Finally, my birth story (LONG)

BriAndSean · November 2011

The birth of Eleanor Audrey

October 25^th, 2011

Born at 3:38am weighing 8lbs 10oz and 19.5 inches long

On our due date, I had my 40wk appointment with the midwives. I was really hoping to avoid induction. So we decided to try and get things moving along by sweeping my membranes. I was 3cm dialated and had been having irregular contractions for weeks. Sean had planned to go back to work when I came home from the appointment, but something told me I should ask him to stay. We decided to take the kids and head over to visit Sean?s grandfather since it was his birthday.

After our visit, we all headed home and I laid down for a nap with the littles. I was still having irregular contractions and general crampiness which I assumed was just from the membrane sweeping. My MW had told me it would likely subside and then may come back in the evening.

Sure enough, that evening the contractions started to pick up. We put the kids to bed around 8pm and I decided to lay down for a bit and see if the contractions would subside. They were still irregular, but seemed different, so I told Sean that he might want to pack his bag just in case. I called the MW around 8:45 and we agreed I should come in to L&D to be checked. I called my mom and told her to stay by the phone. She was planning to start the 2.5 hour drive as soon as I gave her the go ahead.

We arrived just before 10pm into triage where I was found to be about 5cm. Sean called my mom and told her to come as soon as possible. We got my IV started (I was GBS+ this time) which proved to be quite difficult, and I finally got checked into a room just after 11pm. I quickly got into the tub to labor. It was nice to be able to use the jets since my monitoring was intermittent.

Just after midnight, my parents and sister arrived. Dad said a quick hello and then headed back out to the car to sleep. About an hour later, I was vomiting and starting to feel a little bit of pressure with contractions. I decided to be checked. I was concerned about getting my second dose of antibiotics, which wasn?t due until 3am. I was 8cm and decided to get out of the tub for a little bit and try laboring with my birthing ball. It was so difficult for me to decide whether to try and slow my labor down in order to get the second dose of antibiotics, or to try and keep things moving. The baby was doing really well and I was pretty tired, so I opted to try and get the second dose of antibiotics. I labored in the tub again and then side-lying. Another round of vomiting led to IV fluids for me. Baby still looked great but my MW wanted to make sure I didn?t get dehydrated. Things slowed down a bit and the MW put a rush on my antibiotics. 3am finally arrived and we hooked up my IV again to get the second dose of antibiotics. After the antibiotics were finished, I was checked again and fully dialated.

I was so excited to finally meet my baby! Even though I was exhausted, I was motivated by my excitement (and that of my family). As the MW was getting things ready, we all placed our final bets on gender and size. Everyone thought baby would be small and we were fairly evenly split on gender. My first push wasn?t very effective, and I knew it. I tried again on the next contraction and did much better. A couple more good contractions and my little one was born. I reached down and pulled the baby up to my chest. It was such a great moment. I didn?t care at all if the baby was a boy or a girl, I was just so happy to have that baby on my chest. Everyone else was much more anxious to find out though. We tilted baby towards Sean, and he said, ?It?s a? girl?!? I was just as surprised as he was, and so happy. My sister got the honor of cutting her cord, and then I nursed her while I waited to deliver the afterbirth and get sewn up. When we cleaned her up and weighed her, we were all surprised to find out how big she was.

It was a truly wonderful experience. I?m so thankful I was able to go into labor on my own instead of being induced. Although, it wasn?t as different as I was expecting it to be. People often say pitocin induced contractions are more painful, but I didn?t think so. It was exciting to go into labor on my own, but it was also a little bit weird not knowing if I was in labor. Waiting to find out the gender was another special part of this birth. Having done it both ways now, I preferred knowing in advance, but I?m glad I did it both ways, and I can see why people would prefer a surprise. It was really special in that one moment, knowing that only my husband knew the gender, and hearing him announce it. At the same time though, once I pulled my baby out and up to my chest, I was so happy to have this precious healthy baby that I really didn?t care if it was a boy or a girl. It might be different if it were my first, but already having one of each, I was just so happy to have a healthy, beautiful baby.