Oliver's Birth Story
The two best "highs" in the world are:
- Runner's high: The feeling you get after a great, long run
- Labor high: The feeling you get right after giving birth
I argue that the Labor High is the absolute best.
I LOVE a good labor story. It's every mom's badge of honor. Her glory story. And here is ours. Every detail from Oliver's birth. Read it. Skim it. Whatever. This blog post is really for my memory. I want to write down every minute so that I never forget it! It could possibly take you as long to read it as it took me to deliver! It certainly took me longer to write this then it took me to deliver!
Let's start with Sunday, August 24.
We had an incredibly productive day: I made the curtains for baby's nursery and Eleanor's art smock for Kindergarten. I got school supplies ready. I was exhausted from the Brewer's game the night before and so Andy went grocery shopping for me. We had a great cook-out on the grill and put Eleanor to bed. That night I was on the computer ordering our baby swing and Andy was assembling the bouncy chair. He asked me a few times if I was OK because I looked "different". I was definitely having contractions, but they were SO sporadic - nothing that made me feel like I should start timing them. But I was uncomfortable, that was for sure. I kept assuring Andy that I was fine.
Andy told me that we should really start packing for the hospital. I laughed because he keeps saying that! I said, YOU need to pack for the hospital. I'm packed.
Well then where is your bag?
I laughed again. Andy, this is NOT going to be like the movies. I'm not just going to GO into labor. We are going to have time. We aren't going to be running around liked crazed lunatics. That's just NOT how this happens in real life.
Monday, August 25.
We had a prescheduled 8 AM OB check with Dr. Saikie. My alarm went off at 5:45 AM. Like always. I hit the snooze alarm 3 times. Like always. I rolled myself out of bed. Like always. I waddled myself to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Like always. I got ready for work. Like always.
Eleanor was still sleeping. NOT like always. At 6:45 Andy looked at the clock and said, "I should probably get in the shower and start getting ready." I said, "Well, if you are getting out of bed, then I am going to turn on the light and put away some of these clothes [that had been in a laundry basket in our bedroom for almost 1 week]." I bent over to get the laundry basket. And stopped. Stopped as I felt something warm and wet run down my leg. NOT a gush. Almost like I wasn't really sure what happened. I looked at Andy and waddled back to the bathroom, not saying anything. In the bathroom, I felt another run of fluid down my leg. I looked at Andy again, who was now staring at me. "Um. Either my water is breaking or I just wet my pants. Twice." We decided to just keep getting ready for our doctor's appointment. No reason to do anything different - in literally 40 minutes we would be at the doctor's office. However, as we kept getting ready for the appointment, we decided to maybe finish packing the rest of our bags. You know, phone chargers, toothbrushes...just in case.
After a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with Eleanor, I stood up to put my bowl away. Another little flow of water. This time, it was tinged with blood. I decided to call the Doctor's office and notify them ahead of time. I didn't want anyone judging our intelligence by NOT calling ahead of time. I explained I was 37 weeks, 5 days pregnant and 20 minutes away from going to my 37 week OB check. The nurse said she would check with Dr. Saikie and find out if we should come to the appointment or go to the hospital. We needed to keep moving, so Andy and I took Eleanor to school together and planned on going to the doctor's together (we usually drive separate, because I go right to work). On the way to school, the office called and told us to go to the hospital. I looked at Andywith fear, excitement, anticipation, totally blank and confused. Ummmm, what was happening? This is NOT how it was supposed to happen.
I took a quick (horrible, blurry) selfie of the 3 of us on the way to daycare. There was a chance...this is the last time the 3 of us would be the 3 of us.
We dropped Eleanor off at school and I gave her the biggest hug I have ever given her. I started sobbing. I couldn't even begin to anticipate that this would be the last time it would be just her. My little girl. My lifeline. She didn't see me cry, but I literally felt like my heart was breaking. I was interrupted when one of the teachers yelled out the window - "So, getting ready? Getting close?" She was kind of laughing. Ummm, I might be in labor, I told her. "Yeah, I know. No one hugs their child that hard just for daily drop off...AND mom and dad are both here." I laughed and looked at the moment from another perspective. My baby girl could, potentially, be a big sister by the end of the day.
