Minna's Birth Story-Really Long Post

I love reading other peoples' delivery stories, so I thought I would post Minna's birth story. I will probably do some comparing with Joshua's birth story, since they were such different experiences.

I woke up at 5:00 on Tuesday May 25, 2010 feeling kind of yucky. I looked at the clock and moaned because it was so early in the morning. I tried to get comfortable so I could go back to sleep, but I kept waking up. Then I woke up enough to realize the feelings were coming and going, so I tried to time them, but I kept dozing off in between and my timing was highly inaccurate. I eventually woke up and decided to go drink and eat to see if I could stop the contractions. It didn't work, so at 6:30 I called Brian at work and he left to come home.

Brian's brother had come into town a couple of weeks ago and had driven all night long to get here so he had bought some Red Bull to stay awake. He left one in our fridge. When Brian and I saw the Red Bull in our fridge we figured Minna would come when Brian was working nights, but we thought it we be the next time he was on nights right around Minna's due date. Brian had been up since 5:00 p.m. the evening before.

When Brian came home he started timing the contractions accurately and they were 6-7 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long. I got Joshua up and Brian wanted to call the doctor, I said no that I wanted to eat a decent Breakfast because I knew they wouldn't let me eat in the hospital. I also knew from talking to some people that they don't try to stop labor after 34 weeks, that it was actually safer to deliver at that point. While I was up with Joshua Brian kept trying to time contractions, but he was getting tired and every time I told him a contraction was coming Brian had a hard time comprehending. I ate breakfast with Joshua, then Brian called the doctor.

The doctor said I should go to the hospital because I was on blood thinners and my history with Joshua. Brian called our good friends the Hannons who said they would take Joshua, then went upstairs to pack. Well I decided I wanted to shower first, I brushed my teeth before Joshua was born, so I thought showering was okay, because there was less worry this time around. Brian and I decided that if I ever go term I will probably get my hair done before I go to the hospital.

On the way to drop Joshua off Brian commented on how long it was taking to get to the Hannons. I mentioned that he was driving way below the speed limit because we were just chatting and not panicking. When Joshua was born Brian was speeding like crazy. We dropped Joshua off and then we went to the hospital and got lost in the detours. We finally get to the hospital, and I went in by myself while Brian looked for a parking spot. I went in and talked to the information desk to see where I should go, the man I talked to looked really worried and hurriedly pointed to the maternity ward. I went to the desk in there, and they said they had been waiting for me. I made some excuse about dropping Joshua off, I didn't tell we had been dawdling.

They took me in and made me change, pee in a cup, and all that fun stuff. The nurse also started to put in an IV. I have really crappy veins and when people dig around in them, it tends to make them hide and make me feel dizzy. She dug around for a few minutes, until I had a contraction and then it went right in. When Joshua was born, they couldn't get an IV in until I had a contraction, I think they distract me from the needle digging around in me.

The doctor came and checked me and I was not dilated at all, or effaced or anything. The doctor said I could go home or stick around for a couple of hours to see if anything happened. I was ready to just go home, but Brian wanted to stay, later he told me he wanted to stay at the hospital long enough to be able to get out of work that night. I was still having the same contractions and I was just breathing through them. I had a nonstress test scheduled at the doctor's that afternoon, so they decided to do the ultrasound at the hospital to save me a trip. They estimated Minna at 5 pound 4 ounces, and said my cervix looked thin. The doctor said that is an inaccurate measurement, but when he checked me I was thinning and dilated to a four.

I wasn't going anywhere. I hadn't had my strep B test yet, so they did that and started dumping penicillin in me just in case. They also moved me to a different room that had a baby warmer in it, and told me that since she was preemie they wanted a pediatrician there when she was born, and he needed 10 minutes warning to get here.

The doctor told me because I was on the blood thinner I wouldn't be able to have an epidural. I didn't want one or any drugs anyway for a couple of reasons. I am terrified of getting a needle stuck in my back, when I was having Joshua I thought they were going to give me a spinal for the C-section I didn't end up having, and I was terrified that I would move. I also think it is safer for the baby not to have drugs in me or them, and since I can't seem to carry a baby to term, I do my best to keep the medicines out of me to hopefully give them a better chance. (Both of my babies did better than expected after birth). I also tend to have strong reactions to medicines, and I hate the fuzzy feeling that some medicines give me. Finally it sometimes seems like not being on medicines gives you more options during birth and less chance of interventions and hopefully an easier recovery. So I was gambling on one rough day leading to an easier recovery. So those are my reasons, but I have tiny kids, and it is just a personal decision for me.

The nurse said she thought I would have the baby within the hour, since I progressed so fast. That freaked me out because I wasn't mentally ready for that and I hadn't actually figured out how to push yet (more on that later). I was still have contractions far apart, and I wasn't ready to have them get right on top of each other yet. The one benefit would have been I would have been able to eat sooner. I was starving and getting sick of the sugar water diet they put you on. One can only eat so much jell-o.

