Benjamin's birth story {part two}

The morning of August 4th was beautifully sunny. On the way to the hospital I was experiencing very strong Braxton Hicks contractions every 15 minutes. They didn't hurt, but their regularity made me think that something was starting. Either way, I was scheduled to be induced that day. I had waited long enough for my body to start the process, and every extra day overdue brought greater risk to the baby inside of me. I called my doula (who had been waiting on pins and needles for a full week for this baby to come) and let her know that she could meet us at the hospital at any time.

At the hospital Kari checked me to see how I was progressing. At 2cm dilated and 50% effaced, I had barely progressed at all from the previous day. What's more, the baby was higher up in the pelvis than he had been. It was obvious that I needed a bit of a boost to get going! Kari inserted the IV line in an invisible vein on the first try (seriously, she deserves credit for that!), and I started the oxytocin drip at 9:30 AM.

To the left: Benjamin's heartbeat. To the right: my contractions!

It took very little to make my uterus start contracting. The external monitor showed that the contractions were actually H-U-G-E, but at that point they were not painful. They felt like the Braxton Hicks I had on the way into the city. Annemarie arrived at 11:00, bringing me a gloriously large green tea lemonade from Starbucks. I was on an adrenaline high at that point as the reality of what was about to take place sunk in. An hour later, however, the contractions tapered off as Ben started doing some seriously painful moves down in my pelvis - much more painful than the contractions had been. Kari suspected that he was trying to free himself from the umbilical cord. Whatever the case was, labour stalled out at about 3cm dilated. My oxytocin was upped, Kari left for lunch, and Annemarie, Joey, and myself watched Doctor Who as the contractions began to reestablish themselves. They were finally getting painful.

Enjoying my Starbucks treat before the contractions became painful.

Dealing with the pain looked much different with this labour. For starters, I was attached to a wonderful pole (which Annemarie dubbed BOB) via IV line, and I was on an external fetal monitor at all times. If I wanted to walk around, I had to push the pole and detach myself from the monitor. What's more, walking around only seemed to put the baby to sleep and slow my contractions. Kari came back from lunch and told me that I would have to labour on the bed - it was the only position that seemed to keep things going. I was sad, thinking that it would be much more painful that way (that's how it seemed when I was labouring with Judah). Thankfully, Annemarie and Joey were there to help me get through. Joey learned to rub my hand in a firm way that helped take my attention off the pain, and Annemarie offered constant encouragement and coaching. I was checked again at 3:30 and was found to be 5cm and 90% effaced - great progress!

Joey was my constant support. Well, him and BOB, of course. ;)

What really sped labour along was sitting in a rocking chair. As soon as my bum hit the pillow, the contractions felt much more intense than before. I immediately said "that's not going to work!" (or something similar), and tried to get up. Kari told me that if I stayed in the chair, things would probably pick up pace. Reluctantly, I sat back down and began to breathe my way through contractions (which were 1.5-2.5 minutes apart and had been for a while). Even with Joey's constant touch and presence by my side, I could only handle it for half an hour. I dragged myself over to the bed, positioned myself as comfortably as possible, and went into full "I think I can I think I can I think I can" mode.

By 5:00 PM I was fully dilated and feeling "pushy". Pushing (although a bit premature) was great pain relief, I found. It was so difficult to shut off my brain and ride the waves of the contractions at that point. I had Joey rubbing my hand and my arm as soon as I felt one coming on, and Annemarie was rubbing my back almost the entire time. I also had them saying positive things during each wave. Even if they felt a little silly doing it, I clung to hearing them say "You're doing great!" and "One contraction closer to baby!" - it helped so much!

Transition hit me full force, and I could feel a sense of panic rising up inside me. I knew that I wanted to run away rather than fight harder, so I asked for the Nitrous Oxide gas. It was not pleasant at first, just as it had been last time. As soon as it took effect, however, I was able to see past the pain and let my body do it's work. I could hear Kari getting things ready in the background, could hear my own deep groans as I coped with the pain, and could hear the encouraging words of my husband and my doula. When I thought to open my eyes, the calm gaze of Joey was always fixed upon me. I remember thinking things like "Ok, it's GOT to happen soon!" as I felt the pressure growing at an alarming rate down below. I knew that Kari had already called for the second midwife to come as soon as she could, but I had a feeling that she wouldn't make it in time.

At 5:25 my water broke - such a strange sensation! And yet, at the same time, it was so awesome to feel my body doing exactly what it had to to bring our baby into the world. At some point Kari made Joey take the gas away from me and told me to stop making noise to concentrate all of my energy into pushing. With one push, I felt the baby crowning. With the next, Ben's head emerged. I desperately wanted to keep pushing and just get it all over with at once, but Kari told me to wait until the next contraction hit. That was incredibly hard to do! Joey said he could see the cord around Ben's neck at that point. When the time to push came, I felt Ben's body turn in the birth canal (freeing himself from the umbilical cord), and I pushed one last time. That second push was all it took to bring my second son into the world! The moment after he came out, the second midwife arrived. He was born at 5:42 PM.

Moments after Benjamin's birth.

Benjamin was allowed to lie skin to skin for as long as we wanted. I was a blubbering, ecstatic mess, and Joey was wearing the biggest smile imaginable. Ben latched of his own accord after quite a bit of time just resting on me and had a very solid, long feeding right off the bat. It was only after these things that he was taken to be weighed, cleaned up, scored, etc. He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and measured 20 inches long. We phoned/texted all the people we could think of at the moment, and relished the bliss of being the proud parents of another beautiful boy.

Benji getting scored by Juliet, the midwife who arrived a moment too late.

The amazing woman who delivered my babies!