Birth

Here is my birth story.



I went into labor on Sunday night right about 11pm and then we left for the hospital near 1am. My main moment of grumpiness through the whole labor occurred right at 11 when Kyle asked what was wrong. I guess I still expected the contractions to go away, but he says he could instantly tell things were different. We got admitted right away and Lowan was born at 7:15am Monday, March, 31st. He was a very healthy 8 pounds and 21 inches long.

When I was admitted, they check my dilation and I was 3.5 cm. The contractions were about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes apart. This was at about 2am I guess. I had gotten sick at home and thrown up a few times before getting to the hospital (I knew when I ate pizza for dinner earlier that evening it was a bad idea). Labor went surprisingly fast because the next time they checked me at about 4 or 4:30 am, I was 8 to 9 cm. WOW, we were all shocked. I was expecting to be about 4 to 6 at the most. My water broke (and there was no mistaking it this time!!) and my whole body was convulsing or contracting during the contractions. This happened about 6 to 10 times, were pretty sure that was my transition period.



The nurse came back in and checked me again, this must have been about 5am. She did not say anything, but went to the nurse call button and called for my midwife to come right away. At this point it crossed my mind that I may be fully dilated, but they weren't telling me. However, I had a lot of other things on my mind, or really only one all encompassing thing on my mind.

So I was ready to begin pushing, but had to wait. Kyle was phenomenal, he kept me focused and breathing through everything. I couldn't have done this without his help and focus, it was amazing. For someone who thought they did not want to be in the labor room with me when we first found out I was pregnant, he did so well, he could almost be a doula (ha-ha). He would not think so, and I'm sure it was our connection that made it possible for us to link and work through the contractions so well. He had me doing the funny breathing to keep me from pushing, which was very hard. The urge to push was very strong and hard to control.



Finally the midwife arrived and told me I could start pushing. I was kind of in shock, I did not think it would happen so fast. Then the nurse confirmed that I had been ready for the past half hour while we waited for the midwife. The delivery was a little hard, mostly because Lowan was face up, or sunny-side-up, as my midwife said. So it took one and three quarter hours of pushing for our little guy to make his appearance. I definitely had some moments of utter exhaustion and feared being able to keep pushing. It's funny, I did not really pay any attention to the clock during labor, but during pushing, I kept looking at the time. I kept thinking I should be done by now, why is this taking so long. We did not know Lowan was face up. My mom was able to see everything she wanted to see (she was helping hold a leg for me) and Kyle was able to avoid seeing everything he did not want to see. He stayed behind me and for every single push, he counted for me. It was the only thing I focused on during the push and was also the most helpful. He said afterwards, he did not know if it was good or bad, but just kept doing it. I am happy he did, because I may not have told him to keep going had he stopped. The pressure got really great as Lowan's head was very near and finally, out he came. In one push, his head and then body. It was pretty amazing and I'd say the pain was not near as bad as it could have been. I think I've suffered more with the aches and pains of recovery more than the labor and delivery.

They put him up on my chest and began wiping him clean. He was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen and I swelled with love. So did Kyle!



I was able to follow my birthing plan and did not have any unnecessary medical interventions, so I was really excited. My sister is describing Lowan as organic, which both Kyle and I think is very cute and appropriate for us!

Things got a little scary for us right after Lowan arrived because his color was off and he was grunting. They said he was in respiratory distress and took him over to the baby table to put him on oxygen. Kyle stayed with him as much as possible, even going with him into the nursery when they still couldn't get his breathing under control. I was really stressed out, but the nursing staff was very helpful and kept informing us that this transition phase can happen this way and he seemed fine otherwise, this was being done as a precaution. The pediatrician ordered a couple of chest x-rays which showed a partial collapsed lung, but was greatly improved by the second x-ray. We got to go into the nursery around 9:30 when I was being moved from Labor & Delivery to Postpartum for a few minutes. He was looking really good and the nurse said as soon as they got the lab results back and if things looked good (which they expected they would) we would be getting him very soon. I was getting really anxious and wanted to have him in my arms. This whole part of my experience is very hazy, I don't know all the details because I think I was pretty out of it after the birth. Kyle probably knows better what exactly happened, but I just care that he is great now.



After another couple of hours, he was brought to us in Postpartum, healthy and fantastic. They said he was doing much better and seemed to have no problems. We were very relieved. It was a very long four hours for me and I don't want him away from me for a minute now. Well, unless he's sleeping safely in his crib while I get my zzz's in my bed.

So we got home on Tuesday at about 2pm and Kyle's helped keep me fed and reminded me to take naps or at least lay down and rest as much as possible. He has been the biggest help and was the most amazing labor partner I could have ever hoped for.



I don't think I could have had this baby without Kyle's presence, I'm glad he decided he could be with me in the delivery room!