The Whole Story

What a week! Wow, I feel like this whole week has flown by! Of course, a lot has been going on in the Harris home. :) I thought I would record a more detailed account of the weeks events including the labor and delivery details. Mostly it's for my own record, but I happen to know I have several nurse friends who will be interested to know. Sorry this post is SO long! Like I said, I'm mostly recording this for my own memory.

**Reader discretion is advised. The following post may contain graphic words and descriptions that may really be TMI for some people. Read on at your own risk.**

I became acquainted with Braxton-Hicks contractions probably two months ago. Those are practice contractions of the uterus that help get the muscles in shape for the big event. I had them intermittently throughout the last couple of months of the pregnancy. About a week and a half ago I had a run of contractions on a Saturday night that were coming frequently and consistently for about 3 hours. I hoped it would turn into labor but was disappointed when I woke up in the morning still pregnant with no signs of labor. Then last Thursday night about midnight I started having contractions that were coming regularly all night long and even lasted most of the day Friday. I was excited and seriously hoped it would turn into labor but the contractions never hurt at all. I tried everything I could think of to get them to intensify including: taking a couple of long walks, relaxing in a warm bath, eating spicy Mexican food and bouncing on a yoga ball. None of it worked and again, the contractions stopped for good. Looking back I suppose it's good that I learned what contractions feel like, but really false labor is frustrating! Tuesday night (the 11th) Mitchell and I watched a movie in the evening after dinner. Soon after we got in bed, around midnight, I started having contractions. This time though, the contractions hurt! Only 9 months of pregnancy would make someone so happy and excited for pain! Pretty much right from the start I knew it was the real thing, but at the same time I didn't want to get my hopes up then be disappointed again so I just tried to relax and get as much rest as possible. The contractions were about 8 minutes apart all night long and unsurprisingly, I didn't sleep much. I let Mitchell sleep though because I figured he would need energy if we were going to have a baby that day. When he did wake up I told him I was in labor and we were so excited! He stayed home from work that day and we hung out waiting for things to happen. Mitchell was really good about making sure I was eating regularly so I would have energy. We walked to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast breakfast then walked around Provo on our way home. The contractions continued and for the rest of the day they were about 4-6 minutes apart lasting about 45-90 seconds each. They were painful (little did I know how much the pain would intensify though!) but we knew it wasn't time to head to the hospital yet. After our walk we came home and I was able to sleep for about 3 hours. Then we relaxed around the house for a while. I think I took 3 showers that day partly because the warm water felt good and partly because I didn't want to go to the hospital looking terrible. Vain, I know, but nonetheless true. Later in the afternoon we went on another walk, this one was kind of long. We had a couple of borrowed items that we decided to return to some friends. I was doing fine on the way out but by the time we got to our friends' house I was needing to sit down for some of the contractions. They offered us a ride home but I was determined that this was going to be the day that I was having that baby and I wasn't going to wimp out and get a ride home! Thanks anyway Richard! It probably took us twice as long to get home as it did to get out though because the contractions started to really pick up and intensify. Mitchell was timing them and they were lasting 1-2 minutes each and coming about every 4-5 minutes! I tried again to rest when we got home, Mitchell made us some pasta to carbo load for what we thought was going to be the big event that evening. Mitchell called our midwife while I was resting and she said we should stay home until I could no longer talk through the contractions and no longer wanted to between them. After dinner we thought we were going to watch a movie to pass some time but as Mitchell was setting it up he noticed I wasn't really talking. I pretty much just laid on the couch with my eyes shut trying really hard to stay relaxed. That's when he decided we were going to head to the hospital. He got everything in the car then got me in the car, it was so surreal that we were headed to the hospital to have our baby! This was about 9:00pm and it just so happened that all of our neighbors were out on the front lawn so we had quite the greeting party to send us off. When we got to the hospital the midwife checked me and said I was completely effaced and dilated to a 3. I was honestly surprised that I was only to a 3 by this point! Seriously? After close to 24 hours I'm only at a 3? I was thinking, how long is this supposed to take? They decided to put me on the monitors and make sure the baby wasn't stressed and after 20 minutes we could see that she was having good accelerations and her heart rate looked great. At this point it was getting close to 10:30pm and I was nearing exhaustion already. The midwife talked to us and gave me a couple of options. I could stay at the hospital and walk around for a couple of hours and get checked again. I wouldn't be admitted or have a room so we would just have to try to pass the time there until I was far enough along to admit me. The other option was to go home and sleep in my own bed until I felt like I needed to come back. Obviously the second option sounded much more ideal. She offered me a shot of morphine to help me relax which I decided to accept and we headed home to try for some rest. I thought I would be really disappointed and embarrassed to be sent home from the hospital if that were to happen. I was encouraged though that I was progressing and before I could think about being embarrassed, the morphine kicked in and I didn't much care about anything but sleeping. This was the best choice I made in the whole experience I think. I was able to get about 6 hours of sleep at home before I went back to the hospital. It was great! I woke up with the contractions because they still hurt, but I was able to be relaxed, breathe and fall asleep immediately after they passed. I woke up about 5:30 and told Mitchell to get up because we needed to go back to the hospital soon. We started to get ready and as I was up moving around I realized I was really well rested and that I felt more energized. I decided that we should go on another walk and see if I could progress some more on our own before we went to the hospital again. We started out walking and decided to get some breakfast at the McDonald's that is probably a half a mile from our house. Oh boy did labor intensify on that walk! At one point about a third of the way out I had a really intense contraction and I grabbed Mitchell's shoulders and buried my face in his chest. I wanted him to back up a step so I was leaning more at an angle toward him but I guess he only heard me say "back." He started rubbing my back. I told him to back up again and he rubbed harder! The third time I kicked him in the shins and he got the message and stepped back. Poor guy! I guess he had his labor pains to deal with too. After walking for at least 30 minutes we finally got to McDonald's and I found a table and sat down. About halfway through eating our food, I was having to stand up and hunch over, gripping the table through each contraction. The contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting for 1-2 minutes each. If anyone was staring at me there in McDonald's, I was completely oblivious by this point. This was when Mitchell called the midwife again. When he described the progress to her she said it sounded like I was in transition. Then she asked what I was doing at that moment, he told her I was eating breakfast. She said, "oh, maybe she's not in transition then." She advised us to wait a few more hours until the clinic was open and go there to be checked rather than going to the hospital again. He agreed then hung up. By the time we finished eating though, I knew I wouldn't make it home walking so I sent Mitchell to get the car and pick me up. In the meantime, I noticed that a friend of mine from California was working the drive thru. I went and said hi and she asked what I was doing. I told her I was in labor right as another contraction came on and I ended up hunched over the counter unable to speak for about a full minute. My friend looked really concerned and the manager started freaking out a little bit asking if she should call an ambulance. Fortunately, right about this time Mitchell showed up and spared me any further embarrassment. We went home and Mitchell got in the shower and I laid down.

