Isaac's EPIC LENGTH birth story and photo link!!! (m- the longest post ever!!! LOL)
Board: Expectant Mothers of March, 2000 Babies
Date: 2000, Feb 29
From: cl-delilahdr
Maybe I knew on some level that “this was it”…? I woke up on Friday a.m. 26
February 2000 around 5:30 feeling very philosophical and wrote a long essay on savoring
the last few days of pregnancy to my March 2000 Mommies board, before getting Vanessa up
and ready for preschool and finishing my hours for the day. I came home from taking
Vanessa to preschool and wrote a long email to my cycle buddy Meghan who conceived on the
same day as I did, and who wanted to compare notes on how we were feeling physically as
far as getting ready to have our babies…
Date sent: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 15:33:21 -0600
Hey, Meghan, Yeah I was thinking of you and me (and a couple of others of us but mainly
you and me) when I was writing that, because we have been CB's since the beginning!!!
Physically... well, Isaac had a VERY active day on Tuesday. Generally he is more of a
stretcher and pusher than a kicker (Vanessa was a kicker) and other than Tuesday, I don't
really notice any more or less of that than usual. I am supposed to be doing a fetal kick
count every day- it has never taken more than 20 minutes to get to ten movements, doing it
after dinner while laying down. But they are movements, not kicks. My breasts are
producing considerably more colostrum than last time before Vanessa was born. When I
squeeze them as my tingling-y compulsion indicates, it comes out- sometimes a little
yellow, sometimes some white, mainly quite a bit of clear fluid, and it is enough to run
down my breasts, not just "bead up" which is what happened with Vanessa before
she was born. He does feel big- my belly feels like it is going to split open, my
skin is so tight and tender from being so very stretched. It is irritated SO easily-
anything brushing against it is very annoying. I do not "feel" the presence of
labor approaching, but I didn't with Vanessa either. After planning for this birth
experience my entire pregnancy (longer really, since I had Vanessa and was so disappointed
with my experience), now that it is imminent, I am still in complete denial that "the
moment" is coming. I did this with Vanessa too. Had a great grip on reality, until it
was about to happen, and then lost touch with it and suddenly couldn't believe I ever
would really have her. Though of course I did. Intellectually, though, I really
doubt I am going to go longer than a
week. Because I know when I conceived with both children, and I was right at my EDD (2
days before but who is counting) with Vanessa, and I assume that is my usual pattern...
Isaac is "done" now, you know-it is just a matter of when he wants to come out.
I would most like Sunday, but any day next week (or tomorrow, for that matter) would be
fine with me. I just don't want to have to go to the office next Thursday if I can at all
help it. Yikes. Yesterday was awful- I had a terrible migraine all day and wanted nothing
but to take some ibuprofen, which the midwife would not approve for me, sigh. But drinking
a whole Coke myself (her recommendation) helped- the caffeine and sugar I guess. Anyway, I
would really like to have the baby by Wednesday night so I could not go in on Thursday!
However, if I go on Thursday to the office, I can about guarantee that I will NOT be going
back after that, because the chances of me going 1.5 weeks late are not that good.
Anyway, I had an internal- nothing exciting, 1 cm dilated. She said I may well NOT dilate
or efface or lose my plug or have the bloody show before labor this time- that I may well
just go into labor and have the baby. And when I left the office, she said "Well, see
you next week unless you have your baby before then!" So the midwife at least seemed
to think that labor and delivery were a very real possibility. The week before, the other
midwife basically said "Looks to me like you are having your baby the first week of
March." which also would be next week. NOT that anyone knows! But they see a lot of
women and deliver a lot of babies so I figure, hey- maybe they have a reasonable opinion!
