Penny's Birth Story

A year ago today .....

I started feeling contractions during the day on Thursday July 12. I was shopping at Fresh & Easy (buying food to stock up the freezer for when baby arrived). I knew I was feeling something. But I think I was in a bit of denial. It was 9 days before me due date. Plus I didn’t feel I was ready. I still had a week of maternity leave and much I had planned to do - I still had a manicure/pedicure scheduled for the following week :).

I called Gabe and told him I was feeling something and it could be the very beginning signs of early labor. I came home and made lasagna, chili and sausage and peppers for the freezer meals.

For dinner we had some of the lasagna. I was still feeling ok at this point. Later we would see that lasagna a number of times again. I threw up during some of my contractions.

At this time we had figured that I was in early labor but the contractions weren't that uncomfortable or that frequent so we thought we had time, and maybe we could even get some sleep that night. (Not so much).

I remember standing at the kitchen sink thinking “This is it. This is really happening” and I started crying. Nervous, excited, scared. The magnitude finally hit me and we were going to have a baby, we were going to be parents!

At around 10:30pm we called our doula Patti because things had started to get a bit more intense. We wanted to let her know what was going on and to be prepared for a call in the morning (little did we know that it would be at 3am).

Gabe took a walk to Walgreens for lollipops and drain stopper for bath.

I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable and thought a bath would help but we couldn’t find the stopper.

For the next few hours I lay in the bath making my way through contractions that were coming fast but not lasting that long. That was the reason why we still thought we had time. We were told to call the doctor when my contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, for at least an hour. They were happening faster that 3 minutes but not lasting 1 minute long.

Gabe and I both tried to nap a bit, me in the bathtub and him right outside the bathroom on the floor in the hallway :).

At around 3 a.m I asked Gabe to call Patti, that I didn’t think I could wait until the morning.

She made it over by 5 and we quickly decided it was time to get across the street to the hospital. It was still dark outside and the stairway lights in our apartment building are on a timer and were not on, so I knew I needed to make it down fast in order to not have a contraction in the dark hallway. So after one passed at our front door, I ran down the stairs and made it outside where I had another on our front stoop. Gabe was gathering our stuff and met us downstairs. I then remembered I forgot my insurance card. He ran back up to get it while Patti and I waiting in the early morning cold. I remember it felt good and slightly refreshing, and then had another contraction.

The hospital is literally across the street, and probably a 2 minute walk from our door to their entrance. I had to stop twice to have contractions. One leaning on a lamp post, the other on a low brick wall outside the hospital. I remember Gabe being worried about me putting my pillow on the wall because it would get dirty :).

We made it into triage where they assess whether or not you are in labor and to be admitted (no question there!). I could hardly lay still long enough for them to check me. But they did, and we found out I was 9 centimeters dilated (you start pushing at 10)!

We were all really surprised and knew that we wouldn’t have much longer before we would meet our little one for the first time. Excitement, anticipation and nerves were definitely growing. My plan had been to try an unmedicated delivery but maybe, in the back of my mind knew that I would probably get an epidural if the pain was that intense. Being as I wasn’t barely able to lay still long enough for the 10 second check-up, I knew sitting still for the 5+ minutes they need to administer the medication was out of the question. I was OK with it - the contractions were incredibly uncomfortable but that they were ending just at that moment when I thought I couldn’t take anymore.

Gabe called my dad to let him know that baby was on the way and that we would keep him posted.

The following are notes that Patti took for us. Another benefit to having a doula- she helped document the progress it all. I’ve added some thoughts as well….

We were escorted up to the Labor & Deliver department, by a nurse who sadly, was sorely in need of an attitude adjustment; she had insisted that Lesley ride in a wheelchair [It was SO uncomfortable for me to sit. While standing I was able to at least find some relief from the pressure of the contractions] and for all intents and purposes, was simply not a good personality fit for Lesley or Gabe.

As we settled into room 233, I encouraged Gabe to go speak to the charge nurse to get a new nurse, he did, and before we knew it, we were getting along splendidly with a lovely nurse named Lani. [I was unaware of this exchange or that Gabe went out to do this, but I was so glad he did. Xoxo to him. We later found out that we were definitely not the first ones to ask for her to be replaced.]

At 6am Lani did an exam and felt that Lesley’s cervix and the baby were the same as they had been upon admission in triage.

At 7am Lani did another exam, she said, it is essentially unchanged. This is actually a common phenomenon, once in the hospital, labor progress frequently stalls out. [I was spending a lot of time in the shower. The water was soothing. Needless to say I was getting slightly discouraged but Gabe, Patti and Lani were very encouraging. I found that standing, leaning over the bed while having contractions helped them to be tolerable. Patti put pressure on my hips while I swayed from side to side. Gabe was kneeling across me on the other side of the bed pressing on my hands (Patti told us there was a point there that was supposed to help with pain). It helped having him hold my hands.]

Dr. Izumi Cabarra came in at 7:30am, Lesley’s bag of waters opened and the amniotic fluid was clear (Hooray, this is a very good sign that the baby is tolerating the labor well.) Dr. Cabarra’s exam revealed that Lesley’s cervix was now dilated to 9+ centimeters! [This was so encouraging, I just needed to know that things were moving forward.]

Lesley was feeling a lot of intensity.  At 8am Lani did another exam, she found that Lesley’s cervix was “complete” (fully dilated) and the baby was at +2 station (descending deeply through the pelvis, and well on the way out, YAY!)  This was excellent and encouraging news, signifying fantastic progress!! [I really REALLY wanted to push but was told that I needed to wait just a bit longer. This, I was not happy about.]

The nursing shift was changing, so Lani wished us well and introduced us to Maria; Dr. Cynthia Farner came by to check in.

8:30am Lesley was lying on her left side, trying her best to rest in between the contractions. [Not much luck there and I was getting leg cramps too.]

This was when we were told it was go time and that Lesley could start pushing…

This is where it got real. I don’t remember much of this but Gabe said the noises that were coming out of me were animalistic and I believe him. It really is amazing how your body does what it does. I took over and helped me get the job done. With each contraction my body helped me push. There were some moments where I wasn’t sure I could do anymore. I was really tired but I knew it couldn’t last forever, that maybe the next push would be the one where we would meet our baby. It didn’t last forever but it did last for 3 hours. The very end was the most intense pain. This is when I finally cursed J. (Patti said she was surprised I hadn’t yet). It was something along the lines of “Get this fucking thing out of me” (sorry baby girl J). A few more intense pushes and baby was out and immediately being moved up on my chest. At this point we needed to be reminded that we wanted Gabe to discover and announce the sex…

“It’s a girl!”

...

It was surreal. 1 minute ago this little person was inside me, and then she was curled up on my chest. She was perfect.

We spent the next couple of hours just absorbing this little human being. We wanted to have as much skin on skin with her before she was taken to be measured and tested, etc. I remember laying there with her nursing (as she took pretty easily) and just staring at her, stroking her hair that was softer than anything I think I had even felt before. Trying to register that this little tiny person was ours. That we would be forever changed as the parents of this amazing creature. And not being able to comprehend the joy that she would bring us. And how incredibly lucky and blessed we are.