Bethany's Birth Story
We got pregnant with baby number 3 in
November 2011. I remember taking the pregnancy test and then reading
a magazine on my bed while I waited for the results. Mike came
upstairs and asked me what the results were and I honestly hadn't
even been thinking about it. He went into the bathroom and I heard
“Oh man”. I thought he was just being a smart-ass so I went in
there ready to smack him when I saw the “pregnant” on the test.
Wow. We were about to become parents of 3.
Pregnancy was pretty easy. Not really
any morning sickness. Slow weight gain. Lots of baby movement. Lots
of heartburn. I ate tums every day and guzzled milk out of the jug. I
knew I wanted to have a different birthing experience than the last
one and since Mercy's was so quick, I decided I wanted to try a
natural birth. My friend Nicole had 2 of her kids naturally and after
talking to her and doing some research online, I found a
HypnoBirthing instructor and signed Mike and myself up for classes.
It was a 5 week course, one night a
week for 3 hours. We got a book, a CD with the “Rainbow Relaxation”
and a binder that had some scripts to help us get into a relaxed
state. Taking the classes encouraged me to stick with it and I
listened to the Rainbow Relaxation every night to fall asleep. I
don't know what the script said after 5 minutes because I was always
asleep. I was told this was ok, that I was still getting the benefits
of the script even if I was asleep. I found music at the library and
burned it onto my computer and Mike's old iPod. I was “ready” to
have a baby naturally.
My original due date was August 3,
2012. We had 2 possible dates of conception, and I guess the 4 days
in between but I was positive that my charting was accurate and we
were going to have a baby on the 3rd. When we went in for
the first appointment, Dr. Kirkman said baby was measuring about a
week bigger to they changed my due date to July 30th. In
my heart, I knew the baby was coming in August.
When we went for the 20 week ultrasound
the tech asked us what our guesses were. Mike said “It's a girl”
and he was right. We were going to have THREE GIRLS! Mike claims I
owe him a new gun. Originally we had planned on naming our baby
Justice so we'd have Grace, Mercy and Justice. A few weeks after we
found out it was a girl, Mike said he didn't like that name. He
didn't want to be trapped in a theme with our kid's names. So we
spend the day thinking of new names. He like Imogen. I liked
Adelaide. Grace like Rockface and Post Office. That night at Palm
Sunday Mass, during the reading, the mentioned the town of Bethany. I
pointed it out to Mike and he looked at me and nodded. We had picked
our baby's name.
The rest of the pregnancy went fine. I
was working as a manager at Beehive Grill and got busted a few times
hauling kegs around. I didn't slow down, just like I didn't with the
other pregnancies. I had Braxton Hicks contractions basically the
whole time, but nothing that worried me. My last day of work was July
21st. My boss was afraid I'd go early, so I used up my
vacation time so I could rest and nest the week before I was due.
This time around I didn't try to induce myself at all. I did mow the
lawn a few times, but that didn't do anything.
I was positive my water was going to
break at home. I kept waiting and waiting. On the 30th I
stuck around the house with the girls waiting for signs of labor, but
I barely had any contractions. I had my next appointment on the 31st
with Dr. Blackett. Dr. Kirkman was out of town (AGAIN!) and if the
baby came that week then I was told either Norda or Blackett would
deliver. She looked over our birth plan and approved it (it was
already signed by Dr. Kirkman so I'm glad we had a second approval).
At that appointment I was dilated to 3 cm and 90% effaced. She asked
if I wanted my membranes stripped but I declined and decided to wait
it out. My next appointment was on Monday with Kirkman if baby hadn't
come sooner.
At home I lounged around. Had a few
mild contractions but nothing too worrysome. Around 5:30 I started
having some painful contractions. I didn't remember contractions
hurting like that. I laid on the couch and would breathe through them
(about 20-30 min apart). Mike asked if he should take the girls to
Jamie's but I was certain the baby wasn't coming until Friday so I
said no. Then he went to the store for dinner for the kids. Around
7:00 I asked him to start writing down the times of my contractions
so we could have a better judgement. They were about 15-20 min apart.
I had some bloody show which I figured was from being checked earlier
that day. I went upstairs to listen to my relaxation stuff and relax
in a warm bath. It helped a little. Contractions were staying about
10-20 min apart.
At 10:00 I told Mike I thought he
should take the girls to Jamie's. That way we weren't taking them in
the middle of the night if something happened and if nothing happened
then they would have fun with a sleepover. I got back in the bath
while he took them. When he got back, I wandered around the living
room, rocking out the contractions while leaning over the couch. My
water hadn't broken yet so I didn't think I was in actual labor. Mike
asked if I wanted to go upstairs and do some scripts and relax. We
went through a few and it was around 11:30. My contractions has
slowed to every 20 min so I suggested we just get some sleep and see
what happens. He downloaded an app on his phone and would press the
start button every time I told him. I fell asleep between each
contraction but they were staying pretty steady at 15-20 minutes.
