Eleanor Irene Birth Story
Eleanor was born on February 7, 2010 at 8:31am after 41 weeks and 5 days. The previous evening, a Saturday night, I was lying on the couch watching some television and generally trying to rest. I felt a slight twinge of period-like cramps in my abdomen, unlike anything I had felt so far in the pregnancy. I immediately thought it might be a contraction and looked at the clock: 8:55pm. I didn’t want to get too excited because I knew some people felt these for days before labor begins, so I settled back into tv. Exactly 30 min later, at 9:25, I felt another twinge. About 20 minutes after that, another! Hooray!
I decided the best thing to do was to take a relaxing shower and head to bed and get some sleep in case this was the real thing. Matt came home from doing some errands as I was getting out of the shower and I told him the big news. We’ve been ready for this for a while, so he gave me an excited reply and I went to get some sleep.
Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep. My mind wouldn’t settle down to relax. Baby was coming! After tossing and turning for about an hour, I got up and poured a short glass of wine. I’ve seen that recommended so thought it would help. Nope, didn’t help me! (Though it did taste quite good!)
Matt was rushing around the house preparing last minute things before the birth of our baby while I tried resting. When he came to bed I went into our living room to try to sleep because I was tossing and turning so much and didn’t want to bother him. At this point my guess is that contractions were coming randomly every 10-15 minutes. As it was getting later into the night I was finally able to get some sleep between them, but certainly woke to manage them as they came, rocking on my hands and knees on the living room floor.
I was getting intensely hot at the peak of the contraction and shivering cold while resting. The living room wasn’t cutting it any longer. Around 3am I got it in my head our heated tile bathroom floor seemed like the perfect place to relax between contractions, so that’s exactly what I did. I slept on the warm floor between contractions and then managed the contractions themselves while hanging over the cool porcelain tub. This carried on until 4:30 in the morning when I decided I needed Matt’s help – plus I really wanted him to keep track of how fast these contractions were coming and lasting as I still had no real idea.
I woke Matt up, he offered to help and did what I asked, but then he wanted to go back to bed! I don’t think he realized how far along I really was. I had waited as long as possible to wake him as I knew he needed some rest to do his job! I wouldn’t let him go back to bed and he soon realized how much he was needed.
We logged contractions on a website and realized they were coming pretty fast. Matt called the midwife and she suggested she wait to head out until they were lasting at least a minute long (I think they were about 45-50 sec at the time). Within 15-30 minutes, they were plenty long and Matt called her back. I think she doubted how fast they were coming, but she said she’d begin her hours’ drive to our home.
At some point I remember feeling a bit nauseated – was I in transition? I couldn’t be, could I? And then not long after that I felt “pushy”. My body was starting to push my baby out. Wow – how far along am I? Could I really be that far along already? I doubted myself because though the whole process was intense, I felt fairly well in control and was able to manage what I was feeling (despite being quite vocal!). I think it helped that my contractions were so short lived even though they were coming often. The peak was the only part where I felt a little out of my mind.
Matt was great through it all. He stroked my back and calmed me during the contractions and got me liquids, filled the tub, and did last minute preparations in between. He was so supportive and helpful – I really couldn’t have done it without him. I had _really_ wanted to get into the warm water tub but the midwife advised against doing so until she arrived. If I wasn’t ready the water can be too soothing and slow down the process.
Sometime around now I had moved to laboring on the toilet facing the back. It felt good to be vertical and have gravity help move the baby. I had felt a light pop and instinctively knew my water had just broken. But I don’t recall feeling any sort of gush… I suppose the baby’s head plugged up the hole.
Matt would check in with the midwife a few times during her route and I remember thinking that she couldn’t possibly get here soon enough. I kept asking where she was, when she would get here, etc. I needed to know how far dilated I was and how much further I needed to go. Finally, the midwife and her assistant arrived! (7:00ish? – I had completely lost track of the passing of time by now). After a brief minute or two of getting their supplies in the door and set up, she checked me for dilation and surprise – I was fully dilated with the baby at +2 station. I could push!
I ran over to the water tub (as much as a fully dilated woman in labor can really run) but paused long enough to take off my socks and shirt. I remember someone commenting that most women get in with their clothes on. Let me tell you – that tub was HEAVEN. A difference of night in day. Once in the tub I almost lost track of whether I was even having a contraction. Seriously! I would have taken a nap…
After being reminded to push (I was enjoying the relaxation), I had to truly focus inward to feel when a contraction was coming. I took my time and slowly pushed the baby down with each contraction while hanging my chest over the wall of the tub. I would feel the progress with my hand at every break – my baby was coming! I can truly say it didn’t hurt to push except for tiny tear that occurred at the widest part of her head emerging. After perhaps 5-7 contractions and 3 or so pushes per contraction her head was out! (I later learned I took 41 minutes to push her out, so it must have been a few more contractions).
