Okay, so that wasn’t much of a brief explanation, but there you go. So then I got done with the medications, and I was full term, and I was convinced that because of everything that happened, my baby would be coming earlier than expected. I did everything I could think of to be ready and prepared for her arrival ahead of time because I did not want to get stuck in the rut of “Oh darn! I wish I would have done this or that before the baby came!” I was also afraid though that she would decide to come before we had the rescheduled baby shower, but she didn’t. The baby shower was very fun and went so well (thanks Keri! You’re the best!). So after that, I was pretty much all ready. I didn’t even have any other sewing projects I really wanted to do. So I waited…and waited…and waited…which turned out to be a very hard thing to do. It really wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t anticipated her coming early, but I had, so the extra 3 weeks I was waiting seemed like an eternity. At each appointment, we were told that she was nestled pretty deep in my pelvis and in a perfect position for birth, which made me even more convinced that she was coming any day now. It also didn’t help that we had a few times where we thought something was happening. Three times I had contractions that were coming about 10 minutes apart (always at night, mind you), and I was certain that I would wake up later that night with them closer together and then we would have our little baby girl. But I always woke up the next morning feeling completely fine and contractions gone. One time they were actually 6 minutes apart and coming fairly strong, and I was very excited thinking that she would come later that night for sure. But, of course, she didn’t. I guess it was just a dress rehearsal. ;)
When I made it to 40 weeks, I was starting to feel like I would be pregnant forever, which I knew was a silly thought, but it was hard to believe that my baby would ever come, especially with all the false alarms. What was more, this entire time I was completely infection free and feeling really good, and then, a few days before 40 weeks, I ended up with another infection. I was so disappointed and I really couldn’t understand why my baby couldn’t have come when I had been feeling so good and not on medication, but oh well. Since we had to wait for the culture to come back to tell us what antibiotic would be best to take for the infection, I didn’t start anything until Thursday, the day I was 40 weeks exactly. We decided to go out for dinner that night and do something fun to get my mind off of being pregnant and having an infection, plus we were certain we wouldn’t be able to do things like this anymore after Kessie came. It was fun and we had a good time. J
Later that night, I had a really difficult time sleeping. We went to bed somewhat later than we should have, but I laid there for about an hour or two before I finally fell asleep. Then I woke up a couple hours later to use the bathroom, and I then I couldn’t get back to sleep for another half and hour or so. It was strange because I just felt like I was really hot, so I turned on our fan, and then I got really cold. Then I felt like I was thirsty, so I got a drink, and then felt hungry too, so I got something to eat and checked out facebook, hoping that it would make me feel tired and get back to bed soon. I stayed up for at least an hour and then finally was able to fall asleep again.
The next day I was pretty tired, and there was still no baby. I felt it was just as well though since I had slept so poorly and would need the day to just relax. My lower tummy had been hurting since the day before though, so that just added to my discomfort and made it pretty difficult to nap. I chalked it up mostly to the infection and was sooooo anxious for the antibiotics to get a move on and make me feel better. So for most of the day I just rested and watched movies and tried to sleep. Which was good, and you’ll see why.
Later that night, we went to bed at about 10:30 which I was really happy about since I was so sleepy and knew that I needed as much rest as possible. Unfortunately, again, I laid there for about two hours before I finally fell asleep. It was at least midnight by the time I did fall asleep. Then, at about 3:00 am, I went to use the bathroom, as usual. During this time, I felt some cramps in my tummy and in my back. I wasn’t sure if I was just experiencing indigestion (haha!) or what, but I realized that my contractions were close and pretty strong.
I headed back into the bedroom and was so tired that I felt like maybe I would just go back to sleep. But something told me that I needed to wake up Brandon and tell him what was going on. So I did, and we decided to time my contractions. They were coming about 5 minutes apart and lasting at least 60 seconds or more. So we called the on-call midwife (Kelly was on call, which I was happy about, since I wanted her to be the midwife who delivered my baby) and she said to continue timing them for about an hour more. After that, it was pretty clear to me that things were progressing- I could feel the pressure waves getting stronger. They never necessarily hurt though. It seriously just felt like…pressure. No pain really. Just tightening muscles I guess. Anywhoo, so we called her back and she said she would come on over to our home and check me out and see how I was doing. Almost immediately after hanging up, I noticed that I was bleeding, and although it concerned me at first, I realized that this must mean that our baby was coming soon.
So we turned on the Birthing Time CD of Hypnobabies (this was how I was planning on doing a natural birth. Click here to read more about what Hypnobabies is exactly). I started using my relaxation techniques, and they worked nicely. However, I did have some times though where the pressure got pretty strong and it was difficult to concentrate. I mostly blame that on my lack of sleep. Remember, I had had a difficult time sleeping the night and day before, and at this time, I had only had 3 hours of sleep.
