Annie's Birth Story - 27 hours of back labor, meconium in the fluid, and a drug-free labor and delivery

It wasn't until 35 weeks of pregnancy that the reality hit me that I was having another baby. With the busyness of working full time, chasing after a two-year-old, loving up my husband, and trying to keep the house in working condition, I just hadn't thought about it. I had given birth before and sort of knew what to expect but I wanted this birth to be different. With my firstborn, I wanted to do a natural delivery, free of any drugs or medical interference. Unfortunately, after being in labor for 48 hours, making it to 8 cm in dilation, my body shut down on me. I was too tired. In the end, I had to get pitocin and because that made my body contract almost violently, I ended up with an epidural. And 6 hours after that, my first daughter was born.
So this time, reasoning that because it's my second child and second deliveries tend to be shorter than the first, I decided I was going natural. I did a bit of searching online and found a great book with accompanying CD called HypnoBirthing The Mongan Method: A Natural Approach to a Safe, Easier, More Comfortable Birthing by Marie Mongan. The basis of this approach to childbirth is that delivering a baby is natural and is nothing we should fear. If our body is in a relaxed state during labor then it can work in the way nature intended: without pain. This method is more about a mindset and along with relaxation, breathing and visualization techniques, the bottom line is that birth without fear is birth without pain. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. This is the real thing and Annie and I are proof of it's success.
Around midnight in the wee hours of Thursday, May 13, I began having semi-regular surges that were felt mostly in my hips and my back. They were coming and going throughout the night and into the morning anywhere from every 10 - 15 minutes. I woke up Will around 3am just to let him know what was going on so he came out to join me in the living room - each of us resting/sleeping on a sofa. Some of the surges were quite uncomfortable and I had to use my deep breathing techniques to help me through them. By morning, they were still coming but I distracted myself by getting Chloe ready for school and cleaning up the house. Since I hadn't slept too much that night I decided to have a nap/rest as this could be a long night.
By one in the afternoon, I was getting a bit restless so I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Contractions were every 4-7 minutes and were coming with regularity. My dad called to check in and I told him what had been happening so far. He advised me to call my mom, who was on stand-by to look after Chloe, and tell her to come to our house after work. By the time my mom arrived, contractions were 3-4 minutes apart but, still not believing I was in real labor because of where the surges were coming from, we waited until 6pm to head to the hospital.
We checked in labor and delivery and at my initial assessment, the nurse told me I was dilated to "a good 4." She also confirmed that I was in real labor and should stay at the hospital. So we walked the halls, called my mom to update her, and let my body and the baby do their thing. As labor progressed, I found different positions to help me stay comfortable. I swayed on the birthing ball while Will massaged my back, rocked on my hands and knees hoping to move the baby - she was sunny-side up and that was why I was feeling all the contractions in my back and hips! I rested on my side in the bed and Will rubbed aromatherapy spearmint scented lotion on my legs. And towards the final stages of labor, I stood in the shower with warm water pouring on my back and hips. During all of these positions, I was using deep breathing during each contraction and visualizing the baby moving downward.
Around 10pm my water broke with a pop and a gush (on the toilet!) and when the nurse checked my dilation, I think I was around 7cm. She noticed a bit of meconium in the fluid, meaning the baby had pooped in utero, and went to alert the NICU staff. Around midnight, my water broke again and this time we could see the color of the fluid. It looked like the color of diarrhea. The nurse explained what would happen after the baby came out; the doctor would swiftly hand her to the NICU nurses and they would suction out any meconium that got into the baby's lungs.
Around 1am, I started to get really uncomfortable. I was about 9cm dilated and feeling very tired. I was starting to get the shakes so Will put the hypnobirthing relaxation CD on in the room and immediately, my body relaxed. There were some very strong surges and Will talked me through each one - reminding me that my body was made to do this. I knew she was coming soon and so with each contraction, I would remind myself that we were closer to meeting our little girl. Soon I felt the urge to push. The nurse told me I was at 9.5cm but it seemed like the baby's head couldn't quite get through the cervix (because of her position). The doctor came in around 2am and during a contraction, I pushed and she was able to stretch the cervix over baby's head (not gonna lie, that was not pleasant). Shortly after this, I became fully dilated and what felt like only a few pushes later, our sweet baby girl arrived at 3:10am. The NICU staff cleaned her off and were suctioning stuff out of her mouth. She was having a difficult time breathing.
I got to say a quick hello to my newborn and then they took her to the NICU. Because she couldn't breathe very well on her own, they thought she might need an IV of antibiotics. Thankfully Will was able to be with her the whole time! One of the nurses took and printed out a picture of the baby (she still had no name at this point) and brought it to me - that was so thoughtful!
At 4:30am I was able to transfer from L & D to the Mother/Baby rooms which meant I could finally go visit my new daughter! She was doing really well in the NICU and the staff said they would keep her there until 8am just to watch her and make sure her oxygen levels stayed at 100%. Nursing her was so easy. She took to me right away and started eating. After her first nursing session, I went back to my room to sleep for a bit while Will stayed with Annie. By 7:30am I went back to see Will and Annie and nurse her again and the NICU staff said that when she was finished eating, we were released!

