The Baby Announcement!

We have a baby! 

Sebastian came into our world on Thursday November 18, 2010 at 9:21pm!

 Without further ado...the birth story:

The Birth of Sebastian

My due date was November 24, 2010.

On Wednesday November 17^th, I saw Kate for my 39 week appointment. My cervix was a stretchy 3 centimeters dilated, very soft and baby was quite low. Kate offered to break my bag of water but I declined, not wanting to interfere with how things were going. I did however, agree to a “stripping of the membranes” to release some prostaglandins which could encourage labor if the baby and I were both ready.

Apparently we were because I awoke the following morning with quite a lot of bloody show. I wasn’t feeling anything labor-like, but I sent Kate a message just to give her a heads up. Kate replied that she was in Exton and would be home soon. After a short while, Kate sent me another message letting me know that she was going to stop by to check me since she thought labor would be fast once it got going.

Mom decided to take all of the kids to the barn to give me some space. I took a shower and finished getting things in order for the birth. Soon after, Kate’s assistant, Jill, arrived, followed by Kate.

A cervix check at 11:30am showed I was a very stretchy 4 centimeters. Once again, Kate offered to break my water and once again, I declined. She offered me an herbal tincture called ‘Immortal’ that is made from milkweed (Asclepias) that midwives in the southwest have been using to encourage labor. Again, this is something that won’t work unless both mother and baby are ready for labor to begin. I took my first dose at 11:45am and went about my day while Jill and Kate settled in.

I showed Jill my camera so she’d be comfortable with it for the birth. Kate and Jill started bringing in bags and equipment and setting up in the bedroom – this was beginning to feel real! Bottles of tinctures lined the dresser along with a tray of surgical instruments like scissors and sutures and a box of sterile gloves. There was an oxygen tank in the corner, one garbage bag for laundry tied to the armoire and another for waste tied to the bedroom door knob.

Jill and Kate decided to give me some space so they left with the promise to stay nearby. While they were gone, I took some last belly shots and gave the upstairs bathroom a thorough cleaning.

Once they returned, Kate checked my cervix again which was now 6 centimeters dilated at 3:40pm. I took a second dose of Immortal.

This was a strange labor for me. Clearly I was in labor, but if not for the bloody show and cervical checks, I wouldn’t have known it. In retrospect, we came to the conclusion that my body labors quietly for an entire day, unbeknownst to me. If Kate hadn’t stripped my cervix the day before, there likely wouldn’t have been any bloody show and I would have had no reason to call her. In all previous labors, it seems that my body labored to 6 or 7 centimeters without my knowledge and once I went to bed for the night, labor would begin suddenly, already in transition. This has always resulted in fast and intense labors, but I’ve grown used to them.

It was nearing 4pm and I decided I’d better get dinner started because the kids would be returning home soon. I brought up two packages of chorizo and two packages of plain pork sausage. I boiled some beef stock and began cooking some brown rice.

The three of us decided to go for a walk to try to move things along. I squeezed myself into my red coat and we walked (some of us more briskly than others) down to the swamp and back again. I’d decided that after a brief stop in the house to turn off the rice and use the bathroom, we would all walk over to see R. who was painting a house. But after a couple of minutes in the house, he pulled into the driveway. 

R. went up to take a shower and put on fresh clothes while I continued to make dinner. I cooked the sausages in bite sized pieces and added onions, green beans and broccoli and then added in some rice to make a huge one-pot meal big enough to feed everyone.

Now I felt like I’d done everything I needed to do. I’d cleaned everything and gotten food ready for my family. I was ready. Or so I thought.

Kate checked my cervix again at 6:15pm and I was still 6 centimeters dilated. No change in 2 ½ hours. I felt discouraged. Kate said that she and Jill were thinking about going home. Rush hour was over, so a return trip should only take 35 minutes. I felt panicked. I didn’t want them to abandon me so far into labor. I asked if they’d stay for one more hour and then recheck me. They agreed.

I was exhausted in every way; physically, mentally and emotionally. I felt like I’d been entertaining guests all day long while simultaneously cooking and cleaning (and silently laboring.) Everything felt all wrong, like my body had decided to go off course for this fourth labor.

What I really wanted to do was curl up in my bedroom, alone, with my book. I told Kate and she said she was “a fan of chasing labor” and suggested I walk up and down the stairs for a while. Kate and Jill retreated to the girls’ bedroom to give me some space. After about three trips up and down, I really felt like I wasn’t listening to myself. I called my friend Kathy and told her that I was feeling discouraged, pressured and like I was going to be abandoned if I didn’t start progressing. Wise woman that she is, Kathy said I needed to do what I felt like doing, which was retreating to my bedroom to get out of my head. I told Jill and Kate how I was feeling. They assured me they weren’t going to leave me and encouraged me to try to relax for a while.

Everyone had finished eating dinner. (I had no appetite despite eating only a small hamburger and bowl of kefir all day long.) R. was watching a soccer game while Nana took the kids to her bedroom to watch a movie.

I got my book (Girl with a Pearl Earring) and closed myself in my bedroom at 6:50pm. The light was warm and dim and I put Loreena McKennitt on the stereo. I stretched out across my bed, opened my book and felt like this was exactly where I needed to be. After about 10 minutes of reading, I began to doze off. I woke suddenly at 7:10pm to a massive contraction. I had so much pressure that I thought my water would surely break all over my bed. I felt my cervix stretch open as the contraction continued on.

After it passed, I walked over to the girls’ room and told Jill and Kate that we were in business. I was ecstatic! Everything felt right, everything made sense. I now realized that this is how my body works. My body labors silently the day leading up to birth, dilating to about 6 or 7 centimeters. I go about my day as usual, taking care of my other children and finishing up our day. When nighttime comes and I lay down to rest, my conscious mind “turns off” and my body takes over. Apparently, it only needs to turn off for a few minutes!