So - off we went to the hospital. We parked. We walked down a few flights of stairs, into the hospital, up a few flights of stairs. You know - no big deal. I had felt a few more flows of water, but not a single contraction. I still would not believe I was in labor.
We went to the 2nd floor and were greeted by smiles - It's like Disney World! Everyone is just so happy on the labor floor! They sorted through some post-its - it's going to be a busy day! We got checked into Triage C. Enter amazing nurse #1 - Alissa. "Let's find out if your water broke". We went through all my history, my pregnancy and our morning. She did a Ph test to determine if it was indeed amniotic fluid I was leaking. The results of the test were inconclusive. Hm. So they called Dr. Star for a "fern test" - basically a more in-depth test. The test...was inconclusive. The solution: Stick around the triage room for 2 hours, walk around, try to induce labor, fully rupture "my membranes", whatever. Retest in 2 hours. Good Luck.
Soooooo, after already hanging out in this little room for like 1.5 hours, we went for a walk around the 2nd floor of West Allis Woman's pavilion. The like 2 hallways we could walk down. Dana in her little hospital gown that didn't fully close in the back and Andy. Up and down the hallways. Waddle. Waddle. Waddle. BIG. FAT. 200# Dana. Walking around. Watching dark clouds roll in, rain, and leave. Feeling little gushes of water myself. But NO contractions. At 11:30 we find out Dr. Star won't be able to see us before she leaves for the day and we have to wait for the noon Dr. to be available: Dr. Powell. Have I mentioned how BIG our triage room is? Think of a doctor's office room...and now split it in half. Andy and I are on TOP of each other. We are getting restless...and honestly...a little bored. We made our list of what we MIGHT need if in fact I got admitted.
Noon o five: Dr. Powell comes in, "So YOU'RE our mystery couple of the day. We all have bets on you." Are you in labor or not? She does an exam and swab for the fern test...Before she leaves the room she says, "I'm pretty confident your water broke. I mean, let's call a spade a spade. But we'll do the test." As she was leaving I asked if we were being admitted, she turned, poked her head back in and said, "If you were my patient, I'd keep you." O.M.G. the FIRST real thing we've heard all day. We finally started to get excited. She poked her head back in, confirmed she saw ferning - my water broke. I couldn't really be "released" back to the public because there was nothing "protecting" me from infection. But...I still wasn't having contractions...so now we started talking about Pitocin.
What? No. No. This is NOT how it's supposed to happen. I had a 6 hour labor with Eleanor. This is supposed to be fast. What do you mean I need Pitocin? Alissa says we can wait for the contractions to begin, but that brings us to a more possible C-Section. Our clock was ticking. They would want the baby out within 24 hours of the water breaking - no matter how that happened. We can start Pitocin and hope for a vaginal delivery. I talk with Andy. I talk with Alissa. I come to grips with the fact that I'm not WILLINGLY scheduling an induction. It's not like I said, "I want this baby to be born on X date - let's schedule an induction". It was becoming medically necessary to get this baby out -- at this point, my water had been broken for almost 5 hours and the risk of infection just became greater and greater. Still...I cried when I told my sister I needed Pitocin.
As I got admitted into the hospital, ordered a light lunch and made a few phone calls to update family members, Andy ran home to pack his bag and throw some remaining items in my bag. Hmmm, looks like Andy was right after all and we SHOULD have had our bags packed...and I SHOULD have told him where all my stuff was.
This is where things really slow down. When Andy came back, we watched some Love It or List It on HGTV and played Rumikub.
The contractions were starting and coming with frequency, but not with intensity. We couldn't check my cervix very often because of the risk of infection, so I basically labored through the afternoon. Dr. Saikie was going to come after his office hours around 5:30 and we would check at that time. It actually was his on-call night, so we knew he was going to deliver our baby.
TV started to annoy me as my contractions became more intense.
I had to breath through them more than before and so Andy and I sat in our hospital room, talking, laughing, hanging out, listening to music and just having a good time. At around 5 PM, Grandma Shirley called us with Eleanor in the car. Andy and I explained we were in the hospital because the baby was coming. We told her we would call her when it was born, but it would probably be tomorrow morning. Every other word out of our mouth was "We Love You SO much". Additionally around this time, Nurse Alissa checked out and Nurse Amber came in. Enter Amazing number #2.
