The birth story

So before I go into the whole sordid story I'll just preface this with the fact that this story is not for the feint of heart :)....

On Wednesday morning Oct 6th at about 5 am I started going into labor. I began having contractions and more and more of my mucus plug began to come out. My water didn't break though even though I was having strong contractions. From the start, my contractions were pretty painful and my lower back was already burning. I had been fearful of back labor because I'm pretty sensitive to back pain and unfortunately that's the card that was dealt to me. I tried to lay in bed and rest as per the midwife's instructions, but already the contractions were way too intense to sleep through. Ryan actually went into work for an hour or so to get some stuff done and by the time he got back I needed him to massage my back through my contractions because it hurt so badly. He was such a champion, and when I would pace through the house to ride out the contractions he would literally follow me around rubbing my back. At 1 pm my water broke and the contractions started coming fast and strong. We called the midwife to update her and she ended up coming to the house around 3:45 pm.

Ryan and I were so excited that midwife decided it was time for her to come to the house. We felt like we were making good progress and we'd have our baby soon! When she got to the house she checked my cervix and told me that I was between 7-8 cm dilated already. We were SO excited to hear that. THEN she gets a funny look on her face and goes "huh, that's interesting." Never a good sign. She told us that when she was checking my cervix she felt a butt not a head...the baby was breech. The midwife assured us that we weren't in any more danger having the baby at home and that she was comfortable delivering him in this position so we decided to continue with our natural home birth.

From there things began to slow down for some reason. I had started pushing almost immediately upon the midwife's arrival because I was feeling the urge with my contractions and she told me that I should listen to my body and if I felt the urge, go ahead and push. This was definitely not a typical birth where you wait until you're 10 cm and then you push right at the end to get the baby out. I was "pushing" most of the time I was in labor since that was what felt right for me. As the hours wore on I tried changing positions, took lots of hot showers and tried to talk to Cooper and encourage him to make his appearance in the world!

The hours wore on and on and my contractions actually started slowing down. There was a fine balance between being up and moving around to encourage my cervix to open those final few cm and exhausting my body so that it started shutting down. The midwives and Ryan had all been encouraging me to eat and drink but I had zero appetite and was slightly nauseous. Then the midwife suggested some subcutaneous oxytocin. I'm not sure what time that started but she filled a multi-dose syringe with 10 doses and over the course of the next few hours I got the full syringe. It was truly incredible how fast the medication hit me. Some of my contractions lasted over 2 minutes after a dose of oxytocin. Still, however the last tiny bit of my cervix refused to soften and fold back and so through all of my pushing he was barely moving down.

Around 2 or 3 in the morning, everyone was exhausted and sleeping all over the house. The midwives were suprisingly hands off during my labor and left Ryan and I alone most of the time. They would come with a hand-held doppler machine and listen to the baby's heartbeat about every 15 minutes but even when I was on the bed pushing with my legs open they'd come and check and leave us to it since nothing imminent was happening.

Finally around 8 am (I think), after everyone had some coffee and perked up, Ryan and the midwife could see the baby's bottom as I was pushing. I ended up pushing over the toilet for a good amount of time using gravity to help the baby come down. FINALLY after pushing since 4 pm the day before, Cooper's bottom was coming out and even staying out while I wasn't pushing, he was finally almost here! The midwife moved me to the bed and everyone started getting all the essentials ready for his arrival. Receiving blankets were warmed, washcloths were soaked with warm water, we were ready to go!

Since he was breech he came out tushy first folded in half. The midwife maneuvered his legs out and then just his arms and head were still inside. His arms were above his head (like in a diving position) so that took a bit more maneuvering and then they were ready to get his head out. At this point things became a little more difficult because I stopped feeling any pressure to push against. They were telling me to push and push and push because his head was not coming out but I just couldn't. The midwife assistant jumped on the bed and pushed down hard on my pelvis while the midwife wiggled his head free and he was finally out! His body had been out with his head still inside for about 4 minutes and so when he came out, while he wasn't blue, he wasn't breathing or crying. He was hooked up to oxygen for about 2 minutes and vigorously stimulated with warm receiving blankets, and after what felt like an eternity, he started making noises and let out a little cry. Our baby was here, alive and healthy!

