Our sweet Olive Kay was born
7/4/13 at 3:02 am and was 19 3/4 inches and 7lb 15oz. We have been busy these
past two weeks trying to get settled into the new routine of having a 2
& 4 year old along with a newborn and overall it has gone quite well.
Marshall has been the husband and father of the year taking care of everyone
and everything around here while my hours are spent feeding Olive (I forgot
just how much newborns eat!). The craziest thing is that in two weeks it
already feels like she has been here forever. As predicted, Hazel and Roscoe
love her so incredibly much and have been so amazing with her. It really feels
like our family is finally complete! As for the birth, I was fortunate enough
to have another incredible birth experience and couldn't be more grateful. For
those interested, here are the details of that crazy whirlwind of a night!
All day 7/3 I'd been having maybe a contraction every hour or two but the ones I was having were super intense. We went out to dinner and when I got home I decided to go for a 35 minute walk outside around 7pm (it was still over 100 out but I drank plenty of water). Once I got home, I showered while Marshall got the kids to bed. It was during my shower that I had an epiphany that I shared with Marshall. I felt like I had been operating on the "any second now" mentality and that was part of why I was getting so frustrated at the fact that labor hadn't started yet. I decided that I would change my countdown to Monday (my due date) and fully plan to be pregnant at least until then. I had finally made peace with the fact that I was going to be pregnant for at least a few days longer. At 9:00 pm when we settled down to watch a tv show together the contractions started and were about once every 10-15 minutes. After an hour of this and given my history of quick labors and how packed our hospital is, I panicked a bit and told Marshall to call our doula and Aunt Patty (who was going to watch the kids while we were in the hospital). Once I stood up to change out of my pajamas and gather my things the contractions picked up to every 6-7 minutes and that was when I really started to freak out. Marshall called our doula Natalie and Aunt Patty again and told them this was definitely it and that they should hurry! We went out to the driveway to wait for them and once they arrived we were on our way (this was about 10:30 pm). Since it was after hours at the hospital I had to be admitted through the ER. As soon as we walked in we were faced with a sea of people who looked like they had been waiting there awhile. Luckily they admitted me right away and told me that all pregnant women start out in L&D triage now (this was different than the last two times we delivered at this hospital). As they wheeled me back to triage I remember realizing it was just after 11:00 pm and assuming that I wouldn't be in labor for 24+ hours it suddenly dawned on me that we would be having a Fourth of July baby. I distinctly remember telling Marshall "at least it's not Christmas!" while they wheeled me back.
They started me out in triage around 11:15 pm as there were no labor rooms available. They also would only let me have one guest there so Natalie had to sit in the waiting room. This all made me really anxious as I really didn't want to deliver in triage and I also knew I wanted Natalie there to help me achieve the birth I wanted. Since there were several other women in labor in triage I quickly realized I needed to show progress and be vocal to get out of there, both of which I did and a little after an hour in there I was a 3 and contracting every 2-3 minutes. They finally got me into a labor room at 12:30 am and at first check I was a 4. We had a bit of drama with them not having my GBS results (I'm negative) and wanting to hook me up to an IV antibiotics but I absolutely refused as I knew I was negative. They also wanted to do an IV but I insisted on just a hep lock which was perfect as I really needed freedom of movement (and I think this was key to helping me get my med free birth). Since I kept talking about wanting to sit on the birth ball that we left at home Natalie encouraged me to unplug from the monitors and go work through my contractions while sitting on the toilet in a squatting position to move the baby down. The pain was so intense that after an hour of this I asked to be checked and was told I was a 7 and they were calling my doctor as he was going to make the trip over to deliver Olive. While waiting for the doctor to arrive I tried laboring on my hands and knees on the bed and at this point hit a total mental block on being able to handle the pain - it was unreal! I knew I had another posterior baby this time (i.e. sunnyside up) so it was the crazy back labor again like I had with Hazel. Marshall and Natalie applied counter pressure on my hips and lower back with each contraction and after an hour when the doctor arrived and checked me he said I was "still a 7". There are no words to express how unbelievably disappointing this was but I knew I had to push through it. This was at 2:48 am. Natalie then told me I was going to hate her but the position I had the most progress in was squatting and that I should try that again. I went back to labor while squatting on the toilet and proceeded to have two of the most intense contractions of all three of my births and I thought "how am I to do this for 3 more cm??!!" I also remember Marshall and Natalie asking me what I wanted between the two contractions and I simply told them "I want to die!". In hindsight I now see this was because I was so close to the end since after contraction number two I felt the urge to push and I could not control it! Natalie told me to stop immediately (ha!) and when I didn't/couldn't she told Marshall to run in the hall and tell them the baby is coming and she grabbed my face and said I just had to make it the few feet back to the bed, which I just barely managed to do. With the doctor and nurse literally running in I got on the bed and pushed two more times and out came our baby girl at 3:02 am (yes, a mere 14 minutes after being told I was still a 7!). They put her right on my chest and the relief I felt was immediate and immense. We both were on the rush of the all the hormones released during delivery and baby girl fed well and was incredibly lively and alert. I ended up having some stitches this time due to how fast she came but otherwise felt great. Still can't believe she is here already and that we ended up with a Fourth of July baby!
Posts
