Philemon
Because I have not blogged in a couple years, I never wrote up Philemon's birth story. Maybe I put it off because it was a difficult birth and I was hoping I would forget. Whatever the reason, when he is older, he deserves to have the ability to read his story too.
The weekend of July 13, 2013, my mom came down to visit and help with some cleaning before the new baby was born. Of course, since she was down here, it would have been a wonderful time to go into labor. I cleaned and cleaned, and walked and walked. We were able to get a few contractions going, but nothing more than my usual strong braxton hicks. After walking down to the farmers market and back (12 blocks), Thad and I went to a movie. We wanted to fit one last date in before having another new baby. About half way through "Man of Steel," contractions started becoming regular and more painful. I'm not sure what happened in the last 45 min of the movie because it was taking all of my focus to keep quiet during the movie. When the movie ended, we hurried home to see how these contractions would progress. Feeling optimistic, we went for a couple more walks, and then I laid down for a while. It seemed like they were progressing, so eventually, we headed out to Bella Vie. My plan for pain management had been to use my baltic amber. First thing when I got there, all of my birth team who had baltic amber took off their necklaces and were happy to share with the laboring mom. We learned an important lesson this night. Baltic amber is anti-inflamitory, and the primary drugs used in the hospitals to stop pre-term labor are also anti-infamitory. After a couple hours, contractions completely stopped! After a google search on the amber, I was sent home with instructions to NOT wear my necklace again until the baby was born, as it might be preventing me from going into labor.
No more baltic amber meant no more relief from a lot of the pregnancy aches and pains that it had been helping with. A very miserable week later, I was still pregnant.
July 20th, the day before my due date, we walked to the farmers market again. The neighbors swear that eating pineapple can put you into labor. Google says Mango's can have the same affect, plus tomorrow is a full moon! After a 12 block walk pushing a double stroller, I came home with a pineapple and 3 mangoes. I waited to eat them though.
July 21st - due date. I hate pineapple! I ate the mangoes fresh. Over the course of the day, I pureed the pineapple and got the entire thing down by making it into smoothies with other fruit to hide the flavor. We went on several walks, staring longingly at the full moon... nothing.
July 22 - About 11 AM, without any further prompting, the first contraction hit. It wasn't all that strong, but 10 minutes later I had another one. My braxton hicks are typically closer together. These seemed different, because they were further apart. At about 2PM, contractions were sticking like clock work no matter what I did, and were getting stronger. I called Thad and had him come home from work. Like clock work, these contractions continued at 10 minutes apart. I called Bella Vie and we decided to head out there right at closing time, so I could get checked before they all went home for the night. So we dropped off the kids with a friend and headed out there. Unfortunately, after 6 hours of regular contractions, I was only at 1 cm. We left to go for a walk and out for dinner and then met back at Bella Vie at around 8 PM. 3 more hours had passed, still having contractions, still 1 cm.
We debated picking up the kids on the way home, but they had already been put to bed so we left them at our friends house. My midwife suggested finding something to distract myself, so we rented Duck Dynasty - greatest hits from Red Box. We watched the entire DVD (I think 6 episodes) and like clockwork, contractions continued every 10 min. I tried taking a shower. They didn't slow, and they didn't pick up. They were pretty painful, but with a nice long break in between. We decided to go to bed and see what happened over night.
I didn't sleep. 10 min... contraction. 10 min... another contraction. 10 min... contraction... etc. Then, at about 3 AM, I had a contraction at 9 min! Then another one at 9 min! (Yes, I was actualnly awake all this time, and yes, I glanced at the clock on my phone at every contraction.) I had a few more at 9 min and started to feel optimistic! I got up to use the bathroom... 8 min apart! A few more at 8 minutes (And strengthening) and Thad was up trying to convince me to head back to Bella Vie. I tried to tell him that at 8 min apart, we still had a long way to go. He insisted that if we waited a couple hours, we would be stuck in go to work traffic and he didn't want to have to catch the baby on the side of the road. So, at about 5 AM we called the midwife and headed back to Bella Vie.
