Lucy's Birth Story

Since I don't want to forget a thing, this is pretty long. And has lots of pictures. But nothing too gross. 

On a dark and stormy night...no seriously, it was stormy. We were supposed to go to Craig's softball game but it got canceled so instead I sat on the couch and had Craig rub my feet. I had a few mild contractions but didn't really think the pressure point induction thing was working so I went to sleep.

At 11:55, I woke up with a contraction. It was a bit stronger than my previous ones  but wasn't awful so, after a trip to the bathroom, I headed back to bed. A little after1 am, I woke up again with a contraction. It was as if Lucy has heard it was her due date and wasn't going to miss out on the party. I pretty much knew this was it. I was already overwhelmed and just wanted to escape my body. When Craig started timing the contractions they were already about 5-7 minutes apart so we only waited about 45 minutes before calling the midwife. After he called the midwife, we worked through a couple contractions together and I learned that I really could do this. I alternated between rocking while on my hands and knees and lying on my side, both on the floor.

During a contraction


Between contractions

For Bradley folks, I really enjoy the mental techniques (rainbow, 5 senses, waterfall) and needed Craig to be gently rubbing my back most of the time. Since I had skipped early first stage labor all together, Craig had to take over being "putsy-putsy" for me and worked to get the bed all set up, things layed out and snacks ready between contractions. I tried to eat but got sick (shocking, I know!). Soon the midwife arrived and after checking our vitals, she thought we would see if I made progress. It was just before 3:30 and I was at 7 centimeters (I had been ~4cm when she checked me two weeks before). I tried to eat more to keep up my energy but again, that didn't work out so well for me. After that, I stuck with Gatorade.

By 5am, I was definitely in transition. My contractions were on top of each other and I distinctly remember telling Craig "I can't do this." He being a good Bradley coach, knew this meant we were real close to the end and got excited. I did not really find the humor in it at the time although I do know he was right.
At 5am, my midwife came back in the room. She had been coming in occasionally to check on baby's heart rate and how I was doing but pretty much left us to concentrate unless we needed her, but now she wanted me to move to the birth stool. My water still hadn't broken and she thought that was the only thing stopping us know so maybe gravity would help. Once I moved there, the contractions slowed and I knew I was close to/in 2nd stage but I still didn't feel the urge to push. Finally she broke my water (it took a little while, she said it was quite a strong sack) to see if that would give me a more definite push feeling. It didn't. Most women say they like pushing but I didn't. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing and I wasn't sure I was making progress.

We tried moving back to the floor for 20 minutes then back to the stool then back to the floor. It felt like forever but really it was only about 5:40 by this point. My midwife seemed to have a lot of confidence in me but I just didn't feel like I was doing anything. The second time we got back on the floor, she said she thought we just needed to get baby under the pubic bone so even though it's not normally a recommended position, we should try flat on my back till we get past that point. I was worried about it but trusted her knowledge and she was right, that is when I finally felt the difference between an effective push and just energy wasting. I was still a bit tired at this point but right when I needed it she suddenly said "Remember, I can do all things through Christ" and I really felt a big boost at that point. I still didn't really feel the urge to push but with that energy boost and knowing that I was doing it because I could feel Lucy progressing, I had a lot more motivation.


And just as the midwife said, once she got past the pubic bone, it only took about 6 more pushes and then, not even 6 hours after we started, Lucy was out just before 7 am. Head, then fist, then shoulders and body. I had always felt her hand moving a lot by her head so this wasn't a huge surprise but it does explain the whole stuck at the pubic bone thing although, looking back, I didn't even push for two hours so it wasn't that long at all. It just felt like it.

And then, just like my midwife said, all the pain and weakness was gone!

She went right to my chest and after a bit of whining, just started looking around. Notice the hand by the face!

After the baby emerged, the midwife immediately wrapped her up and set her on my chest, so we didn't have a chance to see the gender right away. After a minute, Craig took a look, and just as he had said he would do, he waited a moment before telling me, enjoying the exclusive knowledge he possessed. He asked me to guess, and I correctly responded "girl."

We waited for while before cutting the cord and then passed her off to dad while I got cleaned up.

I did end up with a tear. It was a little long but shallow. I think that's good for healing but it wasn't good for the moment. Apparently, even though she gave me two shots, the surface skin there is just hard to get completely numb so I pretty much felt it all. Of the whole morning, I think the stitches were the most painful.

The midwife cleaned up while Craig made us breakfast and baby and I relaxed and tried nursing. She did pretty well but after a little while started getting sleepy. Then it was time for the exam and a little clean up for Lucy. She was a happy baby up until then but did not like getting cleaned up at all, It took a while since when we unwrapped the towel we discovered she had released a flood of meconium. I almost wish we had weighed her earlier since we might have reached 8lbs with all that still in there! Not that there is anything wrong with 7lbs, 14oz. That seems like a perfect size to me.



Soon enough we had her diapered,

dressed, and swaddled up. Of course, she is a little Houdini who had her hands up again in a matter of seconds. As long as she was happy, though, that was fine with me.

Then we both took a well deserved nap.

The End!