I cherish the birth story that I wrote for Isaac (my third) and totally wish I had written the details of my first two births. So, naturally I'm going to write about my fourth lovely birth! If you enjoy birth stories read on...if not - why are you reading this far? weirdo.
TITUS' BIRTH
If you've read my story about Isaac's birth or ever talked to me about my labors in general you know that I go FAST. In the back of my mind I was envisioning giving birth in the Jeep or my bath tub. Seriously.
For the last two weeks or so of my pregnancy I was on high alert - just anxiously awaiting my water to break or something. Just like Isaac I had a false alarm - I thought I was in labor (and was scared to go fast) so we went in to check things out. And got sent home. BOO. I hate that.
The next day I had an appointment with my midwife (my 39 week appointment) and she was surprised I was still pregnant! As was I. She offered to sweep my membranes (don't we love that word? No, we don't) and I said "go for it".
This was on Tuesday. I went about my day. No baby.
Then came Wednesday. I went about my day. Had some contractions (just like I had been for days). Still no baby. Wednesday afternoon my mom offered to bring me with to her massage and have her lady give my feet/legs a good rub. Ummm yes.please.thankYou.
After a nice relaxing massage we went home and I noticed my contractions we 'maybe' getting different. Nothing that hurt and not close together but a tad 'different'. I didn't make a big deal of it and went about my evening. Had dinner, put the kids to bed and got cozy on the couch to watch middless TV.
Around 11pm-ish I told Joe I think it'll be tonight and that they felt a little different. They didn't hurt (at all) and weren't getting closer together but something in me said they were different. So we stayed up to monitor.
Things weren't getting harder, closer, or anything exciting. But I was getting tired. The last thing I wanted was to go to bed and then wake up having to push (and then birth a baby in bed). *Yes these are the crazy thoughts that go through my mind!*
So I phoned the midwife on call and chatted with her. We talked about how they're not hurting, not close together, blah blah BUT my history of going fast once things got rolling. We mutually decided it'd be wise for me to go in (to avoid a RUSH to the hospital if/when things picked up).
Joe and I left our house at 11:50pm with no urgency to head towards the hospital. We made two stops on the way (I wasn't in any pain at all and was actually questioning our decision to go in) and got checked in our room by 1:30am.
All settled in our room and the nurse checked me: 3cm (meh - not too far along but at least things were moving).
Joe and I hung out for a while and chatted, watched TV, passing time along... contractions still there and same distance apart.
They offered to check me again at 3am - I agreed (not anticipating much change) and I was 4cm. Meh.
During all this I was off the monitors and every-so-often they'd hook me up to check things. They started to notice that Baby's heartbeat would drop during a contraction.
My midwife offered to break my water since it was RIGHT.THERE. and we both knew that it'd get things rolling.
I pondered it and agreed. Let's do this.
At 6:00am my midwife broke my water (hello gush!) with me on monitors - they wanted to keep an eye on Baby's heart rate since it was still dropping with contractions.
To aid Baby's heart rate they had me lay on my side and gave me a mask to hold with yummy oxygen...Mmmm. They also decided to give me an IV of fluids to help Baby - I don't like IV's. Bleh.
All this is happening and I'm chilling on my side. Then I have a contraction that HURTS. Ouch. Here's a glimpse in my brain:
Contraction ONE: "That hurt. I hope they all don't feel like that now!"
Contraction TWO: "Crap. It still hurts....Is that pressure already???"
Contraction THREE: "YES that is pressure! Tell them now!!!"
"Ummm I have pressure already - should I push??" I ask my midwife....
"Sure sweetie, you can push if you feel like it. Listen to your body" says my wonderful midwife.
Contraction FOUR: (feel the pressure and PUSH) "I AM POOPING!" I yell. Totally serious I said that. Kinda embarrassing now but it was funny at the moment.
My midwife senses my urgency about being uncomfortable with pooping on the table decides to take a look and says:
"Sweetie, that's the baby - you're not pooping! Let's turn you over and do this!"
What? Ok. I turn to my back and push (and vocalize...ie: yell) - they ask me to take a breath (to unwrap his cord I later discover) and then push out his body.
They put my lovely, gooey baby on me! Ack! What? Didn't she just break my water??
Here's a breakdown for you to prove that I go fast:
6:00am Break my water (I was a 5cm/6cm)
6:38am I proclaim "I'm pooping!"
6:39am Titus is BORN!
Ha. Good thing my water didn't break at home.
It was perfect. No tears, no stitches, minimal bleeding. THREE intense contractions. Not bad at all! I felt absolutely AWESOME after. I become a chatty chic after giving birth and am soooo hyper! I love the endorphins you get from the rush of it all - crazy I know.
There you have it! I'm glad we decided to go in when we did - I'm not a fan of the fast-drive-to-hospital deals. My midwife was joking with me that I didn't give her a chance to scrub up for delivery I was so fast! She never checked me to see if I was 'ready' or complete - I love that she just lets me trust my body.
We're adjusting to our family of SIX well - the big boys love their littlest team member!