Anyway, I am really planning like it will be next week. I have some mucous sometimes
but nothing major. (Of course I am the world's most UN-wet person anyway- the EPO really
helped me in that regard when TTC! ) I definitely have more than I usually do- you can
tell when I have worn underwear- which when I am not pregnant, you could pick up a pair of
undies and not be able to tell by looking at them if I had worn them or not. I am that dry
usually. I never had B/H with Vanessa, so when I first felt a "real" ctx,
it was the real thing- and it woke me up at 4 a.m. and my first thought was "my
period is about to start, gotta go get a pad or something"- that is how much like PMS
it felt. Then I tried to get out of bed and was immediately aware that I was 9 mos pg so
obviously my period was NOT about to start, LOL! But anyway, last night and today, I have
experienced a different "period" sort of feeling. When I am on my period and I
am having a big gush, I feel kind of this sucking from the inside feeling, pulling
downwards- when I feel it, I know I better go check my tampon or pad to make sure I am not
about to make a mess because it is usually a gush or a clot. (Sorry to be gross.) Anyway,
I have had THAT feeling, in the last 24 hours. So I feel like "something" is
going on in there, who knows what. But it isn't the definite Contraction feeling that
started labor off with a bang for me last time. My labor was textbook last time- The first
ctx I already described, it lasted about 30-45 seconds, then was gone and I thought maybe
it was all part of a dream. Then it came again exactly 20 minutes later- and 20 minutes
after that. Then they got progressively harder, longer, and closer together- just like in
the
books- until I was 2.5-3 minutes apart and 1 minute long by about noon (which was 8 hours
later)... etc. So I think my body is a pretty average one as far as knowing what labor is.
I just can't quite believe I am going to do it. You know, it is REALLY going to hurt! I
have been so looking forward to it but I think maybe I am getting a little in denial
because I am feeling a little bit chicken, you know? Cold feet? Because the thing is at
the birth center, I can't just decide it is too hard- there ARE no drugs there!!! Jeez!
Hope I am not making a bad decision here!!!! You know? I don't INTELLECTUALLY believe
that, but I know on some emotional level, that fear of pain is there,
and so maybe it is all just as well that I feel in denial of it starting "any
minute". I THINK it might start any minute, but I FEEL like it won't ever start- I
will be pregnant, bloated, tired, and unsexy for the rest of my life! LOL If I were able
to really BELIEVE that it could happen any minute, I would have my own panties in a wad.
So it must be some psychological self-preservation that I can't really believe it is gonna
happen. That is where I am at! Any of this sound familiar?! Tell me again, how sure
of your dates were you with your DD's and were they late or early or on time? Oh, I
read something SO helpful in the Bradley book last night. He compared it to a bag of
popcorn. You put it in the microwave. First you hear a kernel or two, then quite a few,
then for a few minutes you
hear nothing BUT kernels popping all over the place, then they slow down to a trickle, and
finally one last little pop... ALL those kernels were popcorn, they all popped, they were
all normal, they all looked the same- but they each had their own time to pop and could
you tell, could ANYONE possibly predict by looking at them, which one was going to go
first?! Nope. But they DID all pop eventually... LOL So we are going to pop. Probably
sooner rather than later. But not until our little kernels are darned good and ready!
Love, Delilah
P.S. I got my bangs trimmed on Wednesday too- didn't want them in my eyes when I was in
labor!!!
*************************
When I picked Vanessa up at preschool at noon, we went to Laura’s. I mentioned to her
my feeling “different”- having the feeling I had described to Meghan, and that I
was finally feeling like I
WOULD have the baby, after a couple of weeks of just feeling like I wasn’t going to
ever go into labor, it wasn’t going to happen, etc. Not necessarily immediately, but
that I really hoped I would have him before next Thursday, and that I actually had some
feeling like I would, which was nice after not feeling like labor was imminent at all. We
went home around 2 when Kurt woke up so we could spend some time with him before he went
to work. However, when we got home, right about 3:00 I just got so tired that I had
to waste the time we had with him by taking a nap. I just couldn’t stay awake. I
hadn’t taken a nap in weeks- sleeping being so very uncomfortable at this point, it
was a waste of time to even try. So I napped until he came to me at a few minutes after
four and said he had to leave. He helped me up off the couch and I felt really nauseous
for a moment, but after I stood up, went to the restroom and walked around for a minute, I
was all better, albeit very tired still. So I said Vanessa could watch Arthur and Dragon
Tales and sent Kurt off to work, and went to lay on the couch and watch TV with Vanessa
for an hour. However, about halfway through Arthur, after feeling the same feelings I had
been having at Laura’s earlier, only closer together and more intensely, and several
