birth story

Thursday around 2 am I woke up with very frequent and painful contractions. I counted/timed them for about half an hour and when I realized that they were roughly 4 minutes apart I decided to wake up Jason.

I called the midwife on call and when she called back she told me to run a hot bath, drink a lot of water and relax in the tub. If within 1 hour the contractions had not stopped, I should get ready and come in to the birthing center.
I took the bath and though it felt good these contractions were really starting to hurt. They were painful enough that I could not speak thru them. I began to sweat profusely and started to feel really nauseated.

I got out of the bathtub (I needed help because every time a contraction hit I felt like I couldn't continue. I sat down on the toilet because I felt like I had to go... That's when I noticed the blood.....


We scrambled to get things together - after the last preterm labor scare I was put on strict bedrest so none of my stuff was packed :-(
I can say that I did have some moments of INSANE IMPATIENCE with my husband during those 15/20 mins that he rushed around to get everything ready. I believe that I even threw a piece of clothing at him that I deemed inappropriate to pack in my hospital bag :-/

By the time we were ready to walk out of the door I was in the fetal position on the living room floor. This is how intense my contractions had become.
On the drive to the birthing center (about 10 mins door to door) I threw up several times in the car. Awful.

When we finally got there Jason ran up, got a wheelchair and wheeled me in.

They were waiting for me and pretty much admitted me right away and got me all hooked up to the monitors.


For the next 12 hours or so I labored hard.... I threw up over and over again even though i hadn't eaten anything except water since 8pm the night before.
The pains were horrible. Awful. I was totally gone in laborland. I remember at one point breathing thru the pains and focusing on the space needle which could be seen from the window in our birthing room.
I also remember focusing on the blue tiles on the floor of the bathroom to center myself. Sounds crazy but it works when you are desperate to focus on anything except the pain.

At hour number 13 i started giving up.... the pain was too much. I begged and pleaded with Jason thru tears saying how I could not take it anymore. He pushed me on for another hour or so. Then finally I used our "safe word" to indicate that I was done begging.
I wanted pain relief and I didn't want to ask again.

I should also mention a bit of TMI.... thru the entire labor I was bleeding... passing large blood clots... one after the other. This was troubling to the nurses, midwives and doctor on call. They didn't know the source of the bleeding and it didn't seem to stop.

I finally got an epidural. It was nice for about an hour. They checked me and I was at 8 centimeters.
The baby was nowhere near my birth canal and my bag of waters was still intact! Weird.

They did 3 ultrasounds to see what was up. Apparently there was an extra bit of membrane with water that was blocking Fenix's head from descending.
After this they talked thru 3 scenarios.
1. pierce my bag of waters with a very tiny needle. let the water slowly come out and see if the baby slips down into the birth canal
2. wait and let the bag break on it's own, risking a prolapsed cord from the gush and then of course i would have to have an emergency c-section if that happened
3. go ahead and just get the c-section

I'll take door number 1! So that's what we did. They prepped me and took me to the OR in case when they pierced the bag it ended up gushing anyway. They had everything staged for a c-section in the event that it was needed.
They broke the bag and I felt the warm water arc and splash on my foot! That was bizarre.

They checked my cervix again in about 10 mins and I was complete, baby's head was way down (+3) and it was time to push!

I pushed for an hour in the OR. They had a big mirror so i could see. Jason held one leg, the nurse held the other and our midwife sat on the edge of the bed looking at the baby.
We saw his head and hair within that first hour of pushing. They suggested that we go back to the birthing room since everything was fine now. So that's what we did.
I had a few very strong contractions on our way to the room. They call this 'laboring down' since I didn't push at all during those. Well the pressure was so intense that by the time I got to the room I knew he would be here within the hour
I pushed for about 5 more contractions and BAM there he was! I started crying and hyperventilating with joy. It was incredible. Jason was able to catch him and cut the cord.
My little boy had arrived.

Oh and as for the bleeding, my placenta had an extra lobe! That extra lobe had abrupted which is probably what started labor and was the source of all the blood clots/bleeding. I saw it and it was very bizarre looking... like an extra piece of liver hanging off of the placenta. Eww.

Saturday at the birth center

Greetings from the birth center! We had an eventful last day or so & things are going well.

Theresa was on an i.v. of magnesium sulfate all day to put the brakes on the contractions. That worked for quite some time, long enough for her to get the 2nd shot of the steriods that are designed to speed up lung development in preemies.

I forget the name of the steriod, but they only give it when pre-term birth seems inevitible. It comes in a big needle and they give you a shot in the ass with it. The first shot Tee had went in a bit better than the second one, which made her bum hurt for a time.

Maybe it's no surprise, but there are only women that work here. I've seen one dude since I got here and the rest are ladies.

So, the magnesium! Holy shit. When it's brought up around here, the staff get a pained look on their face. Then, softly, they'd ask, "Did they tell you what to expect with that?"

Um, they did, and you're supposed to expect, it seems, to get your ass kicked. Tight chest, headache, overheating. Deep, deep malaise.