When Mitchell got out of the shower, once again he found me laying down unable to speak or move. This time I didn't re-energize when I got up, it only got worse. Mitchell decided we weren't going to wait another hour and a half for the clinic to open and again we set off for the hospital. We got checked in about 8:00am and I was dilated to a 5 this time! The midwife commented that my bag was bulging and we started talking about breaking the water to get things moving a little quicker. She got her tools ready to do it and when she checked me again the moment her finger brushed the amniotic sac it exploded! The water was clear but it made a huge mess! Thank goodness I was at the hospital with multiple towels on hand! I had nightmares throughout the pregnancy about my water breaking in the grocery store or at work. Ew! My water broke at 8:45am and Mitchell and I walked around the halls and I sipped on water or juice. After walking for a while I laid down in bed and things really started picking up. I was somehow able to relax enough that I fell asleep between each contraction but was rudely awakened again each time one came on. I think I spent about 30 minutes in bed before I got restless and we started walking in the hall again. The midwife said she wanted to put me back on the monitor in about 25 minutes so we intended to walk until then. We made it 15 minutes (as slowly as we were moving I think we made it down and around the short hallway once) before coming back. This was about 11:15am. I told the nurse to come check me because I was ready to lay down for a while. When she checked me she smiled and said, "wow, you are a 9!" I was floored! I thought- cool, I get my baby soon! The midwife and the two nurses hurried to get things set up for the delivery and I was pushing by 11:45 and our beautiful girl Audrey was born at 12:18pm. I have to say, pushing was the hardest part of labor for me. I don't remember it being painful, probably because of the excitement and adrenalin, but it was so hard! The amount of effort required to deliver a baby is exhausting to body and brain but it was so worth it! I felt the serious need to concentrate and let nothing break my concentration. One of the nurses kept offering me sips of apple juice while I was pushing and I think I snapped at her, something about leave me alone or something like that. I hope she doesn't hold a grudge. Once the baby was born the midwife put her immediately on my chest. Mitchell and I admired her and cried and marveled at what we had just done. After 20 minutes or so the second nurse asked if we were ready to let her weigh the baby and give her her shots, she promised to give her back right after. When that was finished, the nurse brought Mitchell and I both lunch and everyone left the room for the next hour and a half. It was a wonderful time! We were starving (at least I was!) so we ate and just enjoyed staring at our daughter for all that time, uninterrupted by anyone. Then I got cleaned up a bit and we headed downstairs to the mother/baby unit. There I got some much needed rest and Mitchell and Audrey went to the nursery for her bath and assessment.

I really have to say this was the perfect birth experience! I was really nervous that I would lose control at the hospital and people and policies would get in the way of my preferences. This was completely not the case. No one ever took my baby or did anything with her without first asking permission. Everyone was so supportive and excited for us. My midwife was amazing! She was so encouraging and at the same time let me set the pace and take the lead. I really could not have asked for a better birth! Or a better baby! She is an angel and we are so happy to have her in our family!