That was a long trip!


Annie and Mommy


Proud Daddy and amazing birthing companion!

Happy Mother's Day!

It was so fun to celebrate my third Mother's day with my lovely family. Chloe is such a treat and I'm so proud to be her mama. Here's what we did:
I received a VERY fun surprise at 7am! Chloe bought me a delicious fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements. Chloe and I enjoyed our fruit breakfast in bed.



Chloe enjoyed the melon...


While Mommy enjoyed the chocolate-covered strawberries!


After our yummy breakfast, we headed toward the Children's Museum for some fun!
Daddy teaching Chloe about the Great Wall of China


Mommy and Chloe tracing the outline of a brachiosaurus


Chloe "reassuring" Mommy the dinosaurs aren't scary


Taking Mommy for a ride on the city bus


A picture of me - 9 months pregnant!


And to finish off our afternoon, Chloe earned a trip to Jimmy Johns - her favorite sandwich shop. She filled up her potty sticker chart and got to enjoy the deliciousness of a cheese sandwich, salt and vinegar chips, and a chocolate chip cookie. She was so excited about earning her trip to the sandwich shop, she went potty on the toilet 6 times yesterday and is enthusiastic about being fully potty-trained! YEAH, Chloe!!!

We're so close!

This week I have been officially on maternity leave. I have gotten everything checked off my to-do list and with the exception of buying a couple of gifts, I'm all set! I had another doctor appointment this morning and it looks as though baby will be staying put for at least a few more days. I'm about 40% effaced (the cervix has thinned about 40% and needs to get to 100%), 2 centimeters dilated, and she's stationed at -1. Station is measured from minus 5 to plus 5. Minus 5 station means the baby is floating above the pelvis. Zero station means the baby has dropped or engaged well into the pelvis. And plus 5 means the baby's head is visible at the opening of the vagina (also known as crowning). Before I went into labor with Chloe I was only dilated 1 cm so this seems like progress :)
Another task I took on this week was researching cloth diapers. We part-time cloth diaper Chloe (although she's in the process of using the big girl potty!) but would really like to use cloth full time for this little one. Since we haven't had the greatest luck with cloth, I decided to purchase a trial offer through Jillian's Drawers. For $10 we can try several different kinds of diapers and then decide which ones work for us. I'm really hoping we find a good fit cloth diaper! I've heard so many positive reports from moms who use cloth full-time and along with saving about $1500 per child, it's better for environment and the baby's bottom.
As an update to the most recent post, we have decided to give birth at the hospital rather than the birth center. This was a very difficult decision for me to make as there are so many advantages to the birth center. It came down to the fact that by the time we would have switched, I was already 39 weeks pregnant, leaving me with one week to get to know the midwives and the location. Since I gave birth to my first daughter at the hospital, I'm already familiar with the location and that gives me some comfort. We had a positive experience at the hospital and I can only hope this time around, they will accommodate my wishes for the baby immediately after birth. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the baby be placed with the mother after emerging from the womb to make skin-to-skin contact (and for all other hospital procedures to be delayed) until after the first nursing session. That is my wish as well.
Hopefully the next blog update will be some exciting news about the arrival of our little one!