Once everyone was there I got checked again and found that I had finally started making progress! 3 cm! Not knowing what the day would hold, I decided to have breakfast. I had bacon and a smoothie while resting in the tub. I had been awake for about 24 hours now! Things didn't seem to pick up much while in the tub, so I got back out. I did my best to stay on my feet in hopes that it would speed things along. At about 9 AM, I was debating if I wanted to stay up, or get back in the tub. I got checked by one of the apprentice midwives and was told I was 6 cm! Excited to be making such progress, I finally texted and let family members know I was in labor. I was certain based on Annabelle's labor that this baby would be born before lunch! Then I got back in the tub. Contractions continued from 5 min apart to 8 min apart. I don't think they every really got down below 5 min apart. I stayed in the tub for a couple hours thinking this was the beginning of transition. Contractions were intense, but still pretty spaced out. I went through a cycle of getting in the tub to labor, and getting out to try to keep contractions going.
Finally, at about 3 PM, I decided to get checked again, this time by my main midwife. 5 cm. I can not begin to express how discouraging and hopeless that felt. Apparently, the apprentice had measured wrong 6 hours ago, and here I was not making much progress at all all day. This was the first time I asked to transfer to the hospital. My birth team tried to convince me that we did not need to transfer yet. I remember someone saying "We aren't out of options here yet." I responded, "I know, but I'm done." I had been having contractions for 28 hours now and had been awake for 32 (or more) with no rest. It was also 98 degrees and I had been laboring in a hot tub. They decided in spite of all I had been drinking that I must be dehydrated. I had the perfect plan in my mind. We would transfer to the hospital, I would get my epidural, then someone would break my water to speed things up. I would have a nice, pain free nap and then wake up and pop out a baby. My midwife informed me that the hospital would require me to have a bag of IV fluids before I could get my epidural and suggested doing that now while they got everything ready to go. I agreed.
I found myself with very mixed emotions as the IV drained. I felt relief that when the IV was done, I was going to go get an epi and get the baby out, and I felt like a failure because I was not having the baby at the birth center. The IV finished. It was about 5 PM. I got out of the tub to get ready to go. I went to use the bathroom before leaving and as soon as I sat on the toilet, I was hit by the biggest contraction yet. It barely ended and I was hit by another one... then another... then another. I couldn't get off the toilet they were coming so fast and hard. Eventually, I did get up and my midwife suggested checking me before we left. I was at 10 cm! I had gone from 5 to 10 cm in about 30 min of sitting on the toilet! They broke the news to me that at 10 cm, I was stuck here. We weren't transferring unless it was an emergency now. I was actually relieved because it meant this would all be over soon, and I hate hospitals.
I got back in the tub to prepare for my water birth. Contractions came, but something didn't feel right. There was no urge to push. In fact, pushing felt completely wrong. I tried several positions in the tub. Couldn't push. I got out and tried squatting... nothing. I tried the birth stool. Still no baby and no urge to push. I tried laying down in bed. I delivered my first 3 babies that way, that should work... right? Nope. Contractions were still strong like transition and still right on top of each other. For 3 hours, I tried various positions in and out of the tub and pushing did not feel right. Finally, I went back to sitting on the toilet because that was where I had gone from 5 to 10 so fast.
At this point, my main midwife left. She said she would be back in 15 min. She had to run home and let her dog out because he had been locked in the house all day. My other midwife showed up to fill in for a few minutes. At this point, we planned to break my water artificially when my primary midwife returned, and get this baby out! (I chose to not have my water broken artificially earlier because I was strep positive, but I was reaching that desperate point). About 2 minutes after the change in midwives, with a big contraction and a loud scream, my water broke! In my mind, it was all chaos from then on! I suddenly felt like the baby was going to come out any second. I made a mad dash for the tub because I did not want baby born in the toilet! I hopped into the tub and barely got situated, and he was crowning. My birth team was trying to help me calm down. I was screaming at them to get this baby out of me. Someone said, "We can't do that for you. You have to get the baby out." Somehow, And this must have been a God thing, I remembered that I had read that your hips are 30% wider on your hands and knees. Even though it seemed completely unnatural, I felt like this baby wasn't coming out without that extra space. I moved to my hands and knees and pushed twice for his head. His shoulders didn't come right away. The midwife had to adjust him some and ease him out. He definitely needed that extra 30% of space! 9 lbs 4 oz baby boy with a 15" head! (AKA Big). His umbilical cord was only 13" long. It was so short that I had to stand up in the tub to bring him up out of the water! We only waited a few minutes before cutting the cord because it was so short. The short cord and big head were likely the cause of the long, irregular labor. I don't remember the exact time, but I believe it was between 8 and 9 PM when he was actually born, about 33 hours after contractions started the day before.
