Saoirse Harmony was born on Friday, March 13th at 6:03PM. She was 6lbs. 7oz., 19 1/2 in. long.
My blood pressure and swelling had gradually gotten worse over the past few weeks, so it was decided that the safest decision for me and the baby was to induce labor. We were scheduled to go in Thurs. night to start meds to ripen cervix, as I wasn't dilated yet, and then get pitocin later on the next day. Unfortunately, Thursday proved to be a very popular night in L&D, so we weren't called in until 3AM, Friday morning.
I was given the meds (started with a C...can't remember the name right now) at 6AM and because I had to be on the monitor at all times, they also knocked me out with morphine and something else (in retrospect, that was wonderful because I hadn't slept much the night before and obviously wasn't going to sleep the following night, either). My SO went home to catch up on sleep as well during this time.
I felt kinda crampy throughout the day, but nothing to write home about. At about 4PM, the cramps got pretty regular - between 5 and 7 minutes apart, but still not painful. I called SO and asked him to start thinking about coming back to the hospital soon. I was checked at found to be at 2cm. We all figured we still were looking at a pretty long labor, as the MW said typically people don't go into labor on just the meds for ripening the cervix. The plan was to take out the C-drug at 6PM, give me an hour break for dinner, and then start the pitocin.
At about 5PM, SO got to the hospital, along with a friend of mine. We chatted in between contractions that I now had to breathe through and put on a Dr. Who DVD. I felt a pretty huge pop in my hips and the next contractions got worse, but the MW said she couldn't see any evidence of water breaking. My contractions steadily got more intense and I start to get blurry on what all happened next. At about 5:45, I had two ctx that the only relief from the pain was to push (god, that was a wonderful feeling). Then it occurred to me that perhaps the midwives would like to know that I was pushing (ya think?).
I told them and they responded with "you can't possibly be pushing" and checked me. I had gone from 2cm to complete in less than an hour! Suddenly everything was kicked into high gear (from what I could hear, as I couldn't stand to keep my eyes open). I don't remember too much...I do remember asking SO if he could see the head, when I saw him openly crying. I also remember a nurse telling me to blow out a candle (think she was trying to get me to breathe, as I kept forgetting). I felt her crown, and then I remember feeling her whole body slide out. Total pushing time was less than 20 minutes.
So remember the friend who had showed up earlier? Initially, she was only planning on staying in the room until labor got bad, and then she was going to wait in the waiting room with her fiance until the baby was born. Everything happened so fast, once they realized that I was really pushing, she kinda got trapped in the room, with all the hustle and bustle. I remember looking over and seeing the poor girl with somewhat of a deer-in-the-headlights look. By the time Saoirse was born, though, she was bawling and texting her fiance about the experience. SO had no desire to cut the cord (he's a little squeamish), so we gave the honor to our friend, and she was speechless.
We delayed clamping and she was put on my chest immediately. We were initially going to donate the cord blood, but we missed the courier deadline for the weekend by 3 hours (hey, we tried...lol). After she came out, she let out a little squawk and then was all eyes, looking around at this new world. Her birth was so fast and with her being on the smallish side, her head didn't have time to become coned, so it's beautifully round and with a full head of dark hair! I had one 1st degree tear and skid marks.
She was a little jaundiced and the doc and hospital lactation consultant blew down my confidence in bf-ing with all their "you're giving her jaundice by choosing to breastfeed" (doctor) and "You don't have enough tissue to make milk" (lact. consultant). Thankfully, a friend of mine is a certified lact. consultant and she's been making daily house calls to help out and boost my confidence. Saoirse's mouth is a bit small and she likes to throw her tongue up as she opens her mouth really big, so it's been a challenge, but we're going to work through it. My milk has started coming in today, so that's a huge relief, too.
All these feelings of being a new parent are overwhelming, but wonderful. I know it doesn't happen all the time, but both my SO and I really did fall in love with Saoirse the moment we laid eyes on her. We've both cried multiple times since, thinking on how beautiful she is and what an honor it is for us to be her parents. It was also very empowering to know I did the birth without needing pitocin and an epidural. This whole experience truly is mind-blowing!
