Thankfully Jake's mom came to help me for the last week and a half of my pregnancy, which meant I didn't have to pick up Pace in the heat of the afternoon and I could get a nap in instead. I think this helped my body to be rested and ready, because it was a fairly easy delivery. Also, Jake and I took a Bradley Birthing Class from Dora Baldwin, and she gave me the confidence and tools to really try to do this birth all natural. She helped Jake to be ready to handle it too. I even had been doing yoga to help position the baby to deliver the baby more easily, and I think it helped. So a big thanks to Kathy, Aunty Dora and Jake for really prepping me to do this.
So here is our beautiful 8 lb 15 oz, 21 in baby boy. Kai Leonard Monson.
Without further ado, here is my long unedited birth story (because I want to remember all the details).
So on September 13 I woke up around 4 am to contractions that were irregular and more crampy than painful. I thought to myself that this might be the day, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. So I just told Jake to always have his phone in case it was going to happen. But I went about the day as normal.
Kathy and I dropped the boys off at Joy school and I joked with the other mothers that L was for labor day (since they were learning l that day). Then Kathy and I went to the commissary to go grocery shopping for the week. I had regular contractions about 10 minutes apart, with a couple that took my breath away. It even got to the point that I thought I would need to call Jake. But, on the drive home the contractions slowed way down and I started feeling really hungry. Kathy and I got home put the groceries away, and picked up the boys from Joy school. At this point I started feeling like it may have just been some larger braxton hicks contractions.
A little disheartened, I ate a big lunch and laid down with Grant for nap time. As per usual Grant was fighting the nap and my contractions picked up. So I let him go play quietly and went down to lay down downstairs to see if I could nap. I tried to sleep, but the contractions were fairly regular. They still weren't really painful just tight and regular. But around 3 pm they hit a peak and were coming around 7 minutes apart. I called Jake to come home. And by the time he got home they had scaled back to minimal contractions again. Jake took the time to put together our car seat again and add all the infant supports. I laid down and rested.
At 6 pm Kathy had spaghetti made for dinner so we all ate. As soon as I was done eating the contractions were back in full force. I went to lay down while everyone else ate ice cream cones. Thats when the contractions started for real. They were close and painful. Jake finally came to time them and they were 2 and 3 minutes apart. We called Tripler and were off to the hospital (after Jake had to run in the house 2 or 3 times to grab everything we forgot).
The drive was tough. I was so uncomfortable it felt like Jake was slamming on the breaks and hitting all the bumps. I'm sure he wasn't, but the contractions didn't help. We made it to the hospital and the parking lot was closed, so Jake had to drop me off by the door. I waited for him while he parked and headed over. Someone asked if I wanted a chair, but there was no way I was sitting down after the uncomfortable sit in the car.
At the hospital I slowly made my way to Labor and Delivery. As we walked into triage a contraction hit and Jake had to answer all the questions, which was fine by me. I just remember demanding a room with a tub so I could get in the water, thinking I had a lot more time to go.
When they first checked me I was dilated to 7 and 90% effaced. They never checked me again. They carefully and slowly got a hep-lock in, and my water broke as they were doing that. It felt like I was just peeing myself every time I had a contraction, so I told them I was peeing. They just laughed and reminded me it was probably my water breaking. Jake walked me over to our room while the midwife filled the tub for me. But as she was doing that I felt like I needed to push. The sweet midwife (Diane), was so calm. She just told me if I needed to push then do it. SO I did, because I didn't really have a choice. My body just took over.
Diane told me it may be more comfortable if I kneel on the bed and lean over the back of the raised bed. I did that and it was much better. I remember Jake being so sweet and supportive, but at that point I didn't want to be touched. So a little more forcefully than I meant to, I told him not to touch me. All the while pushing whenever I had an urge. I kept thinking in my mind, each push is bringing me closer to meeting baby Kai.
Finally the last bit of my water broke, they told us there was some meconium in the fluid so they called the pediatrician in. And the pushing was much faster. All of a sudden Kai was crowning, and it hurt. A LOT. I think with Grant they had given me local anesthetic down there so this was the first time I had actually felt the crowning. Diane asked Jake if he wanted to catch the baby. I told him he should then he'd be the first to hold Kai. So he did. Jake caught the head and pulled him out as I pushed. He wasn't crying so they sucked the fluid out of his throat and Kai cried. They passed him up through my legs and I held him while they waited for the cord to stop pulsing and then they had Jake cut it. Kai started nursing very soon afterwards and didn't want to stop for a couple hours. He cried every time he was unattached.
He was a beautiful healthy boy at 8 lbs 15 oz (after pooping on me, so he was probably 9 lbs at birth). He was 21 inches long. Born at 8:04 pm, exactly 1 hour after we had checked in to the hospital.
Our boys love him so much. He probably has no idea how much he is loved.
I love it! I'm so proud of you, it sounds like you did an amazing job. And I totally agree with you about not wanting a wheelchair. People offered one to me with both the boys, and I adamantly refused. So uncomfortable!
ReplyDeleteBut, yay! Baby Kai!