Alaine’s Birth Story– Part 4 of 4
September 18th, 2010
In which relief comes in the form of a baby!
Brian stayed close by during those long hours. He applied a hot washcloth to my neck and shoulders which helped immensely to relax me. He also gave me my coveted ice. I changed positions as often as I could, but I was in so much pain that I was afraid to try something that could put me in even more pain! I knew that if a contraction started, there was no moving until it was over. Still, labor continued. Around 10:20pm, Dana asked if she could check me to assess my progress and see what was holding back the urge to push. She told me to let her know when I was between contractions. I hardly knew what to tell her because there was virtually no break. I was almost in tears, telling Brian I didn’t think I could do it any longer…and then, I felt the twinge of the need to push so I did one little push. And then, it was uncontrollable.
I had begun to wonder how I would be able to push when managing the pain through each contraction was taking every bit of my strength, but as soon as I felt the urge, I forgot the pain and began the work of getting the baby out. After the first big push, Brian could see her full head of hair and said, “She’s almost here.” I remember thinking, “I just started pushing. Could it really be almost over?” With the next push, I could feel the burning and then relief as her head emerged. With one more effort, I felt the rest of her body born and Dana placed my little Alaine Claire on my chest at 10:32 pm. Within seconds of her birth, I had no pain. What incredible relief!
We decided to delay the clamping of the cord so Brian and I admired her new tiny body and kept her warm while waiting to deliver the placenta. However, like the rest of the process, the placenta wanted to take its time, too, and my uterus didn’t seem to be cramping efficiently. I began nursing Alaine, but the natural oxytocin still didn’t work to expel the placenta so Angie gave me a shot of Pitocin in my thigh. Almost right away, Dana noticed a difference and the placenta delivered within a few minutes.
Though by this time, I had been awake for twenty-one hours, the birth caused a rush of adrenaline and I happily stayed awake to bond with my baby. She nursed like a champ from the beginning and then nestled in my arms to go to sleep. At 11:30, Angie asked if I was ready to have her weighed. Throughout the day, I had commented to Brian that I was expecting a tiny baby since she was arriving so early. I mentioned to him that I thought she would be our smallest for sure and probably very petite since the average 37 week baby is around six pounds. When she was placed on the scale, I was surprised to see she weighed 7 pounds, 8.5 ounces! (At a weight gain of ½-1 pound per week, she would have been 9-10 ½ pounds by 40 weeks!) By 2 am (and 24½ hours since waking the previous morning), exhaustion kicked in and I fell asleep with my new treasure in my arms. (Brian had succumbed a couple hours before!)
When the kids came to visit the following day, Gavin gazed at Alaine and said, “Mama, now you you don’t have to do that work anymore and have contractions.” All four of the children were so excited to meet their baby sister and kept saying, “She is even cuter than I imagined she could be.”
In contrast to delivery, recovery was a breeze. I had no tearing, no soreness or bruising, virtually no fatigue. The cramping I had during breastfeeding was minimal and I never needed any postpartum pain relief (though the nurses sure offered!).
This, my fifth birth, was by far my hardest labor and delivery. And yet what remains foremost in my thoughts is the miracle of her lovely presence.
(Another note on the recovery process: Though the actual recovery was easy, I developed mastitis at 1 week postpartum. When I started feeling achy one evening, I thought I had overdone it and simply needed to take it easy for the rest of the day. However, when I noticed I was overly engorged and developed chills and fever, I knew I was dealing with a breast infection. Antibiotics and Ibuprofen got me through a difficult couple of days, but eventually put me back in the land of baby bliss.)
Lessons from the Edge
September 18th, 2010
Imperfections are OK!
That’s a big statement for a recovering Type-A, perfectionist control-freak like me to make! But it’s one of the lessons I’ve been learning through my work at Edgewood.
*When we’re setting up for special events, there are always a few residents who want to help. So I’ll ask them to set napkins on the tables, or put balloons around the room.
*I always move the tables and chairs around in the Activity Room to give us more space during Exercise Class. And though I am perfectly willing to put them back when we’re finished, several of the residents would rather do it for me.
*And there are a couple of women who love to help clean up the dining room after meals or parties – by picking up trash or wiping the tables.
These jobs are almost never completed according to my level of perfectionism. The napkins may not be straight. The chairs might not get pushed in all the way – or they may be put in the wrong location all together. And there are frequent missed spots on the tables, which must be gone over again by some of the kitchen staff.
