Annie's Birth Story

Consider yourself warned, I'm going to tell it like it really is!

After my doctor appointment last Wednesday, I had a feeling I'd be going into labor soon. I spent Thursday finishing up a few things around the house. Friday evening after the Gent got home from work we went for a walk and then out for pizza. I went to sleep around 10pm, thinking maybe something was starting to happen. I started having menstrual-type cramps around midnight and I thought that was probably the beginning of labor. I slept off and on till 6am, then decided I couldn't sleep anymore. I caught up on my email, read blogs, and did my Bible study through Monday morning. About 7am I called my doula, Laurie, and talked with her a while, then I called my mom and the Gent's mom to let them know I was in what I thought was early labor. I baked cookies for the nurses and finished packing for the hospital, then took a shower.

By this point it was 9am and I had felt more than a few contractions. I was definitely having to breathe through them - I pretty much went from menstrual-type cramps straight into fairly painful contractions. The Gent and I decided it was time to start timing them. Five minutes apart, fifteen minutes apart, four minutes apart, five minutes apart, ten minutes apart, three minutes apart - no real discernible pattern was emerging but I was no longer in any doubt that this was the real thing. I called my doula back, trying to decide if it was time for her to come. I had a contraction while we were on the phone, and she said "I'm coming, I'll be there in five minutes." My mom called while I was waiting for Laurie and I said "I don't think I can do this." (The first of many times I would repeat that phrase!)

Laurie and Mom arrived around 10am and the Gent and I were glad to see them. Contractions were coming every few minutes. We tried different positions; I was having some back pain and it was difficult to rest between contractions. I labored on the birth ball, leaning against the mantle and swaying, in child's pose, and kneeling next to the couch. I tried lying on my left side for one contraction and it was very painful. I quickly decided it was much better to be up and able to rock or sway and have someone rub my back or shoulders. I have no idea how many contractions I had or how long they were lasting, I was focused on breathing through each one and trying to remind myself each contraction was bringing me closer to meeting my baby. About noon I started feeling like it was about time to head to the hospital. We loaded up and off we went.

I had three or four contractions in the car, and was completely focused on breathing through each one and not tensing up. We pulled up to the hospital entrance and I went inside. The triage nurse (a man, what does he know?) says, "what is the problem?" Laurie walked in at that moment and said "she's in labor!!!" By that point I was having another contraction. I leaned against his desk and swayed while he asked me a couple of questions and found my pre-registration. Then he said a nurse would take me to labor and delivery. She was the only unpleasant person we encountered. She wanted me to sit in a wheelchair and I point-blank refused. There was no way I could handle another contraction sitting down! Laurie and I just started walking to labor and delivery and the nurse followed us. I had another contraction in the elevator. The doors opened and I was still breathing through the end of the contraction. The nurse announced to the floor "She refused to get in a wheelchair!" The labor and delivery nurses didn't pay any attention to her, they just told me which room to walk to.

Once we got to my room I had a couple more strong contractions. I just leaned on the bed and swayed while Laurie rubbed my shoulders and the Gent kept encouraging me and telling me I was doing a wonderful job. I got into bed so the nurse could check my progress. I saw this very strange look cross her face. Then she said "you're nine and a half centimeters!" I can't tell you how excited we all were to hear this!!!

There were three or four nurses in my room at this point, it was about 1pm. They were all so impressed with how calm and controlled I was and couldn't believe I was nine and a half centimeters and not screaming for pain medication. The doctor on call came in to meet me and prayed with us. I asked him to go ahead and break my water, there wasn't any going back at this point. After another couple of contractions I was fully dilated and they told me I could push. But I had no real desire to push. :)

I tried a couple of times but I really didn't want to do it. (Pushing was the one part of labor I really wasn't looking forward to. I wasn't worried about handling the pain of contractions, I just didn't want to push and tear and all that. But of course eventually I did anyway, the baby had to come out!) I decided to rest through some contractions, which were coming more slowly and were less intense. I just hummed my way through them and let the baby labor down a bit. After about 30 minutes of that, I still wasn't feeling any strong urge to push. Baby's heartbeat was dropping just a little bit, though, and we knew she had swallowed some meconium, so at 2pm I decided it was time to just get that baby out of there. She wasn't going to come without me pushing, no matter how much I wanted her to!

So I got into my squatting position and started pushing. I had a support person on each side of me, I honestly can't remember who it was! The Gent, Laurie, and Mom - two of them supporting me and the other coaching me to breathe and bear down. I had thought I wouldn't want directed pushing, but since I didn't have the urge to push I needed someone telling me what to do. After pushing with a few contractions I could feel baby coming down. The nurses and doctor started scrambling around, I pushed a couple more times, the contraction ended and I kept pushing, I just wanted her to be here!

And at 2:25pm she was!

I got a quick peek at her lying under me while the doctor quickly clamped the cord and they rushed her over to the warmer, where three nurses went to work suctioning her airways and getting her to breathe. It took a few minutes and was scary for me, I could see them with oxygen but couldn't really tell what was going on. Mom stood with her and kept telling me she was fine. After about two minutes she started crying and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Meantime, the doctor was busy at work banking our cord blood (we donated it to a public bank) and then started putting me back together. By then I had Annie on my chest and was just enjoying her. I did need some stitches and unfortunately we had a rather difficult time getting my bleeding to stop. Six hours, three bags of pitocin, two shots of something in each thigh, eight more pills of something, an ultrasound, and bloodwork later, they finally got the bleeding slowed down to a reasonable amount. I came very close to needing a blood transfusion but thankfully was able to avoid it.

The Gent and I stayed in my LDR room the first night, so the nurses could keep a close eye on me. I was pretty dizzy and definitely not up to moving around on my own. We enjoyed showing Annie off to all our gathered family - I'm so glad they were there to welcome her to the world!

Annie's birth was surrounded in prayer and we felt so supported. We were blessed with a wonderful Christian doctor and awesome nurses. After we were finally stabilized and the doctor came to check me one more time, he held Annie and prayed over her life. Later that evening all four of her grandparents gathered around us and each prayed for her future. The Gent and I are so excited to watch her grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

A few notes about natural childbirth - first off, it really was not that bad, I promise. My labor was intense but that also meant it was short. I would put the pain at 7 on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being unbearable. Obviously it wasn't unbearable because women around the world accomplish childbirth without drugs. However, if I had been in a hospital for most of my labor, it would have been much harder to do. Staying home definitely helped, because lying in a hospital bed led to very painful contractions. Also, I had lots and lots of support and encouragement from the Gent, my mom, and my doula. Whenever I said I can't do this, or started losing my focus, or forgetting to breathe, they were right there with me to provide reassurance, comfort, encouragement, or boss me around a bit if I needed it! Overall, I enjoyed natural birth because I was in control at all times. I didn't have to worry about side effects of drugs on baby. I would have had a quick recovery if it hadn't been for the bleeding, and that would have happened regardless of drugs. I would definitely do it over again. Not tomorrow. Maybe in a few years.