When I went for my first midwife appointment (Alta View Nurse Midwives is an awesome office, if anyone is interested...), the midwife let me know that she had just been to a conference where they talked about close subsequent pregnancies leading to possible early deliveries. That was a little unnerving at the time, so I filed that information away and starting preparing myself for being ready a month early.
Over UEA weekend, October 15-18, I made sure that the baby's room was ready and I had the car seat out and set-up. The next weekend, I pulled in all the clothes (focusing on the newborn stuff and boys stuff--see our other blog's post, "GIRLS", for more on that subject--warning, it's a bit raw) and by Halloween I was totally ready with a bag packed and everything.
It was a good thing, because that night before, at about 36 1/2 weeks, I started having regular contractions. The midwife had told me to not worry about coming in until they were about five minutes apart for about an hour. I was up for about three hours monitoring the contractions, but they stayed pretty consistently about 6-7 minutes apart and not really strong. But it gave me hope that things would happen sooner than later.
Because I am with the midwifes and they want to be as un-intrusive as possible, they don't check your dilation progress until 38/39 weeks unless they feel it is medically necessary. By my check-up (37 weeks) on Monday, I had not had any more bouts of regular contractions, so they didn't check me. I was disappointed, but at the same time, it was probably good because I didn't want to start getting my hopes up or be disappointed again. So, I left reluctantly making an appointment for the next Monday and hoping that I wouldn't have to come for it.
By this point, everyone was anxious for this baby to come. We all wanted to know whether it was a boy or a girl, my sisters and mother-in-law were sick of being "on-call" during the night, and specifically, my sister, Melanie, had a specific window of time that she was off work that she would be able to come up from Las Vegas to be here for the birth and helping time after, and my parents were going to be in Utah for a set period of time as well. I was probably most anxious of all. As those of you who have been through pregnancy can attest, the last few weeks tend to be a bit miserable. Since I hadn't gotten that far with Stella, I had forgotten how rotten they truly are! So I was more than ready for baby to come. Lilly was anxious as well and kept asking when it would come. I finally had to say, "You'll have to ask Heavenly Father about that one, because I have no idea!" We did have fun doing things to prepare for baby to come, though.
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| This is now my favorite family picture. Sorry, it's not the best quality picture. Lilly had originally drawn just the bottom three figures (Mommy, with new baby in her tummy, Lilly and Daddy) when I asked if that was all. She immediately responded, "Oh no. I forgot Stella!" So she added the "heaven" and Stella, in her pretty dress. |
I texted Mel, as soon as they started getting more regular (4-5 minutes apart) and she said that she would start heading up, called Pret (he had said the only way I could CALL him was if I was in labor), warned my teaching friends, and went home ready to head to the hospital. When I let another friend know, she agreed to bring us some dinner and take Lilly for the night. It was nice to not have to worry about Lilly and know that she was in good hands. I kept monitoring and the contractions were regular, but not horribly strong. I called the midwife on-call and she said to go take a bath and see what happened.
Unfortunately, that was the contraction-killer. They slowed and eventually dissipated. We headed to bed about 10:00, not knowing what the night would bring. About an hour later, I was awakened to Melanie getting to our house--much earlier than expected. When I had called her earlier, she was already on her way! Stinker... Soon after she got there, my contractions picked back up and, though not as frequent, were much more intense for about two hours, but then they went away, too. Melanie was great to be up with me as I bore through those contractions. Eventually, we realized we were both tired and things were not going anywhere, so we went to bed. And that was the end of that.
Because I hadn't really slept that night, I asked my partner to teach for me the next day, (November 7th.) I went shopping with Mel to try to get the contractions going again, but to no avail. Mel took Lilly to the zoo while I took a nice nap that afternoon and then we all went to my niece and nephews' musical that night. Lilly was a pain, but they did a wonderful job!
Finally, on Monday, I got to go to the midwife again, and because I was at 39 weeks, she did check me. She said I was at a good 3+ and 75-80% effaced. That was good to hear--at least my contractions were doing something for me! But it wasn't quite enough to give me hope that this baby would be coming any time soon.
I won't bore you with the details of the next week, but I did MANY things to try to get my contractions going... ;-) I would have spurts of strong ones, but nothing major or consistent. I finally had to tell myself that the Lord had a plan for the delivery of this baby and, as in many other areas of life, I just needed to be patient and let His will be worked out. I didn't quite delete the contraction-monitoring apps from my phone, but I pretty much quit using them--they were causing me more stress than comfort. I just started going with the flow and enjoying the time with having my family close by. Everyone was spoiling us with their marvelous cooking. It was great! My dad was able to get a few maternity pictures (and a few cute ones of Lilly), which we were not sure was going to happen...
