I've successfully moved from the incubator (pregnancy) of a parasite to it's host (breastfeeding). That's right, baby was born!
For those of you that don't like graphic detail, you may want to skip this blog. For those interested in the birth story, please read on!
My water broke while at work, in a meeting (conference call) with my manager and two other coworkers. It was a HUGE gush- but even more embarrassing!! Don't know if that conference room chair has now been condemned or not, but it was certainly something! I left my stuff on the table and headed down the elevator to my office to call DH (dear hubby) who was at work. My manager followed me, made sure I got ahold of him, and offerred at least twice to drive me home. It was around 11:20 on the 15th. I wasn't having any contractions or any other labor signs, so I felt comfortable to at least drive myself home.
I got home, and met Seth there (we both work almost exactly the same distance away, just in different directions.) I called the midwife on my way home (Maureen, owner of the clinic) and she told me to wait until I was actively having contractions 3 minutes apart - and to eat lunch. I ate lunch, Seth got gas in the car, and we called back. She said it didn't sound like time, so to take a bath. I sat in the bath for a while and called back.. She told us to wait another couple of hours just to see what happened. That gave Seth time to finish putting the crib together, and we rearranged the baby room so I liked it a little better.
Around 6:00 or so, we called and she said to go ahead and come in. So we got to the Birthing center in Chapel Hill around 6:30pm on the 15th.
The contractions from that point slowed down a bit, and were pretty irregular. By around 10:30, Maureen suggested that she give me some morphine and that we try to sleep, since circandian rythm would probably prevent "active" labor from starting anytime soon and we would need some energy. So, Seth and I slept. And I slept amazingly well most of the night.
In the morning, the contractions were nearly gone - - so I thought. They put me on a monitor to see what was happening, and I was actually having regular contractions - 8 minutes apart - but only felt them in my upper thighs. So, I stayed a while longer. The rule for "PROM" (Premature Rupture of Membranes) is that in a hospital setting, you would essentially be induced to make sure you have the baby within 24 hours. Since I was at the birthing center, they gave me the option of "expectant management".
By around 3:30 or 4:00, my contractions were still not too bad, and only about 5 minutes apart. So - I had a bit of a panic attack, and felt terribly defeated. The midwife came in to check dialation (for only the second time - I forgot to mention I was 3-4cm when I got there at 6:30pm) - and I was at 8cm. That to me meant that I was making progress, starting more active labor, and could wait it out. I stepped in the shower for a while, and then started getting contractions where the only relief was to flail out of bed and walk around (standing was the only thing that I felt like I could manage!)
More labor, more pain, some pushing... Finally the baby was born at 8:49pm. That is around 33 hours of labor - whew!
Baby came out okay - Apgar at 1 minute was 3, by 5 minutes was 9. Mom, however, began hemmoraging with the delivery of the placenta and lost a LOT of blood. Dad and midwives were VERY worried. Mom also had a 3rd degree tear (which required 30 minutes or more worth of stitches)... Mom was a much bigger concern than baby - and I think with 1 more clot, I would have been immediately transferred to the Hospital. So the labor/delivery was without an epidural and without any medication for pain. They did give me an enema before the baby came. Because it was over 24 hours, I was given an IV drip and antibiotic. After the baby, I got more IV, more antibiotic, and a catheter - lucky me (not!).
So, medical intervention was indeed necessary to a great degree- - but the baby was delivered naturally. After a night of sleep, the catheter finally came out (thank god!). More antibiotic, more checking of blood (I was fairly anemic from the loss of blood). We weren't released from the birthing center until about 2:30pm. Which is around 44 hours in the birthing center!
Within an hour of Mark's birth, another baby was born "next door" and named Charlie. I don't think they had quite as many complications with that one, though. The midwife also said that this was one of her "messiest" births. The midwife that delivered was probably my favorite of the bunch - Leigh Ann. She's coming by today for a check-up. The nurse that was there (and stayed and helped afterwards) was Holly. She was pretty good, too.
Whew - am I glad that part is over! I assure you, had I been transferred to the hospital, many more drugs would have been involved. Natural childbirth is no picnic - they call it labor for a reason!
Now on to more breast feeding and tenderness as we get the "breastfeeding" thing down....