At 5:30, Dr. Saikie came in, "Why are you not screaming in pain?" he asked. I had been on the Pitocin for almost 6 hours and STILL no baby. The contractions weren't really that bad. I was 1.5 centimeters dilated. 1.5. I almost lost my mind. How the heck was this happening. Are they SURE my water was fully broken? I mean - this was taking too long.
At 6:30 I was feeling a lot of pressure and really felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. We decided to ask Amber if that would be OK, before I just went to the bathroom and started pushing...it was a weird enough labor already. She came in to do a cervical check and now I was only 3.5. Clearance to poop. So I sat in the bathroom, trying to go to the bathroom and crying. WHY was this taking so long? I was supposed to have this baby in record time. And I was starting to get tired. Would I be able to have this baby naturally? Would I have the energy to labor all night?
Andy and I tried so hard to keep such detailed notes on the labor, but this is where things get really blurry because time was either standing still or rushing by. My contractions were really getting intense and I was getting really uncomfortable. I was also having a lot of back labor. I kept changing positions and just trying to labor through.
Around 9 PM Amber came back in to check on the baby's heartbeat and contractions. Although I don't remember why - we had another cervical check. I had been on Pitocin since noon, my water had been ruptured since 7...even the medical staff was starting to think this was taking a long time. I was about 4 cm at this time -- however -- Amber also thought that perhaps she could feel that part of my water was still intact. She paged Dr. Saikie who came in to confirm that, indeed, my water wasn't fully ruptured! Every contraction I had been having left the baby pushing on the membrane, not thinning the cervix as it should. He used the SAME tool they used to break my water with Eleanor and I felt the same immediate relief.
At this point, Amber never left the room. The contractions were almost continuous at this point. She turned off the Pitocin to try and give me a little relief in between contractions. I remember being hunched over the side of the bed saying, "Not another one already -- I'm not ready already!" It was continuous. I was also starting to feel incredibly nauseous with each contraction. I actually was hoping I would throw up because I felt like it would give me some relief. Instead, Amber offered some Zolfran and I decided to take her up on it. When she left the room I remember looking at Andy and telling him I only had 2 contractions left in me. I wanted to start talking about pain medication. If it took me this long to get to 4, I figured I was going to be laboring through the night and I was exhausted. There literally was NO relief in between - not even time to catch my breath.
Amber came back to give the Zolfran and we started talking about Stadol. I wouldn't say the "safe words" so Andy tried his hardest to distract me, but sure enough - two more contractions and I caved. I'm tired. Beautiful Butterflies...Amber left to get the Stadol. When she was gone I told Andy I really felt like pushing -- NOW. When Amber came back, she administered the Stadol and did a cervical exam - oh yes, pushing was in order, baby's head was right there! I could hear her page Dr. Saikie and tell the staff we needed a delivery set up. No time, no time, I said, I need to push NOW - and so I did. It felt so good, but I heard Amber page Dr. Saikie again: We need you NOW. He must have been on the way because he walked through the door at that same moment. Indeed there wasn't time to take apart the bed, another contraction came and I was delivering our child. Now those contractions that I had been wishing away, I wanted to come sooner because with each contraction, I knew we were closer to finally delivering. Three pushes in all and out came the baby. 10:31 PM. We didn't even give the Stadol a chance to work!
Although baby had his cord around his neck, it was nothing like Eleanor and I could see them lift him over my knees and set him on my stomach. Everyone kept saying how perfect he was and I just couldn't stop saying, "really". I looked over at Andy and I thought he was going to explode! Here was our son! Everyone else kept saying how amazingly strong he was - lifting his head already, looking around. I just got to lay there - skin to skin with my baby. Best. Feeling. Ever.
Dr. Saikie continued working on delivering the placenta (even though I asked him to stop :-) and stitched me up. When your baby comes with 3 pushes, there is no time for an episiotomy and so I tore a little during labor.
I asked Amber about nursing and she said definitely. Baby latched on immediately like he always knew what to do! It was amazing! Perfect - the staff said. Finally they took him over to the heating lamp to get him cleaned up and do all his vitals.