Kate and I set up my “runway.” I wanted to labor alone, in my bedroom. We ran the drop cloth along the aisle between the foot of the bed and the long dresser. This is where I’d pace through my contractions. The space heater had been running in the bedroom and it was quite warm. I changed into a black maternity skirt and mauve tank top. Pacing back and forth, my feet were sticking to the plastic, so I threw two towels down end to end and placed a chux pad in the center. Now I could pace silently and without sticking. I switched my music to Enya and began to breathe through the contractions and sway my hips. I remember feeling an overwhelming surge of love as I thought about meeting my baby.

I called Kathy to let her know things were moving along and I called my sister. Then I called my Aunt Jan to let her know the baby would be here soon. A contraction hit and I told her I needed to go focus and we said goodbye.

My sister arrived and we hung out in the bedroom alone together. The contractions became really intense and regular. I decided that I wanted to spend some time in a hot shower. I unscrewed a light bulb in the bathroom so it would be somewhat dim. I think it was around 8pm that I stepped into the shower.

Here is where I got into my “zone.” Every time a contraction would hit, I’d go into a half squat with my toes pointed out and my hands resting above my knees, then I’d sway back and forth and in circles to get the baby to move down through my pelvis. At some point, I decided to check my cervix. How amazing! I could feel the rim of my cervix and the baby in the bag of water pushing through it.

I remember thinking of a button that my friend Lauren has. You push it and it says “That was easy” (oh, the irony.) The button was round, about the size of an orange, and rimmed around the edge. The button itself rose out of the rim and reminded me of exactly what I was feeling. I wasn’t able to tell how many fingers fit because the bag of water was bulging through my cervix, but I think I must have been 10 centimeters or very close to it. At one point, I could feel a tiny bit of cervical “lip” on the right side and decided to give a little push to see what would happen. The baby moved down! So I did it again, and he moved down again! The lip of cervix was now gone.

The last two contractions in the shower were unbearably intense. I squatted through them and the pressure was excruciating. I checked my cervix during the second one and the baby was right there. I decided I’d better get out now.

At 9:19pm, I quickly stepped out of the tub and began to towel off. Another contraction hit and I stepped back into the tub thinking that my water was going to break. I squatted down again to try to handle the pressure.

I managed to get my skirt and tank back on and walked out into the hallway where Jill, Kate and Jen were sitting. I said “There’s a baby head” and walked past them into the bedroom. I stopped at the foot of the bed, standing over my chux pad and my bag of water exploded. Kate said “Okay” and at the same time, I felt the baby’s head sliding down and out of me. Holding Kate’s hand, I lowered myself to the floor, between the foot of the bed and the long dresser, facing the door and pushed the head out on the way down. I remember thinking “I remember this feeling and I don’t like it” as the baby crowned, but I couldn’t stop pushing and it was out quickly. 

I lay there, semi-reclined, supporting myself with one arm behind me and looked up at Jill, Kate and my sister and said “Can someone get R.?” It was like they all suddenly snapped out of it and my sister ran to get him. I was resting between contractions, knowing that with the next one, I’d have my baby. R. came running into the room, took one look between my legs and said “Oh! It’s here already!” I told him I needed him behind me to support my back. He quickly crawled over the bed and settled in behind me, holding me under my arms. One more gentle push and the baby came sliding out at 9:21pm on Thursday November 18, 2010, just two short minutes after I stepped out of the shower and 2 hours and 10 minutes after that massive contraction that started everything.

Oooohhhh such relief!!

Kate handed me the baby and I pulled him up onto my belly. He immediately peed all over my chest. Then he did it again. He screamed like none of my babies has ever screamed. I cuddled him against me and put him to my breast but he just kept on screaming. His color was excellent and his breathing was perfectly clear.

My sister went to get Nana and the kids who had no idea that the baby had been born. She peeked her head into Nana’s room and said “Hey, do you guys want to come meet your baby brother?” I was lying on the floor with R. behind me, covered in baby pee and vernix with the cord still pulsing when Nana and the kids walked in. I’ll never forget the looks on their faces! It was better than Christmas morning! 

 

I remember asking Kate for ibuprofen right away. After all of that work and pain, I wasn’t going to suffer through the afterpains without drugs.

After a few minutes, I wanted to move up to the bed. R. carried the baby while Kate helped me to walk over. I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled my skirt and shirt over my head. I put on my clean black gown that I’d gotten for the birth and Kate wiped the blood off of my legs. I sat back and nursed my new son.

 

Bliss. All I felt was pure bliss. I was ecstatic to meet this little person I’d already known for 9 months. This little person who kicked me in the ribs, hiccupped throughout the day, kept me up at night, made me pee every 2 minutes and gave me heartburn. I was so completely in love with him the moment I laid eyes on him.

Then I felt my quad muscles. All day long on my feet. Over an hour in the shower lunging from side to side and circling my hips, resting my weight on my hands just above my knees. I was having muscle cramps in my arms and legs. Roberto brought me some magnesium citrate and I took a huge spoonful while he attempted to massage some of the muscle cramps out of my body.

Exactly an hour after the birth, I pushed out the placenta. Now it was time for Samual to cut the cord! He’d been looking forward to this for months! 

 

Now that the baby and I were separated, it was time for his newborn exam. Kate checked him over, listened to his heart and lungs, measured his head, chest and length and weighed him. His head measured 13.5”, his chest was 13”, he was 20” long and he weighed 8 pounds even. A perfect baby boy.

 What an amazing experience for the kids! They were very interested in the umbilical cord:

 

Meeting Net-Net:

 And Nana:

Big Sister Emma:

 Big Sister Sophie:

Big Brother Samual:

And Daddy: