I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and post about the birth of our newest little addition. We are so happy that she's finally here and have been enjoying her so much!
{9 days old}
Here is the story of how she got here...
On Sunday night, December 8th, I started to suspect that I might be leaking amniotic fluid. This wasn’t really a surprise to me, since I had no amniotic fluid left with Evan or Ellie. It seems like that’s just kind of what my body does in preparation for birth. This time, though, I figured I should mention it to the midwife since I was GBS+. I knew that it is considered risky to have the water break (or leak) and not go into labor (it increases the risk of infection).
On Monday morning, I called my midwife, Kat. She said it did sound like my water broke. She came by around six that evening and basically performed the prenatal exam that I would have had at my scheduled appointment the next morning (blood pressure, pulse, temperature, listening to baby, etc...). Everything was great and normal. After the exam, we moved on to the issue of the amniotic fluid leak. The nitrizine test was positive for amniotic fluid, confirming that my water did indeed break. Kat informed
me that I basically had 72 hours to go into labor on my own or I would have to go to the hospital! Not only that, but the 72 hours was starting from 2:30am the previous morning (when I had first felt the most obvious leaking). At this news, I started to freak out just a little bit.
Kat wasn’t concerned at all. She was convinced that I would go into labor in that window of time, most likely within the next 24 hours. I wasn’t so sure, however. With Asher and Ellie, I had contractions for several days before anything real happened and I hadn’t started experiencing that yet. Besides that, it was still 5 days before my due date and I was sure that I wouldn’t go into labor that early (Ellie was eight days late).
I would need antibiotics at least four hours before the baby was born (because I was GBS+), but because of Ellie’s alarmingly quick arrival, we were a little bit worried about having that done in time. At Kat’s suggestion, we planned to have her come back around midnight to administer the
antibiotic in case I went into labor that night (something she was predicting was likely happen). Until then, I was supposed to relax (ha!) and Ben massaged the acupressure points on my feet and shoulders that can help to trigger labor. That night at 11:40, Kat gave me the antibiotic through an
IV, and then we went to bed. I had only been
asleep for about an hour when my contractions woke me up just after 1:00 am. They
were about seven or eight minutes apart and somewhat painful. It wasn’t
anything to wake Ben up for, but I knew it was the real deal and that my
midwife had been right. I would be having this baby soon!
I got NO sleep that night. My contractions were too strong
to sleep through. I spent the entire night timing them and worrying…. When should I wake Ben? When should we start filling the birth tub?
When should I call the midwife? With Ellie, everything happened so fast and I was worried about waiting
too long this time. On the other hand, it was the middle of the night, so I didn't want to wake everyone up too early either.
As the night progressed, my contractions got stronger and
stronger, but not closer together. I finally got to the point where, even
though the contractions were still about seven minutes apart, they were so
strong that I knew we needed to get up and start preparing. I finally woke Ben
at about 5:00 am and he started filling the tub. We had set it up earlier in the week, so it was all ready to go… it just needed water.
Around 5:30, the contractions finally started to get closer
together. They went from 7 minutes apart to about 5 minutes apart almost immediately. At this point, we called our friend Aubrey to come and get the kids. We also called the midwife.
Kat arrived around 6:30 and not long after that, Carmon (another midwife) arrived to assist her. I was in my room on the exercise ball, just
doing my thing, relaxing through each contraction, so they went about
their business setting up in Ellie’s room where the tub was. They brought all kinds of medical equipment and supplies with them.
Ben had been running around taking care of everything- filling the tub, the kids, last minute supplies to be gathered- but as my
contractions got stronger, he stayed
with me longer to encourage me and to see if he could do anything for me. Ben was really amazing through the
whole labor and delivery. He was very attentive and so helpful in calming me
and encouraging me.
As my labor progressed, I was a little bit discouraged that
my contractions were still so far apart. They continued to be between 3 and 5
minutes apart almost throughout my entire labor. This was so different from my
labor with Ellie, where the contractions were right on top of each other before
I even knew what was happening.
Even though they were spaced out, the contractions were
getting strong and painful, so I decided to get into the tub, sometime between
8:00 and 9:00. The warm water felt SO good, and I was immediately able to relax
better and cope with the contractions more effectively. It made me wonder why I
waited so long to get in! At one point, I was feeling really hot and so I got out of
the tub for a few minutes. The contractions were so much harder to cope through
outside of the tub, though, so I didn’t stay out for long! I got back in and
Ben helped me cool off with cold wet cloths on my face and neck instead.
