Okay, so this is a little out of order, but better late than never. I know it's rather long, but believe it or not, this is the short version (my other version is already 5 pages and not finished yet.) I wonder if there is a character limit on these blogs...?
It all started on Thursday April 13th, 2006 at 1am. I woke up having to take my first ‘pee’ during the night. A regular occurrence in my pregnancy. I went as normal, came back to bed and then realized, I think I have to go again. I got up and felt as though I had ‘wet’ myself. I was a little annoyed, but I grabbed another pair of pyjama pants and took them down to the washroom and cleaned up the dribble and then back up to bed. I tried to go back to sleep and I was feeling a little crampy, but I did fall back asleep. I woke up again thinking another pee call. I got up and immediately I started feeling the ‘pee’ running down my leg. I was getting a little irritated at this time. So, I grabbed some underwear and a pad, and headed down to the washroom again. I ended up lying on the couch downstairs for a bit, thinking that I was disrupting Martin’s sleep. Anyway, as I was lying there, I felt more cramping and I happened to also be watching the clock as well. It seemed these “cramps’ were coming every 8-12 minutes. I hopped on the computer and looked up fluid leaking (after going pee yet again and noticing the fluid leaking). It said that you can start leaking fluid and it will be like a trickle instead of a gush…by this time it was around 5am. I decided to go up to the bedroom and warn Martin that I might be in labor. We decided to call the midwife. She asked us to meet her at the hospital at 6am in Triage. We both showered and I packed a bag of stuff I thought I might need for the hospital. We got to the hospital up to Triage and Mina (the midwife) put my in a bed and did an internal check. Apparently I was 2-3 cm dilated and she confirmed that my water had broken (only minimally, hence the trickle). She put some monitoring equipment on me to monitor the baby’s heart rate as well as my ‘contractions’. They were coming often enough, but still not too bad. I could easily chit-chat between them and didn’t need any comfort measures for the actual contractions. Martin decided to pop home quick and get some laundry done, since we didn’t even have a clean outfit to bring the baby home in. This was around 7am and he said he’d be back by 8-8:30. I stayed hooked up to the machines for a while longer, and then Mina asked if I’d rather just go home – and that she would drive me. We got a hold of Martin and let him know she would be dropping me off. Mina suggested I have something to eat and lots of fluid during labor. So when I got home I decided to make some eggs w/cheese on English muffins for Martin and I. I had some contractions in between the cooking, but nothing was ruined…so I guess it wasn’t too bad.
After breakfast – oh and I might also mention at this point, Rob, a friend of Martin’s was doing some work on the house – specifically the basement. We’re having it finished and he was doing some drilling and stuff, and this was all going on the day of the labor/birth. Anyway, after breakfast I thought I’d try and rest, since Mina suggested I either rest, if I can, or walk, or get in the tub. Since I had been up since 1am, I thought the resting option might be good. I was okay for a bit but the contractions started getting harder and closer together.
Mina stopped by around 11am Mina came to visit and do another internal. I was still only 2-3cm dilated, but she wasn’t concerned that it wasn’t moving faster. I was getting a little frustrated, since I was in some discomfort. I continued with my contractions at home, taking washroom breaks, which by the way, included lots of loose bowel movements – one each time. Nature’s way of cleaning out the pipes I guess.
At around 2pm Mina returned for another internal check – the contractions were getting really strong at this point, lasting any where from a minute to 1 ½ minute and there were close together - like 3-5 minutes apart. I was dilated 4-5cm at this point, which made me feel pretty good about what I had been going through.
Martin drew me a bath and I soaked in it for a while, it helped, but the contractions again were getting stronger. I tried at that point, leaning over the bed and rocking back and forth, in the tub, on the bed, in terms of labor positions and it wasn’t getting any easier. I though at that point (around 3pm) that I didn’t think I could do this naturally for the rest of the day. I had decided that I was going to ask for the epidural.
We called the midwife to ask if she could meet us at 4pm at the hospital instead of the original 5pm decision. No problem, she came to the house to ‘escort’ us there. We got to the door and Mina took me upstairs while Martin parked the car. On the way up to the room I had 6 contractions that I had to stop and work through. And it’s only up one floor.
I got to the room and it was a really nice room. It was completely private and a there was nice lounge for Martin to rest on (later of course, since there was work to be done still). I told Mina, that I was pretty sure I was going to need an epidural. She said that would be fine – and the OB that was on staff was one of the best if my care had to be transferred over.
In order for me to receive the epidural I was going to need to the saline drip – 200cc’s…so, they hooked me up to that (needle number 1). Then some nurse came in and took some blood (needle number 2). Martin got up to the room and we talked about drugs again, as my contractions were getting even stronger. Then Mina suggested some demoral. I agreed, even though I didn’t know if it was going to help me. She basically said that it would take the edge off, but it wouldn’t necessarily reduce the pain. So, yep, I got that. (needle number 3). For someone who hates needles, this was getting a little out of control. I could feel the demoral working. By working, I mean, making me feel completely dopey and nauseous! Seriously I felt like barfing.