Even though I had already given birth I was taking a birthing class because Joshua's birth was so weird. The last class where they were going to cover pushing the baby out was not for two more days. Brian and I had also been reading a book on the Bradley Method of natural birth, we returned home to get it on the way to the hospital. We had not yet read the chapter on pushing yet, we were going to do it the previous Sunday, but Brian had to work a ton, and we didn't get to it. So when we realized that Minna was coming that day, we whipped out the book and read the chapter between contractions. We also watched Monk and I tried to get Brian to take a nap because I was handling the contractions okay by myself, and I knew I would need him later on. Brian never did take a nap, he was too wired and excited to go to sleep even when I made him lay down in the hospital bed, while I sat in the chair.

During this time I had a nurse switch, and I ended up with the best nurse. I got along well with the first nurse, especially after I got to know her for a few days, but the nurse I had for the delivery, Sandy, was just perfect for the delivery. Sandy learned really fast that when I was breathing really slow, and had my eyes closed and wouldn't respond, I was having a contraction and she would be quiet and wait to talk to me until it was over. She also respected my hatred of the pain scale, and never asked me what my pain level was on a scale of 1 to 10. I never have the slightest idea what to say for those things, and what if I think it is a 7 now and it gets 4 degrees worse, can you say 11, and I would rather not sit there and contemplate my pain, doing that makes it worse. Sandy was really cool about us wanting to do the birth natural and never offered me drugs, and was enthusiastic about the whole thing.

I had a couple of friends planning a baby shower for me (post on this will come another day), and one friend emailed me to ask me if it was okay to send the invitations out. I emailed her back between contractions (they were close enough together, it took several contractions to get through the short email), I told her to wait because I was in the hospital in labor and I wanted to make sure everything turned out okay, so she wouldn't have to cancel or reschedule.

After that, I decided it was time to kick Brian out of the bed, because I needed to lay back down. At this point I was getting some pretty strong pains in my back, and I asked Brian to rub my back and my hips. I had to keep telling him to rub harder, and I later found out that he kept falling asleep as he was rubbing my back, because he had been up for about 24 hours at this point. He did decide it was time to drink the Red Bull and choked down some of the can. He was able to help me through the rest of my labor. At about 5:30 the doctor came back in to check me. We all thought I would be at about a 7, because it didn't seem like I had hit transition yet. Well I was a 10. The doctor asked me if I felt like I should push yet, and I said no, but the doctor told the nurse to call the pediatrician to come over to the hospital and he went to go get ready for the birth.

A couple of contractions later I felt like I should push. I tried to hold off through a couple of the contractions, but it was really hard. Finally I told Brian that after this contraction was over, he was to help me sit up so I could push, and that someone would show up to catch the baby. Yep, I sat up and the doctor came running in, and he and the nurse took off the bottom of the bed. Also when you get ready to push they have these lights come down from the ceiling, I thought that would freak me out, but instead I was freaked out a little by the table the doctor pushed in, that had about 85 different pairs of scissors on it, along with a few other devices.

When the doctor checked me, he said my water still had not broken, and asked me if I wanted him to break it. I said no, unless there was some reason that he should. He said he would wait, but would break it after I started pushing. Well with the first push my water broke and there was no need.

I am not going to lie, the pushing part was the hardest part for me. From things that I had read and heard, I thought pushing was going to be a relief after transition. But since I had an easy labor, the pushing part caught me off guard. It didn't help that she crowned after like one push, and after that Brian said that was the only part where it seemed like I was in a lot of pain. Everyone was really encouraging, Brian, Sandy, and the doctor, so that helped a lot, and I only had to push for 4 minutes so it was over quickly. It was cool to see her head come out, and see all the hair on her head. She also came out looking sideways, which I did not know was even possible, but she did.

The part right after her birth was the coolest part for me. When Joshua was born, I hardly saw him for 1/2 a second before he was gone in a mob of nurses. She was born and I was able to see her, the doctor suctioned her out so she could breath. Brian was able to cut her cord, which was really short, she wasn't going to be tying knots in that thing. Then they took her over to a warming table in the room, it make sure she was okay. (The pediatrician had come in before she was born, so he made it). We were able to watch her get taken care of, and listen to her scream in protest.

Before Minna was born, I had thought it would be cool to nurse her right after birth, but after giving birth I realized that I would need a few minutes. I was shaking like crazy, and the doctor was putting a couple small stitches in (I had really minor tears, that he wouldn't have seen except I was on blood thinners and that made them bleed a little). They also hadn't put the bottom of the bed back on, so I felt all perched. I also kind of felt like I was in a daze, it seemed surreal. But after a few minutes she and I were taken care of and I was able to hold her for a minute. Brian was able to hold her too, then she was taken to the nursery for more monitoring.

I will do another post later on the hospital stay, but the birth was wonderful, and so much more relaxed than Joshua's. It was great to be excited about her coming, and to be able to enjoy her briefly afterward.