20 inches long and 8.5 ounces. 8.5 ounces 2.5 weeks early. Everyone was amazed - If this baby had staid in there until 40 weeks, I would have had a 10 pound baby! Because he was such a big baby for his gestational age, they also would need to monitor his blood sugar level to watch for diabetes (totally common and not a big deal - his numbers were pretty good to begin with so no one was really concerned). They were also a little concerned about his pulse/ox levels. Because he had been born in 3 pushes he didn't really get a chance to work out all the amniotic fluid of his lungs. Normal levels would be 90 and baby was between 82 and 88. His color was good, he had nursed well already, and his longs sounded OK, but he was doing a lot of grunting so they just wanted to keep an eye on him.
Him. Baby. "Does this baby have a name?" the staff asked?! I looked at Andy - does he?
"He does - Oliver Walter Bach". Months of going back and forth, round and round, reading books, websites...our baby had a name. Oliver Walter. And he was perfect.
For the next two hours or so we worked on getting everyone cleaned and dressed and then it was time to head to the 3rd floor: Recovery. On the way there it was like being a celebrity. All the nurses would grab a peek at our new little one - there were smiles and "congratulations". And then Andy and I saw a couple walking the halls, pausing for a contraction. Incredible to believe we were just that couple and now here we were. I felt like I was floating.
We got to our room around 1:30 AM and most of the night was full of nurse rounds for me and for OLIVER. There was very little sleep to be had, but we didn't care. We just sat there and stared at our baby. We sent text messages to the family to let them know of our new addition and started making plans for the parade of visitors that would start in a few short hours.
I was exhausted. I was thrilled. I LOVE labor. I'm upset it took so long for them to discover the rest of the membrane - even after I had asked about it several times. 1.5 hours. From the time they ruptured the membrane to the time my baby was on my chest. 3 pushes. Phenomenally fast and phenomenally intense.
I want to remember every detail. Every feeling. The ice cold apple juice during the labor - the freezing shakes after as we got dressed for our commute north. I remember the tranquility of our night labor room.
The lights were low, we were listening to classical music on Pandora. I remember even the tranquility of delivering - all the lights off except the bright spotlights...not like birthing in the middle of the harsh afternoon sunlight. I want to remember Everything.
There's still so much to talk about! What it was like introducing Eleanor to her little brother. The joys of pregnancy hormones and the reasons I cried in the hospital. What it was like bringing Oliver home and getting an e-mail that said "Welcome to your 38th week of pregnancy". What it's like to love a second child. There are many many stories to tell...but this was the most important one. This is the one that brings Oliver to us.
Thanks for sticking it out...ummm, you did read it all right?? :)
- Runner's high: The feeling you get after a great, long run
- Labor high: The feeling you get right after giving birth
I argue that the Labor High is the absolute best.
I LOVE a good labor story. It's every mom's badge of honor. Her glory story. And here is ours. Every detail from Oliver's birth. Read it. Skim it. Whatever. This blog post is really for my memory. I want to write down every minute so that I never forget it! It could possibly take you as long to read it as it took me to deliver! It certainly took me longer to write this then it took me to deliver!
Let's start with Sunday, August 24.
We had an incredibly productive day: I made the curtains for baby's nursery and Eleanor's art smock for Kindergarten. I got school supplies ready. I was exhausted from the Brewer's game the night before and so Andy went grocery shopping for me. We had a great cook-out on the grill and put Eleanor to bed. That night I was on the computer ordering our baby swing and Andy was assembling the bouncy chair. He asked me a few times if I was OK because I looked "different". I was definitely having contractions, but they were SO sporadic - nothing that made me feel like I should start timing them. But I was uncomfortable, that was for sure. I kept assuring Andy that I was fine.
Andy told me that we should really start packing for the hospital. I laughed because he keeps saying that! I said, YOU need to pack for the hospital. I'm packed.
Well then where is your bag?
I laughed again. Andy, this is NOT going to be like the movies. I'm not just going to GO into labor. We are going to have time. We aren't going to be running around liked crazed lunatics. That's just NOT how this happens in real life.
Monday, August 25.
We had a prescheduled 8 AM OB check with Dr. Saikie. My alarm went off at 5:45 AM. Like always. I hit the snooze alarm 3 times. Like always. I rolled myself out of bed. Like always. I waddled myself to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Like always. I got ready for work. Like always.