So, this was about 4:30 or 5pm. I kept working through the contractions. Getting worse and worse. I tried different positions…the one I liked best was leaning against Martin and swaying from side to side. Or, leaning over the chair, holding the chair arms and swaying. I did do some laboring on the bed, but unless I was squeezing Martin and Mina’s hands as tight as I could, it was not working for me. At around 6pm, I was still only 4-5 cm. Which was a little frustrating, thinking I’ve been going through all this, and no progress! Argh! Martin kept feeding my ice chips, water and even some COKE J. It had been a while since I had real COKE…mmm…until…uh-oh..I felt like throwing up even worse. And then I did. And I have to say, those little 3oz kidney shaped containers they give you to throw up in – useless. Seriously, what do they think I’m throwing up? I won’t go into the details, but needless to say, I had to take my top off and I would have changed my bra too, but I didn’t have another.
Okay, so 7pm – I was finally 6-7cm. Making progress. Then by 8:00-8:30 I finally got to 8-9cm. I was exclusively standing through the contractions – swaying and leaning. I started to get the feeling like I wanted to push. But apparently I couldn’t until I was fully dilated. Mina told me I could try and push, and if it hurt, then that probably meant that my cervix wasn’t fully dilated. She did keep checking me though. Which wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it was at the beginning of the day when I was 1-2cm. I wonder if as the cervix opens up it also starts going numb...?
At about 9pm Martin called my mom – to come to the hospital. This was actually the first that we had contacted anyone in the family to let them know the baby was coming. We just didn’t want anyone to worry – and also, we didn’t know how long it would be until the baby was born. Mom arrived at 9:30 – and I was still 8-9cm, but getting closer. It moved along pretty quickly at this point. I knew that it was hard for my mom to see my like this, in so much pain. She had tears in her eyes. I had moved from pretty calm/quiet breathing through my contractions, to making some pretty strange sounds in order to get through them. I told her I was okay - I wasn't but I didn't want her to worry about me.
By 10pm I was up on the bed, on my side, pushing – with my upper leg braced against Mina….she checked me again, okay, now it was time to get serious, get on my back and get pushing. So, that’s what we did. I moved on to my backside and I grabbed my legs behind my knees and with each contraction, chin to chest, and pushed with all my might for a count of 10. Then the count changed, I was to hold it as long as I could, 12, 13, 14….and a quick breath in between each push, again, 11, 12, 13…it seemed this went on for a while. I was in control, I was supposed to let them know when I was having another contraction, and they were often. I mean, I think that there was maybe 20 seconds in between each one.
Martin and my mom were helping me hold my legs back and hold my head up and wiping my forehead with a cold cloth, feeding my water and ice chips. At one point, we ran out of water and Martin said, oh, I’ll go get some…and I said, NO WAY, you have to stay here, we need you. What if the baby comes while you're gone?
The midwives kept checking the heart rate of the baby and near the end (well, what turned out to be close to the end) they noticed the heart rate of the baby was dropping – to 70 (it had been steady between 130-155 throughout the afternoon/evening until now). They got the oxygen mask out for me, and I was to breath slowly between contractions (rather than almost hyper-ventilating). After a while, the oxygen was making me feel worse, so I ripped the mask off and said, I can't do this with the mask. Also, since the heart rate was dropping, they had to move things along quicker. Mina had been working the perineum with each push, massaging it, and helping it to stretch, but then I heard a snip, and apparently she inserted a needle and two more snips…then some TEARING…but honestly, the only one I felt was the first.
Some more pushing and then finally, the head was crowning. I had expected this to burn more, but it didn't. I was told to stop pushing and of course I listened, they removed the cord from around the baby’s neck and then I had to push some more. The rest of the body was actually harder to push out than the head, I guess it was the shoulders that were tough, so, push, push, push, the body finally slipped out with a gush of fluids (sorry TMI). The baby was rather bluish in colour. They placed the baby on my belly, asked Martin to cut the cord, and then took the baby away to get the baby breathing. At this point, I just kept asking, is it a boy or a girl? I wasn’t getting an answer. Apparently the baby was in need of some attention. I finally heard someone say it was a GIRL…I was shocked – I had been convinced I was having a boy. I looked at my mom and I said, A GIRL…oh my god! And over at the table, I could see Michelle whacking the baby on the back with a little tool and suctioning the fluid out. I just kept asking my mom, is she going to be okay? Then finally we heard the cry…and a sigh of relief swept across the room (well, my side of the room anyway). After a bit, they bundled her up and brought her over.
There was still work to be done, I had to deliver the placenta, but Mina didn’t want me to push, she just tugged it out (this was not especially comfortable, let me tell you). Then Mina had to stitch me up (ouch...really ouch) and get everything cleaned up.
They brought the baby over to me for some skin to skin and my first attempt at breastfeeding. It went well. The baby was a natural. It was absolutely amazing to have that little girl lying against me, needing me in every way. We were so happy to have our little girl join us in this world. It was the most amazing feeling in my whole life – to have Jayla there with us. We both kept saying, we made this little baby together and she’s so beautiful and amazing. We were so proud of what we had created. And now it begins, PARENTHOOD. Let’s see how we do!