Since I was already on my bed all we had to do was drag me back to the pillows and I got to rest in my own bed for about 2 straight days. That was so fantastic. I loved being in my own bed and not at the hospital :). At the end of the day I am glad that we did the home birth even though labor was 28.5 hours long. I would have certainly gotten a C-section at the hospital and, not to say that that is bad, but I have a wonderfully healthy baby who was born naturally at home so who's to say one way is better than the other.

Now we are just working on bonding, nursing, and loving each other :)

Update (39 weeks 3 days)

Quick update!

So the first sign of something possibly starting has finally happened! Yay! My mucus plug came out Saturday afternoon! Saturday also happened to be the second anniversary of the death of my grandfather for whom Cooper is a namesake (his name was Max). I said all along that if I don't have the baby on the 2nd then something will definitely happen and it did! It gave me chills :)

As exciting as it is for something to happen, I know it doesn't always mean much and you can go days if not weeks before labor starts. But I have been bouncing on my exercise ball (supposed to help you dilate) and going for lots of walks with the dogs. I'm still hoping to go early, I'll take even a few days! I'm having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions, pretty much all day long but nothing real so far and obviously my water hasn't broken.

Our next appt with the midwife is on the 12th should I go that long so I'll finally get an internal exam and see if I'm dilated, which I'm sure I am. And again, doesn't mean much. Just have to wait until the real thing comes along. We're taking any and all good labor thoughts and vibes that we can get at this point so send them all this way!!

Getting Ready! (37 weeks 2 days)

So I can't believe it but I am now full term! This baby can literally come at any second! I know realistically I still have a few weeks to go but I can't help but try anything I can do to help him along :) I go for lots of walks (good for me, the baby, and the dogs!), and try to stay good and hydrated. I am going to start investigating some spicy food, although we all know I can't tolerate anything too too spicy, and maybe some pressure points I read about online. I figure since I'm done working and just hanging out at home why not!

The baby's room is FINALLY ready. I still have some decorating I want to do, but in terms of items of necessity we have it all (except the glider which I hope to get this week)! The crib has a mattress and sheets, we have the changing table all set and ready to go (the only thing I realized we're missing is wipes!), and the dresser is all set up and has some clothes in it! I can't believe we're just weeks away from meeting our little guy. It seems so close yet so far. It actually still feels very surreal and I'm pretty sure it will until labor really sets in and there's no turning back...not that there's any turning back now.

We made it to and back from Michigan just fine this past weekend. I'm so glad that we decided to make the trip for our friends' wedding. It was such a wonderful weekend and we had a fantastic time. It was also great to see friends that we haven't seen in a long time and with the impending arrival don't know when we'll get a chance to see them again. I also think that staying active and dancing up a storm at the wedding really helped the baby to move down. All of a sudden I'm definitely going to the bathroom more, and when we got back one of the pharmacists at work said I looked a bit lower than before I left. So hopefully things are progressing and Cooper will be here sooner than later! Can't wait...stay tuned for updates :)



At the wedding in Michigan!



Crib and outfit all ready for Cooper when he gets here!



99% of the furniture is here! Still waiting for the glider though...



Me in the baby's room.

Too big for my britches (33 weeks 2 days)

Literally...lately I have noticed that with my increasing bump my clothing options that I bought in the early stages of my pregnancy are dwindling. I was very resistant to buying new clothes so close to the end of the pregnancy. I mean I guess it's logical, as a pregnant lady you're only going to get bigger and bigger but for some reason I really really didn't want to buy more clothes. I guess it's the old, I'm a girl and I don't want to have to buy more clothes because I'm getting fatter way of thinking. Luckily my sister was here this weekend and we shopped together and I was able to get over myself and we had some good retail therapy at the Gap :) I guess I have also been a little upset over the fact that at my last midwife visit I had gained a pretty significant amount of weight in a short time. Although most of it is water weight, I'm pretty freakin' swollen, and from what I hear around this time gaining so fast isn't unusual. The new midwife assured me that I'm on track and haven't gained too much. I like her so much already :) And at yoga today the teacher and other student in the class couldn't believe I was 33 weeks, and well that always feels good!

