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Cincinnati Babies
KristenBtobe
member
Ready to rumble.
Owen's birth story. Long.
KristenBtobe
member
Here's how it happened. I think I told you all most of the first bit... My contractions started Thursday morning around 4 AM. They were 10 minutes apart pretty much all day long. We had a non-stress test and biophysical profile that morning since he was almost 41 weeks, and after we recreated the day we had when Maggie was born and ate lunch at Chipotle (at the same table) and walked the mall.
By the time we got home around 3 my contractions really picked up and were coming every 6-8 minutes. We were using the contraction master app on my iPhone (super handy!) and just hanging out with Maggie and my mom. My dad came over around 5 since he was to stay with Maggie when we went to the hospital. I was still skeptical that this was really happening, but we figured even if I didn't go into labor that night it would be good for my parents to be here just in case. I called the midwife office before they closed and they said it sounded like I was in early labor and to just give a call when we were heading to the hospital.
It started to get hard to talk through the contractions by this point. I was dealing with them by breathing and reminding myself "I can endure anything for a minute." It actually worked, I was kind shocked by how well I was coping with the pain. I also leaned my back against my yoga ball and that helped a lot too. We ate a little dinner around 6. By this time my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart so it was time to go. We gathered up our stuff and said our goodbyes. I cried a lot when leaving Maggie. It was much harder than I anticipated (I'm tearing up now thinking about it).
Car ride was fine, checked in to triage around 7:30 and my midwife checked me. We figured I was only 2-3 cm but I was 4 with a bulging bag of waters (gross!). She said I came at just the right time and that she anticipated I would progress very quickly. I had the shivers. My blood pressure was a little high so I wasn't allowed to walk, not that I wanted to. I got situated in my L&D room and we watched TV as a distraction while I worked through the contractions in the rocking chair. My in laws and mom arrived about an hour later, midwife checked me again and I was almost 6 so I asked for the epidural.
Oh, the epi. It was different this time. The placement was much smoother than with Maggie, but it didn't seem to be strong enough. I still couldn't talk through my contractions and since you have to be flat on your back for a long while to help the epi take effect it was super uncomfortable. The anesthesiologist came back and gave me a booster dose, which them was way too strong. I freaked out because I couldn't move my legs at all (which I could with Maggie) and felt like they were in blocks of ice. I was shaking a ton but I did feel better labor wise. Then the midwife checked me and felt Owen's head wasn't quite turned the right direction so I had to lay on my side with my shoulders and chest twisted to press into the bed. Sucked. That was about 11 PM.
The next time I was checked I was ready to
push but they wanted to let me labor down a little first. They raised
up the bed and got all the supplies in order, but as soon as they had
me elevated Owen had some serious decelerations in heartrate so they
kind of hustled things along as they knew something wasn't quite right.
They put me on oxygen which also sucks, particularly because I had
indigestion so I belched in my mask a couple times. We all had a good
laugh over that one.
Here's the gross/funny/not for the faint of heart part:
Yeah, I totally pooped on the first push. Like huge, stinky poop thanks to all the spicy foods we'd been eating all week to get him out. Despite my matter of factness about talking about it on the internets, It's humiliating to dookie in front of your husband, mother, mother in law, nurses, and two midwives. It smelled so much that when I bore down to push again I had to pull my gown over my nose (which sent Mike and my MIL into hysterics laughing at me) Mike said all the medical people were looking at each other like "who is going to clean THIS up." Ha!
Anywhoo, I pushed and pushed and he finally came down, but
they realized his cord was around his neck (twice) so it got pretty
intense at that point. There were at least 4 nurses in the room waiting
for him to come out. Mike decided to watch this time and he said
Owen's head was almost black it was so purple. I didn't really know
this was going on, thank goodness. they got the cord clamped and took
him over to get him breathing, it took a minute but he did and
everything was fine. He was born at 12:26 AM on April 9. 7 lb 9 oz,
21.5 inches long.