more passing waves of nausea, it occurred to me that perhaps it might mean something like
labor might be closer than I had thought. NOT because it felt like what labor with Vanessa
felt like, but only because I was a few days from my due date and having such a
“different” feeling that came and went might mean that something different could
be happening. It also occurred to me that I should have mentioned it to Kurt before he
left, but I had not done so. What was keeping me from thinking it really was the beginning
of labor was that for one thing, it didn’t feel like it did with Vanessa, for another
thing, the sensations were QUITE close together- less than 10 minutes apart from the
beginning, even though they were only 30
seconds long or so and not so intense as to be really uncomfortable- just a bit… and
of course, my own usual tendency to refuse to admit that I am dealing with something
difficult until it becomes SO difficult that I get overwhelmed. So around 4:45 p.m. I
called Laura to double check with her what she thought labor felt like, because I thought
maybe I was being silly to even entertain the thought and yet… because those feelings
weren’t going away? She was pretty much immediately convinced that it was indeed
going to be “It”, even though I was not at all. Volney’s birthday party was
the next morning and she was concerned that she might miss it but she felt pretty
confident even at that point that by the time that party was over at noon the next day
there was going to be a baby. Whereas I was still thinking OK, maybe labor is closer but
this is probably not it. The next thing I did was call my sister and Chris to ask if
they would come over and hang out with us for dinner because I just didn’t feel like
being alone with Vanessa. Nane wanted to know if I thought I
might be going to go into labor, and I just didn’t know- but I knew I didn’t
feel like being by myself. They had been going to go to a 10:30 movie with my brother
Daniel so they were going to come over and hang out until about 10 and then we would see
if I felt okay to be alone at that point, or if they should cancel. Then I got the feeling
like I couldn’t lay on the couch anymore, which was funny since I had been feeling
like I needed to rest- then felt like I couldn’t just LAY there when everything was
in disarray. I started doing things that would be good for them to be done before I had
the baby, but would be good to be done if we didn’t have the baby too- like tidying
up the family room, etc. I made Vanessa come take a bath with me, etc. I was still having
the feelings about every 6-7 minutes and they were distracting to me but I wouldn’t
say painful. Just distracting and noticeable and different and uncomfortable. I spoke to
my friend Dawn on the phone, talked to Laura a couple more times, and got Vanessa and
myself dressed again after our
shower. When Chris and Delayna arrived around 8:00, we decided that Nane would take
Vanessa to McDonald’s while Chris and I went to the grocery store and got the things
we needed. At this point
I was uncomfortable, especially if I squatted down (while tidying up) during one of the
“feelings”. But I still wouldn’t say it was labor, when I spoke to Laura or
Kurt. Delayna and Vanessa left and I went to the restroom before Chris and I were going to
leave too- bingo, blood tinged mucous. OK, now I felt very confident about going to the
grocery store to get supplies for having the baby because I was fairly sure I would have
him in the next couple of days at most. When we arrived at Albertson’s, it occurred
to me that since I was having the blood tinged mucous, perhaps I should have put on a pad
or something, so I ducked into the ladies’ room to take care of that. Chris waited
patiently for me- he said “Sure, I’ll wait, we don’t want to have a
‘clean up on aisle four!’ situation!” LOL! We began shopping from my list.
About half way through the store, as the sensations became more and more uncomfortable and
harder to walk and talk through, I turned to Chris and told him that I was about ready to
say that I was definitely in labor. He told me that he knew nothing about the whole
process but that indeed he would say I was in labor! I called Kurt and told him that I
thought probably we were going to have a baby after all… and that I would let him
know when to come home but it wouldn’t probably be that much longer. He suggested
that I go on home but I wanted to finish my shopping list. I hadn’t yet timed a
single contraction, because I was only just
starting to admit that the feelings WERE contractions, but the fact is that they were
coming about every 2-3 minutes and I was squatting or bending over at the waist, leaning
on something, to get through them, and Chris was applying counter-pressure to my back to
do it. And I was starting to get irritable… which in Bradley classes was one of the
indicators for early labor being over and active labor being in progress. It made for
somewhat inefficient grocery shopping. And, the last thing on my list was yogurt… I
always check the dates before buying stuff like that, but I was so distracted this time by
the time I got to the last item, that for once, I didn’t do so- wouldn’t you
know it was expired and I didn’t know it until I went to have yogurt the next day!
