There's a new Little Man in our lives!
Chip was born at 11:05 am on September 24, 2013.
7 lbs 19.5 inches long Apgar scores 1 min:8 and 5 min:9
He has loved those fingers from the beginning!
I will now share the birth story for our new little man.
I really can't say how excited we were to discover we were pregnant! Despite the constant nausea and exhaustion of that first trimester, I was joyful each time I thought of the new life growing in me. We had wanted this baby for a long time! The pregnancy progressed very normally, besides the fact that I lost weight in the fist trimester, and only gained about 15 pounds total. I felt great once the nausea dissipated. The kids were ecstatic when we told them There was more than one teary eye in the group. And when we found out it was a boy, the was great rejoicing (especially from our not so little Buddy! He told me later that he had given up on ever having a brother, he just never thought it would happen.)
Anyway, early on I decided that I wanted to try for a natural VBAC if at all possible. While I had Peaches by emergency C-section, I was told that I was a great candidate for a VBAC, having had 3 successful vaginal births. The doctor did tell me that my goal of having a natural birth was less likely to happen because of hospital protocols. She informed me that if I wanted to continue with her as my delivering doctor, I would need to change my insurance so that I could deliver at the hospital across the street from her practice. Hospital protocols for VBACs say that once the woman is in the hospital, her doctor must be present for the length of her labor and through the delivery. The hospital let her be in her office across the street if necessary (long labor, slow progress) since it is less that five minutes away. Having been in a couple of emergent/hurry up situations for deliveries, I totally could understand that protocol. But I wasn't so big on the "mandatory IV and epidural" that I was told were protocols. But Dr. H was always willing to say, with your history we'll see what we have time for.
Fast forward to September when I learned that little one was posterior in presentation (as determined by heartbeat placement, fontanel location, and the painful "practice contractions" I was experiencing. I feverishly looked up info on how to get a posterior baby to turn and ways to manage the pain of labor with a posterior baby. Dread started to fill my heart. I started hoping that he would be late, not only to put off the pain, but also because Sweetsa was scheduled to be baptized the day before Little Man's due date! I knew that the craziness of that weekend would be more manageable if he were still inside! At my 37 wk appointment I found out that I had not done any progressing, unlike my other pregnancies. Dr. H also let me know that she would be out of town at a conference from the Tuesday before the due date (9/24) until the day after the due date (9/30). I knew there was not much I could do at that point but thought, dang, it would have been nice to know so I could at least meet the on call doctor before I deliver with him!
On Monday the 23 I had my 39 wk appointment and I still had not progressed much (maybe a 1, and partly effaced). So I thought, "Great, looks like moving furniture around didn't do anything, now I'll take it easy this next week and deliver when Dr. H gets back from Texas." And Dr. H said, "I leave at noon tomorrow so hopefully tonight[I'd start laboring], although it doesn't look like it. Don't move any furniture this week, just take it easy, and we'll see you next week!" I just laughed and agreed.
When I woke up to my alarm the next morning I thought, "Darn, not having a baby today!" (since every other spontaneous labor has started during the early morning hours.) And then got up to get the kids going. Mimi is great at getting herself going, but the other three need almost constant prodding to get all their morning tasks completed. I realized I was having some mild contractions at about 7:15. Mimi was out the door at 7:30am, riding her bike up to school. By this point I knew I needed to let D know that today would be the day. But he had
left his cell at home, and I didn't have his work number! One of the
most awkward phone calls you can ever imagine followed! I called his
boss (from D's phone) to request D's work number. "I just really need
to talk to D, could you give me his extension?!" Meanwhile I'm trying
not to panic as another contraction hits. I was pacing the floor, trying
to manage the physical pain and the anxiety. Gladly, I was able to get
a hold of Devin, but I must have downplayed the situation to myself at
that point, because while I told him we would probably be having a baby
that day, he didn't need to leave for home yet.
Buddy left for the bus stop at 7:45. Almost immediately the contractions started getting harder and harder. So I called the wonderful amazing Mommy that I have, sph1, and asked if she could come help me possibly get the girls to school and maybe me to the hospital, if D wasn't able to come down quick enough. She said of course and made her way to my house.
It was 8 by this point and I was trying not to let the girls know that I was in labor, because I wasn't totally convinced. Although at some point I know I called D again and said, change that, come down now! This is for real! Between the phone calls and the trips to the bathroom, the morning was flying by! But I was dreadfully behind in getting the girls ready for school. They weren't ready when my friend who does a walking school bus came by for them. Luckily grandma came to the rescue and finished getting hair brushed, girls dressed, backpacks ready, etc. Then I told the girls to get into grandma's van and she'd take them to school. She promptly told ME to grab my bag and get into her car, 'cuz she was taking me to the hospital after we dropped the girls off. She said, with how intense the contractions seemed to be, there was no way she was leaving me alone! I thought about getting dressed, but every time I bent over to put pants on, another contraction would hit. I thought, forget this, I'm going in my house dress! So I grabbed my bag and climbed into her van.
