Still haven't posted pictures, will try to figure that out soon. Here's my (kind of long) version of baby Sylvan's entrance!
Rocket was due to launch on December 20. On Thursday the 13th, I went to work amazed that I had only a couple more days to get through before beginning my maternity leave. I was looking forward to having a week off before my mom and brothers came to visit on the 21st, and expected the baby to be at least a few days late. I told everybody at work that if they hadn’t already put in their guesses to the “when will Rocket be born?” pool, they should shoot for after Christmas, because I had a feeling he was pretty comfortable in there.
Rocket had other plans! That night I sent a text message to midwife to let her know that I had some pink-tinged mucus that I was suspicious about. She said that could be a good sign, and to let her know if anything else happened. At 2:30 I woke up with what felt sort of like menstrual cramps, except with a definite beginning and end. They came every 10-15 minutes, and woke me up each time. At about 4:15 I was suddenly very interested in Kaleb, so I woke him up and we spent some time enjoying each other’s bodies for what would be our last time as just the two of us. I’m really glad we were able to do that, and it helped me a lot to relax and just be in my body.
The contractions were still regular after that, so I got up to take a shower and see if I could get them to slow down so I could sleep. At this point, I was thinking that even if this was labor, it could still take a few days to get active. I was being careful not to get too optimistic. After the shower, I slept on the couch and began writing down the times of the contractions when they woke me up. For the next couple hours, they came every 6-7 minutes. I had real bloody show as well. A little after 7:00, my midwife called to check on me, and I told her what was up. She said it sounded very promising. I told her I’d call if anything interesting happened, and that I had decided not to go into work. I called my coworker who was going to pick me up to go to work that day, and told her I wasn’t going because this was probably Baby Day, but that I still needed her to drop by and pick up some things to take to the office. I met her at the door in my bathrobe, and she was surprised at how calm I was as I explained the notes I’d written that hopefully would help decode the piles I had left. She also took my final gift to give to my Secret Santa recipient at the party, and promised not to let anyone from work call me. I’m really glad I didn’t go in that day!
I told Kaleb that I was in labor but that he should still go to work, because I thought it would take at least all day. I spent the day doing all the laundry in the house, starting some Christmas present projects, and making rum ball cookies. I arranged for the diaper service to bring our initial supply of diapers (it turns out they had delivered it to the wrong house a couple days earlier) and the delivery guy was shocked to hear that I was in labor. He wished me “courage and luck” when he arrived with the diapers late that afternoon. I talked to several people on the phone, and told my mom and brother when they called that I was in labor but didn’t know if it was a false alarm or not. I think I just didn’t want anyone to call and ask if the baby was here yet. Contractions were between 5 and 15 minutes all day, and they seemed pretty regular. The bloody show had continued throughout the day. I felt like I would definitely be giving birth that night.
When Kaleb came home from work I sent him to Target for some last-minute purchases, things I had planned to gather during that extra week off that had disappeared between work and the birth. My midwife advised that I drink a glass of wine and try to slow down labor so I could sleep before it picked up, if it was going to. Kaleb called his family to let them know we were on the verge of parenthood. My mom called Kaleb for an update because she knew I wouldn’t answer my phone. Around 9:45 we had some wine and went to bed.
Lying down, the contractions were much more intense. I slept on and off for about an hour, then moved to the couch where I could stand up for each contraction, leaning on the back of a chair and wiggling my butt in the air, and then lie down again in between. Around midnight I got the big Pilates ball Kaleb had just bought. I put a blanket and a pillow on top of it and rode out the next few contractions there. They were coming every 3 or 4 minutes, and by 12:45 I had to wake Kaleb up and ask him to call the midwife. I puked at about this point. When she got here about 10 minutes later (she lives in our neighborhood) there was a big thunderstorm going, with lightning and thunder, very dramatic for the occasion.
At this point, my version of events goes a little fuzzy, probably for biological reasons of promoting the continued propagation of our species. I spent a lot of time on the toilet. I asked Kaleb to bring me a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of knee-high socks. I had him sit on the floor in front of me and squeeze my hands through each contraction. I walked around a bit, and did some leaning on the bed and some leaning on Kaleb. Eventually I tried the birth stool, and stayed there for a while. Sometime in here we called the second midwife.
