Rachelle Joy, or Ellie, was born on October 18th. She weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches long at birth.
Here is our birth story:
On Sunday morning I woke up sick with the chills. Aubrey and Christian were invited to go to church with some of their friends for "friend day" so when Shane went to take them to meet up with that family he also took Anna and Isabel to go on a date (and I thought to church too). Aubrey and Christian made it off okay and Shane took the girls on their date, but they skipped church....I know, God still loves us. :)
My mom had been staying with us for about a week as she was in between housing situations. My mom left for her church around 10 and I was left at home with Lucy. I knew at the time that I was in the early stages of labor, but I didn't tell my mom or Shane cuz I really didn't want anyone to stay home with me. I kind of just wanted the house to be almost empty and almost quiet (I say "almost" because I still had sweet 2 yr old Lucy with me).
After Shane got home I realized that I was no longer cold and got up from under the covers on the couch to go to bed to take a nap. That's when I realized I was really HOT. So, I checked and discovered that I had a mild fever. No fun being sick. I had been in the house and gone NOWHERE for a whole week before this big day. I think life went something like this: sick, not sick for a day, sick for a week, not sick for a day so that day I got out of the house with the kids then I was sick and in labor the next day. Needless to say I depended on Shane and my mom a lot that week leading up to the birth. They both were so helpful and did so much.
Back to October 18th. At around 1pm I called my midwife. Not because I was anywhere close to having my baby, but because I have this history of really close calls. As in, every hospital birth I've had has been very dramatic, because the baby was born very shortly after I arrived to the hospital. And as in, my first home birth experience was just me and Shane and Christian because the midwife was not there in time for the birth and neither was our friend that we had arranged to come and get Christian when it came time for the baby to be born.
So, I called the midwife because her advice to me was: call me when you *think* you are in labor not when you *know* you are in labor. I called her, but it really didn't help either of us much because neither of us wanted to go have me hang out at the hospital for hours while we waited for labor to progress. It was just going too slow....I guess both of us knew the chances of doctors interfering with my desire for a natural birth was too great.
Perhaps I should back up and say that yes, I had a midwife, but even though this was the case, the plan was for her to deliver the baby at the hospital. This was not exactly what I wanted but this is how it had to be.
Even though I wasn't getting my home birth I was getting to have the greatest midwife ever to be present at my birth. Unfortunately, all of the numbers and approval business for her to practice at the hospital had not gone through yet on the hospital end, so she wasn't able to actually do the delivery.....but we'll get to that.
Okay, so where am I at? Let's see. So, Sylyna (my midwife) told me to take it easy and we would talk again later. (that's the short story) We talked later and still the labor was slow.....contractions were coming but they were not strong enough that I couldn't even really tell when they ended. I was also able to read a book through all the contractions. I would just pause my reading to write down the time.
Then, later in the evening as I was writing down the contractions they got stronger and stronger. They would come anywhere from 2 - 7 minutes apart, but the weird thing was that a few in a row would be very intense and then a few would be mild. I began to suspect that it was time to tell Shane that we should leave, but I knew that he was about to put the kids to bed so I just stayed put in our room resting in between contractions. Poor guy....just like with Isabel's birth he had to be "the bad guy" and tell me it was probably time to get a move on to the hospital. So, I called Sylyna and told her it was time to make the drive to meet us at the hospital.
We left the house at 10pm. The drive felt long....of course, because as soon as I got in the van there were no more "mild" contractions. They were all intense and almost all were 2 - 4 minutes apart. We listened to Christian music and sound of me trying to stay in control by breathing through each contraction. I was trying so hard to not cry out or moan or something pathetic like that. It was hard though, cuz let's face it....labor hurts like the dickens!
We arrived to the hospital at almost 10:50pm. I remember being annoyed with the lady who came to get me from the van even though she was the kind person who brought me the wheel chair. I had to remind myself that it was because I really just wanted to have a home birth and that she was not evil. At the little check in station I had to remind myself again....to make the best of the situation and not think everyone at the hospital that I came in contact with was stupid. It wasn't their fault that we were there and not at home. I also had to talk myself out of crying. I just felt like crying, but I pulled it together and didn't.