Eleanor was still sleeping. NOT like always. At 6:45 Andy looked at the clock and said, "I should probably get in the shower and start getting ready." I said, "Well, if you are getting out of bed, then I am going to turn on the light and put away some of these clothes [that had been in a laundry basket in our bedroom for almost 1 week]." I bent over to get the laundry basket. And stopped. Stopped as I felt something warm and wet run down my leg. NOT a gush. Almost like I wasn't really sure what happened. I looked at Andy and waddled back to the bathroom, not saying anything. In the bathroom, I felt another run of fluid down my leg. I looked at Andy again, who was now staring at me. "Um. Either my water is breaking or I just wet my pants. Twice." We decided to just keep getting ready for our doctor's appointment. No reason to do anything different - in literally 40 minutes we would be at the doctor's office. However, as we kept getting ready for the appointment, we decided to maybe finish packing the rest of our bags. You know, phone chargers, toothbrushes...just in case.
After a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with Eleanor, I stood up to put my bowl away. Another little flow of water. This time, it was tinged with blood. I decided to call the Doctor's office and notify them ahead of time. I didn't want anyone judging our intelligence by NOT calling ahead of time. I explained I was 37 weeks, 5 days pregnant and 20 minutes away from going to my 37 week OB check. The nurse said she would check with Dr. Saikie and find out if we should come to the appointment or go to the hospital. We needed to keep moving, so Andy and I took Eleanor to school together and planned on going to the doctor's together (we usually drive separate, because I go right to work). On the way to school, the office called and told us to go to the hospital. I looked at Andy
I took a quick (horrible, blurry) selfie of the 3 of us on the way to daycare. There was a chance...this is the last time the 3 of us would be the 3 of us.
We dropped Eleanor off at school and I gave her the biggest hug I have ever given her. I started sobbing. I couldn't even begin to anticipate that this would be the last time it would be just her. My little girl. My lifeline. She didn't see me cry, but I literally felt like my heart was breaking. I was interrupted when one of the teachers yelled out the window - "So, getting ready? Getting close?" She was kind of laughing. Ummm, I might be in labor, I told her. "Yeah, I know. No one hugs their child that hard just for daily drop off...AND mom and dad are both here." I laughed and looked at the moment from another perspective. My baby girl could, potentially, be a big sister by the end of the day.
So - off we went to the hospital. We parked. We walked down a few flights of stairs, into the hospital, up a few flights of stairs. You know - no big deal. I had felt a few more flows of water, but not a single contraction. I still would not believe I was in labor.
We went to the 2nd floor and were greeted by smiles - It's like Disney World! Everyone is just so happy on the labor floor! They sorted through some post-its - it's going to be a busy day! We got checked into Triage C. Enter amazing nurse #1 - Alissa. "Let's find out if your water broke". We went through all my history, my pregnancy and our morning. She did a Ph test to determine if it was indeed amniotic fluid I was leaking. The results of the test were inconclusive. Hm. So they called Dr. Star for a "fern test" - basically a more in-depth test. The test...was inconclusive. The solution: Stick around the triage room for 2 hours, walk around, try to induce labor, fully rupture "my membranes", whatever. Retest in 2 hours. Good Luck.
Soooooo, after already hanging out in this little room for like 1.5 hours, we went for a walk around the 2nd floor of West Allis Woman's pavilion. The like 2 hallways we could walk down. Dana in her little hospital gown that didn't fully close in the back and Andy. Up and down the hallways. Waddle. Waddle. Waddle. BIG. FAT. 200# Dana. Walking around. Watching dark clouds roll in, rain, and leave. Feeling little gushes of water myself. But NO contractions. At 11:30 we find out Dr. Star won't be able to see us before she leaves for the day and we have to wait for the noon Dr. to be available: Dr. Powell. Have I mentioned how BIG our triage room is? Think of a doctor's office room...and now split it in half. Andy and I are on TOP of each other. We are getting restless...and honestly...a little bored. We made our list of what we MIGHT need if in fact I got admitted.
Noon o five: Dr. Powell comes in, "So YOU'RE our mystery couple of the day. We all have bets on you." Are you in labor or not? She does an exam and swab for the fern test...Before she leaves the room she says, "I'm pretty confident your water broke. I mean, let's call a spade a spade. But we'll do the test." As she was leaving I asked if we were being admitted, she turned, poked her head back in and said, "If you were my patient, I'd keep you." O.M.G. the FIRST real thing we've heard all day. We finally started to get excited. She poked her head back in, confirmed she saw ferning - my water broke. I couldn't really be "released" back to the public because there was nothing "protecting" me from infection. But...I still wasn't having contractions...so now we started talking about Pitocin.
