Kathy, this is my birth story! I know it's long, but hey, I was an English/journalism major. What can I say? What can you add or change? What am I forgetting? Samuel Levi born February 10, 2004 at 1:50 p.m.
I woke up at 2:00 on Tuesday after having a strange dream that I was having contractions and designating them to someone else to handle. I couldn’t sleep after that so I got up to watch TV. I sat on the birth ball in the living room and watched the vintage Password and then What My Line? Had a few contractions during these shows but they were barely more intense than the Braxton Hicks I had for a while now. I put the TV on the preview channel to see if I could time them. They seemed to be about 15 minutes apart. Over the next few hours, they were all over the place, 15 minutes apart, 8 minutes apart, 12 minutes apart. At least I knew this was the day! I went to the computer and checked mail and emailed two friends to let them know I was in labor. I re-read a recent birth story that was posted to the HBPregnancy list that I found very encouraging. Like the woman who posted it, I reminded myself that I would stay calm during this labor and delivery. I wasn’t going to freak out and I wasn’t going to complain about the contractions. Each time another one came, I would remind myself to relax. I told myself that it was good and that I was opening for my baby.
Back on the couch, I dozed off and on but they started increasing in intensity and keeping me up. I guess it was close to 6 that I had some bloody show and decided to go ahead and get a shower and get dressed. I would call my midwife, Kathy at 7. I told my husband to go ahead and get up with me. At 7:00 I called Kathy’s cell phone and left a message that it was just a heads up and that I’d call her later. I knew I could have gotten her right away on her home phone but just didn’t want to call her to come out too early. The kids woke up one at a time and I got them each some breakfast and told them it was the day for the baby to be born. They were pretty excited and asked me a few times what time I thought it would come. I joked that my goal was to have the baby in time for Tim to take Josh to piano lessons at 3:00.
Between 8:00 and 9:00 I jotted down some of the times of contractions so I could update Kathy when I talked to her. At 9:00 I called her home number and we talked. I told her what was going on and that I didn’t need her to come. We decided to just keep in touch as things progressed. She said she’d go about her day since that would actually put her closer to me anyway and to call anytime. We went about our regular day. The kids played, I cleaned the house -- what there was to clean after all my insane nesting. At times I would stop and sit on the birth ball for a while. Tim put more air in the pool and started filling it. He remembered that he wanted to have large buckets to add or take out water so he went to Lowe’s. He came home with the buckets, a drop cloth, some plastic sheeting, and a huge shop vac with a pump feature.
Things didn’t change much between 9:00 and 10:00 but by 11:30 it had picked up enough for me to watch the clock for a little while again. Contractions were still sporadic but more of them were 5 minutes apart. They were a minute or longer and getting more intense. I was squatting through them, using an herbal heating pack, and thinking about getting in the pool. Kathy called around noon (?) to check on me and I told her I was still fine. We decided that she should probably skip her next appointment, but that if she went for lunch, then came over, that would be about right. Again, she told me to call if I needed her sooner. I figured she’d be here between 1:00 and 1:30.
Tim asked me to check the temperature of the water and I thought it was too cold. He added hot water while I tried to figure out WHAT to wear in the pool. I had a few sports bra type things, a few tanks, and bathing suit tops set aside to consider but never had decided what I’d use. I really needed to concentrate on contractions at this point so I just grabbed a bathing suit top and put it on. Kathy called to check on me and to see if they (Shannon, her assistant was with her) had time to stop at a drive thru, or if they should just come on. I heard Tim say, Let me check with her. And I just waved my hand because there was no way I could talk at that point. He said, I think you should come on. They were on their way!
I stepped one foot in the pool and stepped back out. It was way too hot. Poor Tim. He went right to work putting cooler water in. It was perfect and I climbed in. The water was wonderful! I was still concentrating and breathing through contractions but it helped me relax through them. I started to moan more through the contractions but it was still manageable. I wanted to see if I could feel anything coming yet and was disappointed that I couldn’t. After another contraction though, I could feel the bag of water bulging just inside. The pressure was intense. But just knowing I was so close was exciting. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast because I didn’t feel I could keep it down, but now I knew I needed something. I had Tim bring a half a turkey sandwich and I gobbled it down and drank a bunch of water. Then I needed orange juice. Tim was great, just bringing what I needed and sitting by the pool and encouraging me. The kids came to check on me every once in a while then they go off to play again. Rebekah stayed in the room the whole time and gave me kisses from time to time. It was really sweet. Josh came in to ask if I was okay at some point and I remember telling the kids again that I was just working hard and the baby was almost here. Rebekah stayed right beside Tim but the others hung out in the living room and started watching a DVD we’d rented for the occasion.
Tim told me Kathy and Shannon were here and then, I’m not sure if it was psychological or just time, but things kicked into high gear and I started getting pretty vocal! They came in smiling and encouraging me right away. They knelt by the pool and I told them that someone’s mint smelled really good. Funny the things you notice or care about in labor. Kathy used the Doppler to check the baby and announced, Happy baby! I knew everything was fine, but gosh, just hearing that ¦it gave me the oomph I needed! My water broke and it was a huge relief. I had a tiny little pause, enough time to catch my breath and refocus. Tim was right there, holding my hand and telling me to take a deep breath. (I was panting like crazy.) Shannon handed me a cold washcloth for my face. Then my body just started pushing. I was determined not to scream this time and just started grunting with the pressure. I heard Kathy say good. I could feel the baby crowning and was I was begging it to come. I kept thinking (and saying) that it was not a long way to travel and it should just come on out. I couldn’t help but think how disappointed Sarah Kate was in not watching Rebekah’s birth. All the kids had asked to watch this time. I told Tim to call the kids in and they all came running. They got to see it all from here. I kept touching the head and loved that but the more it crowned, the more I thought it seemed like too many folds to be a head. I asked Kathy if she could tell if it was the head. She laughed and said that it didn’t matter at this point but also quickly told me that yes, it was the head. A hand was over the head so Kathy helped guide it out. A few minutes later, the whole body was out and I was pulling my baby up to my chest. What a HUGE baby! I told the kids, it’s our baby! and Tim told me later that he was thinking, Yeah, but WHAT is IT? I lifted the baby up to reveal a BOY! I was surprised but our boy-girl pattern continued! We waited for the cord to stop pulsing before clamping it. Tim cut the cord and then took the baby and sat admiring him with the other kiddos. Then Josh held him while Tim took pictures. Kathy and Shannon helped me out of the pool and helped me get out of the wet top and into a dry one. I sat on the bed while Kathy checked me out. No tears and no bleeding! I tried to nurse the baby but he wasn’t really interested. The placenta took a little while but I finally started feeling crampy and out it came. Kathy weighed the baby and he was 9 pounds 3 ounces! He finally felt like nursing and latched on. The after pains started right up so I took some Afterease tincture with orange juice. It really helped! Kathy did the laundry and took out what little trash we had while Tim emptied the pool and took it out. I was lying in the bed with the baby and felt great! I felt like I should be helping them out or at least getting Kathy and Shannon the lunch they missed. Everything that we’d been praying for this birth happened. No panic or fear. No bleeding or tears. An easy birth. Thank God! I’m still amazed and can’t wait to tell everyone about it!