Sylyna met us in the lobby and I felt like she was the only person I could really tolerate. She was relaxed and she knew me...everyone else was just hospital staff. It felt so awkward to be there instead of in the comfort of my own home.
I think I was finally in my room and hooked up to a monitor around 11:15. By that time I had been told that I had tested positive for Group B Strep, which made no sense to me because no one had told me that at my prenatal check ups. I refused an IV, which baffled the nurses. Also, it baffled the doctor that I had never met.
About 5 or 10 minutes later I was in full force labor and ready to push. In walked Mr. Very Direct and Very Demanding doctor from a middle eastern country which shall remain nameless (lest you think i have a thing against this country). He didn't put me off too much because Shane and I spent a few years living in a Muslim country so we are a bit used to the bluntness that this man displayed.
He said something to his staff about not having time to take me somewhere (I thought he was saying that I didn't have time to get the IV). He had heard me say that the head was "right there". He asked me if I was going to push the baby out in one push. What? I don't know why he asked that? Meanwhile I am in serious pain and the baby's head is born...all without him even bothering to look to see what is going on. He demanded that I get my knees bent and up in the air....later I was told by Sylyna that it's because he usually has his patients in stirrups. So, there I am with Sylyna holding the baby's head up with a little towel, it feels like 4 people are forcing my legs up in the air and I'm trying to birth my baby girl. She came out after a few pushes and after a little of me and the doctor arguing about my knees being bent up far enough in the air and in the "right" position. There was also a fair amount of me crying out in pain, but Sylyna, one of the nurses and Shane alll assured me that I wasn't yelling. (For some reason I really don't want to be a woman that yells and carries on during childbirth.)
Ellie's time of birth was 11:29 pm.
The commendable thing that Mr. Macho doctor did do is he told me to hold my little girl right away, which isn't typical of him, according to Sylyna. So, he really was attempting to give me a home birth type birth experience. I do appreciate that he was trying to to work with me (at that point in time)...even if it was a far cry from what I would have preferred. I will also note that he really took his time getting the placenta out, rather than just yanking it out. I appreciate that as well.
Later, after he and all the other staff had left the room I asked Sylyna about the whole knees up in the air business, because he claimed that if I didn't do what he said I was going to tear. She then told me that he had actually had plans to have me wheeled out of the room & down the hall to have.....a C-section. What in the world? It had something to do with Ellie's vitals that were on the monitor when he came on the scene. Fortunately, like I said, when he walked in the room I told him that she was about to be born.
So, once again, it was a good thing that I got to the hospital in the nick of time. I can't imagine the battle that I would have had to fight with that man if he would have strongly urged me to have a C-section. I still find it really hard to believe that he would even think it was necessary especially when he had not even bothered to take a peek under my blanket to see how things were progressing.
I hope I'm not sounding too negative. Really, I am pretty happy with how things went.....I guess mostly because I know that, like all the other times that I had babies, God protected us and he provided a great birth experience even in a situation that I did not see as ideal. I was very thankful to have Sylyna by my side the whole time. She helped me feel normal and safe....and she smelled good! That might sound funny, but at one point in the short time that we were there she had to help me in the bathroom and she and I were super close to each other. I told her, " I appreciate that you smell good." (You know...pregnant women and smells...)
Currently, Ellie and I are in the pediatric unit. I have been discharged from the maternity wing and she from the nursery, but Ellie has to stay under a lamp for one more night because of a jaundice condition that she has. It looks like the lamp is working though because her condition has improved. Hopefully she will be able to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.
Well, it's time for her feeding. This is good because now I can finally hold her!
PS Shane told me later that on the drive to the hospital we hit all green lights. :) It's a good thing. Did you notice that from the time we arrived to the hospital to Ellie's time of birth was only about 40 minutes?
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