101st Blog Post--A Birth Story

Over the course of about two years we have now posted over 100 posts!

So in honor of the event, here's a little backlog of a big event that was missed.
Claire's birth story. (That's your warning!)

There wasn't really too much to tell about the day.
It was exciting. It was fast. It was surreal.

It was the day after my written due date, and we started the day like every other day. I woke up at 7--no alarm, just a baby moving in my belly-- like I had every morning for the last several months. Peter went to work. My mom and I stayed home. It didn't take too long (maybe an hour or two) to realize that I was having contractions. It was about then that I realized that I had been having occasional Braxton Hicks contractions for a while without recognizing them. I just thought that Claire was stretching in all directions or doing jumping jacks. I had a tub of Nestle Toll House cookie dough in my fridge which my mom balled and baked while I sat around at the computer playing on FB and blogging.  At 10 I called Peter and told him to come home around 11:30 because I was having more regular contractions and thought he should stay at work as much as he could to get things done. He got home around 10:45 am. At 11:30 I was posting this to our blog about my excitement.

Before we left we of course took one last pregnancy pose picture. (It was a hot August day, I was having contractions, and carrying an extra 28 pounds--ignore the sweat!)

I had no idea what to expect. Most of the stories I had heard/read involved women who had gone to the hospital prematurely and been turned away because they weren't far enough along in their labor to be admitted so I was surprised when I called the doctor's office to tell them that I was having contractions, and they told me to go ahead and drive to the hospital. I received the return call from the doctor's office and another 20 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at about 12:30. When I got to the front desk I was offered a wheel chair to get up to the second floor, but I chose to walk because I still had about five minutes between contractions.  Before getting to the room I stopped along the way and had a few more contractions.

My "birth plan" was more like a general idea. I never really told anyone anything about what I wanted because I wasn't too particular about what happened. I was open to medication and intervention if it was necessary. So my doctor arrived just before 1 and checked me out. I was at a 4. Peter says it was 30 minutes later, but I think it was sooner (which is confirmed by this picture) that my doctor came in and broke my water to speed up the process. He had a little trouble doing it and had to try twice. This was the only thing that I wish was a little different about the whole experience. I'm sure it made everything go more quickly, but I don't know that it was actually necessary.

Whatever.
We snapped a few more pictures together because what else do you do while you're waiting for time to pass as you anxiously wait for the arrival of your very first baby?!

taken at 1:50p

taken at 2:20p

By 2:30 I was dilated to 7cm and decided to start an IV with some meds. I wanted to know what the pain was like and by the time I got this point, I felt like I had tried enough. I wasn't broken yet, but I really didn't want to know what worse felt like. So I took some medication and about 10 minutes later I threw up because I was so dizzy. I was walking around with my eyes closed to sit in the rocking chair. My mom and Peter had a good laugh at me because I was quite delirious. I don't remember too much about it. I remember that I could still feel the contractions, but I really didn't care any more. It was definitely a weird feeling being aware of my body and yet hardly noticing it at all.
Apparently I kept saying "this feels good!" Peter says I was in a "happy place."

First dose at 3:10p

Before getting another dose Peter gave me a Priesthood blessing. Once again, I don't really remember everything that happened, I was being medicated and it worked really well! ;)
So after an hour, the first dose was wearing off and the pain of contractions was coming back. I could barely walk over to the bed where I was given another dose and opted for the epidural. Now that was happy! So at 4p I had been given the epidural and was at 9 cm and Peter could see the hair on our baby's head. My mom was slightly disgusted because I was WAY too happy to be having a baby. I was just sitting there talking and laughing with Peter and my mom. Every couple of minutes I could feel a twinge in my left hip as I was having a contraction. I would say "I think I'm having a contraction right now," and then the monitor would confirm it.

At 5:00 I was 10cm dilated and 100% effaced and down to station 0. As Peter recalls, "At 6 pm, Melanie started feeling a slight need to push. The nurse showed Melanie what to do and we had a “practice push”.  I could see the baby’s hair clearly now.  The nurse said to let her know when Melanie felt a very strong need to push."

This is me right after the nurse left at 6:05p

By 6:40 I had gotten tired of waiting. I didn't particularly feel a need to push any more than I had at 6, I don't think at least. So our nurse came in, called my doctor to tell him that we were starting, and we started to push through some contractions. Peter held my hand and foot. With the first contraction I didn't push as well as the nurse seemed to think I should. I stopped pushing before I got to 10 seconds when I was supposed to break so I did 4 little pushes in one contraction. 

TMI WARNING: So the nurse suggested that we use a mirror. At the very thought of it I was really grossed out, but the nurse said that it can be encouraging seeing what your pushes are actually doing. So I said I wanted to try it and then if it was too gross, we would have her take it away. I pushed through 2 more contractions and had a lot more success because I could see my baby's head coming out. I know--it sounds really gross, but I really like seeing results!

So after 3 contractions the head was crowning very well (Peter says it was coming out about 2 cm which probably means stage 2). The nurse said we should now wait for the doctor before we push any more thinking it would take another hour of pushing before she was born. The nurse called my doctor with an update. With the next contraction, Claire was coming out! The nurse said, “don’t push!” Melanie replied, “I’m not!” Our nurse hurriedly called for the on-call OB, but not 10 seconds later Claire had slid right out into the nurse's arms. She barely made it to the end of the bed to catch my baby. No one else had even arrived yet!  One nurse came in and helped with the cleanup, and when the on-site OB came in, our baby already had a hat on!

The nurse that delivered our baby

Peter cut the cord. They gave me my baby with a blanket and hat. It happened so fast!

They were all so surprised at how fast and easy it was, especially for a first time mom. A few minutes later, our doctor arrived saying, “I don’t believe it.” He said he got a call saying the baby had been delivered, but his monitor still showed a fetal heart rate!  In 20 years, he has never seen an experience like ours. There's a word or it when 1st time moms deliver as though it was a sequential, but I don't remember what it is.

So in about 12 hours I went from being vaguely aware that I was having contractions to having a baby girl in my arms! I would suggest that everyone use an epidural. I was able to really enjoy the birth of my daughter. Sure it was "expensive," but the insurance paid for it. I was calm and enjoyed the time shared with my husband and mom before the birth of my baby without pain. 

And that is how Claire Annette was brought into the world on August 3rd, 14 months ago.