In other good news we have made some good progress on Cooper's room!! It's all painted and the chair rail is up temporarily (just to see how it fits it still needs to be painted and then cut properly in the corners). It's a good thing I married a handyman...even if he is a slow one :). I posted some pictures below of the room, one with the chair rail in place and one without. As excited as I am that his room is coming together, I noticed the other day that the furniture we decided on is no longer available online. Eeek! I will have to go to Babies r us next weekend and see what we can get on short notice. I know sometimes these things can take 6-12 weeks to order and well, we don't have 6-12 weeks! I guess worst case scenario we'll get a bassinet and Cooper will sleep in our room until we can get him a crib...poor child won't even have a crib to sleep in when he comes out! My parents are visiting next weekend and I'm hoping to get a lot of this nitty gritty stuff done while they are here helping.

I keep thinking I have all this time to get stuff done but really my due date is only 6.5 weeks away...that means only 3.5 weeks till full term...whaaaaat! Anyone remember when I was complaining about not showing and how slowly the pregnancy was moving along...yeah, definitely not complaining about that anymore! These next few weeks will be all about getting the house in order and getting myself ready for baby! I think/hope that I will go into labor a little earlier than my October 8th due date. I know every single pregnant lady hopes for that but I feel pretty strongly that I will, similar to how I felt I was having a boy and I was right about that so we'll see if I can go two for two :). I'm beyond excited to have this little boy, I used to be so nervous about the labor and delivery part of being pregnant and over the last couple of weeks the fear as really all but completely faded and I'm just plain excited. It still feels surreal that there will be an actual physical child to hold and cuddle and kiss when all is said and done. SO CRAZY!

Enjoy the pics below...for those of you who saw the original paint splotches months ago here's what we finally decided on!

...and it showered babies...(30 weeks 3 days)

Two Sundays ago I got to have my baby shower! Two friends from school very graciously put a whole bunch of my favorite stuff together (mainly friends, candy, and CAKE!) and we showered it up at my house and out in the yard. It was blazingly hot, and a storm affected some drives home but other than that I would call it a roaring success. We got lots of cute stuff and with any luck we'll have a finished room to put it in soon! Ryan's parents stayed a few days post-shower and got started on the room for us! It's all taped up, and the trim paint is done. Man this baby thing is starting to feel real! We actually have a car seat sitting in our living room...weird.

On the birthing front we have essentially decided to do a home birth. We finally heard from the new midwife again and have our first appointment for a few weeks from now. I'm very excited because I wasn't sure if we'd be able to do this so late in the game and of course once I decided this was what I wanted to do, we had a little trouble getting an appointment. In the meantime I had a regularly scheduled appointment at the midwife practice I've been going to and, while I wasn't going to bring it up, the midwife we happened to be seeing that day said something about homebirth and so we started talking about it. She had both her kids at home and was telling us how many of the other midwives and labor & delivery nurses that they work with all had their children at home. Ryan, who had been somewhat hesitant about the whole thing, just kind of looked at me, and was like, why are all the people who deliver babies as their profession in the hospital having their babies at home...? And it just kind of clicked. We're really excited to meet this midwife in a few weeks and finally get that long list of questions answered!

On a not so exciting note I have been having some pretty severe back pain that has made me pretty cranky (I apologize to anyone who has experienced the backlash of this…mostly Ryan). I was able to determine that it wasn't necessarily muscular pain, but didn't feel like nerve pain either since it wasn't tingly or burning. A friend of my mom's told me her niece went through the same thing and they figured out it was the spreading of all the ligaments around her back and pelvis that was causing the pain and she ended up doing some PT to get it better. I'm willing to do just about anything at this point. I've never experienced chronic pain and let me tell you it's pretty draining. I don't know how people live with it for years on end. I'm hoping to chew off the ear of a PT friend (I'm looking at you, Maria:) and maybe invest in some sports therapy massages or something…anything…to make it better. I don't want to be miserable for another two months. I'm also going to start slowing down at work. Up until now I've pretty much been working regular 40 hour weeks and with back pain and an hour commute each way on top of that I'm getting pretty exhausted. I need to get lots of rest and be in tip top shape not only for delivery but for when the baby's here since sleep will certainly be something of the past!

