A Birth Day

Warning: This is a birth story. If that ooks you out, I'd suggest you skip this one and check back soon for cute newborn pictures instead.

I woke up at 5 am on Saturday, thinking, "I'm in labor." There was no reason for this thought, really, but there it was, firmly entrenched in my mind. 37 minutes later, I had my first labor contraction.

My first labor had lasted 19 hours, so I expected this one to take a while, too. My midwives had warned me that second labors are usually half as long as the first, but still, that gave me a good 10 hours, so I decided I'd straighten my hair. (I know. That's an odd thing to do in labor. The first time, I shaved my legs. I don't know why, but these things feel phenomenally important to me while I'm in labor.)

The contractions had started off about 8 minutes apart, but an hour later, they were already coming every 5 minutes. This process had taken all night with Luke, but still, I figured I had plenty of time. Luke and McMoose woke up at 7:15 and when Luke came out to the living room, the first thing he said to me was, "Baby Hopper is going to come live in our house soon."

By this time, I'd figured out that humming was a great way to get through my contractions, so I hummed and danced through them and we soon called the birth center to tell them that it might be time to come in. Luke was going to be staying with Other Baby during the birth, so we called Other Baby's mom. Since my timing is phenomenal, it was Other Baby's birthday, so his mom had to pause her party preparations to come get Luke. I briefly considered taking Luke to their house and dropping him off, but soon realized that would probably be unpleasant--and thank goodness I came to that conclusion!

Other Baby's mom came at about 9 am and took Luke and after a brief detour to take the Dog to the kennel, we headed off to the birth center. The ride to the birth center was, to put it mildly, hellish. Luckily, the contractions slowed down a little bit. Before we left home, they were coming every 2 minutes or even more frequently, but in the car, they came about every 6 minutes. Since it was hard to get through them while strapped in a seated position, I was very grateful for the break.

We got to the birth center at 9:50 and I was very excited to get out of the car. As soon as we got into our room, the midwife offered to check me, and I was curious how far along I was, so I agreed, fully expecting her to say I was 4-5 centimeters dilated. Imagine my surprise when she said I was already at 9 cm!

I walked around and hummed through a couple more contractions, then they tried to put in an IV so I could get some antibiotics I needed. Attempt 1 while I was mid-contraction: fail. Attempt 2 while I was mid-contraction: fail. At this point, I pretty much asked the midwife what exactly the point was, since the antibiotics come in two doses 4 hours apart and we were all pretty certain the baby would be born much sooner than that. She replied that at least we could get the first dose in, but suggested that I get into the tub, so at least the contractions would be more manageable. I agreed and OH MY GRACIOUS, that was the best decision ever. I can't even describe how good it felt to be in that warm water, but I would have done some serious harm to anyone who suggested I get out.

They finally managed to put in an IV and at some point, I yelled about feeling a lot of pressure and my water broke at 10:17. The contractions got slightly easier after that for a little bit, but soon, I started pushing. One of the things I'd asked my midwives was to not coach me through pushing because I think intense coaching last time led to some problems and the midwife was great about not coaching me. It made me a little bit nervous at the time because I felt like I didn't know what I was doing, but apparently, my body had it under control.

I was still on my hands and knees in the tub, so the midwife said that as soon as the baby was born, she'd pass him under my belly and up to my arms, but that plan didn't quite work out. By this point, I really just wanted someone to GET HIM OUT, a desire which I made known loudly, so the nurse got down beside me and told me that his head was out and I needed to push NOW to get the rest of his body out. I did, although in my head, I still felt like it was an awful lot to ask, and I remember actually feeling the rest of him be born. Can I just say what a weird feeling that was? I don't remember this part of my labor with Luke and I'm amazed that I still remember it this time.

At 11:13 am, Weston Vishal came into the world in a bathtub of warm water. He looked like a baby Buddha, which is why his current nickname is Buddha-Bu. I moved to the bed for some stitches (which took about 20 minutes this time, as opposed to 90 last time), during which time we all guessed how much he'd weigh. Turns out he weighed 9 lbs, 6 oz and was 22 inches long, with a 14 inch head. I'm still amazed at how much easier the labor and delivery were with my 9+ lb baby than with my 7+ lb baby...how is that even possible?

We've all spent the past week dealing with the ups and downs of life with a newborn and the postpartum recovery period, but McMoose, Luke, and I are completely captivated by this new addition to our family and are so happy to finally get to know him.