It was a pretty incredible evening.
That day, I told Neal we would bring him dinner. He was working a long show, and when he has to work long hours, we usually take him dinner so that Joey can spend some time with him. So after Joey woke up from his nap, we headed to King Soopers to pick up a prescription, dinner, and some other things. On the drive there, I had a single contraction that felt "different" than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having for weeks. I decided not to say anything to Neal at that point because it seemed that every time I had previously told him about consistent or "different" contractions, I jinxed myself and they stopped.
By the time we got to Neal's work about an hour later, I had had two more contractions. As we were eating dinner I had several stronger contractions, so I decided to "warn" Neal that he might have to leave work early that night. The show that he was working had real, live tigers as a part of it, and Neal was able to get permission from the show's employees to take Joey and I back to see them. Walking to back stage made my contractions stronger, so Neal let the people who were part of his "action plan" in case I went into labor that night.
We spent some time watching and learning about the tigers (there were two of them and they were BEAUTIFUL), and then Joey and I headed home. By the time we got home, my contractions were about ten minutes apart. They weren't painful at all, just strong. I was 90% sure I was in labor, so I called Neal and let him know, and he started arranging to come home. I called my doctor's office and talked to the on-call OB. I explained to her that because my labor went so fast with Joey and we live 30+ minutes from the hospital, my OB asked me to leave as soon as I thought I was in labor. She pretty much told me that I didn't sound like I was in enough pain to be in labor, and that she wanted me to wait until my contractions were consistently 5-8 minutes apart. I argued "explained" enough that she finally said "Well it sounds like you just may be more comfortable coming in for a labor check."
I called Neal and let him know, and while he was on his way home I finished getting Joey ready for bed. A friend from church came over to keep an eye on Joey until a family member could get there. Neal got home right as Joey and I started story time. We both realized that this could be our last time reading stories with just Joey, so we took the time to cherish those few moments with him. Then I sang his bedtime songs to him, told him goodnight, and Neal and I left for the hospital.
It was kind of an odd drive. I still wasn't feeling any pain, but the contractions were definitely still strong, and consistently growing closer. Neal wasn't totally convinced I was in labor because I was acting so calm and chill (something that did NOT happen when I was in labor with Joey). We joked the entire way to the hospital about "this is probably how things are supposed to go" and chuckled all the way to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital at about 8 pm, they hooked me up to the monitors to track Hunter's heart rate and my contractions. I was having consistent contractions, and he was doing well. When the nurse checked my cervix, I was 4 cm dilated and 50% effaced (I had been 3 cm and not at all effaced at my doctor's appointment earlier that week). Then she told me that she wanted to wait an hour and see if I was progressing. So Neal and I went and wandered the halls of the hospital (mostly because I was bored and didn't want to stay in the room). After the hour, the nurse checked me again and I had progressed to 5 cm, but my cervix was still far back and Hunter hadn't dropped much into my pelvis. Thankfully, though, I had a nurse who believed me (even though I didn't "look" like I was in labor) and said that she wasn't comfortable sending me home just yet - she basically wasn't convinced I was in labor, but wasn't convinced I wasn't either. So she had us hang out some more and decided she would check me again in two hours (12 am).
We went and walked the halls some more (this time our walk at least included Reese's, pretzels, and hot chocolate from the vending machines). After about an hour my back started to hurt, so we headed back to the room. My nurse came in shortly after with the on-call OB. The OB took one look at me and obviously still didn't believe I was in labor - she didn't hide the look on her face...not that I totally blame her (people made comments the entire night about how amazing it was that I didn't seem to be in pain at all). My nurse checked me again with the OB in the room, and said I was at a 5 still, but that my cervix had effaced to 75% and that my water was bulging. Apparently those were the magic words because the OB's attitude totally changed - she admitted me, saying that if they had sent us home my water would have broken and we would have been right back in the hospital (I wanted to stick my tongue out at her...but I decided to be mature). The on call OB left the room and called my OB, Dr. Siple. Dr. Siple was there in about 15 minutes and she broke my water (both of us hoping it would speed things along a little).