We dropped the girls off, and made our way to the hospital. I think we were there at 9am (details are starting to get a bit fuzzy!) By the time I got into the hospital gown D was there in the room and they checked me for progress. I was absolutely floored when they told me I was only at a 3 (but completely effaced)! Mommy couldn't believe it either. I took a few cleansing breaths and settled onto the bed to breathe through some more contractions. D held my hand and rubbed my back. I am proponent of vocalizing through contractions, as that seems to help me manage the pain and keep progressing.When I say vocalizing, I don't mean screaming or yelling, or even talking. It is more like a singing moan. I also rotate my hips to keep them open and relax my muscles. These methods give me something to focus on and a way to relieve tension so that i can work with the contractions to get my babies out. By this point I was feeling contractions differently than I have ever felt them before. A great deal of my pain was in my back and hips. It was quickly becoming difficult to manage. Then a lovely L&D nurse taught us a wonderful technique that we used for the rest of the labor: she and D pushed back hard on my knees so that my hips would push back into the bed (I was sitting on the bed with the back up). I can not tell you how great the reduction in pain there was! It was amazing!
The nurses told me that Dr H would be there soon, and that she wanted to break my water to get the labor moving ( I was at a 4 by this point). I really was nervous to do that for several reasons. I knew the contractions would get a lot more painful with out the cushion of the amniotic sack, and I was remembering the last labor when Peaches' cord prolapsed after having my sack broken. When I told them why I didn't want to do that, they assured me that Little man's head was down so tight against my cervix, and starting down the canal that there was almost no chance of a prolapse happening again. I said ok, go ahead.
Dr H broke my water at 10 am. I was at a 4.5.
[editor's note: It has been 7.5 years since I started writing this post. Everything up to this note was recorded within 6 months of his birth. What follows is my current memory of that day.]
I was right, breaking the amniotic sack did make the labor more painful. But it also sped thing up quite a bit. Having D and the nurse push on my knees was as pain-relieving as the vocalization. Anytime they didn't I said, Push please! I was zoning in and out, vocalizing and trying to stay upright. As the next 30 minutes or so progressed, I heard a comment off to the side, "If I could handle it like this, I would go natural too!" I appreciated the comment because I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, so the encouragement, indirect though it was, helped me to stay focused.
I knew that because I was having a harder time, feeling like I couldn't do it, that I was probably transitioning. Laying down for progress checks was excruciating. I pleaded, "Can't I just stay upright?" They said, but we need to check, we think you are really close. I asked about a bar that they could attach to the bed frame ( I don't remember what it is called anymore), which would let me sit at the very edge of the bed and remain upright for checks and pushing. They agreed that would be perfect for this situation. As they got that set up, I tried to move myself to the foot of the bed, which of course started another contraction. As I leaned to continue moving, something literally shifted within me. It was the strangest feeling. In retrospect, I believe Little Man flipped, or really spun, so that he was no longer posterior. I made it to the edge of the bed, hanging on to the bar, and they checked my cervix. It was at a 9.5--10 with a small lip. SO yeah, I was transitioning. Ha!
They told me to push gently when the next contraction started to see if that would move the small lip out of the way. It worked! So we were cleared for landing, good to go, ready for take-off, etc. Eight years later, I can't remember if I pushed through one or two sets of contractions. It doesn't really matter. I pushed, and Little Man came out! When they told me his weight, I said, "Are you serious!?" They looked at Devin for an explanation. He had no idea why I was so incredulous. So I explained.
In the weeks leading up to Little Man's birth, the older kids and I had recognized several patterns in the births and statistics of the bigger kids:
all born on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday
all born on single digit dates
all born in the morning
and lastly,
their weights were all 3 ounces apart save for the 7 pound spot (6# 13oz, 7# 3oz, 7# 6oz and 7# 9oz)
So, to continue the patterns, they were all hoping that
a) he would be late so he could be born on a single digit date in October.
b) he would weigh 6# 10 oz, 7#, or 7# 12oz.
c) he would be born in the morning
Well, he was 7# even. He was born at 11:05am. He did not wait for October, but he was born on a Tuesday! In so many ways, this Little Man completes our family, patterns and all. He is adored by his siblings and treasured by his Mom and Dad. I think it is a safe to say that he will be spoiled rotten.
