Arwyn's birth story
(this picks up more or less where my notes in "Blogging birth" leave off. It comes both from my memory and the midwives' notes, and they are basically in agreement except where noted in a few places. As always, reader discretion is advised! Birth is naturally a messy, earthy, graphic, beautiful event, and I have described in as much detail as I am comfortable with, which is a lot...but not too much, IMO! )
11:55 After listening to music, I go out to the living room to get online to post again. At some point it feels like maybe a foot is moving around, and I press on it, and that's when I feel the pop right under my hand. At first nothing happens, but when I start to stand up, I feel the gush! I call Mary Helen, and then sit on the birth ball. I think sometime around now Leo brings Aislinn up because she isn't falling asleep in the basement as hoped. She falls asleep in her crib, and we decide to worry about her later.
12:30 My parents arrive, and I continue sitting on the birth ball.
1:10 MH and S (the midwives) arrive. Leo takes Aislinn downstairs and stays down there with her to sleep awhile. Dad also goes downstairs to sleep. Fetal heart tones (FHT) in the 140s. MH goes up to sleep in her sleeping bag on Audrey's bed, while Summer stays down with me. Mom is also still awake, looking at some magazines.
1:45 I mention wanting to get in the water soon; S suggests I walk around the house for a while and see how that feels. Walking makes the contractions longer and closer together, but amazingly, walking makes it easier to deal with them. Definitely not what I expected.
2:00 FHT 130s to 140s. Did this on the ball, leaning back against the sofa. I have a contraction during FHT check...another gush of water, and it HURTS! I will definitely keep walking, I say. Feeling some pressure in my hips and sacrum.
2:40 I lay down to rest. After one contraction in this position, I say forget it! Standing, sitting, or walking is better than lying down. I fill the tub.
2:50 I'm in the tub. S gets me settled with tub pillows, a drink, etc., and goes back to the living room. I am fine with being alone for now, but soon start to think some company would be nice.
3:00 (or so) S's notes show my contractions are stronger, closer, and longer, lasting one minute. I assume she is able to note this from my groans from the tub.
THINGS START TO SPEED UP
3:19? I feel nauseated, and call out that I need the bowl. S comes and after nausea passes (no puke, just a heave or two), I tell S I am ready for some company.
3:22 I have another contraction, at which I tell S "that felt pushy".
3:25 Next contraction also feels pushy. S suggests I try standing up on the next one to see if that changes the pushy feeling.
3:27 I stand for contraction. DEFINITELY pushy; I think S expected it to feel less pushy, but she decides it's time to go get MH. I tell her to get Leo too. Later I am very very glad I made sure to tell her this.
3:30 S wakes up MH first, then Leo. I have another very pushy contraction while she is gone.
3:32 MH and Leo are in the bathroom, and I have another contraction, and suddenly I feel a head barreling into the birth canal! MH tells me, "Andrea, the head is right there." "YES, I KNOW!" I think I yell. Suddenly, the top of the baby's head is not just visible to observers, but crowning. MH tells me to push gently; I know, because I don't want to tear, but this is happening so fast, and holding back from pushing is hard.
3:32 (still) The head is out! This is the same contraction as at the crowning, just on the second real push. No ring of fire felt. But no time to contemplate this, because another contraction is on the heels of the last. MH's notes say 3:32, but I think it must almost be 3:33. The shoulders are about to come out. I'm still trying to breathe and not push too hard to give myself time to stretch, but there is no stopping this sensation. My body pushes against my will. The shoulders are born, and then the baby is out! I pull baby up and out of the water onto my chest. MH's hands are on the baby to guide it up, but I would say I definitely caught this one myself.
(note the length of time from when MH and Leo woke up [3:30] to when the baby was born [3:33 or :34]...four minutes at the most!)
As I pull baby up, I try to get a glance at the gender, but I can't say definitively. Maybe the cord is in the way. Baby cries and breathes almost immediately, another difference from my other two births. No help needed there! Color is good. I look at MH and say "That was fast! That was SO FAST!" (She even put that quote in her notes!) I look in amazement at Leo...I can't believe this little person is already here, so suddenly!
I use MH's notes that say 3:34 as the official time, but I think it was still 3:33, because it was at least 30 seconds (I think) before anyone stopped to ask the time.
3:41 I push the placenta out in two fairly easy contractions.
3:45 It's time to cut the cord, but I want to check the gender now. Another girl! While I can now confess I was secretly hoping for a boy all along, I feel a strange relief at having another girl. It really doesn't matter...she's perfect, and I can't wait to find out what kind of personality she'll have. And now, Leo cuts the cord. I think sometime about now I ask Mom and Dad come in; I'm wearing a sports bra in the tub, and am further covered by towels covering the baby, so this is fine.
(From this point on, most times are no longer recorded in MH's notes.)