I began to feel like it was taking FOREVER to make any progress. During contractions, I tried to breathe through my nose and make horse-lips blowing out. I also really liked leaning back with another person squeezing my hands and pulling on my arms. Kaleb was the other person for a long time, but he was getting really tired. At one point he was lying on the bed in between contractions, and he started snoring. This bugged me and I told him he had to leave the room if he was going to snore, and I talked him into taking a nap while the midwife took over the arm-pulling duties. I’m glad he did, because I really needed his presence for the last part of labor.
I moved from the birth stool to the shower for a couple minutes, but my legs fell asleep from kneeling in the bathtub, so I dried off and sat on the toilet. I had a couple of contractions that seemed to be for birthing a couple “baby turds,” and I felt bad for stinking up the bathroom. I apologized to the midwife, but she claimed not to be able to smell anything. She was sitting in front of me when my water broke with a *pop* and it startled us both. At this point Kaleb woke up and jumped back into the action. I alternated among the birth stool, leaning on the ball, and the toilet. The midwives had been monitoring Rocket’s heart tones throughout labor, and I got kind of annoyed with it at this point. Kaleb had put on a comfy hooded sweatshirt, and I really liked hugging him and squeezing the sweatshirt fabric while he pushed on my sacrum with a hug. I think this was the most successful position overall. By this point I was pushing, which felt different than I had expected (I have no idea what I expected) and I think it took about an hour for me to figure out what exactly to do. At some point I reached down and felt the head during a contraction, and that helped a little. It was all squishy and hairy. They asked if I wanted a mirror so I could see it coming out, and I REALLY didn’t want to look. I had my eyes closed for almost every contraction since the beginning of active labor, I think.
The midwives suggested the McRoberts position because they thought Rocket’s head was stuck behind my pubic bone. This involved lying on my back while they held my legs in a squatting position, sort of squatting minus the gravity. That did seem to help, and I remember a few really intense contractions that I didn’t think were going to end. Kaleb suggested the hands and knees position. I had talked to him about birthing positions before, and mentioned that hands and knees made a lot of sense to me. It sounded like a good idea now, so I got on my hands and knees and prepared for the last stretch.
I was totally taken aback by the fact that after the progress of each contraction, the baby slipped completely back inside. For some reason, this really freaked me out. At one point I thought, “there’s no way I’ll ever have a contraction long enough for it to come all the way out in one go!” and I decided to push through the end of the contraction. The feeling of the baby’s body slipping out of me was amazing! Kaleb caught him, they passed him underneath me so I could see him, and he was all slippery and flailing. I remember being surprised that I wasn’t freaked out at him not breathing yet. He did breathe within a minute or so. They put him on my tummy and wrapped him in towels, and we took a couple minutes to meet our new little person! We eventually checked to see the sex (Kaleb said, “I think I saw balls, but I wouldn’t put money on it” which made me laugh) and it was a boy! He seemed pretty angry and upset about the long squishy journey, and told us all about it. I birthed the placenta after a bit – it got stuck behind the pelvic bone a little too – and surprised myself by not being at all interested in looking at it. It was huge, like a cow liver! I asked if they could take it away, but we were waiting for the cord to stop pulsing all the way. When it did, Kaleb cut the cord and they put the placenta in Ziploc bags in our freezer for some as-yet-undetermined purpose. The midwives prepared an herb bath for me and the baby and cooked up some grilled cheese and tomato soup. While we were in the bath, Rocket finally calmed down and started looking around. He was really interested in the sound of the slowly trickling bathtub drain. That’s when we decided he was Sylvan.
Kaleb took Sylvan to be weighed and checked out while I got back in bed. It turns out I had a tear from that enthusiastic last push that needed a couple of stitches, which wasn’t fun. But then the three of us lay in bed grinning at each other, and it was all worth it. I still can’t believe that this person began in my belly and came out to meet us! He’s the best baby ever born, and I feel so lucky to have been able to bring him right into our home, and that his wonderful daddy was here to help me do it.