It did its job, though, at least for a while, and she had minimal contractions yesterday and throughout the night.

Most babies, when their mom's are on magnesium!, absorb some of the side effects of the meds and are listless, don't move around much, and sometimes have lowered heart rate. Not my son! He's been in there playing tic-tac-toe with himself and jump rope with the umbilical cord. It's been kind of a wow factor with the nurses when they see his heartrate and stuff - pretty cool. Regardless of what else is happening, Fenix is super healthy.

After a time - oh dark thirty this morning - the magnesium! wore off and the contractions returned. Not returned in a "oh gosh this baby is about to come out" but "yyyyyep, that's a contraction. yyyep, that's another one", etc. So, thankfully, they removed the magnesium! i.v. and T started to feel better in pretty short order.

So here we are, Saturday morning. Been here at the birthing center since Thursday afternoon. Theresa is on bed rest, which not only means that she's in bed except for trips to the bathroom, but that she needs to be in bed in such a manner that does not put weight, and therefore stress, on her cervix. = lying down. = boring.

We're in the "wait and see what happens next" phase. Either labor will begin in earnest, or not.

Stay tuned!

Sigh. This little guy really wants to come

So as many of you know, I am in the birthing center. It appears that Fenix is really ready to come out now.
Here's what happened....

Early Weds a.m. I started having tons of painful contractions. This went on for about an hour and a half. I tried all the tricks to make them go away and eventually they did.

Fast forward to Thursday. I woke up feeling less then great so I decided to work from home. That afternoon I had an appointment with my midwife and I mentioned the contraction incident from Weds. She seemed concerned and decided to check my cervix. Well guess what? It was thinning and softening. Not a good thing at 33 weeks.

She sent me over to the birth center (across the street) for an ultrasound and to be put on the contraction monitor. We found out that I was still having contractions... some that I hadn't even noticed. Given the frequency of the contractions they gave me a shot to stop them and then another slower acting pill that does the same. They stopped for about an hour and came right back. At this point the decision was made to give me another shot of the drug and then a shot of steroids in my hip to help speed up lung development in the baby in case he was really coming soon.

I was admitted, transferred to a private room and got a sleeping pill to get me thru the night. Jason slept here too.

Well at around 1pm today the painful contractions started up again. That's when they decided to pull out the big guns and give me an IV of magnesium sulfate as a last ditch effort to stop my labor because a pelvic exam revealed that I am already 2cm dilated, my cervix is softer and thinner and the baby's head is low in my pelvis.
Bonus they gave me another ultrasound and I saw his little head and face. He is freaking so cute!

Anyway this latest drug makes you feel like ASS. And I mean that. But I am trying my best to stay positive and keep thinking good thoughts. I can still shoot for a vaginal birth (I'm told it will likely be easier on me now since he is small) and my midwife can still do my delivery.

As a bonus tomorrow my childbirth instructor, Penny Simkin, is stopping by to check on me. I have to say that this woman is my personal hero and if you are having a baby please please read her books. And better yet if you are in Seattle you must take her class.

But I digress. I feel like crap right now but at least I'm still pregnant. I don't want to leave my little boy here! I would love to have him stay in my belly to grow a little longer. Wish us luck...

did you know....

....That the presence of people who upset the laboring mother can actually stall labor?

I have been reading alot about this and it's quite amazing that the progression of labor is so suggestive that this can happen. Woman who are not surrounded by people who love them and care about them are much more likely to end up with a stalled labor. Or more to the point, women who have a person or persons in the room who are negative, mean or not supportive can end up with a stalled labor. And when that happens, out comes the vaccuum extractors... the forceps.... and ultimately maybe even a c-section. It must be hard to cope with the pain and being in such an emotionally tumultious state when you know that one or more of the people in the room don't have your best interest at heart.

I'm really happy about who will be in the room with me during my labor. Besides the midwife and a nurse it will just be me and Jason in the room. I'm glad that I had the presence of mind to make good, sound decisions about that. I wouldn't want anything or any one to take away from my birth experience. It's a special time and *only* the people that love you and support you should be included.

scary thursday

So we just got back from L&D. That's right, you read correct, L&D. I had some weird weird stuff happen over the last two days. I got to freaking out about it so I called the midwifery. Well apparently I was right to freak. Worst case scenario, I lost my mucous plug and was leaking amniotic fluid. Best case scenario I am officially incontinent and was just pissing myself. TMI, I know but that was the deal and I was very very nervous.

Well we rushed down there to the birthing center. And you should know that I sobbed uncontrollably the whole way. It's crazy how scared and worried I was. I'm only 27 weeks along... I kept saying to myself that I can't have this baby now.

Turns out it was not the worst case (not the aforementioned incontinence either). I just have a simple infection that can be fixed with a dose of antibiotics. Thank the lord.

One cool thing about today is that they hooked me up to the fetal monitor so we got to hear his little heart beating and all of his little kicks and punches and hiccups in real time. That was pretty neat. I hope I don't have to see that place again for at least another 11 weeks. At that point it will be the right time :)