What? No. No. This is NOT how it's supposed to happen. I had a 6 hour labor with Eleanor. This is supposed to be fast. What do you mean I need Pitocin? Alissa says we can wait for the contractions to begin, but that brings us to a more possible C-Section. Our clock was ticking. They would want the baby out within 24 hours of the water breaking - no matter how that happened. We can start Pitocin and hope for a vaginal delivery. I talk with Andy. I talk with Alissa. I come to grips with the fact that I'm not WILLINGLY scheduling an induction. It's not like I said, "I want this baby to be born on X date - let's schedule an induction". It was becoming medically necessary to get this baby out -- at this point, my water had been broken for almost 5 hours and the risk of infection just became greater and greater. Still...I cried when I told my sister I needed Pitocin.
This is where things really slow down. When Andy came back, we watched some Love It or List It on HGTV and played Rumikub.
The contractions were starting and coming with frequency, but not with intensity. We couldn't check my cervix very often because of the risk of infection, so I basically labored through the afternoon. Dr. Saikie was going to come after his office hours around 5:30 and we would check at that time. It actually was his on-call night, so we knew he was going to deliver our baby.
TV started to annoy me as my contractions became more intense.
I had to breath through them more than before and so Andy and I sat in our hospital room, talking, laughing, hanging out, listening to music and just having a good time. At around 5 PM, Grandma Shirley called us with Eleanor in the car. Andy and I explained we were in the hospital because the baby was coming. We told her we would call her when it was born, but it would probably be tomorrow morning. Every other word out of our mouth was "We Love You SO much". Additionally around this time, Nurse Alissa checked out and Nurse Amber came in. Enter Amazing number #2.
At 5:30, Dr. Saikie came in, "Why are you not screaming in pain?" he asked. I had been on the Pitocin for almost 6 hours and STILL no baby. The contractions weren't really that bad. I was 1.5 centimeters dilated. 1.5. I almost lost my mind. How the heck was this happening. Are they SURE my water was fully broken? I mean - this was taking too long.
At 6:30 I was feeling a lot of pressure and really felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. We decided to ask Amber if that would be OK, before I just went to the bathroom and started pushing...it was a weird enough labor already. She came in to do a cervical check and now I was only 3.5. Clearance to poop. So I sat in the bathroom, trying to go to the bathroom and crying. WHY was this taking so long? I was supposed to have this baby in record time. And I was starting to get tired. Would I be able to have this baby naturally? Would I have the energy to labor all night?
Andy and I tried so hard to keep such detailed notes on the labor, but this is where things get really blurry because time was either standing still or rushing by. My contractions were really getting intense and I was getting really uncomfortable. I was also having a lot of back labor. I kept changing positions and just trying to labor through.
Around 9 PM Amber came back in to check on the baby's heartbeat and contractions. Although I don't remember why - we had another cervical check. I had been on Pitocin since noon, my water had been ruptured since 7...even the medical staff was starting to think this was taking a long time. I was about 4 cm at this time -- however -- Amber also thought that perhaps she could feel that part of my water was still intact. She paged Dr. Saikie who came in to confirm that, indeed, my water wasn't fully ruptured! Every contraction I had been having left the baby pushing on the membrane, not thinning the cervix as it should. He used the SAME tool they used to break my water with Eleanor and I felt the same immediate relief.
At this point, Amber never left the room. The contractions were almost continuous at this point. She turned off the Pitocin to try and give me a little relief in between contractions. I remember being hunched over the side of the bed saying, "Not another one already -- I'm not ready already!" It was continuous. I was also starting to feel incredibly nauseous with each contraction. I actually was hoping I would throw up because I felt like it would give me some relief. Instead, Amber offered some Zolfran and I decided to take her up on it. When she left the room I remember looking at Andy and telling him I only had 2 contractions left in me. I wanted to start talking about pain medication. If it took me this long to get to 4, I figured I was going to be laboring through the night and I was exhausted. There literally was NO relief in between - not even time to catch my breath.
