Gretchen's Birth Story

Randy had left early on the morning of Thursday, June 7th, leaving the tv on for the kids to watch so that they would not wake me. I got up around 7 and found both kids in the living watching tv. We snuggled and watched tv for awhile, like we usually do until we are ready to eat. While I was preparing cereal for the kids, I had to stop to catch my breath during a powerful contraction in my stomach. We finished eating without incidence. I was feeling extremely tired, so rather than go outside to play, I convinced the kids to go to the basement toy room to play so that I could rest on the couch. The kids kept trying to ask me questions and show me things, and I answered incoherently and watched with one eye open. I felt another contraction or two, but they were very far apart. Eventually, both kids ended up getting their pillows and blankets and lying next to me just watching cartoons. I felt horrible because it was Reese's birthday and I wanted her to have a special day, but I just could not stay awake! Around 10:30 I decided that I needed to start getting ready for my doctor's appointment. Reese and I took a shower and got dressed. Then I prepared some lunch. When we had finished eating, I packed the kids into the car to drop them off at grammy's while I went to the doctor. I dropped them off a little early so that they would have time to play with their cousins rather than just going straight to nap. I drove into town as I had a little bit of time to run a few errands before my doctor appointment. As I was walking the aisles, I noticed that I was hanging onto the cart more frequently to get through a contraction. Time went entirely too fast and before I had finished my list, it was time to head to the doctor. I checked in and left my urine sample and waited to be called back. When I was called back, I had trouble keeping up with the nurse as I had a contraction walking down the hallway. She took my vitals and asked how I was feeling, and I revealed to her that I had been having contractions. She gave me a gown and told me that the midwife would definitely want to check me. So I put on the gown and waited what seemed like forever for the midwife to come in. When she finally came in, she asked, "Are you ready to have this monster baby?" in reference to the large size baby we were expecting from the previous weeks ultrasound. I said yes and told her that I was having irregular contractions. She checked my belly and listened to the heartbeat and said that she could see the contractions in my belly, which was very reassuring to me. When she checked me, she said that I was dilated to a 4 and about 80% effaced. I asked her when I should call to go to the hospital as I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to get in the antibiotics that I needed for the Strep B which I carry. She said to wait until the contractions were stronger and taking my breath away, because I was able to breathe through them during our visit. She also said that she would warn the midwives on call that I would probably be in in the next day or so. She gave me a check out sheet with instructions to set up an appointment for the next week just in case. While trying to schedule the appointment, there were some difficulties finding a time for an ultrasound, so I called my mom while I waited. I informed her that I was dilated and having contractions and expected to deliver that night. I told her to go ahead and head to the hospital when she was finished with work. When I hung up with her they had finally scheduled a time for an appointment for me the next week. I had planned to stop at a few other stores on my way home, but decided to go straight home to get my things together for the hospital. I called my husband on the way home and informed him that he needed to head home soon or I was likely going to be heading to the hospital by myself. He promised to get home as quickly as he could, he was still 1.5 hours away from home! I called my mother-in-law and asked her if she could drop the kids off at another family members house as I was in labor and headed home to go to the hospital. She agreed and then asked if I needed a ride to the hospital. I told her that her son was headed home to take me, unless I felt that I needed to go before that. When I got home, I finished packing all of the items that I thought I would need for the hospital. Then I gathered a few different things (clothes and swimsuits) to drop off for the kids. I gave the house a final once over to make sure everything was clean and put away. Then I wrapped a gift for a shower we were to attend that weekend. Finally, I sat down to check my email and watch some tv. My husband finally got home around 4:30 and jumped into the shower. By 5 we were in the car and driving to the hospital. I called my mom and she was on her way, she had taken off an hour earlier and was about on pace to beat us there. I called the midwives office and told them that my contractions were 3 minutes apart and much stronger and I was headed to the hospital. The nurse began to question me and made a comment about my previous labor being 10 hours long. I argued back that I needed the antibiotics and barely got them in before my last delivery. She immediately responded that I should get to the hospital and good luck. We pulled into the hospital right behind my mom and entered the emergency room to check in. Though I had pre-registered, they asked me all of the registration questions again and then sent me on to the labor and delivery floor. We made our way to the 5th floor and got stuck behind several visitors before finally making it to the triage room we were assigned. Once I changed the midwife came in to introduce herself. She revealed that they had not been able to find my chart, so she began questioning me about my previous deliveries and hooking me up to the monitors. Finally, a nurse came in and began filling out my information on the computer. Unfortunately there was a glitch and we had to start all over again. We were just about finished when the midwife came in and asked when I was going to tell her about the strep B? They finally moved me to a delivery room and started my IV, stating that they like to have the IV in for four hours before delivery. I was about ready to push and they were talking about making me wait 4 more hours! Then a technician came in to draw blood. He took what seemed like forever! While he was there they talked amongst themselves and realized that the baby would need a heel stick to check blood sugar because of high birth weight anyway, that another stick for Group B strep would not be a big deal. So the midwife said as soon as the technician was done she would break my water. Time seemed to stand still as the technician finished his job and had me check and recheck my name on several vials of blood. He finally left the room and the midwife prepared the hook to break my water. After they broke my water, I shifted to a kneeling position on the bed for a couple of contractions until I felt ready to push. I settled back into a lying position on the bed and began pushing with the very next contraction. After the head came out, they asked my mom if she wanted to catch the baby. She did, so she turned to begin putting on gloves. As she was turned I began to push and she turned back, pulling on her glove just in time to catch the baby and slide it onto my chest. They turned to Randy and asked him if he wanted to announce the sex and he said, "It's a boy!" It was what I expected to hear and then the midwife told him to check again. From his vantage point looking at her from the backside, he mistook the swollen labia as a scrotum and the umbilical cord for the penis, we actually had a girl! Then they wanted to know the name. I looked at Randy to make sure that we were on the same page as we had had second thoughts in the last few weeks, then I announced that she would be Gretchen Lauren. Everybody began to congratulate us and went on and on about what an easy delivery it had been, I only pushed for 12 minutes! I got to hold her while everyone continued their work around us. We got a quick family picture! When they had finished they took her away momentarily to get her measurements, she weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 inches long! Finally, everyone left the room and we were alone to just be with our little girl and take in all of the events of the evening. I feel totally blessed with my two guys and my two princesses!