I rested a bit and then pushed the rest of her out. I rested back onto the side of the tub again and heard lots of movement behind me as the baby was brought to the surface by Daddy. I heard him announce, “It’s a girl!”
I turned over to sit against the back of the tub and they handed my new little girl to me for some bonding time. I had been imaging the moment for so long it was so surreal for it to be actually happening.
Eventually the cord stopped pulsing, so they clamped and Daddy cut the cord. Initial attempts to breastfeed weren’t successful but we figured it out in the days to come. After a bit, I was asked to try to push out the placenta and it easily slipped out with minimal effort. Apparently it was a very unique placenta with a rather large lobe and a marginal cord insertion (it was on the side rather than centered).
Daddy got to spend some precious bonding time with Eleanor as I showered and got looked over for tearing. Once I was given the ok the midwife gave the full newborn check on Eleanor and was happy to report a very healthy 7lbs 2oz of cuteness!
Welcome to the world, Eleanor “Nora” Irene!
Some other interesting details that may have helped me have a beautiful birth:
1.Hypnobabies wasn’t nearly as prominent in the birth as I had imagined it would be. We never got around to playing any scripts until it came time to pushing. I did try to use my lightswitch, Matt reminded me to breathe my anesthesia, etc., but I think the main help of the program was to remain relaxed as much as possible.
2.I had drunk Red Raspberry Leaf Tea regularly up until 1.5 months before the birth. At that point I had gotten quite tired of the flavor and started taking a capsule form. I went back to drinking it about 2 weeks before the birth. I drank a large pot of it the day of, before I realized I would be in labor later that night.
3.I went to the chiropractor monthly, then weekly near the end of my pregnancy, to make sure everything was in perfect alignment for this baby to come out.
4.I’m a bellydancer and danced weekly up until the last month of my pregnancy.
5.I enjoyed a prenatal yoga DVD 3-4 times a week up until the last month of my pregnancy.
6.The baby’s older brother is an English Cocker Spaniel whom I walked 30 min – 1 hour 5-6 times a week throughout my pregnancy.
Eleanor was born on February 7, 2010 at 8:31am after 41 weeks and 5 days. The previous evening, a Saturday night, I was lying on the couch watching some television and generally trying to rest. I felt a slight twinge of period-like cramps in my abdomen, unlike anything I had felt so far in the pregnancy. I immediately thought it might be a contraction and looked at the clock: 8:55pm. I didn’t want to get too excited because I knew some people felt these for days before labor begins, so I settled back into tv. Exactly 30 min later, at 9:25, I felt another twinge. About 20 minutes after that, another! Hooray!
I decided the best thing to do was to take a relaxing shower and head to bed and get some sleep in case this was the real thing. Matt came home from doing some errands as I was getting out of the shower and I told him the big news. We’ve been ready for this for a while, so he gave me an excited reply and I went to get some sleep.
Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep. My mind wouldn’t settle down to relax. Baby was coming! After tossing and turning for about an hour, I got up and poured a short glass of wine. I’ve seen that recommended so thought it would help. Nope, didn’t help me! (Though it did taste quite good!)
Matt was rushing around the house preparing last minute things before the birth of our baby while I tried resting. When he came to bed I went into our living room to try to sleep because I was tossing and turning so much and didn’t want to bother him. At this point my guess is that contractions were coming randomly every 10-15 minutes. As it was getting later into the night I was finally able to get some sleep between them, but certainly woke to manage them as they came, rocking on my hands and knees on the living room floor.
I was getting intensely hot at the peak of the contraction and shivering cold while resting. The living room wasn’t cutting it any longer. Around 3am I got it in my head our heated tile bathroom floor seemed like the perfect place to relax between contractions, so that’s exactly what I did. I slept on the warm floor between contractions and then managed the contractions themselves while hanging over the cool porcelain tub. This carried on until 4:30 in the morning when I decided I needed Matt’s help – plus I really wanted him to keep track of how fast these contractions were coming and lasting as I still had no real idea.
I woke Matt up, he offered to help and did what I asked, but then he wanted to go back to bed! I don’t think he realized how far along I really was. I had waited as long as possible to wake him as I knew he needed some rest to do his job! I wouldn’t let him go back to bed and he soon realized how much he was needed.