I will spare any potential readers the gory details of postpartum hemorrhage and stitches. They have everything at the birth center except for surgery, so everything was dealt with and Thad, Philemon and I were finally tucked into bed for some rest.
The weekend of July 13, 2013, my mom came down to visit and help with some cleaning before the new baby was born. Of course, since she was down here, it would have been a wonderful time to go into labor. I cleaned and cleaned, and walked and walked. We were able to get a few contractions going, but nothing more than my usual strong braxton hicks. After walking down to the farmers market and back (12 blocks), Thad and I went to a movie. We wanted to fit one last date in before having another new baby. About half way through "Man of Steel," contractions started becoming regular and more painful. I'm not sure what happened in the last 45 min of the movie because it was taking all of my focus to keep quiet during the movie. When the movie ended, we hurried home to see how these contractions would progress. Feeling optimistic, we went for a couple more walks, and then I laid down for a while. It seemed like they were progressing, so eventually, we headed out to Bella Vie. My plan for pain management had been to use my baltic amber. First thing when I got there, all of my birth team who had baltic amber took off their necklaces and were happy to share with the laboring mom. We learned an important lesson this night. Baltic amber is anti-inflamitory, and the primary drugs used in the hospitals to stop pre-term labor are also anti-infamitory. After a couple hours, contractions completely stopped! After a google search on the amber, I was sent home with instructions to NOT wear my necklace again until the baby was born, as it might be preventing me from going into labor.
No more baltic amber meant no more relief from a lot of the pregnancy aches and pains that it had been helping with. A very miserable week later, I was still pregnant.
July 20th, the day before my due date, we walked to the farmers market again. The neighbors swear that eating pineapple can put you into labor. Google says Mango's can have the same affect, plus tomorrow is a full moon! After a 12 block walk pushing a double stroller, I came home with a pineapple and 3 mangoes. I waited to eat them though.
July 21st - due date. I hate pineapple! I ate the mangoes fresh. Over the course of the day, I pureed the pineapple and got the entire thing down by making it into smoothies with other fruit to hide the flavor. We went on several walks, staring longingly at the full moon... nothing.
July 22 - About 11 AM, without any further prompting, the first contraction hit. It wasn't all that strong, but 10 minutes later I had another one. My braxton hicks are typically closer together. These seemed different, because they were further apart. At about 2PM, contractions were sticking like clock work no matter what I did, and were getting stronger. I called Thad and had him come home from work. Like clock work, these contractions continued at 10 minutes apart. I called Bella Vie and we decided to head out there right at closing time, so I could get checked before they all went home for the night. So we dropped off the kids with a friend and headed out there. Unfortunately, after 6 hours of regular contractions, I was only at 1 cm. We left to go for a walk and out for dinner and then met back at Bella Vie at around 8 PM. 3 more hours had passed, still having contractions, still 1 cm.
We debated picking up the kids on the way home, but they had already been put to bed so we left them at our friends house. My midwife suggested finding something to distract myself, so we rented Duck Dynasty - greatest hits from Red Box. We watched the entire DVD (I think 6 episodes) and like clockwork, contractions continued every 10 min. I tried taking a shower. They didn't slow, and they didn't pick up. They were pretty painful, but with a nice long break in between. We decided to go to bed and see what happened over night.
I didn't sleep. 10 min... contraction. 10 min... another contraction. 10 min... contraction... etc. Then, at about 3 AM, I had a contraction at 9 min! Then another one at 9 min! (Yes, I was actualnly awake all this time, and yes, I glanced at the clock on my phone at every contraction.) I had a few more at 9 min and started to feel optimistic! I got up to use the bathroom... 8 min apart! A few more at 8 minutes (And strengthening) and Thad was up trying to convince me to head back to Bella Vie. I tried to tell him that at 8 min apart, we still had a long way to go. He insisted that if we waited a couple hours, we would be stuck in go to work traffic and he didn't want to have to catch the baby on the side of the road. So, at about 5 AM we called the midwife and headed back to Bella Vie.
Once everyone was there I got checked again and found that I had finally started making progress! 3 cm! Not knowing what the day would hold, I decided to have breakfast. I had bacon and a smoothie while resting in the tub. I had been awake for about 24 hours now! Things didn't seem to pick up much while in the tub, so I got back out. I did my best to stay on my feet in hopes that it would speed things along. At about 9 AM, I was debating if I wanted to stay up, or get back in the tub. I got checked by one of the apprentice midwives and was told I was 6 cm! Excited to be making such progress, I finally texted and let family members know I was in labor. I was certain based on Annabelle's labor that this baby would be born before lunch! Then I got back in the tub. Contractions continued from 5 min apart to 8 min apart. I don't think they every really got down below 5 min apart. I stayed in the tub for a couple hours thinking this was the beginning of transition. Contractions were intense, but still pretty spaced out. I went through a cycle of getting in the tub to labor, and getting out to try to keep contractions going.