I hand the baby to someone, and MH helps me out of the tub and out to the bedroom, chux pad tucked about me like a diaper. I get onto the bed. MH checks me for tearing, and finds a small v-shaped notch. I say if stitches can be avoided, please let's not do them. (I think the two small stitches I had with Audrey made recovery harder, not easier.) MH says it should be fine and gets me set up with a pair of those lovely mesh postpartum underpants with a frozen witch hazel soaked pad.
4:04 Leo wakes up Audrey, and Aislinn also wakes up. They both come in to meet their new sister. Audrey is enthralled, and doesn't seem too miffed that she missed the birth. Aislinn is extremely wary of this new little creature, looking on with a polite but reserved smile. we all hang out together as a family. MH and S start cleaning up.
4:05 The baby nurses and actually latches on within the first minute of trying, the fastest learner of my 3.
The kids go out to...do something? eat? play? watch tv?
I'm alone with the baby for a few moments, and decide to playfully ask her if her name is Avril or Arwyn (my top choices at that time; I'm leaning toward Avril, partly because Audrey has said she likes the name April, and Avril is French for April). She gurgles a bit, and Isay, "What? Are you giving me an answer? Are you Avril, or Arwyn?" Much to my surprise, she opens her mouth wide and replies, "Arrrr..."
So either she's going to be a pirate, or she's expressed her preference for a first name.
S does the placenta exam to make sure none was left behind. It's normal, though with a "battledore insertion" of the cord.
5:05 MH does the newborn exam (and note how long it is from the time of the birth until this was done...1 1/2 hours! This is the first the baby was taken from me except for a few moments while MH moved me and checked my bottom. In the hospital, she probably would have been taken from me immediately, even though this type of prolonged exam is not urgent.) She listens to the baby's lungs and heart, checks her overall color, and gives her high marks on breathing. She checks the spine and notes a small dimple at the base. She checks her bottom and "girl
parts", and discusses the possibility of small amounts of blood (due to my hormones) in the diaper the first few days (this is normal; we had this with Audrey, but not with Aislinn and so far this time, none). She notes lots of hair and some moderate molding of the skull (the only one of my babies to have this!), and also some slight facial bruising, probably due to her fast exit. The chart also notes the Apgars were 9 and 10.
(My only real surprise on this exam is the absence of birth marks, particularly Mongolian spots, which both of the others have. Perhaps this one will look more Caucasian than the other two...other signs, like her skin tone, which is more pink than olive, also point this way.)
The midwives leave around 5:30, and we all try to get some sleep.
Bliss.
11:55 After listening to music, I go out to the living room to get online to post again. At some point it feels like maybe a foot is moving around, and I press on it, and that's when I feel the pop right under my hand. At first nothing happens, but when I start to stand up, I feel the gush! I call Mary Helen, and then sit on the birth ball. I think sometime around now Leo brings Aislinn up because she isn't falling asleep in the basement as hoped. She falls asleep in her crib, and we decide to worry about her later.
12:30 My parents arrive, and I continue sitting on the birth ball.
1:10 MH and S (the midwives) arrive. Leo takes Aislinn downstairs and stays down there with her to sleep awhile. Dad also goes downstairs to sleep. Fetal heart tones (FHT) in the 140s. MH goes up to sleep in her sleeping bag on Audrey's bed, while Summer stays down with me. Mom is also still awake, looking at some magazines.
1:45 I mention wanting to get in the water soon; S suggests I walk around the house for a while and see how that feels. Walking makes the contractions longer and closer together, but amazingly, walking makes it easier to deal with them. Definitely not what I expected.
2:00 FHT 130s to 140s. Did this on the ball, leaning back against the sofa. I have a contraction during FHT check...another gush of water, and it HURTS! I will definitely keep walking, I say. Feeling some pressure in my hips and sacrum.
2:40 I lay down to rest. After one contraction in this position, I say forget it! Standing, sitting, or walking is better than lying down. I fill the tub.
2:50 I'm in the tub. S gets me settled with tub pillows, a drink, etc., and goes back to the living room. I am fine with being alone for now, but soon start to think some company would be nice.
3:00 (or so) S's notes show my contractions are stronger, closer, and longer, lasting one minute. I assume she is able to note this from my groans from the tub.
THINGS START TO SPEED UP
3:19? I feel nauseated, and call out that I need the bowl. S comes and after nausea passes (no puke, just a heave or two), I tell S I am ready for some company.
3:22 I have another contraction, at which I tell S "that felt pushy".
3:25 Next contraction also feels pushy. S suggests I try standing up on the next one to see if that changes the pushy feeling.
3:27 I stand for contraction. DEFINITELY pushy; I think S expected it to feel less pushy, but she decides it's time to go get MH. I tell her to get Leo too. Later I am very very glad I made sure to tell her this.
3:30 S wakes up MH first, then Leo. I have another very pushy contraction while she is gone.