Mike was white as a ghost and had to sit down, he almost passed out. Thankfully there were so many nurses there that someone could take care of him. It took forever to deliver the placenta, like almost 40 minutes. It sucked. Then I had a second degree tear and had two stitches, which also took a long time because the student midwife was doing them and she was slow as molasses.
All in all, I was much more in control and aware of what was happening with this birth. It went really well and I'm very glad I chose midwife care this time. They were supportive and encouraging when I needed it most during labor.
Owen is an awesome nurser, he is a great pooper and pee-er and is very mellow. Hardly cries unless he wants to eat or be held. Maggie is in love with her baby brother. She touches his head and says "gentle baby brother Owen". It's super cute. She's been sick all weekend, poor thing has a cold so she was really clingy with my mom and missed us a lot. Made me feel terrible. When we got home Saturday afternoon from the hospital she woke from her nap and just sobbed because I was in the shower and she wanted me. Needless to say there were a lot of tears from both of us. But she seems to be adjusting well.
Ready to rumble.This discussion has been closed.
Re: Owen's birth story. Long.
I love the way you write and your choice of words! I haven't heard "dookie" in a while!
Wow, that would be so scary seeing his face so purple. I am glad you didn't see it. That would freak me out. Sounds like you had a great experience besides that. My epi was the same as yours; way overdone! There was no way I could feel anything and it took over 12 hours for me to be able to get out of bed and actually feel my feet on the floor.
I can only imagine how emotional all that must be having another little one and her wanting to be with you. I get teary just thinking about it!
Congrats again and thanks for sharing your birth story!
Congratulations on the birth of Owen! It sounds like you had a great support team for you and Owen, especially during the scary time with the cord around his neck.
I hope you all are adjusting well to becoming a family of four! I hope your recovery goes smoothly!
I can't wait to see more pictures of your two little ones together!
Thanks for sharing your very real birth story...dookie...
But seriously, I'm very glad everything turned out to be A-OK!!
Oh - I'm tearing up just reading this! I've already cried just thinking of how I will be able to handle this...and I still have 30 weeks.
This was my EXACT experience with both my epi AND Jacob being sort of tilted as he was descending. The OB on duty was circling like a hawk, but my midwife stood her ground and kept arguing for more time to let us progress and push.
OMG - this! I made everyone in the room (my sister, my parents, Brian) vow never to say anything about it. I was mortified; but the nurses and my midwife were so nonchalant about it.
Oh, this too...painful to remember this one.
I couldn't agree more with the midwife experience. All things considered, I'm so glad that everything went well for you! Owen is a complete doll; and I couldn't get enough of the pictures of Maggie in awe of her perfect little brother. Thanks for sharing your story - it made me laugh and cry!
Photos courtesy of Jen Rose Photography
Thanks for sharing! I need to read the real truth about birth to prepare myself. I've already warned Dan about the possibility of pooping during the birth!
I laughed when I read that Owen is a good pooper-I thought "just like his momma" haha, I hope you find that a little bit funny and not offensive
Congrats on a beautiful baby boy, I love the name Owen!
Photo by Melissa Nicole Photography
Oh that must have been so scary with Owen's head being so purple!
And I am going to own up to pooping during labor too. Like every time I pushed - I could tell by the look on DH's face. It really makes me rethink recommending mexican food to kickstart labor. Just to make myself feel better, I hold fast to the belief that everyone who claims to have had a vaginal delivery and not pooped during it is a lying liar.
I am choosing to believe this, too! Hilar!
Oh, my. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Kristen!
You are such a trooper, and we are all so glad that Owen finally arrived safely! (despite some minor complications.. )Hope all is going well at home! I loved your comments about seeing Maggie and Owen together. I cannot wait to share this experience when future DC arrives.
The dookie comment made me crack up laughing in my classroom.
Thanks for sharing Kristen! I love reading birth stories! Oh, and I am sure all the medical people were unphased by your dookie. When my midwife told me I needed to push harder I was like 'but I don't wanna poop' and she was like 'hey, *** happens!'
So glad everyone is doing well!