Will is turning 1 yr old...

William's Birth story

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 1:53pm
As my son is about to turn one year old, I realized I never typed his birth story. WARNING...it is very detailed so if you don't want to know the details, I suggest not to read.
Here it goes:The week before William's birth was somewhat stressful. Mike had to travel to the annual NAB conference in Las Vegas for work, and I was 38 weeks and 4 days. I was so worried I would go into labor while he was gone, and he would miss our son's birth. With the girls, I was induced, and never went into labor on my own, and Maggie was an emergency c-section. I really wanted to attempt a natural birth with William, so Mike and I took Bradley classes during my pregnancy to help prepare us. His boss assured him if I did go into labor, he would put him on the next flight out and send him home. But being baby #4, we did not now how fast things could go.That week, I tried to not to think about it, and I was thankful for each day that got closer to Mike's arrival home. I went to see Dr C on Wed, 4/16, and no change in previous weeks, 70% effaced, very high, fingertip. I was hopeful I could still VBAC, but worried still about a possible repeat c-section. Thursday, April 17th, I treated myself to a prenatal massage, which I think helped things begin to progress. She focused on the areas of my feet, which can help jump start labor. But when nothing happened, I again got discouraged. Mike was coming home Fri nite, so I was ready for labor to start! Then Fri evening, Mike arrived home and I felt so relieved, a sense of peace that I was ready for William to arrive. I spoke to a friend of mine that was practicing with a midwife in town about some herbal things and "other" suggestions to help prepare me for labor. It felt so nice to have Mike at home, and we had a wonderful evening. The older girls were sleeping at The Thompsons house, so it was just us and Maggie that evening. Mike was tired from his trip, and he said, "We don't have anything to do tomorrow huh?" I replied, "No.", but little did I know what William had planned ;) At around 5:45, something woke me up, different from the usual Braxton Hicks and cramping. I remember thinking, is this labor? I got up and went to the sofa to watch my favorite channel, HGTV, and beginning timing what I thought could be contractions. I begin timing and they were 10-13 min apart, very early start of labor. I continued this for an hour, and they were consistent 10 min apart, but very managable. I woke up Mike, and said I think this could be the day. Of course, he was in complete denial since I never experinced labor spontanously before. I took a bath to help relax me, and as I moved around things would pick up, so I felt this was it. I called Wendy and Rachael, my very good friends and doulas to let them know. He fixed me a wonderful breakfast, as Jennifer instructed him to, an omelette and large glass of OJ. I remembered Jen telling me to stay hydrated, so I begin drinking lots of water. I begin calling/texting my friends and family. My mom wasn't sure when to leave since she was a 7 hr drive away. But, I wasn't sure how long I would be in labor, so I told her to wait til things got closer, still in denial that I would have a baby that day.At around 9am, Maggie woke up and my contactions were 7 min apart lasting about 30 sec, still very early labor. Since she was still nursing, I let her nurse thinking this could help speed up labor, and it helped keep the pattern consistent. It was a beautiful spring day, so Mike and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood with Maggie. My friend Tracy brought me a large Strawberry slush from Sonic, which I devoured. Since Wendy lived down the street, we walked to her house for a potty break. I told Wendy I would keep her posted, but planned on staying home until the contactions picked up. The girls came home around 1pm, I told Greg I was in labor, but not the girls yet. I was sitting on the birth ball when they arrived, and Gabby says, "What are you doing?" I said, "Getting ready to have a baby?" Of course, Gabby and Lauren begin screaming with excitement, and packing their bags. Meanwhile, Maggie is oblivious, and Mike still in denial, with an occasional you ok? He did find me an awesome website to time the contractions, http://www.contractionmaster.com My friend Rachael and I begin IM each other, as she was helping me along in labor, love the new technology, internet doula...lol Around 2pm, my "friend" training to be a midwife came over and checked me. I was 3-4 cm, very thin, but still high. Yeah...progress!! TMI alert: Shortly after, I lost my mucous plug. I think at that point, Mike finally believed me that we would have a baby soon. I called my parents and told them to hightale it to Huntsville. The girls begin acting as my doulas, massaging my back and such. Around 3pm, the contractions picked up and begin 2-3 min apart lasting 60-90 sec. I told Mike we needed to head to the hospital. Our neighbor, Kathy, took Maggie and we left for the hospital with the older girls. We arrived at the hospital around 4 pm, and shortly after Rachael, Wendy and my friend Katherine arrived. Things begin picking up faster, and getting a little more challenging, but I was still talking through my contractions. Around 4:30 the L&D nurse checked me, and said I was 4 cm so I fgured it would be probably late that night or early am when I would deliver. Baby was still high and she said about 90% effaced. My OB said he had no problem with me being mobile during labor, with occasional monitoring. However, the L&D nurse said no due to me being a VBAC. But, we decided to do what we needed to do during labor, since William's labor strip looked completely normal. Around 5pm, I sat on the birthball, and Wendy and Mike massaged my back during the contractions, things were picking up. I remember going to the bathroom, and then feeling intense contractions, I decided to lay in the bed on my side, because my back was killing me. Katherine was planning on taking Gabby and Lauren to eat dinner, but decided to stay since I was appearing to get very close. Then, all I remember is them sticking me for an IV FOUR TIMES and contrractions were on top of each other. I thought at this point, "What the hell am I doing, get me an epidural!" I begin begging Mike to find an anesthesiologist because I had no clue what the heck was going on, and could not manage the pain. Katherine, Wendy, Rachael and Mike were awesome. They were coaching me the whole way, and telling me how awesome I was doing. Meanwhile, Dr C popped in to say Hi and I was telling him please let me have an epidural. So he thought he should check me, I was complete and William was coming down, I had no clue I was in transition. Dr C explained if I wanted an epidural that was fine, however I would need labs drawn and a liter of IV fluids before I could get it. He said the head was right there, and if he broke my water, I would have a baby. I said, "Let's go!" I asked the older girls to step out because I was scared and did not want to frighten them. I think Dr C came in around 6:15, and with maybe 4-5 pushes, William John Michael was born at 6:28 pm weighing 8#10.5 oz and 21 in long. He was so beautfiul and I remember looking over at Mike, and just crying with joy. We were on cloud nine, our son was born. Rachael quickly got the girls, and they saw him immediately following his birth. Mike was able to cut the cord, and Dr C collected the cord blood to send to ViaCord. It was amazing to see this beautiful little boy and how much he looked like his daddy, and still does. I felt so good after his birth, and was able to get up and around so much easier than the others. It was a day that I will cherish for all of my life.