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birth story!
i posted this in the birth story thing here and on fb, but i know i'm not friends with some of you ladies so here it is!
i'm sorry the pictures are so big
Sunday night
(8/14) I was finishing up Riley's room, and was so excited it would be
done before she got here! Well, for the most part. Later that evening,
something was telling me to pack up my little suitcase with everything
I'd need for the hospital, and I hadn't had that urge until that night. I
got everything packed up, and even painted my nails so they looked
pretty just in case! Since nothing else usually looks very pretty after
you give birth, I at least wanted pretty nails. I went to bed about 1am.
At
3:15am my contractions started. I started timing them pretty much right
away, because they were much stronger than the ones I had been feeling
before. They were already about 4-5 minutes apart, and got really strong
really fast. I was having a lot of back labor which I didn't remember
with Dominic, so I was worried she was sunny side up.
I had Don
blow up the exercise ball so I could use that to manage the pain of the
contractions. Seriously, these got so intense so fast it caught me off
guard. Around 4:30am I called my mom and told her she needed to start
heading down to our house to stay with Dominic. I texted a few friends
and family and my birth photographer and told them I think this was
going to be the big day! I bounced on my ball for a while (I didn't use
this when I was in labor last time, but I definitely should have. It
helped so much) and then I hopped in the shower to see if it would give
me some relief. By this time the contractions were probably 2-3 minutes
apart but I didn't figure after not even 2 hours of labor I had anything
to worry about yet. I stayed in there for a little bit, but the
temperature I needed to keep it at to lessen the back labor was making
me really dizzy and light-headed. I decided I couldn't stay in there
forever, and got out. By about 5:30am my mom had arrived, and I was back
to bouncing on my ball. Now my contractions were all basically
back-to-back with only a few seconds in between, and some of them were
almost 3 minutes long. I knew we had to get going, but the contractions
weren't giving me any breaks at all to even get up. I remember it was
right about 6, and I felt the urge to push. I didn't say anything,
because I didn't want to freak Don out. I know he was already in a
little state of panic with how quickly everything was going. I knew we
had to go so I sucked it up through the contractions and got dressed
and we got into the car at 6:15. Don accidentally left the suitcase on
the floor in the garage because we were in such a rush, which had the
camera in it. Oops.
I called the birth photographer on the way
to the hospital and let her know we were on our way and she told me to
let her know when I got admitted. The urge to push was kind of an odd
sensation, and since I had an epidural last time I didn't really know
what it felt like. If you were wondering, it basically feels like you're
about to crap out a bowling ball. Let me tell you, sitting in the car
on a 20 minute ride to the hospital while having to push a baby out is
not a very good time! I couldn't sit in the back, because we had both
car seats back there and didn't have any time to pull them out. So I was
stuck in the front seat having back-to-back contractions with nowhere
to move, it really sucked.
When we got to the hospital, this lady
pulled us over to admitting and was asking us to sign a bunch of crap. I
was like ummmm no. They got us into triage and they didn't have a bed
ready, so we had to wait for about 10 minutes while I was stuck in a
wheel chair with everyone in the waiting room staring at me like I had 4
heads in labor. I think I did a pretty good job of staying calm.
Finally they take me back and told Don to stay there, and the nurse
wanted me to pee in a cup. I felt so silly thinking that I already
needed to push after 3 hours that I didn't say anything to her. I
humored her and tried to pee in the cup, but it didn't happen
(obviously, giant baby in my birth canal). I walked over to where my bed
was and she was about to hook me up to the monitors. I told her, I
don't have time for this, you need to check me because I need to push.
She checked me and yep, I was at 10. She said ?DON'T PUSH!? Well thanks,
I haven't been pushing for about an hour now and I'm about to die. They
had Don come back in and I told him it was time to push, and he was
like ?WTF??
Well so much for my birth photographer! I left my
purse and phone in the car, and Don didn't have her number with him so
we weren't able to call her. Not like it mattered anyway, she was a good
30 minutes away. Thank baby Jesus that my midwife on call was already
at the hospital dealing with another birth. Another midwife from my
office also happened to be there, so I got both of them! We got into the
L&D room I believe at 7:05am and I immediately started pushing.
Holy relief, batman. Well, as much relief as pooping out a bowling ball
will give you I guess. My midwife Kate broke my water while I was
pushing, it didn't break on it's own. I remember clearly telling Don
that there wasn't any way this baby was going to come out of there a few
times in the middle of possibly breaking his fingers. I've given birth
before, but I still find it completely unbelievable. Pushed a few more
times and at 7:19am, 7 pound 14 oz Riley Denise arrived! She was 20.25?
long and beautiful with her little dimples and blonde hair. We let the
cord stop pulsing before it was cut, so she laid on my chest for quite a
while after wards. Once they were done cleaning her up and doing her
stats, Don went out to get my phone and I texted the friends and family I
talked to earlier (they were all wondering where I went) and told them
she was here, and we both called our moms. We couldn't believe all that
happened, it was so fast. Good thing I wasn't going to get an epidural
and planning a natural birth anyway! Last pregnancy I didn't really want
one, and I caved after about 9 hours of labor and got it. I was already
at 8/9 cm, and have been pissed at myself ever since for getting it. I
was almost done, and I knew I could do it myself. This time around I'm
glad I got what I wanted and if we have any more kids, I plan to go
natural again (but apparently I need to camp outside the hospital for
the weeks surrounding my due date to ensure I make it there in time). It
was so empowering and so nice to get up right after having her and move
around, etc. My recovery this time around was a million times better
and I can honestly say I felt great immediately after the birth.
I
had a great experience but am really sad that we don't really have any
pictures of anything. That's the only thing I wish I could change. So
now that I'm a crying mess, there's my crazy story!
and here is a sneak peak of the newborn pictures from sunday. i am DYING to see the rest!!!!
Re: birth story!
What a great birth story, Shannon! Thanks for sharing!! Its just so crazy how close you cut it, OMG - I can't imagine how stressed you both must have been. And I loved your description of the urge to push (not having ever felt it, I appreciated it), hahaha!
I'm so glad you got the natural birth you've always wanted. How is it being a momma of two? Does Dominic love being a big brother?
Can't wait to meet my baby boy!
you know, people really scared me into thinking it was going to be a disaster for the first few months but it really doesn't seem like she ever wasn't here. i think we've got the hang of it pretty well already and dominic loves her. he gives her kisses on the head all the time, i love it. it sure takes us longer to get out of the house though, lol. i see us saving a lot of money from me not wanting to get everyone ready during the day haha
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Aww congrats Shannon! What an awesome story! Riley is such a beauty
I read it on FB, such a special wonderful story, thank you for sharing. I was wondering what the urge to push feels like so now I know hehe
She is so beautiful and you can see what a GREAT bif brother D is already