I was dreading my 40-week appointment because I knew my doctor was going to make me set an induction date. My appointment was scheduled for 9:30 am, but by 8:45 that morning Steve and I were headed to "labor and delivery" because I woke up feeling leaky and crampy. The triage nurses verified that my water had indeed broken, so I was quickly admitted to the hospital and they told us that a baby would be born that day. After a hard but rewarding labor, Carolyn Rebecca Altman took her first breath at 6:58 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz, was 19.5 inches long, and scored well on her APGAR tests. Here is our first family picture, about an hour after her birth.
The Labor Story
(for those who want to know all the gory details)
I opted to have a completely natural labor and delivery. In order to prepare, Steve and I practiced relaxation/meditation techniques and learned about the body's response to labor and delivery using Marie Mongan's "Hypnobirthing" method. My interest in having a natural birth came from how incredible I think the human (well, animal) body is... it allowed us to become pregnant and knew how to develop a child within a temporary womb inside of my body. That all happened without any intervention, so I figured my body also had to have the most sophisticated built-in engineering to allow the child to enter the world. So, I was committed to having as natural of a childbirth as possible. And, I have to say, it was the most incredible experience I have had in my life.
On June 18th (my estimated due date and a full-moon), I woke up at 2:30 AM in a cold sweat. Thinking nothing of it, I got up and went to the bathroom and then went back to bed. At 3:30, I awoke again to a small gush. I figured I was having a bit of pregnancy-related incontinence as it had happened a few times during the past few days (though, in hindsight, I think I probably started leaking amniotic fluid on Sunday June 15 -- rather than losing bladder control around then). When I got up to go to the bathroom this time, I noticed something pinkish at the bottom of the toilet and on the toilet paper. I wondered if this might be the "bloody show" singnaling the start of labor. I immediately started feeling crampy, but nothing bad. It felt like I had eaten something that did not completely agree with my stomach. However, sensing that something was starting, I drank lots of water, packed up a few remaining things, charged up all the batteries on the camera, phones, and ipod, and then tried to rest and relax until the sun came up. At 6:30, Steve was waking up to get ready for an 8am tee time. I asked that he cancel golf and stick close to me that day. I think he was confused because I did not give him much of a reason why ... because I was still unconvinced I was actually in labor. Steve asked if I had been timing the contractions. I had not; I figured a contraction would be a lot more intense than the dull cramping I was feeling. However, when we started to track them, we noticed that the cramps were very regularly spaced, about 4-5 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. The leaking was becoming more consistent and heavier as well. At 8am, I called the on-call nurse asking what I should do ... should I wait until my scheduled appointment at 9:30 with my OB or should I come in to "labor and delivery" and be evaluated? She called my doc, who said that she would probably send me upstairs to triage regardless, so I may as well skip my office visit and go directly to "labor and delivery" as soon as I was ready. So Steve started to pack up the car and off to the hospital we went. Still, I wondered, if this really was it.
Below is a listing of how the labor unfolded at the hospital. I recreated the day from a set of notes that steve kept.
8:45 -- "Arrived at hospital. Yep, we are having a baby."
The triage nurses admitted us after monitoring the baby's heart rate and my contractions for about 30 minutes and confirming that the fluid I was leaking was amniotic fluid, not urine. The cervix was only dialted to 1 cm upon admission, but it was almost completely effaced.
10:45 -- "All admission logistics and interviews were done by 10:45. The staff seem to be in tune with our birth plan and preferences. Danni was our main nurse; Heather was a nursing student shadowing her for the day. A bunch of the other on-call residents, med students, and attendings came in to introduce themselves as well."
11:40 -- "Mom's doing well -- had to have a catheter to get some pee. Ick. Looks like it hurts. Checked cervix. It was now at 3cm. She is napping now with headphones on. I just ate leftover potato salad and BBQ chicken from home. Must fight to stay awake. So sleepy (and fat)."
12:00 -- "The on-call resident (Dan Something?) came in and wanted to start Pitocin. Rebecca emphatically said NO."
He apparently did not read our file before coming into the room.
12:50 -- "Dr Chaudhari (Becky's OB) and Dr Julie Something (the Chief OB Resident) came in and said things are progressing, however, Dr C brought up Pitocin again. I can't know for sure, but she seems very anxious to keep things on a schedule - her schedule not becky's. I'll have to keep a close watch."
In hindsight, I do not think I should have mentioned the fact that I started leaking several days earlier. Everyone was eager to get the baby out after they knew that, despite seeing on the monitors that the baby was totally happy and healthy, that there was still plenty of fluid left, and that there was no sign of infection in me or her.
13:30 -- "After some time on the birthing ball, Becky is up and walking the halls. Every once in a while, she hesitates and slows her step. This must be when she is having a contraction. From 13:30-14:30, Becky napped again."
14:45 -- "One of the docs came in and did internal check. Still at 3 cm. He asked if he could rupture the fore sack. She agreed. Big gush of fluid."