Couple pics:
Saoirse - minutes after birth
Saoirse - 1 day old
My blood pressure and swelling had gradually gotten worse over the past few weeks, so it was decided that the safest decision for me and the baby was to induce labor. We were scheduled to go in Thurs. night to start meds to ripen cervix, as I wasn't dilated yet, and then get pitocin later on the next day. Unfortunately, Thursday proved to be a very popular night in L&D, so we weren't called in until 3AM, Friday morning.
I was given the meds (started with a C...can't remember the name right now) at 6AM and because I had to be on the monitor at all times, they also knocked me out with morphine and something else (in retrospect, that was wonderful because I hadn't slept much the night before and obviously wasn't going to sleep the following night, either). My SO went home to catch up on sleep as well during this time.
I felt kinda crampy throughout the day, but nothing to write home about. At about 4PM, the cramps got pretty regular - between 5 and 7 minutes apart, but still not painful. I called SO and asked him to start thinking about coming back to the hospital soon. I was checked at found to be at 2cm. We all figured we still were looking at a pretty long labor, as the MW said typically people don't go into labor on just the meds for ripening the cervix. The plan was to take out the C-drug at 6PM, give me an hour break for dinner, and then start the pitocin.
At about 5PM, SO got to the hospital, along with a friend of mine. We chatted in between contractions that I now had to breathe through and put on a Dr. Who DVD. I felt a pretty huge pop in my hips and the next contractions got worse, but the MW said she couldn't see any evidence of water breaking. My contractions steadily got more intense and I start to get blurry on what all happened next. At about 5:45, I had two ctx that the only relief from the pain was to push (god, that was a wonderful feeling). Then it occurred to me that perhaps the midwives would like to know that I was pushing (ya think?).
I told them and they responded with "you can't possibly be pushing" and checked me. I had gone from 2cm to complete in less than an hour! Suddenly everything was kicked into high gear (from what I could hear, as I couldn't stand to keep my eyes open). I don't remember too much...I do remember asking SO if he could see the head, when I saw him openly crying. I also remember a nurse telling me to blow out a candle (think she was trying to get me to breathe, as I kept forgetting). I felt her crown, and then I remember feeling her whole body slide out. Total pushing time was less than 20 minutes.
So remember the friend who had showed up earlier? Initially, she was only planning on staying in the room until labor got bad, and then she was going to wait in the waiting room with her fiance until the baby was born. Everything happened so fast, once they realized that I was really pushing, she kinda got trapped in the room, with all the hustle and bustle. I remember looking over and seeing the poor girl with somewhat of a deer-in-the-headlights look. By the time Saoirse was born, though, she was bawling and texting her fiance about the experience. SO had no desire to cut the cord (he's a little squeamish), so we gave the honor to our friend, and she was speechless.
We delayed clamping and she was put on my chest immediately. We were initially going to donate the cord blood, but we missed the courier deadline for the weekend by 3 hours (hey, we tried...lol). After she came out, she let out a little squawk and then was all eyes, looking around at this new world. Her birth was so fast and with her being on the smallish side, her head didn't have time to become coned, so it's beautifully round and with a full head of dark hair! I had one 1st degree tear and skid marks.
She was a little jaundiced and the doc and hospital lactation consultant blew down my confidence in bf-ing with all their "you're giving her jaundice by choosing to breastfeed" (doctor) and "You don't have enough tissue to make milk" (lact. consultant). Thankfully, a friend of mine is a certified lact. consultant and she's been making daily house calls to help out and boost my confidence. Saoirse's mouth is a bit small and she likes to throw her tongue up as she opens her mouth really big, so it's been a challenge, but we're going to work through it. My milk has started coming in today, so that's a huge relief, too.
All these feelings of being a new parent are overwhelming, but wonderful. I know it doesn't happen all the time, but both my SO and I really did fall in love with Saoirse the moment we laid eyes on her. We've both cried multiple times since, thinking on how beautiful she is and what an honor it is for us to be her parents. It was also very empowering to know I did the birth without needing pitocin and an epidural. This whole experience truly is mind-blowing!
Couple pics:
Saoirse - minutes after birth
Saoirse - 1 day old
:
Congratulations!!! 