Argh! I finished everything on my list and was standing in line and called Laura,
who listened to me talk and told me that it was time to get on with things- I needed to
call Cherie, the midwife, and Kurt, and probably go on to the birth center. I said I would
go home, time some contractions, and call Cherie, then call her (Laura) back and tell her
what the scoop was. I then called Kurt and told him to come home and as I was saying it I
almost started to cry- that reality thing being a bit scary, and unfortunately both last
time I was in labor and this time, by the time I tell my husband I want him home- I want
him with me RIGHT NOW. And he was in Plano at work, and we live in Oak Cliff so I knew we
were looking at a minimum of 45 minutes before he could get there... Then I called my
sister and told her to get the cupcakes started- she was very surprised because when she
had left for McDonald’s, at 8:45, I was still not sure I was going to have the baby
anytime soon, and now she and Vanessa had just gotten home, it was almost 10 p.m. and I
was saying I didn’t have time to make the cupcakes myself and she needed to hurry up
and get them in the oven for me. Finally after I had talked to Laura, my sister and
Kurt on the phone, it was our turn in line and the manager of the store said “Are you
okay?” I said yes, I am just in labor, and she said to the checkers standing there,
“I TOLD you she was in labor!” I was irritably thinking, “Then why the heck
didn’t you let me move up in the line!?” (This is what I mean by everything was
starting to annoy me. Anything at all like this, bothered me completely out of proportion
to how much it usually would bother me…) Chris loaded the car while I survived
a few more contractions, then we started for my house. Then I phoned my mother and asked
her to come over and make all the sandwiches with the food I had bought at the grocery
store, and that I no longer thought I was going to have the presence of mind to do myself.
She wanted me to forget going home and just go to the birth center, but I was not going
anywhere with ice cream melting in my car, my birth bag and stuff at home, and Kurt not
there. It was NOT happening. So she starts crying and not being helpful, which of course
irritated me, but said she would come make the sandwiches. Note to anyone who might be
around someone who is in labor: if they ask you to do something, just do it. Don’t
argue, make comments, ask questions, etc… just calmly say “no problem” and
take care of it, because otherwise the laboring woman is going to be very irritated with
you. Anyway, I got home and while Chris unloaded the groceries and Nane made
cupcakes, (Vanessa having fallen asleep on the way home from McDonald’s at 9:45) I
tried to go time contractions. Unfortunately, I had really left it too long. By that
point, I was starting to be incoherent and just wanting my husband. And when I saw what I
thought I saw, when I tried to time them, which is that they were about 30-45 seconds long
and only 1.5 minutes apart, I just couldn’t deal with that knowledge without my
husband being home. Yet on some level I knew I needed to call the midwife and let her
know. But I wasn’t being very rational at that point and my sister and mother were
making matters MUCH worse. What I needed was my nice, laid-back, Bradley-trained
husband, not my high-strung, frantic, asking stupid questions, mother and sister!
LOL I needed my support people to be calming ME, instead of needing me to calm THEM, which
is what was happening. Anyway, I called Cherie. It was not a very satisfactory
conversation because she didn’t have the faintest idea of what was going on with me
and I was to the point of not being able to communicate almost at all clearly… and I
didn’t want to tell her what I had thought I had seen as far as the ctx being so
close together because I was NOT leaving until Kurt came home.
But she got very mixed signals from me between my words (which were downplaying what was
happening and also not very articulate as far as the information she was asking me for)
and my tone, which was borderline frantic and the fact that I had three contractions in
the middle of our 5 minute conversation. She couldn’t tell if I was just upset in
general, or if the contractions were upsetting me, or if everytime I was getting upset was
when I was having contractions or what… And, I wouldn’t admit that those were
all ctx because I didn’t want her to tell me to go without Kurt to the BWC. Since
they were so close together, it kind of sounded to her like maybe I was just crying
constantly and not because of the contractions, but because I was emotionally overwrought.