Kelly made it to our house and checked how far along I was. I was at a 7! So it was obviously determined that we should head on down to the birthing center because our baby was coming tonight!
During the time that Kelly was there, I did have some involuntary shaking in my legs. She told me that it was due to adrenaline and just how hard my body was working. Then I threw up. Not so much fun to deal with those things, and they did make it harder to relax, but I feel like despite such, I was doing a pretty good job of it.
So Kelly went on ahead of us to get things ready and Brandon got everything in the car while I continued my relaxation techniques. At times I felt that the pressure was quite strong, and although during hypnobabies relaxation, you are supposed to go completely limp and loose and relaxed, I had a couple times where I just felt like I couldn’t, and what I really needed to do was just say “Aaaaahhh” to get through them. You’d almost think that it meant the hypnobabies wasn’t working, but I feel more like it did work, but during those times of “aaaahhh-ing” through the pressure waves, I felt I was doing what my body needed me to do.
In the car on the way over, I was able to relax pretty well, which was nice. Just as we made it in the parking lot, I threw up again. Thank goodness we had towels in the car!
On my way into the birthing center, I had another pressure wave, and I was able to use my relaxation so well during it! I think it was my best one! J
Once I was inside, I got in the tub, which felt really nice. However, after a while, I started feeling some pushy sensations and relaxing was a little more difficult. I had to “aaahhh” through most of those pressure waves. Then I decided to get out of the tub because I was actually getting pretty warm, which wasn’t as comfortable. So I moved into the bathroom and sat backwards on the toilet (which is a great position in case your water breaks). However, my pressure waves were a little harder to bear while I was there (probably because I was scrunched up) and I was still feeling those pushy sensations. At this time, the student midwife, Kristin, was the one who was in the room with me. She told me to try and not push too much at least, since we didn’t want me pushing before my cervix was ready and dilated. That was a little disappointing since I felt like pushing would help, but I did my best to not, although it was hard.
I finally realized that the position I was in at the moment was good, but not as good. So I moved to the bed and laid down on my side. This was easier since my body could stretch out and my body didn’t feel so squished together (I’m sure that at this point Kessie was quite deep in my pelvis. She was at 0 position when I was at home, plus Kelly was able to feel the amniotic sac ballooning out a bit). While I was lying there, I suddenly just felt a strong need to push. My “aaaahing” turned to yelling somewhat (although I still wouldn’t say it was because of pain. It was mostly because that’s what I felt I needed to do) and Kristin told me I could push a little bit. This time, although I tried to do what she wanted, I hardly tried. My sensations of pushing were becoming somewhat involuntary and I just needed to push.
After one of my pressure waves that I was obviously pushing through, I noticed Kristin get up and leave the room. Then I heard her say, “Kelly, I think we’re going to have a baby here soon.” That was sooooo motivating for me. YES! This meant I could push now, right? And not only that, but my sweet little baby would be here soon!
Not long after that, my water finally broke, which was a relief because of all the pressure it was putting on everything. I felt a bit better after that, and shortly after, things really started progressing.
Now, it’s at this point that things get a little fuzzy for me. I remember Kelly and the two student midwives, Kristin and Grace, and Brandon being there, but I can’t really recall when they were all around me and coaching me on. I do remember though that the involuntary shaking started happening again, which I wasn’t much of a fan of, but in the moment, it hardly mattered. The next thing I do remember though is Kelly saying, “Wow, your baby has so much hair! Do you want to feel her head?” When she said that I just smiled and was so happy. My baby had lots of hair, which was just what I wanted! J I had wondered before if I would want to feel my baby’s head as she was born or not, but I’m so glad that I did. With every push I could feel her progressing more and more and that was super motivating. The midwives were all so great too, always telling me how good I was doing, which also helped a lot.
After pushing for only half an hour, my sweet little Kessie girl was born! The cord was actually wrapped around her neck twice, but it was not an issue and the midwives simply unwrapped it as she came out. I got to hold my sweet little girl the moment she was born. She cried a little, but was quite calm and such a joy to hold in my arms. She was beautiful and really did have a ton of hair! Everyone was so surprised and absolutely loved it! We then talked with her while we dried her off. Brandon got to cut the cord after it was done pulsating, after which I delivered the placenta (which was really cool looking actually!) Then I got to feed her since she was hungry and ready to eat the moment she came out. We got some time to ourselves for bonding with our new little one. The time was 8:21 am on a beautiful Saturday morning. Perfect.
Later, she was weighed and measured. We all guessed how much we thought she would weigh. Brandon guessed 8.6, I guessed 8.8, and Grace guessed 9.2. I can’t remember what Kelly and Kristin guessed, but we were all so surprised when we found that Grace was spot on! Kessie weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 22 inches long! What a big baby! I felt pretty proud of myself after hearing that. ;)
There are two ways you can make this: The hard way, or my variation. The hard way probably has more natural flavor to it, but is much more time consuming. ^^;