But I’ve learned these imperfections are OK.
The men and women who are helping receive so much joy from the thought that they are making a contribution. They are able to give, to do, to work – and it makes them happy. And the delight in their eyes at the work of their hands far outweighs any re-doing or adjusting which is required after they have finished helping.
Kind reminds me of life with toddlers. Imperfections are OK! *grin*
Counting Down
September 16th, 2010
Eight more days.
Four and four more wake-ups.
Just over a week.
And then I’m going to see Lisa, and Leah, and Heather. And a bunch of other new girlfriends at the first ever gIRL Gathering.
And.I.cannot.wait!!!
That’s all. I’m just sitting in my happy anticipation today. *grin*
How ’bout you? To what are you looking forward?
Alaine’s Birth Story– Part 3 of 4
September 15th, 2010
In which a long day turns longer…
We checked into the birthing center around 4:30 pm. When the nurse checked me, I had progressed to 7 centimeters. Dana arrived just minutes later and together, we assumed the birth would occur within a few hours, if not sooner.
We walked down the hall from triage to a LDRP (Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum) room and settled in to labor and wait. I felt wonderful. After a 20-minute strip on the fetal monitor, I was free to move around for the rest of the labor. If I sat down, I was comfortable and as soon as I got up to walk around the room, I had a contraction. I alternated between up and down for awhile and had quiet conversation with Brian. Dana and the nurse, Julie, commented that I didn’t even act like I was in labor. Several hours passed and I continued laboring in the same way. I decided to have Dana check me again for progress and discovered I was still only 7-8 centimeters. I was a little discouraged. I had thought that I would labor in the tub again as I had with Benjamin, but I was afraid I would progress even slower if I was in water or that labor would again stop altogether.
Dana told me that she would put me under no pressure, but that if she broke my water, we would probably have the baby rather quickly. Brian and I discussed it and could not come to a definite conclusion. Do we continue to labor and possibly not progress for many more hours or do we have her break my water and increase the intensity before I am ready for it? Around 8:30 pm, we decided to have her break my water and hopefully, move things along.
The first contraction I experienced after my water was broken was no more intense than the previous ones—milder actually! But immediately, the frequency of contractions changed. Instead of coming in 5 to 7 minute intervals, they came every 3 minutes. I would feel a twinge in my back which built up rapidly and then moved into my lower abdomen. My new nurse, Angie, monitored the baby periodically with a hand-held Doppler and the baby showed no signs of distress. My best coping mechanism was to close my eyes and relax all my muscles, not just the ones feeling the pain. The contractions began coming so fast that sometimes it was easier to not open my eyes in between. However, as a result, no one could tell when I was having a contraction and when I wasn’t, so they weren’t sure when to talk to me!
I began to feel a little nauseous, though not so much that I thought I would get sick. I also felt chilled, though the room was quite warm. At the same time, my ice craving returned! Despite concentrating through the contractions, I knew I was having classic signs of transition. Gradually, the pain increased until I had a very difficult time dealing with it. In my other labors, I had never felt so out of control. I could barely stay on top of the pain and the contractions came so fast that one was barely over before the next one began. Along with the pain in my back and abdomen, I now also had it in my legs. During this time, Dana commented that she was incredulous that I was still pregnant! Dana and Angie continued to make sure that I was okay and asked if I was feeling any pressure or need to push. Though I desperately wanted to reach the pushing stage, there were no signs of it.
To be continued…
Yeah. What He Said!
September 15th, 2010
I saw this quote on a bulletin board at church a couple of weeks ago, and was so encouraged by it. Then last week it was delivered right to my mailbox – on a flier from church.
Praying these words will encourage you and shape your perspective, as they have mine.
Remember that you are not called to produce successful, upwardly mobile, highly educated, athletically talented machines…Giving your children great opportunities is good; it is not, however, the goal of parenting. Christlikeness is. Above all, seek to raise children who look and act a lot like Jesus.~Chip Ingram
Giving Fair Coverage
September 15th, 2010
In the past I have posted things here which my daughter has written for school. Today I want to give fair coverage.
Joshua was given an assignment in math class to write a paragraph comparing math to an animal. What do you think?