She was asking me questions and I was trying to answer but kind of vaguely because I was
so upset at
that point, and she misunderstood me and thought I was saying that in my first L&D I
went to the hospital at 1 cm and was in labor for 14 hours, which was obviously untrue- I
went to the hospital at 7 cm and had Vanessa 3 hours later, though my total labor was 14
hours… So she got frustrated trying to get any sense out of me, told me to get in the
tub and try and relax until Kurt got home, and she called Laura when we hung up to ask her
to come over to my house and see if I was in labor and if it was serious yet, and what the
deal was with my previous labor, because she just couldn’t tell from talking to me
what was going on. I had called Laura in between the time that I hung up
with Cherie and the time that Cherie found Laura’s number and called her, to tell her
that Cherie said I had to get in the tub and that I needed her to come over and keep my
family away from me before I killed them all until Kurt got home to run interference. If
there had been anyone here who was not freaked out- i.e. Kurt or Laura, I would have had
them talk to Cherie, and we would have been off to the birth center right then, and things
would have been better- because as it turns out, this was the beginning of transition. But
no one who was here was in any position to be helpful. After getting in the tub I
was more comfortable in between the contractions but unfortunately the tub wasn’t
deep enough for me to get much relief during them. I was on my hands and knees for every
contraction, then sitting and resting during the break. Thank God Kurt arrived after I had
only been in the tub for about ten minutes. It was about 10:45 at that point. He
immediately came in and asked what I needed, which was for him to time contractions and
talk me through them, and keep my family away from me, and then proceeded to calmly do
just that- exactly what I needed. I was so grateful he was there. My sister and mother
CONTINUED to try to come in for the stupidest of reasons- like when I am on my hands and
knees moaning through a contraction and my mother said “Would you like this
sandwich?” as she stuck a sandwich through the door… Um, no, hello, is it not
obvious that I am BUSY right now?! Or when my sister wanted to know what to do with the
remaining batter for the cupcakes… apparently there was not enough to make another
pan of them, but she had filled all the tins… I am like for crying out loud, put the
rest into whichever ones are the least full, or smear it in your hair, or wash it down the
drain, I am in the middle of a contraction and you think I care? All I asked was for you
to make a freaking cake mix box of cupcakes, it is NOT a tough proposition and is it not
plain that I am otherwise occupied!??! DUH! Anyway, Laura arrived just a few minutes after
Kurt. She saw me have two contractions and called Cherie and informed her that not only
was I in labor but yes indeed it was serious and not only that but we were en route to the
birth center right now, and she told me to get out of the tub and come on. So I did but it
took awhile because there was so little time between the contractions and I really
couldn’t do anything but moan and rock through them. Kurt was great- he would give me
about 10-15 seconds’ warning when one was about to start so that I could consciously
relax, and then when it was almost over, he would start telling me “OK, just about
ten more seconds, it is almost over, here you go, easing up” and sure enough, it
would be. Made me feel MUCH more in control and like there WAS an end in sight. I wanted
to hear him saying those words to me- I was moaning
through the contraction waiting for him to give me the welcome news that I had almost made
it through another one. It made the whole thing much more manageable. Once I was
dressed (Getting my soaked T-shirt that I had been wearing in the tub off was
uncomfortable, getting my clothes on was uncomfortable, doing ANYTHING was uncomfortable
because it seemed that I couldn’t finish any task without running into the beginning
of the next contraction…) we went and got in the car. This I was really dreading
because there is nothing that hurts worse to me in labor than sitting, in the car or
otherwise- the bumps in the road, etc. just make it even more excruciating, and I was
really far gone at that point. We left for the birth center at about 11:20 in a caravan,
Laura and baby Uriah in front, then Kurt and me, and then my mom, sister and my mom's
husband Charlie in the rear. The next 25 minutes were just awful. Every bump killed me, it
was raining, I was having
contractions on top of each other, and Kurt was trying to talk me through them and drive
but he couldn’t time them and give me warning of one about to begin or starting to
ease, so it was not as
effective. I told him the only things he was allowed to say were “You are doing
great”, “You can do it”, “It’s almost over” and “Hang
in there, you’ll see the baby soon”. This after I said emphatically that I HATED
riding in the car, and he said defensively that he was driving as fast as he could- I was
like, yes, I know that and there is nothing you can do, I just have to say it. I have to
say whatever I have to say to get through it, and you getting defensive makes me feel like
