Elliot's Birth Story

This is the story of Elliot's birth.  If you just want the short version, here it is:

Elliot was born at 4:35 am on Saturday, November 24th after 5 hours of labor.
There were no complications--he was born at home, weighing 8 lbs 8 oz and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. 



Now here is the long version, for anyone who wants to know it!  I'm telling it straight, so if you get queasy upon reading words like "placenta," just know those words are in here--you've been warned.

I really thought baby Elliot would be early.  I know most moms think that.  But I really thought it.  I was almost positive he would be early.  But he wasn't.

On November 22nd (Thanksgiving evening - 3 days after his "guess date"), I called Dinah at midnight to let her know I was having intense, regular "pressure waves" (Hypnobabies term for "contractions") lasting about 1 minute, spaced about 2-3 minutes apart.  She came over to the house with all of her supplies and did an exam.  Two centimeters.  She said she agreed with me that Elliot was probably on his way and advised Daniel and me to try to get some sleep and to call her in a few hours when things picked up a bit.  We picked up a little around our room (where we planned to have the birth) and did some last-minute preparations, and then we both fell asleep.  When I woke up at 5:30 am, the pressure waves had stopped, and Elliot clearly was not coming any time soon.  I was beyond bummed.  I was irritated.  I could not believe I had been "faked out" again.  And I felt bad that I had gotten Dinah out of bed for nothing.  She had left all her supplies at the house, anticipating a quick return that night.

The next day (Nov 23rd, 4 days after his "guess date"), I didn't have many pressure waves.  Ginnie and Jack went to pick out our Christmas tree and brought it back to the house.  I supervised the kids and got the tree decorated and also hung the Christmas lights on the front of the house.  Dinah came back by the house around 6:30 PM to pick up her supplies from the night before.  Daniel and I had a date night after Lucy went to bed - a nice dinner at Cheesecake Amor in McKinney.  I had a couple pressure waves during dinner, but nothing regular or particularly intense.  We got home and each worked on our computers for a bit, and then finally to bed at 11 PM.  Almost as soon as I went to bed, the pressure waves began in earnest.  I didn't bother timing them.  They were pretty close together and were intense enough that I needed to do "peace breathing" to get through them.  "Peace breathing" is a Hypnobabies term, but it's basically where you make yourself very relaxed, and you visualize anesthesia flowing to wherever in your body you need it.

By 11:30 PM (after 30 minutes of peace breathing through the pressure waves), the intensity of the pressure had moved to my lower back, and I woke up Daniel so that he could apply pressure to my lower spine with each wave.  The back pressure helped with the discomfort, and I sat on the birthing ball during the waves for about 20-30 minutes, making phone calls to Dinah and family members between pressure waves.  We woke up Ginnie around midnight, and she came in to help set up the birthing tub.

At 12:10 AM, I was sitting on the floor, having Daniel apply back pressure with each wave, and I felt a gush of warmth as my water broke.  It was encouraging, because, to me, it validated that we were in true labor - that it wouldn't be another embarrassing "false alarm".  And it was encouraging that things seemed to be progressing.  With Lucy, the midwife had to rupture the membranes ("break the water") after many hours of labor, and it wasn't easy.  This time, my body did it, all on its own!

Dinah arrived about 12:30 AM and began making her preparations.  She checked my blood pressure (140/100 - yikes) and checked fetal heart tones (130s - lovely) but agreed not to do a vaginal exam.  If I was only 2 cm, I really didn't want to know.  I was clearly in labor this time, and a measurement of 2 cm would have been discouraging without really providing much information.  The cervix can dilate quickly or slowly, but getting caught up on the exact measurement is often discouraging. 

I sat on the floor with either Daniel or Dinah applying pressure to my lower spine during the pressure waves for about an hour, while Ginnie and Daniel worked to get the tub inflated and filled.  Inflating the tub turned out to be fairly straight forward, once we realized that Ginnie had an air mattress inflater (not a real word).  It was pretty loud, but Lucy slept through it (in large part thanks to the huge air filtration machine whirring next to her crib, doubling as a jet engine sort of white noise maker).  My mom arrived sometime during that hour and began helping get the tub filled with warm water, doing the dishes, making coffee and tea, and generally just being very helpful.  Daniel's mom and sister got on the road shortly after we called them, but theirs was a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from Caldwell.



Terah, our birth photographer (did you know those existed?), arrived about 2:15 am and started snapping photos.  This last "before" photo (above) was taken exactly 2 hours before Elliot was born!  I have Hypnobabies to thank for the calm happiness you can see on my face. 




The pressure waves were not really fun, but it was nice feeling so relaxed between them, and even during them.



I got in the tub and spent the next 1 and 1/2 hours of pressure waves saying, "ohhhh..." with my eyes locked on Daniel's (or Dinah's, if Daniel had to step away).  Daniel would remind me, "Relax your face.  Relax your hips..." etc. etc., and that was so helpful.  We had the Hypnobabies "Easy First Stage" and "Pushing Baby Out" cds playing during almost the whole birth time, but definitely during the last 1 and 1/2 hours. 



About 3:50 AM (T minus 45 minutes), I told Dinah I would soon be wanting to push, so she thought it was a good time to do a vaginal exam.  SAD DAY - I was only 5 cm.  FIVE CM???  How could that be??  I mean, I was really beginning to feel "pushy," as they say.  How could I only be at 5 cm?  Dinah reminded me I was doing a wonderful job and that these things could change quickly.  But since there was another laboring mom at 7 cm down the road, Christy (Dinah's assistant) would need to head on over to her house to assist with that birth.  Dinah was thoughtful, sitting 5 feet away from the tub, against the wall.  She said, "I wonder if the reason you're feeling this urge to push is because baby is positioned posteriorly - and the hard back of his head is pushing on your nerve.  I think you better get out of the tub and come get in this position on the bed to allow him to rotate his head."

Getting out of the tub did not sound like a pleasant thought.  However, going to the bathroom was beginning to seem a necessary event - so I got out of the tub and into the bathroom quickly.  Daniel pushed on my knees the way Kathy (our hypno-doula from Lucy's birth) had taught him, and that helped immensely with the discomfort of having a pressure wave while sitting on the potty.  During the brief minute I had between the potty pressure wave and the next one coming, I abandoned Dinah's idea of getting onto the bed and instead quickly maneuvered back into the tub (so much nicer).  Dinah looked at me and goes, "So... you decided not to get on the bed?"  And I said, "Yes, that's right.  Just... give me a minute."

Well, if you're not going to get into that position to alllow him to rotate over, then I guess... you'll just do what you're going to do.

Sad sigh.  Just... I will, but just give me a minute.  Right after this next pressure wave, I will.  



And after the next wave, I got up out of the tub again and onto the bed - with knees tucked under my chest and face on the bed - and with my rear end sticking up into the air.  Thank goodness Dinah had me covered in towels - I felt so vulnerable in that position!  I had 4 pressure waves in that position.  I had some involuntary pushing during the first one, but then not during the second or third ones.  But then on the fourth one, more involuntary pushing, and Dinah exclaimed, "I mean his head is right there!"  We decided I would move back to the tub after that fourth pressure wave - so after it passed, I climbed off the bed, headed back toward the tub.



I had to pause for a pressure wave on my way to the tub, and Daniel stood holding my hands while Dinah checked for fetal heart tones again.  Elliot seemed to have rotated, based on the new position of the fetal heart tones.  I was thinking, I want to get back into the tub.  As soon as this one passes, I'm getting back into the tub.  But instead of the pressure wave passing, it kept going.  The intensity of it briefly abated, but the next one's intensity was already increasing, and they seemed to be building on each other.  By that time, it was 4:30 AM (T minus 5 minutes).  Daniel and I were standing just outside of the tub, my arms around his neck for support.  I involuntarily pushed a few times, and his head was out!  One more involuntary push, and his shoulders came sliding out, too - and then Dinah caught him and handed him to me. 




I sat down on a stool right beside the tub and held Elliot for the first time, cooing and telling him what a great job he did. 




The bonding already was so much easier than with Lucy - I think because Lucy has made me feel like a mom over the last 17 months, but before she came along I had no idea. 



She's allowed me to learn what it is to be a baby's mom.
 

After 5 minutes, we made our way over to the bed and sat there to rest while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing.  Daniel cut the cord, and we waited some more - for the placenta to come out. 





The placenta was perfectly intact, and Dinah went about examining Elliot more thoroughly, giving the vitamin K injection, and taking measurements/weights. 




He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 20 and 1/2 inches long.



Jack woke up dark and early to potty and was so excited to see his newest cousin.  He's asked me a couple times in the last few months, "Did your baby come out?" - usually when I've been sick and come out of my room in a robe or looking particularly disheveled. 



This time, he didn't ask... he could tell :). 



His hair is SO much lighter than Lucy's was, and he does seem to look slightly more like me than Lucy did at first.  Of course, Lucy looks so different now than she did at birth.  It makes me wonder what Elliot will look like in a year or two.




 So that is the story of how Elliot was born.  We are so glad that he is here, safe and sound.  And I am SO glad that his birth was easier and faster than Lucy's. 

 
A couple evenings ago, Dinah checked up on me and asked how I was feeling, and the main word I came up with was grateful.  I feel so grateful.  A little sore.  But mostly just grateful.