Okay, it’s been 2 weeks since Oliver’s whirlwind of a birth happened and I wanted to document it before I forget anymore details so here it is… the G rated version!
Monday morning I had some cramping start through the night. Jesse was working nights but I was able to fall back asleep and it went away. When he got home Monday morning from work I told him that he wouldn’t be working that night 😋
After sleeping all day he got a phone call from work that the machine was broke down and there was no work. I had inconsistent cramping on and off throughout the day but nothing worth timing. Being induced with Keith I had no idea what “normal” labour or what your body going into labour felt like so I was just guessing at this point. They were inconsistent so Braxton Hicks’!
Tuesday morning around 2:30 am I woke up to use the bathroom like I had been for months! When I got back to bed cramps started again. My phone needed updated so I plugged it in to update. By 3 I was thinking these feel more consistent. I started timing at 3:20 and they quickly got closer together.
I woke Jesse up around 4 and said I had been having contractions and that they are getting closer together and maybe we should start to head towards the hospital. I grabbed a comb to use as pain management (check out pain gate theory for more info) thinking that they would worse and a few other things we needed then I called my parents to say we are on our way. The more I was upright and moved around the closer the contractions got.
I definitely used the comb a few times and breathed through contractions. Once we dropped Keith off at my parents we said a prayer and headed to Saint John. By this point they were between 3-5 minutes apart. Remember we have a 45ish minute drive to the hospital 😂
Although Keith’s birth wasn’t “traumatic” there were some things that over the last year I started to feel uneasy about. I prayed that this experience would be redemptive and empowering!
My contractions slowed down to about 7-8 minutes apart on the drive. We called L&D when we were about to Hampton to let them know we were on our way.
We arrived at the hospital at 5:43. I needed a snack before we went in so I munched on some cereal in the parking lot and then we walked inside. My contractions picked back up when I started walking again. We went through screening and then admission and up the elevator at 6 am.
The nurse we had in L&D got me all set up with my Johnny shirt and asked about preferences. I said if I could go without an IV I would prefer it because it was the worst part last time! She agreed if the OB was okay with it. I told her quickly what I did and didn’t want and she checked to see if I was dilated. My goal was to get to the hospital around a 6. She told me I was a 7-8 and we would be having this baby now.
Talk about shocker! By this point it was about 6:20. She quickly grabbed the OB who was on which ended up being my OB Dr Patterson! Having that familiar person who knows my history was definitely helpful!
Since that meant I was admitted i had to have a Covid swab done and we chatted and laughed.
The last contraction I timed was at 6:34. Dr Patterson broke my water. The membrane was right against his head so we weren’t sure if it had broken previously or not haha it definitely didn’t.
My contractions never got closer than about 5 minutes apart as Oliver’s head was looking the wrong way. He was looking at the nurse rather than the floor. We chatted and laughed more while we waited for another contraction. I told the nurse “goal is to have this baby by 7!” I don’t know how many times I said “I can’t believe this is happening so fast!” “Is this really happening!”
I pushed through about 4 contractions and he was born at 6:59!
I definitely was more involved and aware of what was going on this time! I had prayed for a redemptive and empowering experience and having my wishes heard and honoured did just that also the fact that it was so fast helped too!
I wasn’t hooked up to an IV or monitor
I was able to tell the birth team when I was having a contraction
I was able to birth naturally as they cheered me on
I was able to be involved as much as I wanted to be
The nurse, Jesse and Dr Patterson we’re the best birth team I could have asked for.
Jesse and I noticed lots of little details that were different and empowering in the care we got in those 59 minutes. It could be the difference between having a female OB deliver and protect and honour the birth space.
I pulled him up to my chest, we delayed cord clamping, Jesse cut the cord and we had beautiful skin to skin time. No tests. No monitors, peaceful. We talked and laughed and we’re in shock of it all. Jesse and I guessed his birth weight. Jesse said 7 lbs 10 oz my guess was 7 lbs 2 oz
Oliver weighted 7 lbs 3 oz and was 21 “ long
I cannot stress enough how different this experience was. Keith’s birth was good considering the circumstances but Oliver’s was exactly what I prayed for and more.
Empowering, Redemptive with a little bit (just kidding a lot) of excitement.
4.5 hours start to finish.