I can’t say anything I need to to survive this car trip, so it is NOT helpful! Stick
with “You can do it!” LOL (But HE unlike my family, had been through the Bradley
classes and took this instruction from me as helpful advice instead of as me being
bitchy, and followed my instructions and thus was a huge help to me even in that horrific
car trip!) So in between contractions, we chatted and during contractions, I moaned
and yelled how much I hated riding in the car during contractions and he sweated and drove
through the pouring rain as gingerly as he could because I howled every time he hit a
bump. Due to Isaac’s car seat and Vanessa’s car seat being where they were, my
seat had to be exactly upright and I was sitting flat on my bottom- it was really awful. I
did comment how grateful I was NOT to be going to Medical City (my OB Frank’s
hospital, where I had Vanessa) because it would have meant an additional 20 minutes in the
car!!! OUCH! (And, of course, I later realized that we would not have MADE it to MC, since
I had Isaac 19 minutes after we arrived
at the BWC!!!) We arrived at the birth center at 11:45. I had to wait through a
contraction on the porch before I could even get inside. Cherie was waiting for us but the
birth assistant wasn’t there yet. She told me to go pee and then come to the bed so
she could see what the scoop was- I had 3 or 4 contractions before I could get through
those two actions. When she checked me, she said I was at 6 cm, my bag of waters was
bulging, and the baby was high- still about –3. So she said with the next
contraction, I needed to push him down so he would press on my cervix. That sounded good
to me- the next contraction was only about 15 seconds away, I got on my hands and knees on
the bed and bore down- GUSH, there went my water. Cherie said WOW, there went a gallon of
water! She checked me and said “OK, we are having a baby here, he is right here, lean
back and get ready to push, you will have him in fifteen minutes!” She turned and
wrote 11:49 p.m. membranes rupture, turned to me, and said, OK, Delilah, he is crowning,
Laura, get the mirror! I was being VERY primal at this point in terms of moaning,
because once my water broke, they were right- it hurts a LOT worse. And the problem was
there was no longer any break. In the Bradley classes,
we were prepared that there is a minute or two in between pushing contractions to rest and
regroup. Well… in this case, I had gone from 6cm to 10 cm and time to push him out in
one big contraction. There were no more breaks. It was just one long contraction until he
was out. I know I kept saying “Where is my break? I need a break!” And Cherie
told me I would have my break when he was out- there was not going to be a break, I needed
to just push him out. She wanted me to look in the mirror but it was very hard for me to
do that. I didn’t want to open my eyes, I wanted to push. I did feel his head and
kept my hand on his head- pushing his head into my hand. I was angry because when I opened
my eyes I saw my mom and sister peeking around the doorway and armoire and I specifically
had said no one could come in until I was decent. I was grateful to Laura for
standing at the end of the bed and mercifully blocking the view but I was too busy to
scream at them to go away. I know at one point I said “I need more privacy!” and
Laura said Do you want me to go? I said Not YOU! THEM! And then I was too busy to worry
about it. The main thing I said over and over was That hurts, that really, really hurts.
Kurt commented that I said a BUNCH of really’s at one point. And I kept saying I just
need a break for second. Please, I have to have a break! And Laura and Cherie kept telling
me, No, you don’t need a break- you are almost there, here comes your baby! And Kurt,
bless his heart, remembered what I said earlier and just said “You can do it!
It’s almost over!” And held my hand so I could squeeze it as hard as I needed to
which was very hard indeed. I was also worried that I was going to poop but I knew I
couldn’t say that I was worried about it because Cherie and Laura would have been
like “Who cares, push harder” so I had to push hard anyway, worries
notwithstanding. (As it turns out, I didn’t poop- but the next day I wished it had
happened so I wouldn’t have to worry about it then!) So it was very hard and
intense because there was no break as there usually would be. There was also no time for
perineal massage like usual, and no time for me to just ease him out- I pushed him out
really hard and fast. Unfortunately this meant that I had a tear on my episiotomy scar
from Vanessa. UGH. At the time, though, I was just going to push him out so I could have
my break. I wasn’t separating out the sensations. Cherie said “Feel your baby
moving down? Here he comes, do you feel it?” I was like “I don’t know, it
just hurts!” I couldn’t separate any of the many sensations except that I wanted
to
DO IT. And with his hair in my hand, I was by golly going to push it into my hand. It was
the hardest thing I have ever done, and I was so determined- it was like running a
marathon or something, I could FEEL the finish line, and I knew if I could just push
myself a little farther, a little faster, I would have WON and I would have the relief
too- I took them telling me my break would come when he was out, very seriously!
