Rough night's sleep. Had cramping all night long and a long hard contraction that seemed to last all night.
April 15, 2013-- 39 weeks today
Worried me enough that I called the midwife at 8am. She said a low pressure storm system had moved through town last night and it affected a lot of pregnant moms-- to make sure to drink more water and take some magnesium.
11:25am
Was on Skype with Seth and telling him what midwife said about the storm and asking him to get magnesium on the way home when my water broke! Can't believe my water broke kicking off all 3 births, but was so happy Seth didn't miss that last one-- we were seconds away from hanging up, saying, "Okay, bye." when it happened! Teagan had been napping on the loveseat--she fell asleep watching 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'.
Called midwife to tell them when my water broke, she said wait for contractions to start. I knew if this labor followed Zoe and Teagan's, they wouldn't start for a bit, but just in case, I wanted to lay low. I wanted to hold off till midnight so he wouldn't be born April 15 and share his birthday with his grandmother, he'd have his own day.
At home, Teagan was amazing, she just cuddled with me and we watched TV till daddy and Zoe got home 2 hours later. No contrax, just leaking fluid.
I called my friend Stacy who was going to be watching Zoe and Teagan and gave her a heads up. I said it could be awhile, but checked that they could stay over tonight. Yes! We planned for Seth to come install cars seats in her minivan when he got home.
I got on Facebook and told a few friends in private messages.
Meanwhile at school, Seth kept the news to himself. He didnt want to be told to go home nor did he want his assistant trying to get involved in the event. So, he waited til his kids were dismissed around 1:15pm and then went down to tell the office, got Zoe, and headed home.
2pm
Seth and Zoe get home. We finish getting their overnight bags together, talk to them. Seth holds down the fort while I go shower and take a short nap. Richmond is moving and hiccupping a lot.
3:15-4pm
Nap
4pm
I wake up, still no contrax. We decide to have Stacy & family pick the girls up after they finish at soccer, about 6:15pm.
4:45pm
Call Fruitful Vine birth center to ask what comes next-- wanted to call before they closed at 5pm. Ashley, the midwife on call, suggests chilling til the girls get picked up, then going for a walk to try to start contrax.
6:15pm
Zoe and Teagan get picked up and I cry. This will be the first night we ever spend away from either of them. Ever. We go for a walk and call Seth's dad to let him in on the news.
The walk is rough. My back hurts so badly and am having a ton of pressure and nerve pinching. After 25 mins I want to stop. No contrax anyway. We walk home.
7:30pm
Talk to Ashley again. She suggests nipple stimulation to get contrax going. Seth gets the breast pump, but I don't use it yet.
8:30pm
Ashley suggests we meet her at the birth center around 10:30pm. She is with another couple in labor that need to be transferred to the hospital and she will be with them about 2 hours. Seth & I decide to go out to dinner. We bring all of our stuff with us including the breast pump, birth bag, etc. By the time we get to St Johns Town Center it's 9:15pm. We wanted to go back there because that's where we went to walk when I was in labor with Teagan. But, now it's 9:15pm on a Monday night and not much is open.
9:15pm
We go to California Pizza Kitchen. We tell the waitress I'm in labor, they are very nice. I got a club sandwich with avocado, field greens, bacon, onion, tomato (I felt like bacon for labor, whatever!) with a cup of pea soup. daddy got fish tacos. YUM. While we sat and ate, it was nice-- we usually aren't out just the two of us late at night. But, the whole time, my water kept leaking and my pants were soaking wet. I got another of the same sandwich and soup to take to the birth center to eat after I gave birth-- I figured it'd be 3am or something and I'd want something hearty and nothing would be open.
10:15pm
Done with dinner, decide to go for a walk. Short walk, but contrax are starting, tho they are VERY mild. We call Ashley. She says she'll meet us at the birth center in about 20 minutes.