Amber came back to give the Zolfran and we started talking about Stadol. I wouldn't say the "safe words" so Andy tried his hardest to distract me, but sure enough - two more contractions and I caved. I'm tired. Beautiful Butterflies...Amber left to get the Stadol. When she was gone I told Andy I really felt like pushing -- NOW. When Amber came back, she administered the Stadol and did a cervical exam - oh yes, pushing was in order, baby's head was right there! I could hear her page Dr. Saikie and tell the staff we needed a delivery set up. No time, no time, I said, I need to push NOW - and so I did. It felt so good, but I heard Amber page Dr. Saikie again: We need you NOW. He must have been on the way because he walked through the door at that same moment. Indeed there wasn't time to take apart the bed, another contraction came and I was delivering our child. Now those contractions that I had been wishing away, I wanted to come sooner because with each contraction, I knew we were closer to finally delivering. Three pushes in all and out came the baby. 10:31 PM. We didn't even give the Stadol a chance to work!
Although baby had his cord around his neck, it was nothing like Eleanor and I could see them lift him over my knees and set him on my stomach. Everyone kept saying how perfect he was and I just couldn't stop saying, "really". I looked over at Andy and I thought he was going to explode! Here was our son! Everyone else kept saying how amazingly strong he was - lifting his head already, looking around. I just got to lay there - skin to skin with my baby. Best. Feeling. Ever.
Dr. Saikie continued working on delivering the placenta (even though I asked him to stop :-) and stitched me up. When your baby comes with 3 pushes, there is no time for an episiotomy and so I tore a little during labor.
I asked Amber about nursing and she said definitely. Baby latched on immediately like he always knew what to do! It was amazing! Perfect - the staff said. Finally they took him over to the heating lamp to get him cleaned up and do all his vitals.
20 inches long and 8.5 ounces. 8.5 ounces 2.5 weeks early. Everyone was amazed - If this baby had staid in there until 40 weeks, I would have had a 10 pound baby! Because he was such a big baby for his gestational age, they also would need to monitor his blood sugar level to watch for diabetes (totally common and not a big deal - his numbers were pretty good to begin with so no one was really concerned). They were also a little concerned about his pulse/ox levels. Because he had been born in 3 pushes he didn't really get a chance to work out all the amniotic fluid of his lungs. Normal levels would be 90 and baby was between 82 and 88. His color was good, he had nursed well already, and his longs sounded OK, but he was doing a lot of grunting so they just wanted to keep an eye on him.
Him. Baby. "Does this baby have a name?" the staff asked?! I looked at Andy - does he?
"He does - Oliver Walter Bach". Months of going back and forth, round and round, reading books, websites...our baby had a name. Oliver Walter. And he was perfect.
For the next two hours or so we worked on getting everyone cleaned and dressed and then it was time to head to the 3rd floor: Recovery. On the way there it was like being a celebrity. All the nurses would grab a peek at our new little one - there were smiles and "congratulations". And then Andy and I saw a couple walking the halls, pausing for a contraction. Incredible to believe we were just that couple and now here we were. I felt like I was floating.
We got to our room around 1:30 AM and most of the night was full of nurse rounds for me and for OLIVER. There was very little sleep to be had, but we didn't care. We just sat there and stared at our baby. We sent text messages to the family to let them know of our new addition and started making plans for the parade of visitors that would start in a few short hours.
I was exhausted. I was thrilled. I LOVE labor. I'm upset it took so long for them to discover the rest of the membrane - even after I had asked about it several times. 1.5 hours. From the time they ruptured the membrane to the time my baby was on my chest. 3 pushes. Phenomenally fast and phenomenally intense.
I want to remember every detail. Every feeling. The ice cold apple juice during the labor - the freezing shakes after as we got dressed for our commute north. I remember the tranquility of our night labor room.
The lights were low, we were listening to classical music on Pandora. I remember even the tranquility of delivering - all the lights off except the bright spotlights...not like birthing in the middle of the harsh afternoon sunlight. I want to remember Everything.
There's still so much to talk about! What it was like introducing Eleanor to her little brother. The joys of pregnancy hormones and the reasons I cried in the hospital. What it was like bringing Oliver home and getting an e-mail that said "Welcome to your 38th week of pregnancy". What it's like to love a second child. There are many many stories to tell...but this was the most important one. This is the one that brings Oliver to us.
Thanks for sticking it out...ummm, you did read it all right?? :)
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