Reese's Birth Story

Taken from my pregnancy organizer from my pregnancy with Reese
June 6th, 2007
I went to the doctor for a checkup 6 days after my due date fully expecting to have to go back to work and wait a few more days. They checked my urine, weight and blood pressure like usual. Then they checked the fundal height and did a cervix check. Because I still was not dilated, the midwife said that I had 2 options: 1) They could insert a catheter that they would then fill with water to mimic the baby's head and cause cause the cervix to start to open (dilate), 2) they could do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is ok and wait 3 days to see if labor started or be induced anyway. We decided to more forward and go ahead with the 1st option and induce labor. They did a non-stress test which checked the baby's heartbeat and movements while I was resting. Everything looked normal, so they told us to come back around 4pm to have the catheter inserted. If I don't go into labor naturally overnight, we are to go to the hospital at 6:30am to start the pitocin. Either way, she will probably be born within the next 48 hours. Although this is not how we planned it, we are definitely ready for things to get moving!
Rather than go to work, I went home from the doctor's office and spent the afternoon resting. At 4:30 we returned to the doctor's office. After going to the bathroom, I prepared for the catheter to be inserted. Kathe explained to us how the cather should work (called the Foley Method) to induce labor and what we should expect. She inserted the catheter and filled the ballon with water. The balloon mimics the baby's head descending down the birth canal and tricks my body to start dilating or opening. Hopefully, it will cause enough dilation that contractions start, if not they will give me pitocin at the hospital to induce contractions. She told us to go home and get a good night's sleep so that we would be rested for a day of labor. We are to check into the hospital at 6:30am if nothing happens overnight. If we start having contractions overnight we just call the office and they will let us know whether or not to come in and notify Kathe.
I was too uncomfortable to do anything but go home. My mom came over to hang out with us for a little bit that night. She made me some eggs, but for the first time I was not hungry at all! I barely drank anything either because it was so uncomfortable to use the restroom with the catheter. I later found out that not drinking had been a mistake because dehydration can cause problems with delivery. I slept (read rested uncomfortably on the couch and in the spare bedroom so as not to disturb Randy) At 5am I jumped into the shower and prepared to leave for the hospital. We checked in a 6:30 on the dot and they took me to a room and got me all hooked up on the monitors. Fortunately, I had started contracting overnight and did not need the pitocin. Once in the hospital, I moved around a lot from the tub to the bathroom to the birthing ball. I even took a stroll through the hallway. Sometime around noon, they did break my water to keep the momentum going. I had terrible back labor and feeling that I needed to have a bowel movement. This sensation was very distracting to me and I did ask the midwife for some meds. She steered me towards something that could be inserted through my IV and did not have the numbing effects so that I could still get up and move around. Though I was not numb, I was sort of delirious. Everyone in the room kept laughing because I would mumble something incoherent or totally unrelated to the topic of conversation. Sometime around 3pm I began to have the urge to push and started to bear down. The midwife noticed this and said something about my being a natural and not even needing her there! Ninety minutes later, Reese was finally born, weighing exactly 9 pounds and 20 inches in length. She was facing backwards (posterior) which explained all of the back labor and pain. She suffered from shoulder distotia, but they said that it should heal within the week and not cause any long term damage. Several family members were there to greet her into the world immediately! That night there were horrible storms and grammy and grampy had trees down and no power at their house when they returned home!

Aidan's Birth Story

Originally posted on MySpace February 21, 2009

He's finally here!

I have been a bit impatient for Aidan to make his big appearance, and now that he is actually here I can hardly believe it!
Wednesday afternoon we went in for a regularly scheduled appointment. The midwife told us that I was dilated "maybe" to a 1 and high and thick. I was very disappointed, knowing that our due date was only 2 days away, I prepared to go at least a week overdue like I did with Reese.
After work on Thursday I cleaned house and prepared to be gone as if I knew that it was going to happen soon. I went to bed Thursday night having contractions about once an hour. When I woke up at about 5 am, they were about 10 minutes apart. I called the doctor's office at 8am and they told me to come in and they would check me. After dropping off Reese, we got there around 9. I was dilated to a 2 and anticipating a few more hours of labor. We followed the midwife's recommendation to go do some walking at the mall rather than be stuck at the hospital. An hour and a half later my contractions were much stronger and closer together. We returned to the office to be checked again. This time I was 5-6 cm dilated and almost totally effaced. We were immediately escorted across the hall into the hospital and partially admitted. They got me into a room and in my gown. They were hooking up all of the baby monitors when I felt the urge to push. The nurse told me that I could go ahead and push, when I reminded her that I needed antibiotics for the Strep B I carried. They immediately inserted the needle and pushed the antibiotics in as quickly as they could. About an hour and a half later at 12:59 pm Aidan was born! He weighed in at 10 pounds, 1 ounce and was 22.5 inches long! Afterwards we received our hospital bracelets and were officially "admitted" to the hospital! It couldn't have gone any better if we had planned the whole process. I went into labor on my own, on my actual due date, was able to get through the whole thing without an epidural or even any pain meds, and everyone was healthy and happy!


See the other posts here.