10:45pm
Meet Ashley at the birth center. She checks me and I am NOTHING... not thinned, not dialated, zip. She does her best to sweep my membranes, but my cervix is so far back, she isn't able to do much. She sends me into the birth room to use the breast pump. I do, but it is so painful and is making me so angry and on top of that isn't stimulating contrax, so I stop after some tears and do some walking, then dancing. After an hour or so of this, Ashley comes in and says she's talked to Sharon and how would we feel about trying an enema at home and then going to sleep and waiting for contrax to wake me? Maybe some rest and giving my body time to do it's thing is what we need to do? We were disappointed, but it seemed smart, but I was concerned that at 5:30am was the 18 hour mark of when my water broke and I'd have to be in active labor or they'd transfer me to the hospital to be induced (which I found out is what happened with that couple earlier tonight). She said because of my two previous labors that were similar, they are confident my body will do it, it just seems to take a bit longer. So, that was a relief, though I still wasn't sure exactly how long I had til they would have to transfer me and I knew I shouldn't focus on it.
MIDNIGHT
Well, It's officially April 16! So, we feel a little better that at least we made it past April 15, but at the same time did not think we'd be headed home at this time... at exactly this time we are pumping gas.
April 16, 2013
12:05am
Into CVS for a Fleet enema! The cashier says, "Looks like you're ready to go!" I say, "Actually, I'm in labor right now." We drive home and I yell at Seth half the way because he is falling asleep and I am upset. I feel like he has no energy and even though we are going home to presumably sleep, what if things pick up? There is no way he can be a good coach as exhausted as he is.
12:30am
Home! Kind of depressing... and WEIRD without the girls here. I do the enema--- lots of poop, but no contrax. I try to lay down and rest, but I keep feeling like I should be trying harder to go into labor. I kind of wrestle between resting and walking until 3:45am when I finally tell Seth I want to lie down in a bed, so we go and lie together in the loft bed. I am feeling so discouraged. I had gone for a walk around 3am and asked the "skies" for help doing this and kept asking if there was something I was holding on to that was keeping me from going into labor.
5:20am
Wake up. Ask Seth to go for a walk with me. Intermittent contrax, totally mild and not at all frequent. Call Ashley to come back.
5:45am
Back at the birth center.
6:30am
Ashley debates about checking me since I am 19 hours past water breaking. She has to offer me antibiotics because my GBS results never came back, but I waive them. She checks me and says I am thinned and 2cm--and even though it doesn't sound like a lot that is a LOT from where I was at 11pm. She is able to sweep my membranes! (OUCH.)
6:30-8:30am
This was mentally one of the most challenging chunks for me. I felt pessimistic, I was exhausted, and all of a sudden I missed Zoe and Teagan so badly I wanted to stop everything and just go be with them. I kept crying and saying that I missed them. Seth and I were going for walks and not much was happening. It was such a mind-fuck, I have to say. We were exhausted-- no labor before ever took this long, we knew there was some time limit, and nothing seemed to be happening. Suddenly I decided, at 8:30am things would pick up because things picked up with Teagan's birth 2 hours after my membranes were swept. So, at that point, I decided not to start worrying til 8:30am. Meanwhile we had the iPad mini and kept checking Facebook. Part of me felt that was a hindrance, but part of me liked the distraction. Everyone assumed the baby would be born by his point, so I felt pressure and also frustration.
8:40am
Things picked up! Contrax started coming every 4 minutes! Still, at this point, I felt I'd waited so long I wanted the rest to happen very quickly-- like by 10am. Contrax kept on and I got a burst of positivity and knew this would happen. Contrax kept on but I was wishing they'd come closer. Eventually they were 3 mins apart, but they seems to stay at the 3 min mark forever. Seth starts naming my contrax... Jorge, Sedrick, Monty...
9:30am
Sharon arrives!!! At some point between here and 10:30am, she checks me and says I have "turned the corner". I don't ask because I know I dilate quickly at the end of labor historically-- after Richmond was born she told me I was 4cm. Lori the birth asst arrives so I get the sense I'm getting closer.
10:30am??
Eventually contrax picked up to a point where they really hurt.
I kept wanting to hug Seth and lean on him or bury my face in his neck, that was very comforting. We were both exhausted after being up most of the night.
I bent over the bathroom sink and just wanted to stay there. Ashley rubbed my back and talked to me reminding me my body was doing the exact right thing to move Richmond out.
Sharon got Rebecca (her daughter who was at Teagan's birth) on Facetime to be at the labor.
11:30am?
