Chester is a week old today (07/22/14)! It's been crazy as we've been living in our alternate universe of no sleep, a sensitive toddler, & new roles of parents of two.
But I'd like to take a moment to tell you the story of little Chestnut's birth... It really is a beautiful story.
You may remember our first birth story... Chester's also began with induction one week before his expected due date. This made me incredibly nervous. How could we anticipate what was ahead? How much of our experience last time was due to pitocin? Preeclampsia & magnesium? The blood thinner injections I was on before & after the birth?...
Polly met us at our house to pick up Arthur that morning of the 15th. A.C. was beyond excited to go to Grammy's with his little packed suitcase.
Ryan & I headed to St Vincent's. We were late & I hate being late, adding to my anxiety. And the thing is, we'd never been to the maternity ward at St V's before. For round one we took all the classes & got the tour of Prov Portland. This time we winged it, leaning on experience & hoping we didn't need all that prep this time.
We approached the information desk where two little old lady volunteers sat, dragging our suitcase & carrying a blue wrapped gift from Baby to Big Brother. "Which way to the maternity ward?" we asked nervously. Are they having the baby or have they had the baby already, they asked (this is a distinction between which elevators to use). "WE'RE having the baby" we replied. "Oh!" They exclaimed before pointing us in the direction of the purple elevators, third floor.
7:40 AM
We were signed in & given a room. My blood pressure was astronomically high. I felt stiff with nervous anticipation. They ran a lab on my urine, still no preeclampsia. Our nurse Lindsey was jolly, funny, sarcastic & warm. She set up my IV. My mom & Matt joined us in the room. I began to feel a bit more settled & relaxed knowing we had the green light to have this baby.
9:40 AM
The pitocin & IV drip was begun. I texted out "Pitocin going! The show is beginning!!!"
10:05 & 10:35 AM
My dosage is upped each time by 2 ml
Text: "Still just happily hanging out, mellow, they upped dose, a little crampy, baby sounds great (he's napping)... "
Text: "We have an awesome nurse, things feel really good, my mom & Matt are keeping us distracted. We looked at baby's going home clothes. Getting so excited!"
11:10 AM
Ryan wrote "still smiling, so turning it up" this was in reference to our nurse who wanted things to start getting uncomfortable so we could have the baby.
11:40 AM
My contractions, of which I still was hardly feeling, were registering at regular intervals. Ryan wrote, "staying at 8 ml for another 30 min"
12:30 PM
"Up to 10 now, feeling contractions a bit" Ryan noted.
Then nothing really happened. Ryan, Mom & Matt had delicious smelling lunches & I sipped on some veggie broth. We talked about random things. Listened to music.
2:25 PM
Dr Ben Johnson came in & checked & I hadn't dilated beyond 3 cm yet (sad face) so he broke my bag of waters.
Text: "Bag of waters broken, hoping this kicks things in to gear!"
Then... more nothing.
3:30 PM
Ryan wrote: contractions starting to hurt a bit"
Ryan, Mom, & Matt had dinner. I ate a cup of "sorbet" (read: ice, like the crust of thawed & refrozen snow, flavored lightly of orange).
I moved to the birthing ball at the foot of the bed.
Here we are taking a selfie between contractions. At this point I was just "breathing" through them & still smiling & talking in between.
The nurse brought me a popsicle which I nibbled on between waves- it was the best Popsicle I'd EVER had (I hadn't eaten much since 7 am mind you). I promptly ordered a second one. Each cold bite was a motivating treat inbetween contractions.
Then my water gushed out (it had been with movement but this was a tidal wave... or maybe I peed? Dunno.) soaking my gown, robe, & the ball, making a puddle on the floor. So after a costume change & a few contractions on the toilet, I tried out a new position on the bed...