Finally, after having to have the midwifes send a "sick note" to my HR department to excuse me from being at work when I was still with child, and repeats at church to the point where people were accusing me of "crying wolf," I had my 40 week appointment on Monday, November 17th. I posted on Facebook that morning that I would have bet against me being at home without a baby on that day. My appointment was at 11:30. Melanie and Lilly went with me and Pret had planned on coming, too, but he was a little late getting off work.
On the way to the appointment, I actually started having somewhat regular contractions for the first time in a few days. They were a regular 6-7 minutes apart and fairly intense. That was a really good sign! We got there and everyone was surprised that I was actually there. Jackie was the midwife there and after they did all the vitals, she checked me and declared that I was a 5+ with 90-95% effacement. I was so excited! I asked, "What will it take to get me downstairs?" (My midwife office is the floor above the maternity floor.) She said, "A little bit of time on the breast pump or your water breaking...!" "Done!" I replied. Jackie said, "I am afraid if I send you home and your water breaks, you will deliver on the speed bumps in the parking lot." So she went and called downstairs to make sure that they had room for me. In that time, Pret got there and was there when she returned to say that they had the room. YEAH!!!!
So, the phone calls/texting began to tell Brenda, Shannon and my parents (among other people who were anxiously waiting to hear an update...) that I was staying at the hospital. I also had to figure out a way to get little to her play date with a friend that she had been anxiously awaiting for the last 5 days. I don't think even knowing that I was having the baby that day would have been a good enough substitute for going over to his house. Kind of crazy! My dad was kind enough to take over the feeding/delivery of Lilly and things were good.
It was kind of weird to be going down there when I wasn't "in labor," but at the same time and knowing my statistics, I realized that I truly had been in labor for about a week. I had requested a room with a bathtub so I could sit in there if I wanted to relax for a little bit, but when she showed me to the room, it didn't have one, so we moved down the hall a little bit. I was soon settled in and Pret even gave Lilly a play-by-play of the nurse starting my IV. She was seriously fascinated by the whole process. It was so cute. Brenda brought sandwiches for Pret and Mel, Shannon brought drinks, and everyone brought a fun attitude.
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| So grateful I had both of my sisters present for this one! |
Jennifer was the midwife on call, so she was the one who started working with me through delivery. She does not have regular office hours, so I had never had an appointment with her, but I had randomly met her the week before as I was leaving my appointment and we had talked on the phone a few times, so I was totally comfortable working with her. She was awesome, checking in with me and getting me in a good place mentally and physically. She connected really well with all the family members as well.
She set me up doing some stimulation with the breast pump, but at one point, the baby's heart rate dropped because it put me into a constant contraction, so they made me take a break from that for about an hour. This was at about 2:00. After that hour, Jennifer asked what I wanted to do, as my contractions hadn't really increased in intensity or rate. We talked about breaking my water. I knew from Lilly, that once that happened, things definitely got going! So I agreed.
Jennifer broke my water at about 3:15. There were plenty of crochet hook jokes going around the room--it was fun. I wasn't quite sure what to expect after that, so we just began the waiting game. We didn't have to wait too long, though. The contractions definitely increased. I had to go to the bathroom a few times, used the kidney ball (like a double-bump yoga ball), and enjoyed Jennifer's constant attention as I was laboring.
Contractions were starting to get to the point where I couldn't talk through them, but still weren't quite as frequent as we would have liked, so Jennifer recommended that I go for a walk. This was at about 4:10. Shannon and Jennifer decided to go with me, leaving Pret, Melanie, Brenda, and my mom in the room. Dan wandered into the room while I was gone and my dad was sitting in the hallway editing pictures on his computer with his camera close at hand.
They hooked up a wireless monitor to me and away we went. Well, kind of, I did have a contraction in the doorway of my room on the way out. It was a pretty good one. That was a great sign! The maternity floor is kind of a figure 8 shape with the nurses' station at the joint and total about 75 yards from one end to the other. We were at one end of the eight and about 15 feet beyond the nurses' station, I had another pretty good contraction. We kept going at a slow but steady pace. We were coming back to the center (it didn't technically go all the way around) and I was just telling Jennifer about how quickly my urge to push comes on. We were laughing about that as we had to make the decision to go left to go back to the room or right to make another loop. As I hadn't had a contraction in about 5 minutes (that's about how long it had taken to do the loop), I decided to go around again.