Rocket was due to launch on December 20. On Thursday the 13th, I went to work amazed that I had only a couple more days to get through before beginning my maternity leave. I was looking forward to having a week off before my mom and brothers came to visit on the 21st, and expected the baby to be at least a few days late. I told everybody at work that if they hadn’t already put in their guesses to the “when will Rocket be born?” pool, they should shoot for after Christmas, because I had a feeling he was pretty comfortable in there.
Rocket had other plans! That night I sent a text message to midwife to let her know that I had some pink-tinged mucus that I was suspicious about. She said that could be a good sign, and to let her know if anything else happened. At 2:30 I woke up with what felt sort of like menstrual cramps, except with a definite beginning and end. They came every 10-15 minutes, and woke me up each time. At about 4:15 I was suddenly very interested in Kaleb, so I woke him up and we spent some time enjoying each other’s bodies for what would be our last time as just the two of us. I’m really glad we were able to do that, and it helped me a lot to relax and just be in my body.
The contractions were still regular after that, so I got up to take a shower and see if I could get them to slow down so I could sleep. At this point, I was thinking that even if this was labor, it could still take a few days to get active. I was being careful not to get too optimistic. After the shower, I slept on the couch and began writing down the times of the contractions when they woke me up. For the next couple hours, they came every 6-7 minutes. I had real bloody show as well. A little after 7:00, my midwife called to check on me, and I told her what was up. She said it sounded very promising. I told her I’d call if anything interesting happened, and that I had decided not to go into work. I called my coworker who was going to pick me up to go to work that day, and told her I wasn’t going because this was probably Baby Day, but that I still needed her to drop by and pick up some things to take to the office. I met her at the door in my bathrobe, and she was surprised at how calm I was as I explained the notes I’d written that hopefully would help decode the piles I had left. She also took my final gift to give to my Secret Santa recipient at the party, and promised not to let anyone from work call me. I’m really glad I didn’t go in that day!
I told Kaleb that I was in labor but that he should still go to work, because I thought it would take at least all day. I spent the day doing all the laundry in the house, starting some Christmas present projects, and making rum ball cookies. I arranged for the diaper service to bring our initial supply of diapers (it turns out they had delivered it to the wrong house a couple days earlier) and the delivery guy was shocked to hear that I was in labor. He wished me “courage and luck” when he arrived with the diapers late that afternoon. I talked to several people on the phone, and told my mom and brother when they called that I was in labor but didn’t know if it was a false alarm or not. I think I just didn’t want anyone to call and ask if the baby was here yet. Contractions were between 5 and 15 minutes all day, and they seemed pretty regular. The bloody show had continued throughout the day. I felt like I would definitely be giving birth that night.
When Kaleb came home from work I sent him to Target for some last-minute purchases, things I had planned to gather during that extra week off that had disappeared between work and the birth. My midwife advised that I drink a glass of wine and try to slow down labor so I could sleep before it picked up, if it was going to. Kaleb called his family to let them know we were on the verge of parenthood. My mom called Kaleb for an update because she knew I wouldn’t answer my phone. Around 9:45 we had some wine and went to bed.
Lying down, the contractions were much more intense. I slept on and off for about an hour, then moved to the couch where I could stand up for each contraction, leaning on the back of a chair and wiggling my butt in the air, and then lie down again in between. Around midnight I got the big Pilates ball Kaleb had just bought. I put a blanket and a pillow on top of it and rode out the next few contractions there. They were coming every 3 or 4 minutes, and by 12:45 I had to wake Kaleb up and ask him to call the midwife. I puked at about this point. When she got here about 10 minutes later (she lives in our neighborhood) there was a big thunderstorm going, with lightning and thunder, very dramatic for the occasion.
At this point, my version of events goes a little fuzzy, probably for biological reasons of promoting the continued propagation of our species. I spent a lot of time on the toilet. I asked Kaleb to bring me a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of knee-high socks. I had him sit on the floor in front of me and squeeze my hands through each contraction. I walked around a bit, and did some leaning on the bed and some leaning on Kaleb. Eventually I tried the birth stool, and stayed there for a while. Sometime in here we called the second midwife.