Once I had pushed his head out, Cherie made me not push for a moment or two and had
Laura help while she had to cut the cord from around his neck- it was very tight, she
couldn’t slip it off over his head. And she emphatically told me not to push- it was
hard not to because I really wanted to. The feeling of “fullness” of having his
head out but his body in the birth canal was VERY motivational to push! This was the only
time I wasn’t pushing in the 15 minutes from the time she told me to bear down to
bring him down from –3 station, until he was born. So for about a minute, she and
Laura got the cord cut from around his neck, and then Cherie said “OK, Kurt, do you
want to catch your baby?” and he said Uh, that’s okay, you can do
it! (LOL!) And I declined, I just wanted to push, so Laura got to do it- which is
wonderful to me! She was very excited- she said later, “Wow, I got to catch my best
friend’s baby!” She hopes to be a midwife someday, and she said for the rest of
her life, she will always know that the first baby she ever caught was mine, which is so
neat. Feeling him come out was incredible! I had done it! She flipped him right up on my
belly and a huge rush of amniotic fluid came with him. He was right there in my arms and I
couldn’t believe it! Cherie said “Time of birth!” and someone said
“12:04” and I thought “Thank God!” because Barbara (Kurt’s mom)
so desperately wanted him to be born on her birthday, and if he had come 5 minutes sooner,
it would have been the day before! So then I realized that it was only 19 minutes since we
had arrived at the birth center- gracious! That was a shocker! I got to cut the cord at
the belly button, the placenta came, and Cherie sewed me up- ouch! There were four
stitches. She said I could have two needle pricks for the lidocaine, or she could just go
ahead with the two needle pricks for the stitches (she thought only two would be needed
but it ended up being four) so I said just get it over with. And it was very unpleasant
but obviously not unbearable- getting a shot after all that, seemed like it would be
pointless, when she could just be done with it. The stitches didn’t hurt as much as
the uterus palpating she did. OUCH. Laura got in my face and started talking about the
birth and forcing me to make eye contact with her while Cherie sewed and palpated so I
would not be able to focus on those sensations. Then they took Isaac and did a bit of
suctioning on him, just a few feet from the bed and he was back in my arms and never out
of my sight, which was good. Chris and Vanessa arrived right about then, and my daughter
got to meet her brother. She thought he was so cute! I was so happy to see her and she was
very excited and wide awake- even though it was 12:15 a.m. and she had only been asleep
for 2.5 hours! Indeed, she stayed awake for the entire time we were at the birth center
until we were driving home as a family of four at 5:30 a.m. and was well behaved the whole
time. I was so proud of her… I nursed him for a few minutes while we waited for Chris
and Vanessa to arrive because I was not letting anyone else in the room until then. My
family was waiting anxiously to be allowed in, so they were glad to finally have them
arrive… it was only a few minutes, but it seemed long to them. Isaac was happy to
open his mouth wide but he was very sleepy and nothing like as vigorous a nurser as
Vanessa had been. Probably because he had had such a precipitous arrival, or
maybe because of the cord around his neck and needing to be suctioned. Still, he nursed so
that was fine. After Vanessa got to see her baby brother and hold him first, then he
started making the rounds of the room. Debbie, the birth assistant, arrived about then and
helped me to the ladies’ room. What a difference from Vanessa’s birth! I mean,
this was 15 minutes or so after giving birth and I walked on my own power to the john,
went, and climbed back in the bed (up the two or three stairs- it is a very high bed).
With Vanessa I had the catheter, then four hours after she was born, the nurse walked me
to the john and I passed out and don’t have any recollection of getting back to the
bed! I had to start drinking orange juice- I think I went through almost the whole
pitcher, and ate my sandwich. It was so good- I hadn’t eaten since 11:30 a.m. and
finally food sounded good again! After lots of photos and snuggling with Vanessa and that
sort of thing, eventually my mom and Charlie and Charlie’s two daughters left.
Vanessa opened her gift from Isaac and loved her baby doll and came and practiced nursing
her doll while I nursed Isaac again... he still wasn’t
too interested in nursing for more than a minute or two on each side. Then they did the
newborn screen on him, and it was time for his first bath. Kurt and Vanessa gave him his
bath while my brother filmed it and JL (my brother’s friend who he had been at the
movies with when he got the word to come to the birth center) took photos. I could hear
Vanessa keeping up a running commentary but I could not see what was happening so I can
hardly wait to see the video. At one
point, it thundered and lightning flashed and she said “Don’t worry, Baby
Boo-boo, your big sister and your daddy are here! You are safe!” He fell asleep in
the nice warm water and they brought him out and we dressed him in his first diaper and
outfit. Then we had sparkling cider in champagne flutes, and cupcakes and sang happy
birthday to him, and Vanessa blew out the labor candle for him. It was so fun!
Finally, everyone left except Debbie, Kurt, Vanessa, Isaac and me.
Debbie went over the postpartum instructions with us, and Kurt packed up the car, while I
nursed Isaac again, this time he nursed for about 10 minutes, and we went home around 5:30
a.m. and were
home by 6 a.m. It was overall a wonderful birth, and though a few things didn’t go as
I had hoped in my birth plan, it was largely a miraculous and beautiful experience and I
am SO excited to have done it. I wish with all my heart that I had Vanessa’s birth to
do over again, and I think the day
will come in the not too distant future, when I am going to be sad not to get to do it
again. It was a once in a lifetime, special, incredible experience. The moral of
this story is… have people around you during labor who will be calm and supportive
and keep everyone else away from you, don’t wait until you are in transition to ride
in the car to the place you are having the baby, and believe me, no matter what you go
through to have your baby, it will all be worth it!!!