So right we went. I got to about the same spot as the last contraction when another contraction hit. I could tell it was going to be a good one as soon as it hit. I leaned on Shannon for support and closed my eyes. That was the last time I saw light for a few minutes. As the contraction progressed, I definitely felt the urge to push, but I thought it was the urge to poop, as I was slightly constipated and with Lilly, I pooped lots during active labor. But as the urge continued and strengthened, I realized that I was pushing the baby. My dad, from the other end of the hallway, took a picture right about this time--significant to know... As I had left to walk, they fitted me with the lovely mesh underwear and a pad to catch any more leaking fluid. It is a darn good thing, because that is what caught Naomi's head. I was screaming at this point and letting everyone know that I was pushing. Jennifer started to panic a little bit. She checked and stated indeed that the head was out!
My nurse had started down the hall when she realized what was happening. I heard later that Pret and Melanie were trying to figure out whether they needed to come or not, and when the nurse went running out of the room, they followed suit. Jennifer asked if I could walk to the room I was next to (which, incidentally, they had JUST finished cleaning from the previous delivery), but I was in a frozen trance. I couldn't do ANYTHING! So my nurse scrambled and found a wheelchair and they instructed me to sit. I did and they got me in the doorway of the room when the next contraction hit. by this time I realized that Melanie and Pret were there. Jennifer asked me if I could move to the bed and I again declined. She had to get me out of the chair as I couldn't spread my legs far enough apart within the confines of the wheelchair. All of a sudden, I felt myself being lifted and realized that Pret, Mel, and Shannon were holding me. Jennifer told me to push, but I was partially in shock, so I couldn't, and in my head I thought, "This is too soon, I can't push yet!" Jennifer had to yell at me, "Megan, PUSH!" I did, and out slid our baby.
That was the first moment that I opened my eyes since the contraction started in the hall! I saw Jennifer hold up my baby to show Pret the gender, but didn't see what it was. He didn't say anything... I guess he walked around to get another look, because it took a minute for him to announce that it was a GIRL! We were both shocked. He literally had to take another look to believe it. That is a whole different story, but needless to say, we were not expecting a third girl! (You can read a bit more about this on our other blog--it's a bit raw, though...) But Naomi came out crying and healthy.
The nurse said that it had been 7 minutes since the contraction I had in the doorway of my room and my dad said that it had only been about 2 1/2 minutes between that last contraction (where he took the picture) and the time he took a picture of Naomi on my chest.
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| "THE contraction" that started it all... |
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| The first look at my beautiful girl. |
I got to hold her on my chest while Pret cut the cord and they did their initial check. I looked around the room, and sorry to be so blunt, said, "What the h**l just happened?" I was still a little dazed, but happy beyond belief. She was finally here! Then they took her to do the vitals while I was finally moved to the bed! :-) She came out at 4:20 p.m. weighing a healthy 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 21 inches long! Crazy little thing. I was still a little bit shaky, but happy and relieved and thankful to be able to sit back for a minute. As they brought her to me, I immediately noticed that she had a red tint to her hair and big bluish eyes (as opposed to Lilly and Stella who had definitely dark, brownish eyes at birth). It was wonderful to hold a happy, healthy baby in my arms once more.
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| Daddy loves all his little girls! |
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| The photographer on the other side of the camera! |
It was a whirl-wind to tell people that she was born. Most people were a little confused when they realized that we had either 1) JUST told them that we at the hospital or 2) not even told them at all. And we were definitely the talk of the nurses' station for the next few days as our story was told to shocked ears; it is not very often that you have someone who has been admitted to the hospital deliver a baby in the "hallway!"
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| Pret and his mom texting people to tell them of Naomi's arrival! |
Our friends, "Big Naomi" (yes, "little Naomi's namesake) and Ambree went to pick Lilly up from her playdate and get her ready to bring to the hospital. Earlier in the month, taking after Daniel Tiger's experience, Lilly and I had made a "big sister badge" and Naomi had helped Lilly make a big sister shirt, so when Lilly arrived, everyone knew just who she was! She was so excited to wear them both and come to see her new sister. For the days leading up to it, she often inquired if she would be able to come hold the new baby at the hospital, like she did Stella. We are so glad that the flu season had not yet hit our hospital so we were able to have that happen. I hope that Lilly will be able to experience that with all her siblings (if there are more to come...). I think the picture is pretty self-explanatory as to how Lilly felt when meeting her sister.
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| Notice Lilly's badge and shirt! |
Even almost two months later, it is crazy to me to relate this birth story. I thought I had pretty good stories for Lilly and Stella's births, but Naomi had to make hers special, too. She took a while deciding to come, but once she did, she was ready! She is a joy in my life, and everyone around her. She is already sleeping through the night, for the most part, and Lilly still loves her (probably a little too much!) Thanks again to my dad (www.roberts-imaging.com) for being present and willing to document this incredible experience.
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| 5 days old |
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| 5 days old |