I can compare math to a Turtle. It goes by so slow and is so boring. When turtles get caught in nets they will try to claw and bite their way out. When I have to go to math class I am caught in a net and want to claw and bite my way out. In spite of these problems when a turtle tries hard enough it can get through everything.-Joshua H.
Precious, isn’t he? *grin*
A new use for silly putty…
September 15th, 2010
My kids found a new use for silly putty around here.
The other night when I went into my daughter’s room, instead of a note on her whiteboard like she normally writes, I found this:
Love it!…
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It Will Come to an End
September 14th, 2010
A day to visit other moms…
September 13th, 2010
I’ve been spending most of my writing time lately working on a magazine article, so I’m a little behind on writing posts here.
I started one a few days ago that I’d planned on putting up today…
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Alaine’s Birth Story– Part 2 of 4
September 12th, 2010
In which we wonder what is going on…
Early on the morning of Wednesday, September 1st, I got up to go to the bathroom. I remember thinking, “I guess I’m really not going into labor after all.” I fell asleep immediately after returning to bed, but was awoken just minutes later at 1:30 am by Owen beside my bed. After sending him off to the potty and then back to bed, I had a contraction that made me unable to rest. Then twenty minutes later, I had another one, and thirteen minutes later, another. By 3:30, they were coming 5 to 8 minutes apart and becoming difficult to deal with, especially lying down.
When I sat up, the pain got better, but my movement also woke Brian. He asked if I was okay and when I told him I thought I was in labor, we slowly moved into action. Being almost three weeks before my due date, we hadn’t packed for the hospital and the vehicle we planned to drive to the birthing center (1 hour away) was on empty! As soon as I got up to begin preparations, the contraction started coming even closer and becoming more painful than I remembered contractions feeling in early labor. I began to wonder if things were moving along more quickly than usual. I gathered our belongings and placed them in the suitcase, then got in the shower, while Brian left to find a 24-hour gas station that felt safe in the middle of the night! I remember having several heavy contractions while I was in the shower and wishing I could stay there, relaxing in the water.
Around 5:30, I went downstairs and sat in the recliner to eat a bit of breakfast and drink some juice. I was so hungry and food tasted so good. The contractions still seemed much more intense than I was used to in early labor. I decided it was time to call my mom so she could come over to stay with the kids while we made our way to the birthing center. While waiting for her to arrive, Brian woke the kids and told them that their baby sister would be arriving some time that day. They older kids sat on the couch, excitedly chatting with me. Benjamin crawled into my lap for a last snuggle. They all watched me closely. If I closed my eyes to concentrate, they whispered to each other, “Quiet. Mama’s having a contraction.”
Somewhere between 5:30 and 7 am, my contractions slowed and by the time we were halfway to the birthing center, I realized they had stopped altogether. Though the break was nice, I worried at the implications. Since I was still very hungry, we stopped to get something else to eat, and instead of going to the birthing center, we decided to first check in at the midwife’s office. When we got there, I asked Dana to check me, and while I had dilated to 4 centimeters, she said that since I was not in active labor, I was better off at home. Checking into the birthing center too early could eventually result in Pitocin and other interventions that I did not want. Dana said she expected to see me back that night or in the morning, but that I could possibly walk around that way for another 3 weeks!
Brian and I began making plans for what could be a long day. We discussed finding something to do close to the birthing center, but since my mom had taken the kids back to her house, we decided to go home and see if labor would kick back in. (If there were no signs by dinnertime, we would bring the kids back home with us to wait it out.) As we walked up the sidewalk to the house, I felt a mild contraction and some pressure in my lower abdomen.
In the house, I felt restless and had a few more mild contractions so after a short rest, we went outside for a walk. It was a hot, 95-degree day and the shade in our neighborhood was minimal so Brian suggested we drive to a local tree-filled park. While walking, the contractions began coming every 10 to 13 minutes and were the much milder contractions I remember from past early labors. Thankful that they were easier to handle than the morning’s heavy contractions, we drove to the mall for a late lunch and another walk, this time in the air conditioning! During lunch, I had to stop several times to breathe and in the first few minutes of our walk, I realized the contractions were coming too quickly for us to stick around town much longer so we began our drive back to the birthing center. Though we never would have planned to have a stubborn, stop-and-go labor, the day was a special one. Brian and I spent many quiet hours, talking and enjoying our time alone. We will look back on that time with fond memories.
To be continued…
