"The Birth Story"

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the congratulations and emails. I just logged on for the first time yesterday and will be trying to respond individually over the next week or so. (I'm also trying to finish thank yous from before the kiddo was born!) In the meantime, I realized our last few posts may have been a bit confusing... First, I talked about the BabyLove Birth Center and our plans to have a natural (maybe even a water) birth there. Then Jim posts a few pics and stats and, to quote a friend, there's "no ocean scenes or pleasant gardens or birthing tubs or a midwife" to be seen!

So here's what happened- post-birth version, which means I'll explain what was happening in a clear way, even if we didn't understand what was happening as it occurred!!

Wednesday, July 16th, I woke up at 4:30am with surges (contractions). They continued throughout the day, but were slightly erratic- ranging from 8-20 minutes apart. Mom was with me- being both supportive and practical (Kristi, why don't we pack your suitcase now?) We figured this was probably practice labor. That night, Sam (midwife) told me to take a warm bath, have a small glass of wine or Benedryl- the key was to get my body to relax so the surges would stop and could re-start another day for actual labor.

Early evening, I called Jim- who was on a mission trip in nearby Immokalee- to let him know about the practice labor. I mentioned having some surges but things should be settling down. Most likely.

Thursday, July 17th, at 3am I called Jim again and asked him to come home! Don't speed, because we have time, but practice isn't over and it might be game time soon... Thursday morning the 3 of us went to see Sam. I was only 2 cm dilated- not good of course. We decided that I'd get a shot of some drug to do a "hard reboot" of my system- by knocking me out, the surges would stop (same principle as warm bath, but stronger Rx!). Fetal monitoring showed baby was fine... I was a bit loopy and a lot tired. Went home and went to sleep.

Woke up 15 minutes later with a surge. As the afternoon went on, the surges got stronger and closer together. Went back to Birth Center, meeting with both the midwife and the Ob Dr this time. They aren't sure the baby's position & size are great for my body (round hole, square peg kinda thing). In addition, there's very little amniotic fluid (though I didn't have any recollection of my water breaking). This means a natural (vag.) birth would be very difficult for the baby(and probably not so much fun for me)... so a C section is the only option. And it ought to be tonight.

So we go to the hospital, where the midwife meets us and gets us settled. Lots of medical people come in, go over stuff, start the IV, other technical-medical-non polite conversation stuff happens, surges continue- around 7:40 we go to the OR and at 8:12pm we hear "There's a head, there's a shoulder- here it comes... It's a boy!"

There are, of course, lots of details I can add to that last paragraph. One important detail is that it turns out the cord was wrapped around Kaden's leg. That was preventing him from dropping & stalled labor. Later we also found out my water had broken, but I missed it. Most likely because I spent so much time in labor breathing & 'relaxing' either in the shower or on the toilet (which one hypnobirth leader calls the self-cleaning porcelain birthing stool!). Oh, and Mom was counting... apparently I took 6 showers & 2 baths during the laboring! Since I've already gone on and on, I'll leave you with my three strongest impressions of the experience.

1) My sensation memory of the C section experience = that I was one of those catfish you see flopping around on a pier with their guts half spilled. My birth plan (dream) had me waking up about 8am one day btwn July 22 & Aug 9, already 4cm dilated, and delivering before 4pm that same day. In a tub. With glorious warm water and a homey atmosphere- and most medical stuff hidden. Quite a contrast, eh?

2) Sam & Dr George were absolutely fantastic. Calm, professional, caring... all the birth pics we have are courtesy of Sam, who also kept me calm & somewhat focused. Without the whole Birth Center / hypnobirthing preparation, I don't think I would have been able to get through the C section... but the pregnancy journey itself was empowering enough to give me the courage & determination... esp. b/c I knew and trusted the 2 primary medical folks.

3) Kaden was worth every minute. Somewhere along the pregnancy, I was surprised to discover how fiercely I already loved the little person growing inside. The night he was born, I remember us staring at each other (yes, he did have his eyes open for a bit)... and I was struck by how familiar he seemed. Like I already knew him... but at the same time, he's such a mystery. A perfect, exquisite little one that is truly a gift from God. 'Cause Jim & I are good, but not that good!