Birth Story of Titus

So I had another kid.... not that anyone on this blog would know! Something about having tons of little children running around the house that makes blogging drop to the bottom of the priority list. whatev.

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! 

Isaac's Entrance

I finally found myself a few extra minutes to write down dear Isaac's birth story....enjoy!

My first two labors/deliveries were very FAST so I was (with good reason I think) anticipating the same with this one. That said - the last 2+ weeks of my pregnancy I was very 'aware' of my body and every time I would have consistent Braxton Hicks I would worry (excited-ly of course!) that it was it and plan out how I would manage a fast delivery with 2 kids etc...

After 2 false alarms of thinking I was in labor and then it wasn't I began to throw caution to the window and 'ignore' (as much as you can) my Braxton Hicks and try to go about life as usual.

At my 39 week appointment my midwife (who was VERY surprised I hadn't delivered my baby yet!) swept my membranes (again..I had it done at 38 weeks too) and said I was dilated to 2+cm and she would be surprised if I didn't have this baby soon. Trying not to get my hopes up I went about my day - and the next day - and the next day.....

On Friday (my 39 week appointment was Wednesday) I started to spot a little...hooray! Always a good sign (it means you're dilating!) and tried again not to get my hopes up. I went about my normal Friday - went to tutor math (College Calc and Pre-Calc...no biggie in pre-labor right? ;) and came home. Around dinner time I noticed my 'Braxton Hicks' were starting to feel a little different....not harder or more painful just different. I told my mom (who was at my house watching the big boys while I tutored math) and I talked to Joe. We decided we better be safe and sent the kids home with my mom for the night...just in case. Still my Braxton Hicks/contractions weren't hurting or anything but we all knew how fast I went with the other two.

I had Joe pick up Chipotle for dinner - partially because it sounded good and partially because we have quite a few friends that swear Chipotle pushed them over the edge into labor. We enjoyed our delicious dinner and went for a walk. My non-hurting-contractions were still there about 10 minutes apart and we were just waiting for them to start hurting and get closer together. We went to bed and I told Joe I'd wake him if anything changed. I woke up quite a few times in the night to time them (still not hurting - still trying not to get my hopes up that it was the real deal) and they were still 10 minutes apart.

Fast forward to morning - we got up - got dressed - etc and headed out. Did lots of walking trying to get my contractions (that didn't hurt still) to start hurting. I think it's funny how I was trying to inflict pain on myself! We walked and walked and walked. Walked the mall - walked stairs - had an Orange Julius (MMmmm) and sat down to discus what we should do. I had been timing them on my handy iPod Touch and we reviewed the times - every 5 minutes for an hour lasting a minute each. Textbook for when to go in. We all know the 511 rule right? 5 min apart. Lasting 1 min each. For an hour? That's where I was but they still didn't HURT. I noticed them but I could still talk and walk.

We made the decision to go in and get checked *just in case* it was the real deal. I halfway thought we'd be sent home but the timing and consistency made it appear as if I was in labor.

We went to the hospital at noon and I got checked at Triage - I was FULLY EFFACED, dilated to a FOUR and baby was REALLY LOW. Ok. Good thing we went in:) I got admitted and we went to our room. I paced around the room a little and they were starting to come a little closer together - still not painful though. Right when we got admitted they had a nurse switch so we got a new nurse - our old nurse poked fun at me saying (to the new nurse) and you can't tell when I'm having a contraction except that my face gets a little red! I still was talking through them and everything. If it weren't for the monitors they had me hooked too I don't think they would've believed I was in labor! They checked me again and I was a SIX at this point.

They let me walk around with my monitors on (I had like a 3ft sq to wander in being attached) - they were monitoring baby because he wasn't showing the variation in heart rate that they wanted. His heart rate was right in the normal range (hooray!) but he wasn't showing them the increases that they wanted (like if he got excited or something). Also, when I would have a contraction his heart rate monitor would drop low - there was some question as to if the drop was HIS heart rate dropping or if the contraction made baby move so the monitor was picking up MY heart rate. Either way - they wanted to see him have some accelerations and he wasn't so I had to stay monitored. The midwife told me they would need to see 20 minutes of no decelerations and have some accelerations for me to have my desired water birth *just to be safe*. I'm cool with being safe.

So, here I am hooked up to the monitors (thankfully NOT in bed - who wants to be in bed while in labor? not me.) I decide on the birthing ball. That ball is AWESOME! I would sit on it and Joe sat next to me on a stool and my nurse (who was the BEST by the way!) on my other side watching the monitors (and me since I go so fast..) I would get a contraction - put my hand on Joe's leg - he'd put his hand on my back and I'd rock back and forth. All while having a conversation with our awesome nurse:)

I hung out on the ball for a while and chatted with Joe and our nurse. Side note: Our nurse was absolutely AMAZING! She was my age, from Australia (wonderful accent!) and a Christian! I loved how she would say "you're doing wonderful doll!" - "you're amazing dear, keep it up sweetie" all in her adorable Aussie accent!

Midwife comes in to check on us - she is amazed at what the contraction monitor is saying compared to what I am showing emotionally (being able to talk through them all still) - we chat about options and she concludes that because of the baby's heart rate we can't do my water birth. BUMMER. The pool had been filled and staring at me this whole time. So they empty the pool. The plan is after the pool is empty my midwife would come and check me and break my water if I wanted.

I tell my nurse that I'm starting to feel the urge to push with my contractions now - hooray! I'm partially in denial that I would feel that because I felt SO GOOD while I was having contractions. Still not 'hurting' in the sense that my others did and still being able to talk through them.

My midwife comes back in - I move onto the bed (boo! I hate the bed) and she checks me. I'm a NINE and my bags of water is RIGHT THERE. She breaks my water and boom I'm a TEN. First contraction after my water is broken I push with all my might and HELLO there's my baby!
Break down of the last few minutes:
6:19pm - midwife checks me - NINE cm, Breaks my water
6:22pm - FULLY DILATED TO TEN
6:24pm - contraction - PUSH - Baby's born!

so FIVE minutes on the table - not to shabby:) I pushed for one contraction (1 min) and he's here!

NO tears, NO stitches, no complaints from this mama!

I got to hold him all gooey and new for 45 minutes!! He latched on right away and nursed like a pro. He also pooped and peed on me. Rock star baby.
Whew. I loved it. Every minute of it. Call me crazy:) I felt SO in control. SO empowered. SO strong. I want to do it again...Joe thinks I'm crazy for that:) My labor never got to the point of unbearable pain. I was able to talk through my whole labor. I'm glad we went in when we did because otherwise I don't think I would have 'believed' I was in labor till it was too late.

I am so in love with my new baby. I was sad a didn't get to do a water birth but in the big picture I don't care. I had a wonderful birth experience!