At 1:00 I got up to pee and had a
contraction. Then 5 minutes later another one. I went downstairs to
rock it out on the couch again and had another one. The 5 minutes in
between lasted for about 30 minutes before I yelled up to Mike that
it was time to go. We grabbed the stuff and headed into hospital. I
only had 1 or 2 contractions in the car and I didn't even swear :)
Got to the hospital and to our room
around 1:45. I explained I didn't want to be hooked up to monitors or
an IV and they were ok with that. I got a hep-lock (IV Port with no
IV) incase of an emergency and changed into my gown. They took a base
monitor of my contractions and baby's heartbeat. Laying on the bed
while being monitored sucked. The contractions were extremely intense
and not being able to move made it worse. When they were done, they
checked me (4 cm) and let me move around. The birthing ball was
great. I do remember telling myself I couldn't do it. I was going to
wuss out.
The nurse left us alone for about 45
minutes and I listened to my iPod and rocked on the ball. When she
came back, I got hooked up to monitor again and I was checked again
and at a 5.
When I got back on the ball, Mike read
a script and did light touch massage on my back. This was the most
relaxed I had been. The contractions were do-able and I felt like I
had more control over this. Then I had to get back on the monitor.
That interruption made it hard to get back in the zone and I elected
to stay on the monitor for a bit. The next contraction she checked me
again and I was at 7 cm. Contractions were steady between 10-15
minutes apart. It was a little before 4:00 am. I broke down and
started crying. I didn't know how I was going to make it and I told
Mike I needed drugs. I know he was disappointed in me but the pain
was the most intense thing I had ever been through. Those who say
kidney stones are worse than birth (and I used to say that) are
wrong. I'd rather have 15 kidney stones than a contraction.
The nurse came back and I told her I
wanted an epidural. She called the doctor. While I waited, she gave
me fentinal for some immediate relief. It helped a little. The doc
gave me the epidural while I was laying down on my side, in the fetal
position. Both previous epidurals were done while I was sitting up
and hunched over. I started feeling slight numbness on my legs. The
next contraction came and the nurse broke my water (didn't happen at
home, go figure). It had meconium in it which meant no baby to chest.
They'd have to suction her and check her vitals. I was sad, but
wanted to make sure she was healthy. Next contraction still hurt. I
hit the button for more drugs. Next contraction came and it still
hurt. Doc came back in and gave me more drugs. Something wasn't
right. My legs weren't as numb as they had been with the previous
deliveries. Basically I got an epidural for nothing since it didn't
work. When she came back in to check on me, she had called the doc.
It wasn't Norda. It was Dr. Fowers. This scared me since he had
delivered Grace and I felt like we got pressured into things because
we didn't know the options. I was also nervous about getting an
episiotomy since he gave me one with Grace without asking me. I'd
rather tear naturally than be cut. He came in with the nurse and
when I had the next contraction, it didn't stop hurting. The baby had
dropped and was crowning. I was ready to push. Well, my body was. I
wasn't numb enough and scared out of my mind.
I remember the most intense pressure
and pain I had ever had in my life. They told me to grab my legs and
push, but I guess I grabbed Mike and was freaking out. I screamed
“Get this baby out of me!” My nurse told me to breathe and Mike
told me to breathe. When I finally did, and pushed, the baby came
right away. One push and she was there at 4:59 am. The relief I felt
at that moment was incredible. I can only imagine how amazing it
would have been to have Bethany put right to my chest but they had to
suction her and clean her. Her umbilical cord was also tied in a
knot. Thankfully it was a loose knot and probably happened during the
drop into the birth canal or late in the 3rd trimester.
The doctor was in my way of seeing the baby, and I guess I said “Give
me my baby” at some point. I had so much adrenaline coursing
through me, I was shaking. I had to wait about 15 minutes to hold
her. It was the longest 15 minutes of my life.
I was expecting a 10 lb baby but she
surprised us and was only 5 lbs 15 oz and 19” long. Such a tiny
thing! Thankfully the meconium got cleaned out and she was perfectly
healthy. From the point of “intense” contractions until delivery
was about 12 hours. I only spent 4 of those laboring in the hospital.
Not the birth plan we had envisioned, but I couldn't have asked for a
healthier or more perfect baby. Bethany Lynn arrived August 1st,
2012 (I was right...she came in August!) She is definitely my baby.