Apparently, the leak in the membranes was coming from a small tear, but as the baby's head began to descend, it created a bag of bulging waters right at the cervix. As soon as they pricked this sack, the contractions got very intense. Not necessarily closer together or longer in duration, just much more intense. When they checked the fluid that gushed afterwords, they noticed a bit of meconium, meaning that the baby had already had its first bowel movement. After noticing this, they informed us that a team of pediatricians would be present at the birth and they would have to do some extra suctioning immediately upon delivery, rather than placing the baby on my chest upon delivery. Ok.
Our friend Nikki came to say hello (she is a doc at the hospital). I was so deep in concentration that I only vaguely remember seeing her, but I remember her asking Steve, "So she must be on some pretty powerful drugs, eh?"
16:30 -- "5 cm - progress!"
17:30 -- "Contractions more intense. Becky is standing upright now, leaning into the bed or me during a contraction. Becky pooped a little on the floor (she does not know, I don't think); Danni cleaned it quickly (this must happen a lot); Danni then started getting things ready and working pretty frantically. She keeps asking Becky to tell her if she is starting to push. Becky has little response. Danni is working fast. Baby must be near!"
At the end of each contraction when it was most intense, I did start to have a feeling of wanting to push out, rather than breathing up. There was a definite shift in how the muscles in my pelvis were working at this point. I did not want to push the whole contraction, just a little nudge at the very end.
17:40 -- "Becky is now on all fours in bed, leaning over birthing ball, rocking back and forth. Heavy contractions. Whew, stinky and messy fluid and blood coming out."
17:53 -- "Becky finally responds, yes, there is an overwhelming urge to push -- Danni quickly checked her and indeed she was completely dilated to 10 cm. She immediately paged Dr C and Dr Julie"
17:56 -- "No show yet by docs but others are assembling in room"
I really wanted to get off of my hands and knees, but I did not know how to do it myself. I needed help readjusting my position. Danni and Steve must have helped me flip around to my back and took away the bottom portion of the bed because I was in a modified squat for delivery, but I do not really remember making the move.
18:07 -- "Resident Julie showed up"
18:15 -- "Doc C. showed up, tying her scrubs as she walked in the room. She announced, this baby is coming soon."
Everyone was there and it was time to push, but I think I was afraid to 'really' push for the first few contractions. I more or less just tried to breathe through them and did not forefully push at all. Maybe I was afraid it would hurt, maybe I was still trying to preserve my energy because I thought I still had a long way to go before it was over.
18:30 -- "The top of baby's head is showing - lots of hair!"
18:41 -- "Still pushing, inching her out."
This is the part of labor I remember the most. The rest of it I was so focused on relaxing and not fighting my body that I lost all track of time and felt a strange out of body experience for most of the day. However, when we were at this point, I realized that I was almost done and that the baby would be here in no time. I think I relaxed a bit and realized that I actually had managed to have a completely intervention-free natural birth. I become more conversant during this stage of labor than during any other stage of labor. I remember thinking that I was really hungry. I remember having pain like I have never felt as the baby's head was coming down the birth canal. It was a burn so intense, yet so liberating that I almost savored it. The docs kept telling me to push through, even without a contraction, but I liked the feeling of relief and accomplishment in between each contraction so I rested during the breaks and pushed hard during the contractions, which were still quite short (about 30-40 seconds) and well-spaced at about every 2-3 minutes.
18:58 -- "BORN"
The pediatricians quickly took her to the other side of the room to suction the airways for the meconium inhalation. We heard her cry and they kept calling out that she was 'happy and healthy' and that she was 'all girl', so there was no concern. The OB docs were still poking and prodding me (err, punching really hard on my uterus). Danni was starting an IV on my right arm to rehydrate me with fluids; Heather was taking my blood pressure on the other arm; and there was so much blood and fluid coming from my body that I honestly could not imagine having a newborn laying on my chest. There would have been no bonding going on then.... but I can tell you that I was elated, relieved, and felt a sudden rush of energy and emotion like I have never had in my life. I was so happy that Steve was there with us. He really did play a big part in helping me stay focused throughout the labor and delivery. I could not have done it without him.
After I held Carolyn for a moment, she was taken to the nursery because they wanted to do a bit more suctioning and observation, as she was still kind of gurgling with fluid in her lungs. Steve, a very proud daddy, went with her and stayed with her until all of her tests were done.
In the meantime, the OB staff continued to work on me, trying to get my blood to clot and my uterus to contract. I was very happy when they told me that I did not have a single tear and required no stitches. Later my doc mentioned that it was probably because I had such control and patience over the final pushes and such trust in my body's ability to do what it was supposed to do. She then asked me who taught my childbirth classes because she was going to recommend them to others in her practice. Steve kept calling me a "Rock Star." I just felt like I did what I was supposed to do. I know I am not the first woman to give birth, let alone the first woman to give birth naturally. I am just proud to be among the many women who have felt every movement of their child as s/he inched their way into the world. It was such an awesome feeling and makes me appreciate and trust the power of the mind and the body even more than I did before I experienced childbirth. Wow.