Things got more intense from there. It may have lasted a couple of hours but it felt like minutes (Ryan's notes say active labor began around 6 PM). My contractions were so painful & became more intense & frequent. With each one I about stripped the bed of its sheets with my death grip. Ryan was a terrific support at this point, rubbing my back, encouraging me, & talking me through the pain. I rolled to my left side & gripped at the bed rail with each surge. I don't believe I was there long before I urgently hollered at Ryan that I was going to poop or push NOW! He called the nurse in, who wrangled my slippers & mesh undies off (had been to catch water after it was broken) to check for dialation. I resisted the urge to push, my back arched & muscles tensed. I was at 10 cm!!! She called for back up & a nurse & random doctor came in, madly prepping the room with tarps, buckets, gloves, & stirrups. I awkwardly pushed twice, my body confused after my vigorous attempts to resist.
My doctor then walked in, Dr Angela Kondrat from the "Mod Squad" (a pool of rotating OBs that rotate through caring for moderate risk patients like myself), & suited up. After I pooped on her & caught my breath, I pushed, a nurse pregnant with twins holding my left leg, Ryan my right & an elderly nurse cheering from the front row seats. Hot damn that hurt & I retracted my legs back & together in protest. My Dr instructed me to push in to the pain. I tried again, everyone encouraging me. Um, ouch. But Dr Kondrat then instructed me to feel his head- I didn't realize we were that close! I reached down & felt his head & hair- now I was motivated- I'm going to meet my baby!!! With lots of encouragement from the team & lots of screaming, sweating, crying, apologizing, grunting, & a few I-can't-do-its on my part I pushed through about three contractions... wow, that hurt... I suddenly felt his head push through, then his slippery shoulders, the rest of him right behind. The relief! They placed him on my chest, vernix, blood & all:
In a movie it would have been one of those moments: so much is happening around you but the soundtrack stops, everything goes quiet. There was this tiny person I had grown, lying on my chest, looking through squinty eyes & making petite, mewing cries. Holy s#*+!!! So unreal. His long fingers & toes! Long, lean body! Round button ears! And so much fair hair! Beautiful. And I was fully awake & aware, able to take in every precious moment. I kept kissing him. I was soaring like a kite on happy hormones. I couldn't believe I'd done it!!!
Text @ 9:47: "He's here, he's perfect, birth was incredible! Oh my god! More details & photos to come soon"
No preeclampsia. No magnesium. No dropping heart rates. No oxygen masks. No vacuums. No excessive blood loss or hematomas. No emergencies. I didn't even feel the placenta pass (but I still got to see it later, I'll spare you the photo). She stitched up my one degree tear & what she called a "squirter"- an artery that he hit on his way out.
We got just what we wanted: Ryan got to cut the cord, & I got my three things: 1. To deliver vaginally, 2. To do it without pain meds & the third....
...I held him, for an uninterrupted hour. The nurses left us alone. Ryan & I looked him over, admiring his little details. I put him to the breast & he suckled. It was beautiful.
Then they weighed him, took his foot prints, gave him a bath... I was able to get to the bathroom & pee with just a little nurse supervision- no fainting. We invited the grandparents in to celebrate. It was all so exciting!
We got a little of this:
And Big Brother came to visit the next day. He was so very gentle with his tiny little brother
Chester's gift to Arthur was a HUGE hit
DJ Chestnut getting his hearing checked:
Our pediatrician Dr Hilary DeVoe, giving him a looksie:
We got a noise complaint on Thursday as Arthur leapt between the furniture & hung from the ceiling but this seemed to help with expediting our discharge process.
And by 11 we were loading up & heading for the car.
They pushed me in a wheelchair- this really upset Arthur, this was just the first taste of what was to come with increased sensitivity & emotionality post baby.
And we made it home...ahhhh.
In his first week he dropped about 4-5% of his birth weight but regained it plus 3 oz by our visit to lactation today! They said he's getting LOTS of milk & he's a good eater. Must be a Bass Boy!
What an amazing time. It's not easy but I'm trying to remember that all things are just temporary phases so it's important to soak up the tiny, sweet moments & breath through the tough ones. Arthur will adjust & Chester will sleep someday...
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