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March 25th
was my official due date. But
as expected, that day passed with no signs of a baby.
I had a doctor’s appt. that day and I was not dilated or effaced
at all. On Wednesday March 27th, I was awakened at 3:30am
by a real contraction that took my breath away.
They were about 15 minutes apart for the next several hours.
When Damian got up for work around 6:30am I told him to stay close
to his office in case I needed to get in touch with him.
He left and I continued to have contractions until 8:30ish when all
of a sudden, they stopped. For
almost 3 hours I didn’t have a single contraction.
At one point I started crying, remembering my 96-hour labor with
Aidan, hoping that this wasn’t the start of a very familiar pattern.
But just as suddenly as they disappeared, they reappeared.
Now they were 5-6 minutes apart and a lot stronger than they were
earlier. I called Damian at
work and told him that he wouldn’t be going back to work after lunch.
He was excited. When he got
home, the contractions were getting tough but I was still in “good
spirits”. I was able
to talk through them, but not walk through them. I would lean over a stack of pillows on my bed and sway my
hips during each contraction. That
is what felt best. All this
time Aidan was playing with Grandma and Grandpa.
I started to get really emotional every time I heard Aidan laugh.
It finally hit me that I was bringing his new baby into the world
and that he was going to be a big brother really soon.
Then around 2:30pm, the contractions stopped again.
I was so frustrated. After
a good cry, I managed to nap. Around
4pm, the contractions were back. We
decided to call the doctor and see if I could be seen in the office to
check if anything was happening. I
was checked around 4:30pm and I was 3 cm/80% effaced!
Yay! We went
back home and continued to labor until 6:30ish pm.
Aidan was fascinated with my labor and it was hard to keep him
distracted. He kept trying to
get me to pick him up. It was getting hard to concentrate with all the extra people
around. We decided to head
over to the hospital. We went
earlier than I would have liked but I couldn’t labor with all the
distractions. Arrived at
the hospital around 7pm, checked. 4
cm/80-85% effaced. I was
strapped up to the monitors. After
lying down for 30 minutes my contractions went from 5 min. apart to almost
10 minutes apart. I needed to
be on my feet. I was finally
sprung and started walking around the suite.
My timeline gets sort of fuzzy from here on.
I was in and out of the shower many, many times.
Used the birth ball. Slow
danced with Damian. I had to
be hooked up to the monitor for 20 minutes of every hour, which totally
sucked. It hurt so much more
lying down. Sometime around
10pm I was checked again. No
change, still 4 cm. I was
trying hard not to get discouraged. My
doctor came to the hospital around midnight, checked me again.
Almost 5 cm. He
decided to spend the night, since my labor with Aidan was only 1 ½ hours
from when I hit 5 cm. HA-HA! History does NOT repeat itself.
At around 1:30am, I was starting to give up. I was shaking uncontrollably, exhausted, and feeling
defeated. I was in
transition. I spent the
next 2 hours in the shower; minus the 40 minutes I was tortured by being
on the monitor. I was checked
again at 3:30am. Still 5 cm.
My water still had not broken.
But the baby had descended a little further down and it was
determined that she was coming down crooked.
She was not putting enough pressure on my cervix to make any real
changes. My doctor suggested
changing positions. I was on
my hands and knees, tried squatting but I was to darn exhausted.
He then suggested laboring on my side.
I tried but my hips ached so badly.
I really couldn’t go on anymore.
I was pleading for them to make it stop.
I caved in a little and got a shot of nubain.
It did not take away any of the pain of the contractions but it
made me sleep in between. I
was also able to lie on my side, hoping that it would encourage the baby
to turn right. Around
4:30am, I was checked again. 8 ½-9 cm. WOO-HOO!!
My water was still intact but while doing the exam, my doctor
“accidentally” broke it. But
it was heavily stained with meconium. Actually, both Damian and the doctor said it looked like pea
soup it was so dark. I was
told that when the baby was born that she would have to be deeply
suctioned and that I would not be able to hold her right away.
I didn’t care. I
just wanted her to be ok. Also
the NICU team would be in the delivery room to check her over.
Fortunately she was showing no signs of distress on the monitors
despite the meconium. I
never got a break in between contractions at this point.
Most were double peaking. At
around 5:30am I got a HUGE urge to push and my body just took over and
pushed for me. Luckily the
nurse was in the room at the time because with just that one involuntary
push, the baby’s head was crowning. The nurse called for my doctor and
the NICU team stat. I heard
them RUNNING down the hall to get to my room, all the while I’m panting
like a crazed dog, trying not to push.
My doctor didn’t even get a chance to put on his special garb,
the bed was not broken down, the gunk catcher was not able to be set up,
and I was laying in a weird position, half sitting up leaning on the bed
rail, really needing to push again. I
was told I could, and with the next push, her head was out.
They suctioned her, and then finally I was able to push again.
And at 5:32am, Fiona Kathleen Lynch was born.
The cord was cut right away and she was whisked away by the NICU
team. She was suctioned
again. Luckily all the fluid
they brought up was clear. It
wasn’t until 10 minutes later that I was finally able to hold her.
My little girl. I was
in total shock when they said it was a girl.
I didn’t believe them at first!
So after 18 hours and 3 pushes, I had my healthy pink bundle,
weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 18 ½ inches long.
And even with such a fast delivery, I didn’t tear!
We were discharged the next morning and are adjusting to life as a
family of four. |