Elijah's Birth Story
I was pregnant with Elijah in the summer also; he was due at the end of September, and decided to drag it out an extra five days. I don't remember feeling this anxious, people had told me that your first is always late, but I probably was. The day he was born, I woke up as usual with my hubby, took a shower, and sent him off to work. I had rented "The Cosby Show" as something to occupy my time while I waited, so I put that in and got comfortable (well as comfortable as a 40+ weeks pregnant woman can get on our "free" seventies-looking love seat). Then I had to go pee... again, and that's when it happened. My water broke while I was sitting on the toilet. How convenient, right? I started timing and writing down the contractions and how long each one lasted. Right away they were only 5-6 minutes apart, so I called Martin who hadn't even been at work a full hour. It seemed to take forever for him to get home. He did make one stop... he went to the store and bought me a huge bag of peanut butter M&Ms and a box of tissues... because of course every woman in labor can't survive without those two things. Ummm... okay, thank you... now can we please go to the hospital?
When we finally got to our room in the hospital and the nurse checked me, I was dilated to 3cm. She convinced me to get some kind of drug through an IV that would "take the edge off." Oh no, it did nothing like that. It only made me feel "weird" like I had a headache and kind of a dizzying feeling. I also had an antibiotic because I was Strep B positive. The worst part was taking that IV around with me everywhere... to the bathroom, and then trying to get in the bath, which didn't work at all. The nurse had asked me right away about getting prepped for an epidural, I agreed. Although he didn't get there until I was at 7 centimeters! Getting that epidural was the hardest part because it seemed impossible to sit still during a contraction. Martin stood in front of me holding both of my hands, while I tried breathing and holding still. He must have seen the needle or something because the next thing I knew, he was on the floor, three nurses had to help him up, put him in a chair and give him oxygen! Men, just aren't made for this stuff I guess!
After the epidural, everything was calm. I barely noticed the contractions. Martin watched them on the monitor, "oh that was a big one." Not long after it was time to push. Elijah was born at 1:30pm... just under seven hours after I put "The Cosby Show" on pause.
Owen's Birth Story
When I got pregnant the second time, a friend of mine told me about her experience with a midwife here in town. My first thought was that it was nice for her, but she sounded a little crazy. What, go through that pain without any help? She said she'd do it again just for the endorphins afterwards and the feeling of power and accomplishment. Say-what? I had never heard anyone say that about childbirth. As it turned out, we weren't covered on insurance for a baby at the time and couldn't get help any other way, and a midwife was a third of the cost of the hospital. I got used to the idea very quickly. It wasn't that I was opposed to natural childbirth before, I just didn't think that I could do it. This place changed everything. It's a clinic that provides not only care , but classes and many other services. Martin and I took a 6-week class together that really equipped us for what was to come. I learned that I really was made to do this, and that knowledge gave me confidence that made all the difference.
This pregnancy was slightly different of course because I had a two-year old to look after, we were also living in someone else's home. The morning I started having contractions, I kept telling myself they were just more braxton hicks. I knew the "real" ones would be much worse. So I went about my day with toddler Elijah, having contractions here and there. Then they did start to get worse. By nap time, I had to really focus to get through that storybook for him. Around 1pm, I called my doula (my professional labor aid/coach) just to see what she thought. "It's time to call Martin," she said. I also called my parents to come and pick up Elijah. I still wanted to stay at home as long as possible, so I continued to labor there for at least another hour before we went to the clinic.
When we finally did leave, my contractions we so bad that being in the car was almost unbearable, like being caged. Luckily the drive wasn't long. When we got there the lights were low, gentle music was playing, and my midwife and doula were both there ready to support me. I spent some time on an exercise ball, bouncing and breathing while Martin and the doula took turns putting pressure on my back, massaging me, getting me water, etc. My contractions were too close together for me to be checked and soon I was ready to get in the tub. We had a planned water-birth because it is the best for both baby and mom. It's the easiest transition, and I can't tell you how much that warm water helps with the pain. As soon as I sunk into that over-sized tub, I felt relief, not absence of pain, but definite relief. A few moments later, my midwife told me I could push through the contractions if I wanted to, that this might make me fell better. It did. Then it came time for the real pushing. This was definitely the hardest part, but it only took three good pushes and I was done. Martin got to "catch" little baby Owen, who wasn't very little at all ( 9lbs. and 4oz.) It was amazing and I did feel quite a bit differently compared to how I felt after Elijah's birth. I was much more alert, and aware or everything. I also healed much faster and easier. We had a nice dinner there while baby was being weighed and measured, and stayed overnight, after only about 5 hours of labor.