Delilah
1. Oops, after all that, can't believe I forgot to include his stats!!! LL *m
by cl-delilahdr
He was 8 lbs, 8.5 oz EXACTLY what Vanessa was!!!
And 20.5" where she was 20.25"!!! Amazing. His head was 14.5" around. And
he was born 26 February 2000 at 12:04 a.m. five days early- so he
would have been right about 9 lbs if I had gone to my EDD...
1. Delilah-I have waited to hear this sotry! (m)
by skipperdee
-> I can hardly wait to read yours!!!! Anny day now!!!! *nt
by cl-delilahdr
2. Oh Delilah, that was beautiful! congrats to all
of you nt
by oops_1more
3. WONDERFUl story and beautiful photos!!!And by
the way, I loved the magnet!!! (nt)
by ghosthughes
1. I'm so glad you liked it!!!! *nt
by cl-delilahdr
4. Congratulations Delilah, Kurt, and Vanessa.
Isaac is BEAUTIFUL! (nt)
by gaminne
5. Congratulations Delilah, Kurt & Vanessa!
Wow! What a story!(m)
by lisavern
1. I'm so glad you were here to read it,Lisa! Made that new computer all worth it,
right?LOL
by cl-delilahdr
6. Congrats Delilah! Welcome Isaac! Good one Kurt!
Vanessa look after that lil bro! more
by moonfire
1. LOL, Rachael- I don't think my DH is up for doing it again anytime soon! *m
by cl-delilahdr
7. Wow! What a great story! Good for you....Isaac
is beautiful! nt
by luvbeingamum
8. Wow Epic is right! and I don't just mean
lengthwise! Thank you for sharing that wonderful
by kcred
1. I hope your birth experience is as great this time too!!! *nt
by cl-delilahdr
9. Wow, Delilah! Congrats and Isaac is beautiful!!!
(nt)
by starrlady
10. Delilah, My command of the english language has
failed me in the face of (m)
by migreg
1. LOL, Jennifer! You are much more patient w/ my family than I was!!! You'll be fine!!!
*nt
by cl-delilahdr
11. Great story Delilah. Congrats! (nt)
by shawnlawmom
12. Oh, Delilah, that was the most beautifully
written birth story I have ever seen (m)
by amygal
1. Thanks, Amy! I hope your experience is all you hope for too! *nt
by cl-delilahdr
13. Such a wonderful story!Isaac is beautiful,I'm
so happy for your whole family!!!
by jamieaten
14. D, it's so wonderful to read this story!! I was
so anxious to hear it. (m)
by jessmsw
1. You are going to do great, too, Jess! I can hardly wait to read yours!!! *nt
by cl-delilahdr
15. Congrats Delilah, Kurt, Vanessa! Issac is
beautiful! You did a wonderful job! nt
by amvmom
16. What a beautiful story! Congratulations! I
don't think I'll try to cut it that close! (nt)
by virginiasmom
17. What a beautiful story, Delilah. Welcome,
little Isaac!
by kris_rob
18. thank you for sharing your story and the
wonderful pictures! Isaac is adorable! (nt)
by cerublue
19. He's beautiful, Delilah...and so BIG! Double
Felicity! LOL! Thanks for sharing your story!
by izzarina
20. WOW!! Beautiful experience...almost makes me
consider a non-medicated birth..NOT!! :)
by jrtester
21. What a fantastic story! Congratulations
Delilah- He's so beautiful :)
by mwilson11
22. What a story! What a beautiful family! D., have
you thought about writing books? (m)
by momofno.5
23. WOW, WHAT A STORY!!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU
AND YOUR FAMILY!! (m)
by vnc3
24. What a cutie pie, and girl, you look great too!
(nt)
by michellendean
25. Congratulations! You have a great family! (nt)
by boom1
26. Wow Wee Delilah - what a story, I felt as
though I was *watching* it happen!(m)
by mursatiel
1. Thanks, Jenn! I should have mentioned -Vanessa took the book you gave her to the BWC!
*m
by cl-delilahdr
27. WOW!! What a story! You look GORGEOUS, and so
does Isaac!! What a cutie pie! (m)
by lweihman
1. I can hardly wait for you to come see us too!!!! You can do it, Lisa!!! It is SO cool!
*m
by cl-delilahdr
28. What a great story! Congrats to you !
by mwzimm
29. Congratulations! great story!! Welcome to the
world Isaac!
by marisaro
30. Congratulations! Wonderful story and beautiful
photos! (nt)
by jenniferscandles