3:32 MH and Leo are in the bathroom, and I have another contraction, and suddenly I feel a head barreling into the birth canal! MH tells me, "Andrea, the head is right there." "YES, I KNOW!" I think I yell. Suddenly, the top of the baby's head is not just visible to observers, but crowning. MH tells me to push gently; I know, because I don't want to tear, but this is happening so fast, and holding back from pushing is hard.
3:32 (still) The head is out! This is the same contraction as at the crowning, just on the second real push. No ring of fire felt. But no time to contemplate this, because another contraction is on the heels of the last. MH's notes say 3:32, but I think it must almost be 3:33. The shoulders are about to come out. I'm still trying to breathe and not push too hard to give myself time to stretch, but there is no stopping this sensation. My body pushes against my will. The shoulders are born, and then the baby is out! I pull baby up and out of the water onto my chest. MH's hands are on the baby to guide it up, but I would say I definitely caught this one myself.
(note the length of time from when MH and Leo woke up [3:30] to when the baby was born [3:33 or :34]...four minutes at the most!)
As I pull baby up, I try to get a glance at the gender, but I can't say definitively. Maybe the cord is in the way. Baby cries and breathes almost immediately, another difference from my other two births. No help needed there! Color is good. I look at MH and say "That was fast! That was SO FAST!" (She even put that quote in her notes!) I look in amazement at Leo...I can't believe this little person is already here, so suddenly!
I use MH's notes that say 3:34 as the official time, but I think it was still 3:33, because it was at least 30 seconds (I think) before anyone stopped to ask the time.
3:41 I push the placenta out in two fairly easy contractions.
3:45 It's time to cut the cord, but I want to check the gender now. Another girl! While I can now confess I was secretly hoping for a boy all along, I feel a strange relief at having another girl. It really doesn't matter...she's perfect, and I can't wait to find out what kind of personality she'll have. And now, Leo cuts the cord. I think sometime about now I ask Mom and Dad come in; I'm wearing a sports bra in the tub, and am further covered by towels covering the baby, so this is fine.
(From this point on, most times are no longer recorded in MH's notes.)
I hand the baby to someone, and MH helps me out of the tub and out to the bedroom, chux pad tucked about me like a diaper. I get onto the bed. MH checks me for tearing, and finds a small v-shaped notch. I say if stitches can be avoided, please let's not do them. (I think the two small stitches I had with Audrey made recovery harder, not easier.) MH says it should be fine and gets me set up with a pair of those lovely mesh postpartum underpants with a frozen witch hazel soaked pad.
4:04 Leo wakes up Audrey, and Aislinn also wakes up. They both come in to meet their new sister. Audrey is enthralled, and doesn't seem too miffed that she missed the birth. Aislinn is extremely wary of this new little creature, looking on with a polite but reserved smile. we all hang out together as a family. MH and S start cleaning up.
4:05 The baby nurses and actually latches on within the first minute of trying, the fastest learner of my 3.
The kids go out to...do something? eat? play? watch tv?
I'm alone with the baby for a few moments, and decide to playfully ask her if her name is Avril or Arwyn (my top choices at that time; I'm leaning toward Avril, partly because Audrey has said she likes the name April, and Avril is French for April). She gurgles a bit, and Isay, "What? Are you giving me an answer? Are you Avril, or Arwyn?" Much to my surprise, she opens her mouth wide and replies, "Arrrr..."
So either she's going to be a pirate, or she's expressed her preference for a first name.
S does the placenta exam to make sure none was left behind. It's normal, though with a "battledore insertion" of the cord.
5:05 MH does the newborn exam (and note how long it is from the time of the birth until this was done...1 1/2 hours! This is the first the baby was taken from me except for a few moments while MH moved me and checked my bottom. In the hospital, she probably would have been taken from me immediately, even though this type of prolonged exam is not urgent.) She listens to the baby's lungs and heart, checks her overall color, and gives her high marks on breathing. She checks the spine and notes a small dimple at the base. She checks her bottom and "girl
parts", and discusses the possibility of small amounts of blood (due to my hormones) in the diaper the first few days (this is normal; we had this with Audrey, but not with Aislinn and so far this time, none). She notes lots of hair and some moderate molding of the skull (the only one of my babies to have this!), and also some slight facial bruising, probably due to her fast exit. The chart also notes the Apgars were 9 and 10.
(My only real surprise on this exam is the absence of birth marks, particularly Mongolian spots, which both of the others have. Perhaps this one will look more Caucasian than the other two...other signs, like her skin tone, which is more pink than olive, also point this way.)
The midwives leave around 5:30, and we all try to get some sleep.
Bliss.
posted by Andrea | 9:59 PM
3 Comments:
Wow. First, I can't believe you're focused enough to write this so well. Secondly, I can't believe the kid named herself. But I do, of course, believe both. Just . . . wow! :)
This was awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Wow. She is just beautiful! Good job mama!
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