My Drug-free Delivery

August 7th, 2009 - Thirty-five weeks pregnant
I woke up late that day, since it was Chris' day off, and knew right away something was different. My tummy felt lower, and I was feeling strange. I cried in the shower, realizing I was most likely leaking amniotic fluid. Put on a happy face, while Chris walked to his dentist appointment. The bug had a tire off of course; Chris was working on changing the starter. I tried to relax and not worry about having the baby so early, but as the day wore on, I started leaking more fluid. I called mama and asked her what she thought about it; she said call the doctor. Finally talked to labor and delivery, who said definitely come in, and they'll check to confirm that its amniotic fluid. At about 4pm I called the neighbor, Elizabeth, and asked her to take me to the hospital, packed a little bag just in case I had to stay, and off we went. We picked up Chris on the way, who was walking home. At the hospital, they confirmed that my sack of waters was ruptured, and hooked me up to the tummy monitors. They said I was having small but consistent contractions, which surprised me; I had no idea I was having them. Since I was only 35 weeks, I couldn't deliver at David Grant, so an ambulance came to take me to North Bay, a few miles away in Fairfield. As we were riding to the next hospital, contractions were getting stronger - I could definitely feel them now, but they weren't strong enough to be very painful. The bumps on the ride did make me very uncomfortable though. At North Bay, they had me change into robes and put monitors on my belly, started antibiotics through the iv I'd received at David Grant since I hadn't had the test for Group B strep, and checked me - I was about 2.5 cm. Andy and Tiffany Avery, and their son Auron, had come to David Grant to see us, and met us at North Bay with BK food. :) I was starving, since I hadn't had dinner, and it was almost 8 already. I snuck some food before the nurse came and asked incredulously if I was eating. Ha-ha. We visited for a while, but at about 9, the contractions were getting strong enough that I couldn't talk during them, and would have to look away and concentrate. The Avery's' said goodbye, and pretty much right after they left, it really hit. I was ok though, and in between the contractions, which were around 3 minutes apart for the next two hours, I would talk and smile with Chris, excited and nervous about having my little tiny baby. At ten-ish (all my times are approximate - needless to say I was not paying much attention :P) Chris helped me get in the shower for the pain, after basically forcing the nurse to let us. They said ok very reluctantly, but only for 15 minutes, since they wanted me to be on the monitors. The water felt really good, but seemed to make the contractions SO intense. Chris was wonderful, pointing the hot water right where I wanted it. I couldn't hold still, and kept changing positions - leaning over the stool, sitting on the ground, standing. About 45 minutes later :) they told me to get back to bed. It was around 11:30 by now, and I felt the urge to push - contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes apart, lasting a whole minute - and I told Chris to ask the nurse to check me. She came in, sure I would only be about 4 cm, and I was so mad. I told myself that if I was only 4, I could get pain meds. But sure enough, as soon as she stuck her fingers up, everyone jumped to! I was 10 cm, fully effaced, pretty sure the head was already coming out of the cervix. She said ok, lets get the doctor! I was feeling SO much pressure, and I felt like I had to push right then. They said no, no, pant, don't push. That was definitely the hardest part of the labor; not pushing felt like the exact opposite thing my body wanted to do. Finally (but really only 2 contractions later - so about 4 minutes) the doctor got there, and they took the end off the bed and let me push!! FINALLY! After two contractions the baby was out! Three pushes! It was so amazing - born at 12:19 am. My little baby was sort of blue and tiny, and Chris says the cord was around her neck but not tight. They immediately took her to the little warmer bed they had ready, since she was so early and they wanted to make sure she could breathe on her own. I could hear her strong cry from the bed, and wanted to see her so bad! Some lady was talking to me and helping the placenta come out, but I have no idea what she said. All I could do was stretch my neck and try to see the baby that that strong cry was coming from. MY baby! Finally they put her on my chest, still bloody and beautiful, and I couldn't believe it. It felt surreal. Her little cleft lip didn't scare me at all, and it felt completely normal to me. I was sad that she had the cleft palate, but I knew it would be ok. They only let me hold her for a couple minutes, then took her to the nursery to make sure she was doing alright. I learned later that she got an 8 on her 1 min apgar, and a 9 on her 5 min, which is great! They also said that she was so strong, and seemed more like a 37 week baby, not 35. :) About an hour and a meal later, they brought her back and it felt so perfect. I tried to nurse her, but she didn't latched on; it was ok, and still felt like we bonded having her at my breast. At around 2 o'clock I walked down the hall to a baby and mommy room, and got through the first night as a family. She slept most of the time, but we didn't sleep much. ;) All right, more later, since little addi bird is wanting to eat. In conclusion, I loved my birthing experience, and besides being preterm, my mom not being there with me, and our camera batteries being dead and not getting ANY labor or delivery pictures :(, I wouldn't change anything.