packed up our stuff, said goodbye to our older babies, and headed to the hospital.
While we were getting ready, Tanya called from work (at a neighboring hospital) and asked *semi-jokingly* if I was planning on having a baby tonight since she was already over there and could easily come by after work. I told her to go ahead and meet us there since it looked like we'd be having a baby tonight!
We arrived at Swedish around 7:00 pm, and checked into Triage. They got me all hooked up to the monitors, and checked my cervix. I was 4 cm dilated, 90% effaced, with contractions 5 minutes apart. It was kind of funny that this was my third time giving birth, but the first time I'd ever had my cervix checked (also my first time timing contractions!). Tanya met us in the triage room around 8:00. My contractions were still pretty mild, I think I told them I was a "3" on the pain scale.
The triage nurse said they could admit me now, or I could walk around for an hour or so first. She suggested that since I was trying to have a pain med-free birth, I might want to hold off on going into the L&D room for as long as possible. That sounded fine to me, so around 8:30 we headed out for a walk. The nurse also suggested that it would be a good time to eat, if I was hungry, since I wouldn't have a chance to eat until after the baby was born.
We had eaten dinner before we left (I can't remember what I ate??), but I thought a smoothie sounded good, and I knew there was a Jamba Juice right outside. Unfortunately it was closed. So was Starbucks, right next door. So, we headed across the street to McDonalds. I got a smoothie and fries (I had a coupon!).
While we were waiting (it seemed like forever!), my contractions started to intensify. I used the bathroom there, and had a couple pretty good ones. Tanya suggested we head back, since she REALLY did not want to have to deliver a baby on the bathroom floor of McDonalds:)
The walk back was intense. I couldn't really enjoy my smoothie because there were so many hard contractions. We arrived back at Triage around 9:30. They wanted to check me again, though I'm not sure why, since they were already planning on admitting me. I was dilated to 5 cm, 100% effaced, with a bulging bag, and contractions 3 minutes apart.
At this point, I was definitely experiencing pain, and was anxious to get up to L&D so I could get in the jacuzzi tub. I hadn't been able to use the tub with Marley OR Amelia, and was really looking forward to laboring in it this time.
We walked into the birthing suite at 10:00. Our nurse started filling the tub, but she wanted to start an IV first. I didn't need any meds, but they like to have a hep-lock in place just in case. Well, she couldn't find a vein. She stuck me several times, and even called in the charge nurse to try. They just couldn't get it. It felt like forever, but they finally gave up and let me get in the tub, around 10:20.
That water felt SO good! The nurse told me to let her know when my water breaks. I couldn't believe my water still hadn't broken! I was so sure it was going to be the first thing to happen. But literally right after she said that, my water broke (10:28). Then, she told me to let her know if I felt the urge to push. Next contraction: definite pushing urge.
She reached down and could feel baby's head. Reluctantly, she told me I had to get out of the tub. I could tell she felt bad saying, "The last place I worked allowed water births, but Swedish doesn't." Bummer.
Getting out of that tub was the hardest thing I had to do that night. I considered refusing, but figured that wouldn't go over well. Ever so slowly, I heaved myself out of the tub. I crawled up onto the bed, but that's all I could do. So, I stayed on my hands and knees for a few pushing contractions. Someone raised the back of the bed up for me to lean against, which was helpful. Having my awesome husband by my side was also helpful! I remember Tanya showing me a photo of Marley and Amelia as inspiration at this point. I needed it. We were entering the "I don't think I can do this!" phase.
A lot happened in the last 10 -15 minutes before Samuel was born. Much of it is pretty fuzzy to me. In fact, I didn't really even know most of what had happened until later.
Apparently, Dr. Okorn had arrived shortly after I got out of the tub. She was not pleased to find that I didn't have an IV in place. She was, also, not happy with Sam's heart rate. She decided to place an internal monitor on his scalp to get a better reading, which confirmed that his heart rate was indeed dropping. She had me change positions (not fun!) in hopes that would make his heart rate come back up. It didn't. Just as Dr. Okorn turned to grab the vacuum, I gave one final push for all I was worth. And out Samuel popped at 10:53 pm. Whew!
It was only then that I found out the reason things were so difficult in the end was that he came out posterior (sunny side up) with his arm over his head! Plus, our little pumpkin was not so little, at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20" long!
So, for those of you keeping score, that's:
12 total hours of labor,
2 hours of painful labor,
1 hour in the birthing room,
10 minutes in the jacuzzi tub,
25 minutes of pushing,
1 beautiful, healthy, baby boy!