A good baby shower pic below…thanks again to everyone who planned, attended, and sent gifts!!

To birth at home or the hospital...that is the question (27 weeks 6 days)

My latest obsession has been about whether or not I want to think about giving birth at home. I can't decide if this is a totally crazy idea or possibly the sanest thing I'll have done in a very long time. Before I ever got pregnant I knew I wanted to use a midwife because I felt that I would be more likely to get the birthing experience that I wanted than with a tradition OB. So for the last six months I have been going to my midwives and I have to say it really doesn't feel any different from going to the doctor. I still go to the big office, have to wait half an hour, have nurses take my vitals and urine and then spend all of two minutes talking to the midwife of the day. Since it's a whole practice I see a different midwife every time and you never know which one will be on call the day you go into labor...why am I doing this again?

While I'm frustrated with my current situation, and am not seeing the benefits to having a midwife at the moment, I do believe that once I'm actually in labor there will be a difference in having the midwife there versus an OB (at least this is what I hear from other people). However, at the same time, I feel that just by the nature of having to go to the hospital and giving birth there I still won't exactly have the experience that I want. I want to be able to walk around during labor if that makes me feel better, shower, take a hot bath...whatever it may be, and those things most certainly won't be options at the hospital. I also don't like the idea of so many unfamiliar faces starting down my privates every hour and during delivery. People give birth at home with one midwife and maybe a doula all the time so why do hospitals insist on a bajillion nurses being there, and traipsing in and out? And you're in labor so long that with the change of shifts you've had 20 different strangers staring you down by the time it's all over.

So now I've been looking into private midwives in the area and am really considering home birth. While there is definitely a risk that goes along with it, I'm not so sure the risk is really any greater than being in the hospital (since we all know that comes with its own risks). I truly feel that being in a relaxed and comfortable environment will help resolve a lot of the little things that go wrong during a hospital birth. It also helps that we live approximately 5 minutes away from the hospital so if something really did go wrong we'd be there in a flash. I have a bajillion questions for this new midwife when she emails me back and I'm hoping to shed a lot of light on my current dilemma. Part of me can't envision feeling comfortable doing it at home and the other part of my can't envision feeling 100% comfortable in the hospital either. I'm hoping for some omens/signs in the near future to help me make a decision that I feel totally comfortable with!

Rounding third! (27 weeks)

Happy 6 months to me!! Yesterday I was officially 6 months along and today I am 27 weeks marking the end of my second trimester! I can't believe I'm in my third trimester already and at the same time I can't believe I still have three long months to go. I'm feeling bigger and bigger and it's definitely getting harder to move around. I have a feeling I'm going to be a ginormous whale knocking lamps off tables by the time this is all done!

I've been working for a couple of weeks now, and other than being very tired at the end of the day, everything is going pretty well. Luckily they are flexible with me and said whenever I feel it's too much I can just pull back. I'm really hoping to work till I pop though since the money is pretty nice :)

I have been a little overwhelmed lately since it seems that everything is starting to pile on. The baby's room hasn't been touched since I painted the color swatches on it, we don't have daycare set up yet, nor do we have a pediatrician lined up. When I think about it all it makes my stomach turn. I'm trying to tackle it little by little but working an hour away from home gets in the way of making phone calls during business hours. Maybe I can get Ryan to make appointments to meet with pediatricians...yeah right...

On the up side I have still been sleeping pretty well (when the dogs let us sleep through the night that is). I still only get up once a night to pee if at all so I'm hoping maybe it will stay that way although I highly doubt it! I have my oral glucose tolerance test coming up that has to be done some time this week so keep your fingers crossed that it turns out well! When I first found out I was pregnant I had a huge fear of gestational diabetes so I hope that I've been treating myself and my baby right and we'll get the all clear! I'm also really looking forward to my baby shower in a few weeks! I got to go to some really awesome showers for my friends and I'm excited for my own!

Enjoy the latest belly pic below, and a huge thanks to Leah for some awesome maternity clothes!