My 3rd baby's NB story, precipitous labor, big baby, + NICU stay (very long)

I gave birth to Theodore Charles (aka "Teddy") on May 16th, he was 9 lbs 8oz and 23 inches long. He came at 38 wks 6days.

Prior to his birthday I had zero signs of labor other than random occasional braxton hicks. The day of his birth I had these strange mild contractions exactly every half an hour. I thought something might be up, because I had previously only had braxton hicks. They were very mild though, and I went about my day getting my bangs trimmed, going to toys r us etc. When DH got home we had dinner at 6:30, I was anxious to try and meet this baby so I suggested that we go for a walk to see if we could get things going. We took our 24 month old and 4 year old for about a mile walk at 7:15, it was much slower going and shorter than I wanted because of the kids, but I think it did the trick! We got home at 8:15, DH gave the kids a bath and as soon as I had put our 2 year old down for the night, my contractions picked WAY up. I knew right away I would be meeting our newest baby soon. I never even timed the contractions because I had a very fast 3 hour labor with our second child. As soon as they became closer together, I called the babysitter and told her to come right away. That was at 9:15 pm, our sitter came by 9:45 and we were on our way to the hospital within minutes! I was very nervous about making it to the hospital in time because I delivered our second child 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital and our OB missed the birth etc. It was very stressful.

This time, we checked in around 10:20 (my DH drove quite fast through LA traffic!). My delivery experience was different this time, getting to the hospital earlier than with my second. The nurse checked me right away and I was 6-7 cm and 90 % effaced (I think the baby was at -3 station? Does that make sense? I forget what the stations mean.) The contractions were uncomfortable, but totally manageable. I never took any special natural birth prep classes or did any reading, I didn't for my other 2 either.) Our birth photographer came around 10:45. According to the timeline on her camera and what she caught on film:

11:15pm - you were super cute & smiling through contractions
11:40pm - contractions intensified (no more smiling!)

11:45pm - doctor came

11:50pm - you laid down on the bed (you were not even completely on your back, you were half on your side - uncomfortable!)

11:51pm - baby crowning

11:52pm - Teddy was born!

I was so grateful to have our birth photographer there, not only for the amazing images she captured, but also becaue there is no way we would have gotten to snap any pictures. Once I was in transition everything happened so fast. It was also so neat to get a minute by minute play by of what actually happened when, as labor is always so hard to remember due to the intensity of it.

So, the contractions became more and more uncomforable and I felt like I was going to die of heat. When we came into the L&D room it was 76 degrees! I remember complaining about the temperature very frequently. They turned the a/c on but I was still dying and it was very slow to cool the room. By the time I hit transition, I was practically having DH pour cold water on top of my head! I kept asking for more cold washcloths and for them to be colder:) My nurse drove me nuts during the whole labor. Apparentely she had natural births herself, but she could not have been less helpful. She never said one word to encourage me, like "oh, you are doing a good job, you are close" etc. She also totally refused to take off the external monitors. When they first put them on, she said they only needed to monitor the baby for 10 minutes, but that turned into the ENTIRE time I was in labor there. She kept saying they weren't getting a good read and they needed 10 minutes straight. The monitor belt was driving my CRAZY. Everytime I contracted it felt like it made the contraction 10 x worse, I was asking repeatedly to get it off, it did not come off until after I delivered:(

When transition hit, I said "I feel the baby coming, something is changing down there." I could literally feel a pressure like I was opening up by the second more and more. My RN went to get gloves on to check me and my DH basically told her quite firmly to skip that and call the OB right that second and get him in there immediately. He was totally right, my OB came and I was sitting on the edge of the bed basically hanging onto the railing, I literally felt like I could not move from that position (I labored in that position the entire time I was in the hospital) My not so lovely RN proceeded to tell me that I would drop the baby on the floor if I didn't get on the bed. If I could have talked I would have said something not so lovely to her, I am sure. If I could have moved myself of course I would have! Finally, my OB and DH basically helped lift/throw me in the bed on my side and I kept yelling that I didn't want to tear and that I was dying of pain. I believe I yelled that I felt like my crotch was breaking in 3000 pieces at one point! I also yelled that I wanted someone to tell me when to push and how because I was scared of tearing badly. I did quite a bit of yelling during my very fast transition! I ended up pushing ONE time and Teddy was born. I absolutely felt the "ring of fire"  this time, I don't know if it was because baby was bigger or what, but it hurt. My last DS was only 8 lbs 15 oz, so a good bit smaller. Apparentely he had the cord wrapped around his neck 2 times, when they handed him to me he was a dark purple and covered in goosebumps. It actually freaked me out a bit seeing him that color and so cold looking:( They quickly took him to the warming table and my OB helped me deliver the placenta, which actually really hurt (very strong contractions), but I felt immense relief upon delivering it (according to my OB it was very large, and it sure looked pretty huge!) I barely tore, a very minor 1st degree tear, thank goodness. Recovery was an absolute breeze. Which came in handy when our baby had to go to the NICU. I was able to be on my feet straight away talking to all of the md's and nurses in the NICU.

Poor little Teddy ended up having some meconium aspiration and retained fetal fluid:( I never did hold him again or get to try and nurse right after his birth. The doctors initially had him brought to the nursery for monitoring and he had a little oxygen hood around him, he was stating well for about an hour but then began to destat. They brought him straight to the NICU.

It was one of the scariest experiences of my life having him there. I am so grateful that we delivered at a hospital with a top level NICU, it was one of the only things that brought me peace of mind while he was in there. The NICU nurses were amazing.  I actually thought I was going to have the worst PPD because I could not stop sobbing the 1st 24 hours he was in the NICU. I was worried out of my mind about him. I ended up being d/c before him which was also so very not fun, but luckily I had my 2 other children at home to bring me some peace and I was so happy to see them. Teddy was d/c after 4 days in the NICU and has been doing great since! He's chunking up nicely (11 lbs 4 oz at 2 and 1/2 weeks) and his brother and sister absolutely adore him, everyone is transitioning very well! As soon as he came home all of my baby blues and crazy hormones vanished. I have felt super happy with my little bundle and 2 other cutie pies. 

I am so glad I got to have another natural birth. I feel like I really relied on myself to get through the pain and am so proud of myself for delivering this little (big) guy med free! Good luck to everyone out there on their natural births and congrats if you made it through my whole birth story!!!