Aleigha's birth story (Part 3 of 3)

Dear Readers,

Thank you for indulging me while I re-tell my Aleigha's birth story! Enjoy part three!

(If you haven't yet, read Part 1 and Part 2).

I'm sorry it took me a month to tell the story. I didn't meant to take this long....really.

The Decision
Saturday, 2 am
After 48 hours

My labor was stalled again and I was not progressing.

The midwife began talking to us about our "options" again. She explained the risks of extended labor and her concern for the meconium in my water. We could stay and hope that I would fully dilate in the next couple of hours, or, we could transfer to the hospital and try pitocin to stimulate labor. Since my labor was starting to lose intensity (yes, again!), we decided to go to the hospital. My contractions were not likely to cause rapid dilation in the next several hours.

Power of Prayer
After talking to my mom later (after the birth), I learned that she was praying that we would decide to go to the hospital. Not wanting to interfere too much, she kept her thoughts quiet and prayed instead. I can learn a lot from my mother's example. One of her greatest strengths is praying for others. Of course, she speaks up when she needs to, but ultimately, she relies on prayer.

To the hospital!
Although I hoped and worked for a natural, unmediated birth, I was confident that we did all we could. Medical intervention was necessary. Our midwife called the hospital while we packed our bags to leave. My dad's rental car had a spacious backseat, so Jason and I drove with him. I fluffed some pillows around me and gripped Jason's hand. I prayed and prayed that I wouldn't have a lot of contractions in the car.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, my dad was really worried. I think seeing his daughter in labor was hard for him. He drove about 90 miles an hour at 2:30 Saturday morning, cutting a 45 minute drive down to about 25 minutes. Along the way, a police officer pulled us over. When the policeman came to my dad's window, my dad frantically told him, "My daughter is in labor and we're going to the hospital!" The policeman nodded and said, "Alright, go ahead. Just don't speed anymore!" My dad said "ok" and raced on.

Checking in
When we arrived, a nurse took me into a little room where I was checked and monitored. She took my vitals, listened to baby's heart rate, and timed my contractions. While she was asking me personal history questions, my contractions started up again. She took the opportunity to hook me up to a monitor to get a feel for the frequency and strength of each contraction. While she asked us basic medical history questions, the obstetrician on duty walked in. He was planning a c-section for us before he had seen/checked baby or me.

We explained the we were hoping for a vaginal delivery and that we would like to try pitocin first. He was upset with our decision, but he finally agreed to let us try pitocin.

I opted for an epidural, since I didn't want to try to handle pitocin (which makes contractions unatually strong) after 50 hours of labor. The epidural made me feel tingly and heavy, like an overstuffed human bean bag. I couldn't lift my leg if I wanted to. I was concerned so I asked the nurse to give me the lowest dose possible. After a while I could feel pressure, but not pain. Such relief! No. More. Pain. I should've slept, but I felt too excited to sleep. Instead, Jason and I talked and talked-- for what I think was over an hour.

The nurse was sympathetic to our hopes for a vaginal delivery. She administered the lowest dose of pitocin possible, enough to help me dilate but not affect the baby's heartrate too much. Pitocin can cause fetal distress, so too much would create the need for an emergency c-section and too little would not be effective.

She told us that if I did not fully dilate at a certain time (I can't remember the exact time), I would need a c-section. I actually don't remember her saying anything about this time deadline. Jason told me later. I was relaxed in the bed and enjoying the pressure of pain-free contractions.

Our nurse came in to check on me and announced, "Alright, you can push."

What? I can push? Really? I had been on pitocin only a couple of hours.

I tried to think about how I felt. Did I feel the urge to push? Well, maybe a little....?

The nurse came to help me pull one of legs up to my chest, mimicking a squatting position. Jason grabbed my hand and my other leg.

"Ok, get ready." The nurse said. "I am going to help you by telling when to push." A few seconds after a contraction began she said, "Push!"

I pushed. Pushing while not feeling my lower body was hard. I had to think about the muscles I needed.

"Push."  Breathe. "Push."

Jason's face was beaming. The poor guy was exhausted. He hadn't slept much in two days, but his face didn't show any signs of fatigue.

He cheered me on as enthusiastically as any guy would watching a football game. "Push, Aubrey, harder. Dig down deep." 

I wasn't sure what "dig down deep" meant, but Jason and the nurse were convinced that I pushed harder when they said it.

I started feeling more of my lower body again. Soon I could tell when to push on my own.

"Can you see? Can you see the baby yet?"

Not yet-- keep pushing.

The nurse set a mirror up so I could see what was happening while I pushed. I think the mirror was supposed to help me, but I decided I was absolutely not watching myself push. Ever. I did take quick peeks after each push to see if her head was crowning.

Finally, Jason said, "I see her!"

What? I think I stopped pushing a bit early to check the mirror.

"Oh no, her head went back. Push again!"

With each push her head peeped out, and then back in again, and again, and again. 

Finally, the nurse called the obsterecticion (Mr. c-section) in. "We're ready to catch the baby!"

I looked up and saw the room had filled with people. I don't remember how many and I didn't know who they were. A doctor happened to wander aimlessly in as though he were looking for directions. The OB laughed at him and said, "Hey, you wanna watch a birth?"

Really? Aleigha's appearance into the world is not a sideshow! I decided I didn't care as long as Aleigha would come soon!

Push. Push. Push. 

And, at 7:21AM, she was finally born. She needed to be cleaned immediately because of the meconium, so I didn't see her. But I could hear her; she screamed and screamed, clearly upset that her first moment in the world was marred by nurses wrestling her down to aspirate her lungs.

 She was cleaned, measured, weighed, and wrapped in a hospital blanket.

Then, she was brought to me...looking like this....

Meeting mommy for the first time.

Aleigha doing a little victory kick. Thank you to Grandma Waters for taking these pictures!