Elias' Birth Story

It seems like for the last few weeks I have had contractions every Thursday night all night long, but I was able to sleep through them for the most part and they tapered off in the morning. Well, Thursday March 17th, St. Patty's Day I just felt like something was off, I just didn't feel good. I went to bed around 8pm and by 10 I was having contractions...no big deal I was used to it, By 4am they were too painful I got up and started to time them. If I was walking around they would be 6-7 min apart and about 50 sec long. If I layed down they would space out to 10-15 min but be 60-75 min long...so I asked Ben to stay home from work, but I didn't know if this was the real thing or not, and there was no way I could take care of Kyle and contract all day long.

I had already had a chiropractor appt. scheduled that morning and decided to go; I figured it would be good to be adjusted before delivery anyways. By about 2pm a friend came over and we decided to walk around a little. They were definitely getting more painful and I couldn't talk through them anymore. By 4pm I was done...I felt like 12+ hours of this was rediculous since Kyle was born in 13.5 start to finish. So I called the midwife and she said it was up to me if I wanted to come in. I couldn't bear the thought of being sent home so she said she'd call back in a hour. By the time she called back I was having to make low noises to get through the pain. She said I should come in since I had to get the antibiotics for group B strep, and I wanted the epidural so she wanted to make sure we had time for both.

We got to the hospital around 5:45pm and I remember this car ride being more painful than the one with Kyle...so I figured that was a good thing. So I got all hooked up on the monitors and I was having some really good contractions...Ben said they were 3 min apart but I don't think they were that close. I just hated having to endure them while lying down...I remembered hating that with Kyle's delivery too. She came in and checked me and I was 4cm, 90% effaced and -1 station! Yay! I got started on the meds and fluids right away. We didn't get into our room till about 9pm and I finally could move around during the contractions..that helped, plus I wanted gravity as much time as I could to help move the baby down before I got the epi. It was funny because during the conractions, I'd move and make my noises to get through them, then in-between Ben and I would be chatting away or he took a nap...very different than with Kyle's labor which was intense from the beginning...though I think this time I just was used to it and knew what to expect. The nurse offered iv pain meds till I got the epi..but I declined...I felt like I was doing great!

I finally got the epi around 9:30pm. This was the scariest part because I had never had one before...but the anesthesiologist was great and told me what she was doing the whole time. Once it started to take effect I totally felt like I was cheating...LOL I could still feel the contractions somewhat on my right side but it was bearable. They rolled me to my right side which helped but I had to go back on my left when the baby's heart rate dropped a little. Within 5 min. of getting the epi we heard and I felt my waterbreak and the contractions definitely intensified from there. By 10:45 I felt pressure and was ready to push. We had to wait until I had started the second dose of antibiotics for 10 min before I could push. So at 11:16pm I started pushing and asked the midwife if I could pull him out when it was time. I pushed him out in 15 min. It was amazing. I could see the whole thing and pulled him out. He was born at 11:29pm, 7lbs 13.6oz, 20 in long. He had the cord wrapped aound his neck twice and was all tangled in it, but he cried right away.

The best feeling in the world is when they lay that baby you worked so hard for on your stomach for the first time...that one memory from Kyle's birth was what kept me going throughout this long and challenging pregnancy.

They gave me pitocin right away afterwards and monitored me very closely so I wouldn't hemmorage like I did with Kyle. It's amazing how much better I felt this time around not losing so much blood.

The whole experience was exactly what I wanted this time and I'm thankful for a healthy baby.