I began to feel like it was taking FOREVER to make any progress. During contractions, I tried to breathe through my nose and make horse-lips blowing out. I also really liked leaning back with another person squeezing my hands and pulling on my arms. Kaleb was the other person for a long time, but he was getting really tired. At one point he was lying on the bed in between contractions, and he started snoring. This bugged me and I told him he had to leave the room if he was going to snore, and I talked him into taking a nap while the midwife took over the arm-pulling duties. I’m glad he did, because I really needed his presence for the last part of labor.
I moved from the birth stool to the shower for a couple minutes, but my legs fell asleep from kneeling in the bathtub, so I dried off and sat on the toilet. I had a couple of contractions that seemed to be for birthing a couple “baby turds,” and I felt bad for stinking up the bathroom. I apologized to the midwife, but she claimed not to be able to smell anything. She was sitting in front of me when my water broke with a *pop* and it startled us both. At this point Kaleb woke up and jumped back into the action. I alternated among the birth stool, leaning on the ball, and the toilet. The midwives had been monitoring Rocket’s heart tones throughout labor, and I got kind of annoyed with it at this point. Kaleb had put on a comfy hooded sweatshirt, and I really liked hugging him and squeezing the sweatshirt fabric while he pushed on my sacrum with a hug. I think this was the most successful position overall. By this point I was pushing, which felt different than I had expected (I have no idea what I expected) and I think it took about an hour for me to figure out what exactly to do. At some point I reached down and felt the head during a contraction, and that helped a little. It was all squishy and hairy. They asked if I wanted a mirror so I could see it coming out, and I REALLY didn’t want to look. I had my eyes closed for almost every contraction since the beginning of active labor, I think.
The midwives suggested the McRoberts position because they thought Rocket’s head was stuck behind my pubic bone. This involved lying on my back while they held my legs in a squatting position, sort of squatting minus the gravity. That did seem to help, and I remember a few really intense contractions that I didn’t think were going to end. Kaleb suggested the hands and knees position. I had talked to him about birthing positions before, and mentioned that hands and knees made a lot of sense to me. It sounded like a good idea now, so I got on my hands and knees and prepared for the last stretch.
I was totally taken aback by the fact that after the progress of each contraction, the baby slipped completely back inside. For some reason, this really freaked me out. At one point I thought, “there’s no way I’ll ever have a contraction long enough for it to come all the way out in one go!” and I decided to push through the end of the contraction. The feeling of the baby’s body slipping out of me was amazing! Kaleb caught him, they passed him underneath me so I could see him, and he was all slippery and flailing. I remember being surprised that I wasn’t freaked out at him not breathing yet. He did breathe within a minute or so. They put him on my tummy and wrapped him in towels, and we took a couple minutes to meet our new little person! We eventually checked to see the sex (Kaleb said, “I think I saw balls, but I wouldn’t put money on it” which made me laugh) and it was a boy! He seemed pretty angry and upset about the long squishy journey, and told us all about it. I birthed the placenta after a bit – it got stuck behind the pelvic bone a little too – and surprised myself by not being at all interested in looking at it. It was huge, like a cow liver! I asked if they could take it away, but we were waiting for the cord to stop pulsing all the way. When it did, Kaleb cut the cord and they put the placenta in Ziploc bags in our freezer for some as-yet-undetermined purpose. The midwives prepared an herb bath for me and the baby and cooked up some grilled cheese and tomato soup. While we were in the bath, Rocket finally calmed down and started looking around. He was really interested in the sound of the slowly trickling bathtub drain. That’s when we decided he was Sylvan.
Kaleb took Sylvan to be weighed and checked out while I got back in bed. It turns out I had a tear from that enthusiastic last push that needed a couple of stitches, which wasn’t fun. But then the three of us lay in bed grinning at each other, and it was all worth it. I still can’t believe that this person began in my belly and came out to meet us! He’s the best baby ever born, and I feel so lucky to have been able to bring him right into our home, and that his wonderful daddy was here to help me do it.
