My Labor Story baby 3!

Robyn is one month old today!  I had her in for a weight check this morning, and she is up to a whopping 8 pounds and 13 ounces!  I gave myself a deadline of one month in which to post my labor story.  I love reading about other people’s labors.  Many moms love to hear about this experience.  However!  If you are due soon- you may not want to read this.  If you are a man- you may not want to read this.  If you are petrified about labor- you may not want to read this.   If poop makes you very uncomfortable, you also may want to avoid reading this.  Just a disclaimer.

So, on November 13, I woke up with a bit of dull lower back pain, and thought “hmmm...could this be the day?”  However- I continued on with our normal routine.  The kids and I got out to the chiropractor, and came home and went for a wagon ride, and played in the backyard for a while.  It was an unusually mild day.   I had some random contractions here and there, and then several more starting at noon.  But- having had many of these little spells MONTHS before- I really didn’t think too much of it. 

At 2:00 though, I decided I should start timing them.  Sure enough, they were 5-6 minutes apart.  They were mild, but consistent all the same.  At 3:00 I decided to send Dave an email at school.  Not to rush him home or anything, but just so he was in the loop, that this might be the day J  I also texted Katie who was our person to watch Jesse and Janna that evening and night.  She was due at work until 5, then planning on going out for dinner with a friend.  She had said they would eat somewhere close- or she would cancel if I thought I was potentially in labor.  I got the kids up from their nap and we just plunked on the couch with a snack and TV so I could keep relative track of the timing of my contractions.

Well, minutes after my email, Dave calls home in a bit of a panic.”  Ok! Should I come home?!”   I laughed and told him I wasn’t even sure if this was it, and NO to finish his work.  It would be HOURS before any action would be necessary.  I re-cuddled myself in with the kids, and had to chuckle when 15 minutes later Dave bursts through the door (about an hour earlier than normal) after an aggressive bike ride home.  “The guys at school all told me to leave now!  That with baby number 3, it could happen very quick, and we don’t want a baby on the living room floor while I’m at school.”  I was still not convinced I was in labor, so sort of rolled my eyes and said, OK.  The phone rings, and it’s an emergency call from a friend who is in university and often has Dave edit her final papers.  She wanted to know if she could send him her paper to edit that night.  “I’ll do my best! Chrissy might be in labor.”  So, Dave plunks himself on his laptop and is frantically trying to edit this thing, while I keep telling him to take his time... I’m fine...I might not even be labor.

By 5:00, Dave had finished editing the paper, and my contractions were still 5 minutes apart and getting much sharper.  At this point, I felt pretty sure this might be it, and so we cancelled our small group meetings for the night.  I told Dave to let me text all my girls first (as they would be sad to find out I was in labor from their husbands) and then Dave emailed his guys to let them know.   We ate supper, and then Dave dealt with the kids, while I rushed around cleaning, getting laundry in, and tidying up.  Really unimportant things, but they just felt pressing!

At 7:00 we put the kids to bed, and Dave sat down to make lesson plans for a supply for the next day.  This step made me feel nervous, and I kept saying... “But what a waste of time if this isn’t IT?!”    I was still in a bit of denial, but decided to pack up my hospital bag with final things, and get into something comfy all the same. 

By 8:00 I was having to sway a bit through the contractions and making some moany noises, and was 99% sure the baby was on it’s way.   I called Katie to ask her to come home.  She was out in South keys with her friend whose car was broken down and they were running around looking for a boost.  She had not received my text earlier and so had no idea anything was going on,  and told me she would get home as soon as she could!  A few minutes later,  I get a call from all my girls who have met for small group. “Chrissy?! Are you in Labor?”  All 6 of them hadn’t gotten my texts either.  Weird.  I got off the phone and had Dave look at my phone.  It said they sent no problem.  I had sent them hours ago.  I tried to make a call with the phone, and a voice pops on saying that my phone has been deactivated.  Well, we have all our contacts on the phone, and it’s supposed to be our main form of communication while at the hospital.  So!  Dave tries to make some calls to get this thing fixed!  However- Telus closes at 6.  And we even tried calling different time zones, but were not able to get anyone.  Katie came home around this time to my butt in the air draped over the couch trying to ease a contraction.  She is very scared of pregnancy and all things labor related and so that was pretty funny as she gasped, “Are you having your baby?!  Go to the hospital!”  

Everything was in line.  Katie was home, Dave’s lesson plans sent, our bag all set to go WITHOUT our phone.  But, we hung around the house a bit longer.  I wanted to do a good bit of the labor at home and not be at the hospital for hours OR worse, sent home.  So, we decided to go for a walk.  We got all dressed and I was dismayed to see it raining outside. “Fine!” I said, “Let’s just go to the hospital.”  Katie was relieved! 

We arrived around 10, and I was excited to see that my actual OB and his  “special little helper” were in for the night.  He wasn’t on call for Jesse or Janna, and it would be cool for him to get to actually deliver the baby.  Although, at the same time, I sort of felt more comfortable with the idea of a stranger delivering the baby.   We got settled into our observation room, and an emergency C section whisked away a bunch of the staff.  So, we waited for an hour in this tiny claustrophobic feeling room.   I like to move around and be distracted while I’m in labor, and so this was a pretty long and painful hour of the experience.  Finally, the doc came in, and I was pleased to discover I was 5 cm dilated and they would admit me to my room immediately.

