Andrew's birth

Trying to get caught up with posting while keeping up with my two adorable children -plus, it's going to be a long one- so I'll update on Andrew & coming home from the hospital later.

Wednesday morning around 10 a.m. I noticed a sudden gush of what I suspected was amniotic fluid. It happened just like it did when I had Evyn - a very small amount, and then.... nothing. I finished packing my bag, took a shower, and waited for contractions to start, like they did with Evyn. But, just more nothing, other than a few small spurts of fluid each hour.

So I started second-guessing myself, perhaps it wasn't amniotic fluid?? I knew if I called the OB they would tell me to go to L&D to be checked.. I also knew that, if it was amniotic fluid, I would be admitted. And I didn't want to be confined to a small hospital floor for a prolonged period of time, starting labor at home would give me a better chance of following through with the med-free birth that I wanted. So, I started cleaning :)

At 7pm there were still no signs of active labor, and I knew my window for staying at home was closing, so we made arrangements in case Evyn needed to spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house, and I went to the hospital for a test to confirm whether it was amniotic fluid. After an entire afternoon of waiting for labor to begin, I was somewhat surprised when the test came back positive! I was admitted around 8pm.

I was also surprised when they hooked me to the monitors and learned I had been having contractions the whole time. An internal exam showed a small tear in the bag of waters, 2 cm dilated, and baby was at -1/-2 station. The midwife recommended manually breaking my water, which I declined. I called Scott, who packed Evyn off to Grandma's house and joined me at the hospital around 10pm.

the "friends" Evyn sent along to keep me company trying to rest (10:30 pm)

Scott and I settled into our room, anticipating a long night of waiting, and we had both just dozed off when, at 11:25 pm, I felt a dramatic POP, then a smaller one - my water had fully ruptured! In the next hour the fluid continued coming, the nurses couldn't keep up with the puddles I was leaving all around the delivery room. Way more than I'd had with Evyn!

Over the next couple hours we waited, and waited.... walking the halls, joking with the nurses, and managing the pain with relaxation techniques. I was very tired, but feeling great. By 3:15 am Thursday the contractions started picking up intensity, and we made the phone calls, anticipating an imminent birth. Internal exam showed I was 7 cm... I had been hoping for 8 or 9, but was content to know I was at 7.

pacing the room at 4am

taking a break from pacing

At 4:20 Scott's Mom & sister arrived at the hospital and joined us in the delivery room (they had been present for Evyn's birth as well). All signs were that labor was progressing perfectly.

By 5:30 am the fatigue was beginning to set in, and I got into the bed to rest until 6am. After that, the contractions - which had been very intense, lasting about a minute each and 60-90 seconds apart, started slowing down. Concerned, I asked to be checked around and learned that I was only 5 cm... I was crushed. I'm not sure why the midwife had thought I was at 7 cm hours earlier, but obviously she had been mistaken. At 7am, I was still only 5 cm (cervix was thick, as well) and it was clear that we weren't progressing.

After the hospital staff shift change, the 'new' midwife on duty recommended that I allow them to administer Pitocin. She also urged me to consent to an epidural. I had been having very strong, intense contractions for about 6 hours, and laboring against a closed cervix was incredibly painful (understatement alert!), so I agreed. No sooner did they start setting up for the anesthesiologist, when my contractions intensified again, and I knew that I had made the right choice.

Bit of a side note here, women seek a med-free birth for a variety of reasons. Many feel a sense of failure if/when they aren't able to achieve it. Not me. My objection to meds was primarily for my own benefit - I simply don't tolerate medications well. But in this case, facilitating a prompt, and healthy, delivery was more important than limiting the side-effects of being medicated.

So, epidural was started at 9:30 am, pitocin administered at 9:45. By 10:15 I was completely numb and immobile (which nearly drove me insane), but had progressed to 9/12 cm - baby was finally on his way! At 11pm Thursday I was given the green-light to start pushing. I found it to be very difficult, as I couldn't feel the contractions, or the muscles needed to push with. At 12:15 the midwife did a small episiotomy on old scar tissue/stitching (I had significant tearing when I delivered Evyn, who was born less than 5 hours after the first sign of labor) and at 12:28 p.m. Andrew was born! 26 1/2 hours after the whole process had started.

12:28 pm