The birth story of Annabel Sofia

Birth stories--they come in all flavors.  This one is like a double scoop of grateful sprinkled with a bit of humiliation.

I planned this birth around my sister Megan's work schedule.  Megan is a CRNA and gives epidurals at the hospital where I choose to deliver.  I choose to deliver there because my sister works there so all the nurses treat me like a VIP.  I had planned to self-induce with castor oil on March 10 and have the baby March 11, when Megan was working.  It was a Friday that Timothy had off work, so it would have been perfect.  Then I decided that I couldn't be pregnant one second longer and took castor oil on March 5th (a Saturday) so I could deliver on Sunday, March 6th, when Megan was working.

I took two tablespoons of castor oil around 3:00 pm and nothing happened.  Nada.   At 9:00 pm, I took one more tablespoon.  Then I went to bed.  From midnight to 3:00 am I had mild contractions--just enough to wake me up, but not enough to warrant getting out of my nice warm bed.  Then the contractions went away.  I woke up at 8:00 am with stronger contractions and I thought, "Wahoo--baby time!"  We forewent any idea of going to church and Timothy timed the contractions for me while I wandered around taking care of kids and making breakfast--trying to keep moving.  The contractions came between five and ten minutes apart, but they never got stronger or closer together and within two hours they disappeared altogether. 

That made me grumpy so I took to my bed and enjoyed a contraction-free two hour nap.

When I got up at 1:00 pm, there was no sign of anything happening.  I pretty much gave up at that point and decided that my body wasn't ready for labor.  I had never tried to self-induce before ten days before my due date, and this was 16 days before due date.  I started making lunch.

I had the potatoes peeled and was working on cutting up some onions and green peppers when a major contraction hit out of nowhere.  I squatted next to the counter and couldn't quite get a handle on the contraction because it was so unexpected--so I ended up crying a bit and gasping a bit and otherwise sounding distressed.  Miriam came in from the music room and asked if I was alright.  I told her to get Timothy and she streaked off calling for her dad in a very concerned tone.  Her tone brought all the children running and pretty soon I was being patted and rubbed and consoled by numerous upset children.  They were so sweet and so concerned.  It was a moment I will treasure.

Timothy arrived a few moments later and asked me if I was okay.  I told him to call his mom to come watch the kids--it was time to go to the hospital.

Timothy moved fast.  Maybe the result of arriving at the hospital in the nick of time with both Oskar and Clover?  He told me to get my sandals on and head to the van.  I protested and told him to give me a blessing.  He walked with me to the dining room, waited for me to sit down, gave me a thirty second blessing (a sincere one!) and then shooed me toward the van again.

I hate having the hardest contractions in the van; you can't squat and nobody is applying counter-pressure. Ouch.

Timothy dropped me off at the hospital entrance and then went and parked.  The welcome lady directed me to the Emergency Room entrance to get admitted but I was not cooperative with that plan.  I headed straight up to labor and delivery instead.  Timothy met me at the top of the stairs and together we made it to the nurses' station--where we found no nurses.  Eventually a nursery nurse walked over and said that there had been no deliveries all day and then right before we arrived they had three other patients arrive--two needing emergency c-sections.  The nurse took us to a room and gave me a gown, but she looked pretty lost as she didn't work in labor and delivery.  I told her we were fine, that we'd done this before, and to tell Megan (who was in one of the c-sections) that her sister had arrived.

I was in the bathroom changing into my gown when Megan arrived on the scene with her favorite nurse and buddy, Amy, with her.  Amy had been on-call and was called in when I arrived.  Yay!  She was my nurse with Clover.  Megan was . . . intense . . . because she needed to get right back to the c-section.  She said she could give me an epidural RIGHT THEN but not a minute later.  Amy checked my dilation and declared I was at a 9+ with the baby's head down very, very low.  I dithered.  Epidural when I was that close??  It seemed foolish.  Megan was anxious to get back to the c-section.  I opted to not get the epidural.

Megan left.  I crouched by the side of the bed during contractions.  Timothy applied counter-pressure (he's really good at that), and Amy bustled around getting the room ready.  My doctor poked his head in and asked me how I was and then went somewhere else to wait until I felt pushy.  He said I could still have an epidural.  The thought lingered.

I had two different visions for this delivery.  I either wanted to arrive at the hospital early enough to get an epidural and not do any of the really painful stuff--transition and delivery or I wanted to push without telling anyone I was pushing so nobody would tell me when or how to push and I could do it on my own.  I really dislike directed pushing.  I was also really tired of things hurting.

Amy, the nurse, told me that she could still get Megan to give me an epidural because my water hadn't broken.  If she and the doctor hadn't brought it up again, I probably would have gone natural.  But the real deciding moment came when I was squatting next to the bed, Timothy pushing on my back, and I pushed a little.  I felt myself completely open up and I could feel baby's head right there.  I knew I could push her out right then, with no one the wiser, as I could reach down and catch her myself.  It was exactly what I had wanted.

I stopped pushing and told Amy to find Megan to see if she could give me an epidural.  And that is what happened.  Megan was found, she gave me an epidural (poor Timothy--the man does not like needles), when I was already dilated to a ten.  Why did I go that route??  I still can't pinpoint exactly what I was thinking or why.  One push and it would have been over.  No catheter, no numbness, no getting help to go to the bathroom.  I just plain wimped out, I guess. 

Megan had to go to another c-section, so I only waited ten minutes and then pushed so Megan could see Annabel be born.  It still hurt, but so much less than delivering without an epidural.  Megan, Amy, and doctor all said push, then quickly reversed themselves and told me to stop pushing.  She really was right there.  One push and her head was out.  Megan said, "That doesn't look like a Young baby," so I knew she didn't have red hair.  Megan cut the cord (that was awesome) and the doctor handed me Annabel--who was and is perfect.  Beautiful.  Soft.  Lovely.  I was so happy to lay there and hold her.

Well, happy until it became apparent that the placenta was not cooperating.  It wouldn't detach.  Visions of Miriam's delivery swam through my head--the hemorrhaging and lights and people looking panicked and the incredible pain of having a doctor's hand inside me pulling the placenta out.

I had a better doctor this time, or I was blessed from on high.  My doctor shoved on my stomach for the next hour before deciding the placenta wasn't ever going to come out.  At that point, I figured Timothy could be somewhere else so I let the nursery nurse take Annabel to get her bath and sent Timothy along with the camera.  Then the doctor pulled out this crazy long, nasty looking tool called, weirdly enough, a banjo, and scraped my uterus.  Fortunately, he was able to get the placenta to come out intact and because of the epidural it was only uncomfortable instead of excruciating.  I am so, so, so, so, so grateful I got the epidural.  Best decision ever.  I also didn't start hemorrhaging, which was another blessing.

In short, the delivery went as perfectly as possible under the circumstances.  My uterus didn't hurt afterwards nearly as much as I thought it would considering the abuse it received and my bleeding stayed normal.  Most importantly, Annabel was a healthy 6'13 and didn't have any problems.