So, shortly after 11, I got settled into my large, spacious and clean room.  My nurse, Deneave (rhymes with believe) was truly a GOD send.  I just really clicked with her personality, and she was tremendously supportive of my desire for a natural birth.  With about 90% of deliveries at the hospital on epidural, and those without having a mid-wife with them, I was worried my nurse would think I was crazy or have no clue how to help out.  However, Deneave was absolutely amazing.  The next 3 hours, we did several different positions during contractions, and she was very encouraging, helpful, and we all just chatted away between them.   I had told her I wanted to “save the water- a hot bath or shower” for the end when the pain was REALLY the most intense.  Around 2 AM, the contractions were pretty horrible, and so she checked my progress.  I was pretty disappointed to discover I was only at about 6 cm.  Three hours for 1 cm!   She encouraged me to hop into the bath to try and relax myself, and then we’d try and move things along.

My previous labors, I had gone in with the plan to get as far as I could go au-naturel, and then get an epidural for the pushing part.  The “ring of fire”  was what really freaked me out, and so I had made it to 8 and 9 cm with the other kids before getting the epidural.  I had avoided water previously because for Jesse I was hooked up to an IV for Group B strep and it was very annoying trying to move around.  With Janna, I didn’t want to progress too far in the water to the point I couldn’t get the epidural.  

So, trying the water was a new experience for me, and was it EVER amazing! We filled up the HUGEST tub ever with hot water, and I just laid back like I was having a bath for the first 10 minutes to relax myself and get some rest.  I had been on my feet for most of the night, and it was just SO great to lay down and rest.  After getting some quality relaxation in, Deneave suggested I sort of hang my body over the tub while on my knees through the contractions to have gravity on my side.  These were pretty painful, but they felt really productive and sort of de-tensified because of the heat. 

I stayed in the tub for a while.  We had low lights and Dave was pulled up to the tub sitting on a stool right there with me through it all.  He was very supportive and a real calming spirit in the room. However, around 45 minutes into the bath, I felt REALLY gross.  I was shaky and hot.  I felt like I might puke.  I wanted to get out, but each time I stood up, it was so cold and I would sink back into the heat.  The nurse popped in and out as I wanted, and had to leave the room for a few minutes.  As she left, I felt this huge blow, and realized my water had broke.  I panicked and had Dave page her.  She came back and I told her my water broke, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get out of the tub or stay in.  She encouraged me to try  2 more contractions in the tub- then to hop out and she would check my dilation again.  Well, I managed one more contraction, then the next one, something snapped in me. 

I turned into a psycho laboring woman!  I threw myself backwards in the tub, while wailing and kicking and  yelling things along the lines, “This is NOT working for me! I NEED something different.  This is NOT ok!  I am NOT ok!”  Dave and Deneave helped me out  of the tub when the contraction ended and told me we would go to the bed to be checked.   I got my swim top off because it was soaked and hobbled over to the bed.  Another contraction hit, and I threw my body forward on the bed while yelling and groaning, “ SHE IS FALLING! I’m POOPING!  The baby is FALLING!!!!”  The nurse rubbed my back and very calmly and slowly said, “ It’s ok sweetie.  It’s just a lot of pressure.  The baby is not falling, you are ok, you’re doing great...”  She reached down to sort of feel around that area as I still had my swim bottoms on, and all of a sudden she sort of panicked and was like, “ Dave! Get me gloves over there!”  She reached for an emergency bell to ring and started trying to haul my bottoms off.  Well, the baby WAS crowning at this point.  My body was pushing out that head    (I WAS pooping) and there was NOTHING I could do to stop it.  Dave was trying to find some gloves, Deneave was trying to get my bottoms off and I was wailing like a CRAZY person.  My contraction ended and I was able to help get my swimsuit off, and climb onto the bed.  Another one hit and I let out these unearthly scream like grunts again!  I was surprised at how LITTLE control I had over myself.  I thought I would be collected and calm, but it all came so fast!  Boy- did the hot water EVER do wonders for speeding things up.  I flipped onto my back at the same time that the doctor walked in, lifted up my legs and was finally told to push.  One big push and out she came!  What incredible relief!  She was put right on me, and had an explosive poop all over my stomach.  NOT that beautiful calm and controlled picture of natural birth that some people envision or get to experience. 

But, in the end, I don’t even remember the ring of fire, nor did I care about the poop.  I was just mesmerized by my little girl and loved being able to finally meet her!  Tears welled up in my eyes and nothing else mattered for the next little bit.  Not the couple of stitches I needed, not the intense chills and sweats I burst into, not the intense pressure as they kept pushing on my uterus to get things moving. 

Eventually the baby and I got cleaned up, and Dave had a chance to snuggle her before she nursed for a good hour.  We wheeled out of the delivery rooms into ours at 5 am and I was so happy the sun was still down and I could pass out for a few hours.  Dave crashed into an intense snore within minutes of getting settled on his cot, and while I wanted to sleep, all I could do was lay there replaying the events of the past few hours.  It’s amazing the lasting adrenaline that surges through your body in these situations. I was quite happy when Dave woke up at 7 so I had someone to compare facts with.  He snuggled into bed with me, and I said , “I feel like that was a CRAZY INTENSE last little bit of labor? Can we talk about it... like, did I say and do what I thought I did?”  His response was a chuckle and “you were the picture of calm, Chrissy.”  before delving into the true account from his perspective.

Anyways, another Labor Down! And although the last little bit was kind of traumatizing in that I just wasn’t ready for it,  I’m happy things went the way they did and the baby was healthy and the labor had no complications.   Robyn continues to be a mellow darling of happiness and health, and I’m thankful she came the way she did!  Thanks for reading! I’m out.