Soon after that, the intensity of my contractions really
started to pick up. I remember starting to feel really tired because the
contractions were really taking a lot of effort and my sleepless night was
starting to catch up with me. I was not feeling very conversational anymore and
all my focus and efforts were on the progression of the labor. At this
point, I remember not wanting to be touched during contractions anymore.
It just made them worse, possibly because it was too distracting.
Ben was a good sport about me telling him not to touch me anymore.
:)
As 11:00 approached, my contractions were becoming almost
unbearable. I was having a really hard time relaxing and making it through each
one.
I finally started to feel like I
might need to push. It wasn’t the overwhelming urge that I felt
with Ellie, but I was really ready to be done and was hoping that it was time. Kat
said I was fully dilated and ready so I started pushing. I felt like I was pushing
FOREVER. The reality was that I didn’t push for very long at all, but it was painful and felt like it was never going to end. It didn’t help that
there was still a space between each contraction, so I had to just sit and wait in between them. At this
point, I was doing a lot of yelling with my pushing, and some crying, too. This surprised me because I hadn't thought I would make so much noise! Finally, I was
able to push the baby out and the feeling of relief was extraordinary!
I started really crying hard, partly from relief, but also because my baby was finally right there where I could see her and touch her.
She was born at 11:10 am on Tuesday, December 10th.
Ben was the one who caught her and pulled her out of the
water. He says he had barely caught her and then I was grabbing her away from him. I
think maybe he’s exaggerating little bit, but I definitely wanted to hold her.
I just remember her being so warm. She gave a little cry pretty soon after she
came out of the water, but after that she was quiet. She was breathing and
clearing out her lungs really well on her own, so I was able to just sit and
snuggle her. What an amazing, wonderful feeling! I was so glad to finally meet her and the relief
of being done with labor was just overwhelming!
She was healthy and perfect, with apgar scores of 8 (at one
minute) and 9 (at five minutes). She was so pink and pretty. She didn’t even
look very squished and her head was perfectly round, with short, dark hair. She
was pretty alert, too, with wide open eyes looking around. She seemed so tiny
to me.
After snuggling the baby for a bit and getting her to nurse
a little, we got out of the tub and moved to my bed. There, Ben cut the cord at 11:53 and around 12:40 (after more snuggling and a shower for me), Kat and Ben did the newborn physical. She ended
up being our biggest baby, weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 21 inches long.
Her head circumference was 13.75 inches and her chest circumference was 13.5
inches. She was normal and healthy and perfect in every way.
Around 1:30, after finishing up and packing all their stuff
away, the midwives left and there we were with our brand new little girl. We spent the rest of the day snuggling our sweet girl, napping, and watching movies. It was fabulous.
A few other thoughts on the birth experience…
*It was definitely a lot LONGER than I had expected it to be! I was hoping it would be nice and quick like Ellie’s, but it felt like
FOREVER in comparison… especially when it came to the pushing. From the time I woke up to the time she was born, labor was about 10 hours and I pushed for probably about 20 minutes.
*I enjoyed laboring and delivering at home. I wasn’t sure I
would, but it ended up being a really positive
experience. Our surroundings were
comfortable and familiar. If we needed anything, Ben could just go get it. I didn’t have to worry about getting anywhere. I
could shower in my own shower and relax in my own bed after it was over. It was
really, really nice.
*I was surprised at how little the midwives did. I didn’t
really expect anything more from them, but I guess I just hadn’t really thought
about it. They stayed out of whatever room I was laboring in, with the
exception of coming in to get my vitals and listen to baby (which they did
about every hour). They were present in the room for the birth of the baby too,
of course. I almost feel bad that they had to just sit around at my house for
so long!
*Ben was a rock star. He anticipated a lot of my needs…
offering a drink or food or cold cloth before I had even realized that I wanted
it. He was great about taking care of everything so I just had to concentrate
on labor. Even afterwards, he cleaned up everything while I napped and he took
care of getting food and drinks and things for me. He was encouraging and positive
and I was really grateful for his presence and his support. It was so much
better than having him stand off to the side and watch like he would at a
hospital birth. It was also really neat for him to catch the baby.
True to form, Ben and I did not have a name picked out when baby was born. We each had a few we liked, but we just couldn't agree on one. When she
was four days old, Ben finally caved in and agreed to the name Aria, which was one that I really liked. He had picked out the middle name several weeks before, so it was only fair. ;) We chose Joli for the middle name: Jo for Ben’s mother (Nancy Jo) and Li for me (since Jo by itself didn’t
sound quite right with some of the names we had been considering).
Welcome to the world, little Aria!
**Most of the black and white pictures (with just a few exceptions) were taken by my friend
Lori, who was sweet enough to come over and photograph the birth for us. Thanks Lori!!**