We logged contractions on a website and realized they were coming pretty fast. Matt called the midwife and she suggested she wait to head out until they were lasting at least a minute long (I think they were about 45-50 sec at the time). Within 15-30 minutes, they were plenty long and Matt called her back. I think she doubted how fast they were coming, but she said she’d begin her hours’ drive to our home.
At some point I remember feeling a bit nauseated – was I in transition? I couldn’t be, could I? And then not long after that I felt “pushy”. My body was starting to push my baby out. Wow – how far along am I? Could I really be that far along already? I doubted myself because though the whole process was intense, I felt fairly well in control and was able to manage what I was feeling (despite being quite vocal!). I think it helped that my contractions were so short lived even though they were coming often. The peak was the only part where I felt a little out of my mind.
Matt was great through it all. He stroked my back and calmed me during the contractions and got me liquids, filled the tub, and did last minute preparations in between. He was so supportive and helpful – I really couldn’t have done it without him. I had _really_ wanted to get into the warm water tub but the midwife advised against doing so until she arrived. If I wasn’t ready the water can be too soothing and slow down the process.
Sometime around now I had moved to laboring on the toilet facing the back. It felt good to be vertical and have gravity help move the baby. I had felt a light pop and instinctively knew my water had just broken. But I don’t recall feeling any sort of gush… I suppose the baby’s head plugged up the hole.
Matt would check in with the midwife a few times during her route and I remember thinking that she couldn’t possibly get here soon enough. I kept asking where she was, when she would get here, etc. I needed to know how far dilated I was and how much further I needed to go. Finally, the midwife and her assistant arrived! (7:00ish? – I had completely lost track of the passing of time by now). After a brief minute or two of getting their supplies in the door and set up, she checked me for dilation and surprise – I was fully dilated with the baby at +2 station. I could push!
I ran over to the water tub (as much as a fully dilated woman in labor can really run) but paused long enough to take off my socks and shirt. I remember someone commenting that most women get in with their clothes on. Let me tell you – that tub was HEAVEN. A difference of night in day. Once in the tub I almost lost track of whether I was even having a contraction. Seriously! I would have taken a nap…
After being reminded to push (I was enjoying the relaxation), I had to truly focus inward to feel when a contraction was coming. I took my time and slowly pushed the baby down with each contraction while hanging my chest over the wall of the tub. I would feel the progress with my hand at every break – my baby was coming! I can truly say it didn’t hurt to push except for tiny tear that occurred at the widest part of her head emerging. After perhaps 5-7 contractions and 3 or so pushes per contraction her head was out! (I later learned I took 41 minutes to push her out, so it must have been a few more contractions).
I rested a bit and then pushed the rest of her out. I rested back onto the side of the tub again and heard lots of movement behind me as the baby was brought to the surface by Daddy. I heard him announce, “It’s a girl!”
I turned over to sit against the back of the tub and they handed my new little girl to me for some bonding time. I had been imaging the moment for so long it was so surreal for it to be actually happening.
Eventually the cord stopped pulsing, so they clamped and Daddy cut the cord. Initial attempts to breastfeed weren’t successful but we figured it out in the days to come. After a bit, I was asked to try to push out the placenta and it easily slipped out with minimal effort. Apparently it was a very unique placenta with a rather large lobe and a marginal cord insertion (it was on the side rather than centered).
Daddy got to spend some precious bonding time with Eleanor as I showered and got looked over for tearing. Once I was given the ok the midwife gave the full newborn check on Eleanor and was happy to report a very healthy 7lbs 2oz of cuteness!
Welcome to the world, Eleanor “Nora” Irene!
Some other interesting details that may have helped me have a beautiful birth:
1.Hypnobabies wasn’t nearly as prominent in the birth as I had imagined it would be. We never got around to playing any scripts until it came time to pushing. I did try to use my lightswitch, Matt reminded me to breathe my anesthesia, etc., but I think the main help of the program was to remain relaxed as much as possible.
2.I had drunk Red Raspberry Leaf Tea regularly up until 1.5 months before the birth. At that point I had gotten quite tired of the flavor and started taking a capsule form. I went back to drinking it about 2 weeks before the birth. I drank a large pot of it the day of, before I realized I would be in labor later that night.
3.I went to the chiropractor monthly, then weekly near the end of my pregnancy, to make sure everything was in perfect alignment for this baby to come out.
4.I’m a bellydancer and danced weekly up until the last month of my pregnancy.
5.I enjoyed a prenatal yoga DVD 3-4 times a week up until the last month of my pregnancy.
6.The baby’s older brother is an English Cocker Spaniel whom I walked 30 min – 1 hour 5-6 times a week throughout my pregnancy.