(almost) 37 weeks

Well, she is moving and kicking a lot with not a lot of space to do it in! With just a bit over 3 weeks until delivery day, we are making a list of things to get done before we become a family of four. After my doctor appointment on Friday when the doctor told me, "You're in for the long haul," (meaning chances are very small that I'd deliver before my due date) I'm not feeling rushed to get too many things done yet. I'll wait for the nesting instinct to kick into high gear before finishing off the few things we have to do. I have two weeks left of work and then my plan is to work mornings for the first week in May and then baby will make her grand arrival!
I've been practicing my HypnoBirthing relaxation and breathing techniques daily in the hopes of having a natural, drug-free delivery and have finished filling out my birth plan and other various paperwork for when we are ready to go to the hospital. With a new Birthing Center that recently opened in our city, I'm contemplating switching to the birth center rather than delivering at the hospital (it's literally 2 blocks from the hospital). Hopefully we can check it out this week and make an informed decision as to where we want to deliver our baby girl. Unfortunately (and stupidly), insurance companies usually don't cover the cost of deliveries at birth centers even though the cost is significantly lower, as are the risks to the mother and baby.

Pictures of Chloe's new room

The before pictures: Will's Office



The after pictures
Chloe laying on her new bed


Book shelf


Full view shot


Night-night

33 week update

With such a busy spring (which included the husband and I taking a romantic weekend getaway to Chicago, me taking a 3 credit class, Chloe moving into her own big girl room, and lots of play time indoors and outdoors) I haven't had time to update the blog. I'm officially on Spring Break - thank you, God!!! Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my job, but this break is a very needed one for both the kids and the teachers.
Update on the baby: At my 28 week appointment, along with the glucose tolerance test (everything came back clear!), I had my follow-up ultrasound to ensure the placenta was positioned in the right place. The tech measured and said it was 8 cm away from the opening of the cervix which is perfectly fine for delivery! I was so relieved!!! I also had her double check to make sure the baby is a girl and yes, all girl parts! We have a named picked out but you'll have to wait until she's born to know what it is :) After a blood draw, they discovered my iron count was too low so I have to take an iron supplement everyday in addition to my prenatal vitamins. This has helped my energy levels tremendously! Last Wednesday I had another appointment and everything continues to develop on target. Baby is very active (around 5:30 every morning I'm awoken by kicks and flips and the activity continues throughout the day) and she is already very schedule-oriented, much like her daddy.
Update on the toddler: Chloe is just the sweetest little toddler I've ever met! She's so caring and loving and she makes us laugh every day. I'm so lucky to be her mommy!! We have started potty training and that was going well until last weekend when we hit a bump: she refused to even sit on the potty. She does really well if we let her run around without any bottoms on and she will run to the potty to do her thing. She's very good at using the potty until we put underwear on - then she thinks it's like a diaper. We're still working on that. She recently moved into her brand new big girl room. Daddy moved his office downstairs and Chloe moved into what was his office. We (okay, not me, but Will) painted the walls pink and found green room darkening curtains from Target. Will and our friend, Andy, carried a closet/wardrobe up from the spare bedroom for Chloe to use and I have moved almost all of her clothes, books and toys to her new room. It's very cute and girly and we have a few finishing touches to put in there. I'll post some pics when I upload them from the camera.
We are just enjoying life and spring and playing outside and going for walks and I'm enjoying pregnancy and watching our new little one grow. She will be here soon and we are all getting very excited to meet her!

24 weeks and cooking!

After we had our ultrasound at 20 weeks, the doctor called me several days later to inform me I had a low-lying placenta. It is nothing to be concerned about (or so the doctor says) and she told me that she finds low-laying placentas in 5-10% of pregnancies at 20 weeks but most (90%) correct themselves. So I have to go in for a follow-up ultrasound at 28 weeks to make sure it has, in fact, corrected itself. It happens when the top of the uterus grows faster than the bottom but as the baby grows, it evens out. Worst case scenario, if it hasn't corrected itself, it can develop into placenta previa and then I'll have to be restricted movement and they'll have to take the baby at 37 weeks.
At my 24 week appointment yesterday, she said everything looks good, baby is measuring right on track. Baby Sister (that's what we call her because we have no name yet) is a bit over 12 inches and more than a pound. She is moving all the time (!) and is already waking me up at night with her circus antics. At my next appointment I'll have the glucose test and the follow-up ultrasound. I'm excited to see my little girl again!