Carolyn Grace – Her Birth Story

Note: Fairly detailed version – not for all readers.

Last night I went to bed kinda sad. I hadn’t been having much in the way of contractions, it had been two days and two nights since the false alarm, and I was tired of deciding which was less uncomfortable, the couch or the bed. Somehow, after 40 weeks and 3 days (when I thought I was going to give birth), I had given up hope that my baby would ever be born. Funny how our minds work.

As usual, I woke up several times to roll over or get comfortable. I noticed some cramping contractions, but they weren’t anything to sneeze at. Around 2am, I woke up with a contraction that hurt, though. A minute later, it registered and I got out of bed to go to the bathroom. I think it was about 2:10am. There was a tiny piece of mucus plug (probably) but nothing was as convincing as a good strong contraction that brought back all my nicely forgotten memories of the painful part of labor. Oh yeah! I remember this! This is different than Wednesday!

I walked to the computer and updated facebook, because that’s what I do. That was 2:21 and I struggled to make it back to Brian. I thought at one point, “Oh this is coming on fast! I need to wake up some more or I am really going to struggle to cope.” I was pretty groggy and prayed for a few more minutes to prepare myself. I went and sat next to Brian (after yet another trip to the bathroom…. shouldn’t have to go for a week now!) and he asked if I was having trouble sleeping. haha Yes!

Brian didn’t take long to wake up… about the time I told him I was having contractions, one hit me and I wasn’t able to stay sitting next to him on the bed, but stood up and rocked from foot to foot. Now that it was clear that these were strong contractions (you know, it does take awhile to convince yourself!), I went to call/text my mom and midwife. I told them I’d time the contractions for a few minutes and call them back. Maybe one contraction later, I tossed the phone to Brian and asked him to call everybody out. I think that was about 2:38

The contractions were already so intense that I couldn’t let Brian away from me much as his presence was a piece of my emotional stability as I labored through the pain sensations that were so overwhelming. I had the presence of mind to remember that pain this intense meant that it would be over fast and kept getting through just one at a time. I am quite the moaner while in labor – sure beats yelling. It’s actually helpful for tracking how well I’m doing and where in the contraction I am. They came on strong at the front end and I was kinda yelling my moan and my job was to keep it from getting high pitched. Then it faded down to a breathy “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm or ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” down to just breathing. Contractions were probably 1-2 minutes long and about 4 minutes apart. Not sure.

Anyhow, Brian somehow accomplished the tasks of many people during the 1-2 minutes between contractions. He started a pot of water on the stove and got the hose running in the pool and checked on it now and then. He got plastic sheets on the bed and then another fitted sheet to cover them. He helped me maintain whatever position I threw myself into for each contractions and told me I was doing good. I could NOT wait to get in the water! At 3am, I had Brian call Kelli (our incredible midwife ) to see where she was… we were starting to worry she’d make it with how fast things seemed to be going.

Shortly after that, I was in the pool. Which gave me a lot of peace, because I had been worried about making a mess on the floor… it can’t possibly help you give birth if you are trying not to let anything accidentally leave your body while you’re in labor. I went to the bathroom one last time and climbed in. (Hey, and this time I remembered to go ahead and leave the pants off…. when I gave birth to Maggie, we had to cut off my underwear because I waited to long. oops!) All during the labor I had been shaking pretty strongly, what with the hormones racing through my body. And I had been trying not to accidentally pee or poop (sorry for TMI!). I figured the #2 feeling was related to her descending and I had been holding back any pushy feelings.

Let’s see…. (trying to remember – so much happened during this, my fastest birth! It was just condensed!)