The time frame from 10-1 is murky to me... I'm not really sure of the timeline, just the order.
Contrax got really painful and I kept saying, "I'm lucky, I'm lucky, not all women get to do this." I was very aware of my friend Mimi who wound up with an emergency c-section after 3 days of labor, or how I'd spent 10 weeks on bedrest with placenta previa hoping I'd avoid a c-section.
Sharon kept coaching me, I'd firmly tell the contrax, "Open my cervix!" I kept asking if I could just push, but I wasn't dialated enough.
Eventually, I moved to the birthing stool. Seth was behind me. I tried a few pushes but it was so hard. I was crying for awhile now. I remember saying, "I don't think I'm one of those women who is really tough enough for this."
Sharon tells me if I move to the bed she can help me more by pulling back my cervix while I push but it'll hurt more. I say fine. I move to the bed on all fours. I push but it is awful-- I don't think I'll be able to do it. I can't push past the pain it is too bad. It feels like the pushing will never end. Finally, I ask Seth to ge on the iPad and Facetime Mimi. He gets her on the cell on speaker and I yell, "You have to help me! I cannot do this!" From whenever this is (maybe 12:30?) til when Richmond is born, she keeps talking to me. Telling me to take it one contraction at a time. I am trying to push on every contraction but it is so hard-- it feels so much harder than the last two births. I also feel sapped of energy to do it. Finally, I push and start to feel the ring of fire. "Is that his head?!" I scream. They tell me yes. I try to push more, but so tired. Everyone keeps talking to me. I have my face buried in the bed, phone next to my face, tush in the air pushing... it's hard- I keep pushing and pretending I am blowing up a balloon, remembering to bear down. I start to scream which feels better mentally but takes more physical energy.
Sharon tells me to turn on my side for the end. Seth has one leg in the air, the other is on the bed, I am on my side. I am trying so hard to push, but I need help, I just feel weak. I push and feel his head, the pushing goes slow here-- and it feels slow. It's good in the aftermath because there is no tearing (first birth with no stitches!), but I wanted it to be over so badly, I would have taken a tear. This is the first time Seth is on that "end" of me for birth. I don't care, I jus want him to tell me if I seem close. I push and I think it's the last one but Sharon says, "Oh, that's the problem." which panics me, only because I know it means extra pushing. His hand is next to his face. I think it was just one more push after this and Sharon helps me reach down and pull him up. I thank Mimi and say it must have been hard for her to help me.
1:01pm
Richmond is BORN!
I'm crying an exhausted and he's so sweet and coughs and clears his own lungs right away. I am surprised he has dark brown hair-- I really thought it would be red! He seems so little to me and I keep saying to Seth, "Doesn't he seem so much littler than the girls?" and"Wow, he doesn't look like the girls at all, does he?"
Bonding in bed with the sweet boy and daddy and first nursing.
2pm
I shower while they clean up and remake the bed. Hard time walking, very hunched over. Shower feels good, I'm cold.
2:30pm
Richmond's exam is done, he's 8 lbs 9oz, 19.25", Apgar of 9.9. So sweet. I am feeling worse than after Teagan's birth. My uterus is in a lot of pain, there is more bleeding apparently because even though the placenta previa resolved, it was still low-lying and caused more bleeding. They have to give me a shot of pitocin in my leg about 20 minutes after Richmond is born to help the bleeding and also some kind of meds in my tush.
4:30pm
Arrive home-- feel like I didn't soak in that time after birth at the birth center, my mind was scattered. Feeling a little sad, wanted to lay with Seth and talk and snuggle Richmond-- we sort of did, but I was so distracted and also feeling bad that we'd left the girls with friends for almost 24 hours.
5pm
Stacy & co. bring Zoe and Teagan home!
6pm
We have a birthday cake for Richmond!
Afterthoughts:
- Burst blood vessels in both eyes from pushing. 4 days postpartum both eyes look pretty bad.
- Horrible after pains this time, often as strong as the contrax during birth, for first 4 days postpartum
- 12 days postpartum, still bright red bleeding-- longer than previous births, midwife will need to check it if it keeps up past 2 weeks
- Still could write so much more detail, but time is precious, I'll have to leave the story at this!
