The Birth Story: Could be TMI for some

My due date was December 18th. Since I was so miserable and overdue, the midwife said she'd induce me (bless her!) and Baby was born on December 23rd. Yes, 5 days late, but more on that later.

Scott and I arrived at the hospital on time for our 4pm appointment for me to be induced. Things always take longer than I expect though, so it was about 5:30 by the time I got through all the admission stuff and by the time Janelle (my midwife) was able to get over from the clinic to check me. The plan was to break my water and let my body go into labor naturally, but of course, even with this "planned" birth, things still didn't go according to plan. Baby was too high in my uterus for Janelle to feel comfortable breaking my water. Apparently, if babies are too high, there is the chance of having the cord come down first, which would mean an emergency c-section. So they started me on pitocin immediately in order to start contractions and try to get him to move lower down. If he was lower there wouldn't be the risk, so we were going to get him to go down a bit, then break my water. Well, 4 hours later he was finally a smidge lower so they broke my water at 9:30pm. The only problem was that I still wasn't really feeling any contractions, or they were so mild and long in between them that they didn't want to take me off the pitocin because that could've really caused things to stall.

By about 11:00pm, after lots of walking, I started getting more regular and noticeably uncomfortable contractions, and by 11:30 I was laboring in the nice, deep jacuzzi tub in my room. Things were starting to get intense, but the baby was still so high up that Janelle suggested I get out of the tub so gravity could help him get down. There's a reason they call laboring in water like having an "aqua-dural". It's really helpful for the pain. So when I got out it was really a LOT more painful. Gravity was in effect again and I was hoping that for all the pain it was causing that it was at least doing the job quickly. No such luck. It was a long wait for that to happen....

By the time I felt like I was dying and felt like things couldn't get worse, Janelle checked me and told me that I was dilated to an 8. I think I cried. I vaguely remember snarling something like "That's it?! You've got to be kidding me!" I was intent on doing this birth naturally, as I had with Pumpkin, but being dilated to only an 8, I didn't think I'd be able to do it. But I also didn't have time to get an epidural either. I kept telling Jami (my doula with both Pumpkin and Baby) and Scott, "This is different than Pumpkin. This hurts way worse. Pumpkin was easier than this, I swear." So I begged for something - anything - and they gave me a dose of fentanyl which was supposed to "take the edge off" things. Well, it did help me relax more between the excruciating contractions, but as for the pain relief, not so much. Liars....Those contratctions still hurt just as badly as before. The thing with fentanyl is that it only lasts for about 45 minutes too. So it was enough to help me get from an 8 to a 9 1/2, but from then on I was on my own. They can't give any too close to delivery and I was too close.

Let me just say that Baby's birth was, by a mile, the most excruciatingly painful thing I've ever gone through in my life. I delivered Pumpkin naturally, but his birth was totally different. Labor with him was short and (comparatively) sweet. No pitocin needed and a nice 7 lbs 12 oz baby boy. I could tell Baby was different when I started to feel my hips being split apart somewhere around 8 centimeters. Imagine someone using a crowbar to split open your hips and that's about how it felt, on top of the contractions. That never happened with the others and it was both frightening and painful. I think I told Jami that he was killing me at least a dozen times. I literally felt like I was being split in two because of how much he was stretching my hips out. So yes, he was moving down (finally!), but it hurt so badly it took all my strength not to fight to keep him higher up. Then, when it came time to push and he was down in the birth canal, I could immediately tell that he was much larger than my other two boys were. Pumpkin practically fell out with 2 half-hearted pushes. This time I think I only had to push for about 20 minutes, which doesn't sound like much, but let me tell you, when you're having pitocin-strengthened contractions and a large baby, it feels like an eternity. He was so big, he must've been stuck in the birth canal for nearly a full minute of me pushing with all my might and he wasn't budging.

I can't even describe the relief I felt when he finally came out. Janelle and the nurses were all exclaiming over what a big boy he was and what a big head he had. I knew he felt really big, but I didn't expect him to be as big as he was. His head measured 15 1/2 inches or something crazy big like that. Average is 13-14 inches. He weighed 9 lbs 5.6 oz. He was 22 1/2 inches long. He was huge. And thanks to some great things Janelle did, I didn't even tear, amazingly enough. I still can't believe it since it felt like I was being ripped to pieces, but there it is - not a single stitch required. But sadly, he barely fits his newborn sized clothes and he barely fits in the newborn sized diapers. After it was all over, they were looking at the placenta and said it was looking old and calcified, meaning Baby was older (like they'd gotten the due date wrong) and was closer to being 2 weeks late instead of 5 days. It sure is a good thing we got him out of there when we did.

I still can't believe that I went through pitocin-induced labor, without an epidural, and came out the other end with such a huge baby. I'm really proud of myself for doing that. I think if I knew he was going to be so big I wouldn't have had the courage to even attempt natural childbirth with Baby. Happily, I had wonderful nurses on both the delivery side and the mother/baby side. Much, much better than I had when Pumpkin was born at the same hospital a few years ago.

It was amazing to see how the boys reacted to his birth. When they came to the hospital they were so, so excited to meet him. As expected, Mister was just completely smitten. I didn't know what to expect from Pumpkin. He was so cute though. He crawled up next to me on the bed and said "Hi Baby, I'm Pumpkin. I'm a baby too!" with a huge smile on his face. Since we've come home though, he isn't that interested in him. Mister, on the other hand is still in love, bordering on obsessed. He sticks close by and is always giving him cuddles and kisses and is always asking to hold him. He must've come back to give him hugs and kisses at least 4 times before he could finally go to bed the other night. It was so sweet when he whispered in Baby's ear, "Don't worry Baby, I'll take great care of you." He's always close by to help me burp him, give him a bottle, change a diaper, etc. He's a great helper and big brother.