Contractions were still very hard to cope with, I was still moaning loudly, and I think they had moved to being about 2 minutes apart…. meaning I was having only about 30 second breaks between. Good news for somebody who wants to be done! I was encouraged that if I was not dead yet after such frequent contractions, then I might actually make it. I asked Brian if he thought we had what we needed if she came before our midwife got here. He said he thought so! Really, there’s not much you need for this part. 🙂 Anyhow, I don’t think either of us were worried about her being born without the midwife being here. We were both confident she’d be at our house soon to make sure everything was ok. (I now know that both my midwife and her assistant and my mom and sister were speeding pretty badly up the freeway, all hoping to not get a ticket!)

I warned Brian that I was going to push a little and that I worried I would poop. I apologized at least once and he reminded me that he’s not a first time dad and that I shouldn’t worry. So…. another contraction came and I pushed…. and (no details shall be shared about poop) I felt my water break. At the same time, Carolyn moved DOWN. It was immediate. My water broke and she was ready to be born. I told Brian that the baby was coming and he came around (not believing me, he told me later) and saw her head! A little bit later (30 seconds?) I pushed and her head was out. The contraction ended and we rested for a minute. I had tried to push slowly so I wouldn’t tear, but there was almost nothing I could do about pushing or not. I asked Brian if he would catch her, because I was on my hands and knees and didn’t want to turn around. I rested several seconds after her head was born and then pushed again experimentally and out she came into Brian’s arms.

Brian lifted her out and then I went to turn around…. which, because of the cord, meant she had to go back under the water to go under my leg. If we had thought about it, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but it all happened pretty fast so she got double-dunked! WHEW! We did it! She was out! It was over! I got settled and Brian put her on my chest and she coughed and cried and squirmed and was 100% ok. Kelli hurried through the door right then. I was just so pleased and proud of Brian and mostly relieved. Everybody was here and everything was fine. (The other midwife and my mom and sister got there shortly after)

The cord was only long enough to get her to my chest and the water was just barely warm enough, so after just a few minutes, we went ahead and cut the cord and wrapped her in a towel. I stayed in the water a little longer while they got her cord rubber-banded/clamped (the first try, the rubber band flew across the room – oops! haha). Brian went to see if Anna wanted to get up…. which she didn’t right away, but not much later she came out all bushy-tailed and smiles. Heart and lungs were listened to and I was helped to the bed where I pushed out the placenta a couple minutes later. It was great to get dry and warm and in bed. All looked great for me and I didn’t need any special attention.

Soooooooo – we settled down. Carolyn pooped, nursed and had her newborn exam. Her head is completely round – no molding whatsoever. (I told you, she dropped from way up high almost all the way out when my water broke and didn’t spend any time shaping through my pelvis!) Her feet are very wrinkly, which I guess is a sign of being term or post-term, which she is! She weighed 8lbs. and 6oz. which is almost a full pound more than both Maggie and Anna! She is 19.5″ long, which I think Anna was 21 and Maggie was 20, but I’m not sure. Her head is 15″ around, which is quite large! It’s not so much that her head is so big, I don’t think… just it wasn’t molded at all during birth. She is completely beautiful. Her hair is the darkest of the girls and sometimes she looks a lot like me and in one picture, she looks just like Brian’s dad. Her cry is girly and clear and loud. She started nursing great. It’s amazing how individual she is.

So! That’s the birth story! She’s here! I’m getting around pretty good and the afterpains are occasionally really difficult, but not all of them. Because she’s slept so much, she hasn’t nursed constantly, which is a blessing for day one of afterpains. (nursing causes a contraction) Carolyn fell asleep around noon and hasn’t been awake since. I’m hoping to get at least half a night before she starts waking up much. 🙂 I think both Maggie and Anna had their nights and days mixed up for several weeks… but it’s hard to remember through the fog of fatigue. 😉 Feeling pretty good right now, except the house keeps getting hot and cold. Gotta remember to put a towel next to the bed tonight to catch the night sweats.

Carolyn will sleep in our room for a couple weeks until I can get out of bed easily. I am treasuring these hours… precious, irreplaceable time.

Now – pictures!

And the video of Maggie meeting Carolyn (Maggie will be three next month):