I told Neal all through my pregnancy that I wanted to try the Jacuzzi tub that the labor rooms have to see if it helped. So I went ahead and climbed into the tub. Neal turned on the hypnobirthing track that I had been practicing with my entire pregnancy, and I sat in the tub relaxing for a while. I actually thought for a little while that my contractions were stopping, and that worried me slightly - I didn't want them to give me pitocin to speed up labor. I had to get out of the tub to use the bathroom, and at that point I realized how much the tub was relaxing my body and helping with my labor. I remember shaking pretty intensely, and I'm still not sure if it was from being cold after being in the tub or from transitioning. As I was going to the bathroom, the true intensity of my contractions hit, and I realized I needed to get back in the tub. As soon as I climbed back in the tub, my body relaxed again, and the hypnobirthing track helped me to focus on relaxing through my contractions (which still felt semi-painful when I got back in the tub, but it was much easier to relax through them and let my body work the way it needed to).
While I was in the tub, I started to feel pressure pushing down, so Neal called the nurse and she checked me again - this time I was at 8 cm. The next little bit was a blur, but I know I got back in the tub once more but not for super long. We called my nurse back in and this time she stayed in the room. I had to focus pretty intensely on relaxing through my contractions at this point, so I knew I was getting close to being ready. I got out of the tub and Neal and my nurse wrapped warmed blankets around me to try to help the shaking. She wanted to check and see how Hunter's heart rate was, so she placed the monitors on my abdomen. I leaned on the bed and had Neal lightly massage my back to help get through the contractions.
I started to feel (what I thought was) the need to push, so I told my doctor. She checked me again and told me that there was a little bit of my cervix left, so I needed to wait a few minutes and then I would be ready. After the few minutes, I started trying to "breathe my baby down" like it talked about in the hypnobirthing book so I didn't have to push, and for me, it didn't work. However, after a few minutes of (what I thought was) trying to push, my body took over...and when I say took over, I mean I literally had zero control over what my body was doing. I suddenly started yelling, and actually pushing - it only took one major push and Hunter's head came out. All I remember from that point is them leaning the bed back and things getting really serious. Apparently he then also stuck his hand out and because of that his shoulder got stuck. Things started happening very fast because they figured out the cord was wrapped around his neck and they couldn't unwrap it without getting him the rest of the way out. Neal said that when they started leaning the bed back, I started scooting up the bed (like I was trying to get away from my doctor) and she just followed me right up the bed, working to get Hunter out. Neal got in my face and focused on me and strongly told me I needed to push. This was the only time my entire labor that I said "I can't." But my body was in control, not me, so I pushed - between my doctor's work and that second push, the rest of Hunter came out.
Hunter James Johnson was officially born at 2:24 am on March 6: 9 pounds, 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long.
Once they unwrapped the cord from his neck, they placed him on my chest, and Neal cut the umbilical cord. At that point, I realized that Hunter was still pretty blue and that he wasn't crying. I said out loud "isn't he supposed to be crying??" They pulled him off of my chest and took him over to the warmer to try and get him "pinked up." I was pretty freaked out because at one point his nurse, my nurse, and my doctor were over at the warmer and they called a NICU nurse in. Neal and I were left over at the bed - Neal kept saying "he's going to be fine" but we could both feel how nervous the other was. Finally, Dr. Siple said "he just needs to get mad" and so she picked him up off the warmed where it was colder, and that did the trick: he started screaming. I felt incredible relief. His body started pinking up, but his face didn't. At that point they realized that his entire face was bruised because he came through the birth canal so fast - so he just looked like he was doing way worse than he actually was.
My doctor came back over to me while the nurses finished with Hunter, and then they brought him back over and placed him on my chest. I didn't tear at all, so once my doctor delivered the placenta and slowed down my bleeding, everyone left the three of us to get to know each other. Hunter latched right on and started nursing right away. When Dr. Siple came back in the room to check on us and say goodbye we chit-chatted a little bit, and then she headed home.
My nurse came in and helped us get ready to transfer to our room. There were FIVE babies born that night, so we ended up in the "Peds Plus" unit instead of the women's care unit. I honestly liked it better because it was quiet and the nurses were much more relaxed than I remember the nurses being with Joey (I'm sure part of that is because it was my second child though).
I reached my goal this time of not getting an epidural, and I honestly feel like it was the best decision I could have made. My recovery has been so incredibly different this time. While we were in the hospital, I actually felt like getting out of bed and moving around, and I had much more energy while we were in the hospital. I have felt much more emotionally stable, and have in general just felt better all around physically, emotionally, and mentally. Neal and I have talked a lot about it and both feel strongly that the epidural is what made the difference.
We're so excited to have Hunter as a part of our family, and are looking forward to all he has to teach us!
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| Our little "black baby." The bruising was BAD. |