Finally, at about 3 PM, I decided to get checked again, this time by my main midwife. 5 cm. I can not begin to express how discouraging and hopeless that felt. Apparently, the apprentice had measured wrong 6 hours ago, and here I was not making much progress at all all day. This was the first time I asked to transfer to the hospital. My birth team tried to convince me that we did not need to transfer yet. I remember someone saying "We aren't out of options here yet." I responded, "I know, but I'm done." I had been having contractions for 28 hours now and had been awake for 32 (or more) with no rest. It was also 98 degrees and I had been laboring in a hot tub. They decided in spite of all I had been drinking that I must be dehydrated. I had the perfect plan in my mind. We would transfer to the hospital, I would get my epidural, then someone would break my water to speed things up. I would have a nice, pain free nap and then wake up and pop out a baby. My midwife informed me that the hospital would require me to have a bag of IV fluids before I could get my epidural and suggested doing that now while they got everything ready to go. I agreed.
I found myself with very mixed emotions as the IV drained. I felt relief that when the IV was done, I was going to go get an epi and get the baby out, and I felt like a failure because I was not having the baby at the birth center. The IV finished. It was about 5 PM. I got out of the tub to get ready to go. I went to use the bathroom before leaving and as soon as I sat on the toilet, I was hit by the biggest contraction yet. It barely ended and I was hit by another one... then another... then another. I couldn't get off the toilet they were coming so fast and hard. Eventually, I did get up and my midwife suggested checking me before we left. I was at 10 cm! I had gone from 5 to 10 cm in about 30 min of sitting on the toilet! They broke the news to me that at 10 cm, I was stuck here. We weren't transferring unless it was an emergency now. I was actually relieved because it meant this would all be over soon, and I hate hospitals.
I got back in the tub to prepare for my water birth. Contractions came, but something didn't feel right. There was no urge to push. In fact, pushing felt completely wrong. I tried several positions in the tub. Couldn't push. I got out and tried squatting... nothing. I tried the birth stool. Still no baby and no urge to push. I tried laying down in bed. I delivered my first 3 babies that way, that should work... right? Nope. Contractions were still strong like transition and still right on top of each other. For 3 hours, I tried various positions in and out of the tub and pushing did not feel right. Finally, I went back to sitting on the toilet because that was where I had gone from 5 to 10 so fast.
At this point, my main midwife left. She said she would be back in 15 min. She had to run home and let her dog out because he had been locked in the house all day. My other midwife showed up to fill in for a few minutes. At this point, we planned to break my water artificially when my primary midwife returned, and get this baby out! (I chose to not have my water broken artificially earlier because I was strep positive, but I was reaching that desperate point). About 2 minutes after the change in midwives, with a big contraction and a loud scream, my water broke! In my mind, it was all chaos from then on! I suddenly felt like the baby was going to come out any second. I made a mad dash for the tub because I did not want baby born in the toilet! I hopped into the tub and barely got situated, and he was crowning. My birth team was trying to help me calm down. I was screaming at them to get this baby out of me. Someone said, "We can't do that for you. You have to get the baby out." Somehow, And this must have been a God thing, I remembered that I had read that your hips are 30% wider on your hands and knees. Even though it seemed completely unnatural, I felt like this baby wasn't coming out without that extra space. I moved to my hands and knees and pushed twice for his head. His shoulders didn't come right away. The midwife had to adjust him some and ease him out. He definitely needed that extra 30% of space! 9 lbs 4 oz baby boy with a 15" head! (AKA Big). His umbilical cord was only 13" long. It was so short that I had to stand up in the tub to bring him up out of the water! We only waited a few minutes before cutting the cord because it was so short. The short cord and big head were likely the cause of the long, irregular labor. I don't remember the exact time, but I believe it was between 8 and 9 PM when he was actually born, about 33 hours after contractions started the day before.
I will spare any potential readers the gory details of postpartum hemorrhage and stitches. They have everything at the birth center except for surgery, so everything was dealt with and Thad, Philemon and I were finally tucked into bed for some rest.
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