When I was close to the end of my pregnancy with Laura, I realized that I never wrote down Oliver’s birth story. So, about 3 months ago I finally wrote it down. And since today is my second son’s birthday, I thought I’d share it. Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet boy!
On Wednesday, September 16, 2009 I went to my dr’s appointment in the morning. I saw my favorite midwife at the practice I go to. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her, on the verge of tears, that I was pretty miserable. It was hot out, my feet were swollen, I was tired, and I could barely walk around anymore because of sciatica nerve pain on my left side. I was just a little over 38 weeks pregnant and only dilated about 1 cm and 50% effaced at the time. She told me I had a while to go, but she’d see what she could do by stripping my membranes. We joked about the possibilities of me rushing to the hospital later that day, but before I left the office, she said “See you next week!” and I made sure to schedule my next appointment.
Then I went work, feeling miserable as I tried to walk up and down the stairs to the different classrooms. I even talked to the girl who was going to be my long term substitute about leaving her a schedule and materials on Friday in a specific place, just in case I go into labor over the weekend (which I wasn’t planning on doing!).
I came home, cooked dinner, played with the boys, and stated feeling slight contractions after putting them in bed. I was emailing a friend of mine about how I was feeling. I told her I was having contractions but I didn’t think they were serious enough just yet. We joked around about me not making it to the hospital in time, but I told her that this was probably just pre-labor stuff.
The contractions never stopped. Fred decided to go to bed around 11, but I decided I’d stay up and wait out the contractions. By midnight I went in to wake him up and pack my bag; contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart and starting to get pretty uncomfortable. I called my sister, woke her up, and asked her to come over and stay with Calvin. Once she got to the house, around 12:45 a.m. Fred and I left for the hospital.
We got to the hospital and they admitted me. I was 6 cm dilated and I made sure to tell the triage staff that this was my second pregnancy and that my first labor was fairly quick (less than 5 hours!). So they took me to a room and thank goodness it had a labor tub in it, even though it seemed that the hospital was full of laboring moms that night.
At first I was hooked up to the fetal monitor, but as soon as I could, I made sure I got in the tub. Being in warm water made the contractions bearable; I had some back labor, but the warm water was soothing and kept my belly buoyant, so as not to add pressure. I just took each contraction one at a time, breathing slowly and deeply through each one and then forgetting about the pain after it passed.
I stayed in the tub for a few hours while Fred sat by my side cracking jokes or just holding my hand. He was great; got me water when I asked, rubbed my back, and kept my mind off the pain of the contractions. Just as things had been when I was in labor with Calvin, everything was very relaxed and low-key. The nurse stayed in the room most of the time while Fred and I did our thing.
The midwife on call, Nadia, had a student of midwifery (is that the term?) with her. They were both in and out of the room for the first few hours because there were a few other moms having their babies at the same time. But once I started feeling pressure to push (and it was my call to get out, gotta love the ease of “trusting” ones own body and being allowed to trust it by medical professionals), I got out of the tub. By this time the other moms must have had their babies, because Nadia and her student were back and didn’t leave as much. After getting out of the tub, I had just gotten into bed. Fred stayed right by my side, offering encouragement, rubbing my back and shoulders, and still cracking his goofy jokes. Nadia suggested some different positions for me to try, like squatting and leaning over the bed on all 4 limbs to ease some of the pressure on my back. These helped a little, but not as much as being in the tub had.
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. Soon I was cleared to push. Nadia did have to break my water this time (just as I had to have done with Calvin). And while this time I was prepared for the “ring of fire” it still was a bit painful! but I pushed a couple times and Oliver’s head appeared. Then Nadia had me stop pushing because Oliver’s cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulder. She ended up having to give me a slight episiotomy to get his head and shoulders out safely, but it only took a couple of minutes and a couple more pushes to have my baby. And of course he was perfect. Now, the mid-wife student had kind of hung back and let Nadia do most of the work, especially with Oliver’s cord being wrapped around him, but she grabbed the scissors to cut the cord! Thankfully Nadia and the nurse stopped her before she did it, so Fred could do his daddy duty.
Once I had had a few moments with Oliver, they cleaned him up, examined him, and then brought him back. He latched and nursed like a champ and we, along with Fred, started getting better acquainted.
The second time around my recovery was much faster. I was up and walking and not sore at all by the next day. In fact, the dr at the hospital and the pediatrician both suggested I and Oliver could leave a day early, but I was terrified to go home to 2 babies under 2 years old just yet. So I stayed the full length of time at the hospital. But looking back on it now, I probably would have gotten more sleep if I’d have gone home a day early. However, I am glad that I got to spend a lot of quiet time with just Oliver before coming home and adjusting to life with 2 very busy boys under 2 years old.
Oliver the newborn.
Oliver has grown so much in two years. He’s such a joy to have in our family. Both Fred and I were nervous about having another child so soon after having our first, but now, we know we are so lucky to have our Oliver!
Oliver at 2, eating pb&j!
Riding with Grandpop!
