I can’t believe almost a week has gone by already since Parker joined our family! Honestly, it has taken me about this long to really wrap my head about how exactly she made her entrance! Now that it has sunk in, I figured I should probably write her birth story down before I forget, although I’m not sure I will ever forget haha!
For background information I need to explain…with both pregnancies I’ve had pretty intense contractions all throughout the second half. During my pregnancy with Kennedy they weren’t necessarily painful, but incredibly intense, stop me in my tracks type squeezing and pressure. With Parker, they were actually pretty painful at times and would occasionally keep me up half the night because I was cramping so bad. They would usually go all day, all night, sometimes every 3-5 minutes or so and some contractions would last 2 or 3 minutes straight. With Kennedy I was induced so the Braxton Hicks eventually turned into lovely Pitocin contractions and I eventually begged for that epidural. Toward the end of this pregnancy, I started to have the nagging thought, “How will I know when I’m actually in labor??”
Being in school and the fact that it is a second pregnancy, I didn’t have a written out birth plan (Side note: I am 100% on board for birth plans, I think it helps mama feel educated, empowered, and a part of the process of WHATEVER ends up happening in her actual birth). While sharing about my pregnancy with Kennedy, someone told me to “write a birth plan then crumple it up and throw it in the trash.” I get it, anything can happen at any point in pregnancy and labor, but be as educated as you can and think about some of the decisions you may have to make throughout and still know that it may all go flying out the window. Ok, *steps down off my soapbox*… but I knew a few things:
- I didn’t want to be induced if at all possible
- I wanted to stay home as long as possible
- I wanted to give the nitrous oxide my hospital now offers a chance
- I wanted to try to avoid that epidural (it didn’t go swimmingly last time so I wanted to try to go without)
- I really preferred NO Pitocin before or after
Simple-ish list, I think.
Back to the story. I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my midwife Thursday the 25th at noon, which was mid 39 weeks. My midwife is working with a wonderful student whom I’ve met multiple times. She came in first to chat and see how things were going and asked if I minded if both she and Courtney (my midwife) checked me. I was ALL for it because lets be honest, fully pregnant in July in Florida…I was very ready to meet our little one. So they both checked me and Courtney was able to do a good membrane sweep. At that point she said I was 3-4cm. (I had been 2 cm the week before) Great! I know that really means nothing because you can hang out around there for quite a while, but I was just happy to hear whenever I did go into labor I wasn’t starting at 0!
We left the office and went to Publix to grab subs (with lunchmeat *gasp*) and they had delicious looking mini cakes on sale right in my way walking into the store, so obviously I grabbed that too! When we got home and I had this feeling that I really really needed to get my last paper finished for this semester (a 20 page paper critically appraising a quantitative research article, SO fun, right?) So, I sat on my ball and knocked out the rest of the paper while Kennedy napped. My Braxton Hicks were definitely chugging along while I was writing, but really nothing new there they were just extra crampy.
Once I finished the paper (about 3pm), I sat on the couch to hang with Nate a little. The contractions seemed a little more intense than usual so I figured I would time them for a bit to just have an idea if things were picking up speed or slowing down. When Kennedy woke up I had the feeling that I really wanted to walk. It was pouring outside of course so we headed to the mall (which was packed). On the way to the mall I had a thought, maybe this isn’t a good idea, I think we should just go home, but decided the walk was worth it even if I was surrounded by people and pretty uncomfortable. In the car on the way there I texted Courtney (4:15pm) asking how often after a sweep do things kind of ramp up and then fizzle out and she said very often! So that’s exactly what I thought was happening. They got in there and irritated things just enough, but that it was for sure going to fizzle out. We did one lap around the mall (me contracting away) unable to talk through them, but I could mostly walk through them. I realized I was being super quiet, but really didn’t think there was much to say.
We got home around 5pm and I wanted to get into the tub. I thought maybe taking a nice hot bath with epsom salts (my usual treatment for Braxton Hicks) would help relax me a little and help slow things down if that’s what was going to happen. I threw a few clothes together just in case since of course I hadn’t packed a bag yet, and Nate saw that and thought maybe this is real! So he started packing up and texting different people for help with Kennedy. Poor guy, I didn’t speak to him throughout this whole process basically, but I really just couldn’t talk much. I was concentrating inward completely without really even realizing it. I think I lasted around 30 minutes in the tub because it is super small and not comfortable at all. While in the tub I had to start breathing through the contractions so I thought maybe I would try to continue in the shower since the water did seem to help. Prior to getting in the shower I texted a friend saying “How will I know when I’m actually in labor?!” This was 5:45pm! Little did I know, I was VERY much in labor.
In the shower things started to get even more intense and just breathing through wasn’t enough, that’s when the animalistic moaning started! At one point Kennedy came in the bathroom and started imitating me! Haha! That actually helped distract me a little bit. So I got out of the shower and sat on the floor of the bathroom with her telling her that everything would be ok. I had an overwhelming feeling of, I’m not ready for this! I’m not ready for her to not be an only child. But then the next contractions came so I pushed past that. I made it out to the living room floor with Kennedy crawling all over me and me moaning away. At that point I asked Nate if someone was coming to get her because I didn’t think I could do it anymore with her crawling on me. He said my friend Gina was on her way! Phew.
He thought we needed to head into the hospital, but I just kept thinking about how I wanted to stay in the privacy of my own home as long as possible and didn’t want to go in too early. I still was thinking there’s a good chance things would fizzle out! Gina arrived and helped get Kennedy ready to go and also helped talk me through a few contractions which was really nice because at this point it turned into, NOPE I can’t do this. I’m not going to make it through, I need that epidural. Honestly, that’s what eventually got me out of the house, the thought of pain meds on the other end! Gina left with Kennedy and we headed to the hospital at about 6:45pm. Along the way, with the moaning I think I also kept asking Nate to “help me, help me please. I can’t I can’t I can’t!” haha I wish I knew what the heck he was thinking through all of this, maybe he can write his own version.
I waited in the car moaning and yelling away while he checked in at the desk and gloriously, Courtney was actually walking in to the hospital (looking gorgeous all dressed up for dinner) to meet us (I guess he texted her!) so she walked up to the car as I had a contraction. When I opened the door she asked if I thought I could walk or needed a wheelchair, and all I could say was “I don’t know.” She said, “well another contraction is coming so we need to go!” When I stood up, I immediately had another contraction leaning over my seat and my water broke EVERYWHERE. I was able to hobble in after that and the three of us got on the elevator. The next one contraction came on the elevator, which was now a different animal that my water was broken. It felt like a freight train was making its way down through my body pulling me to the floor. At this point I told Courtney to “please knock me out, please just knock me out.” We got off the elevator and tried to as quickly as possible make our way to the room. In the hallway I had another contraction that dropped me to my hands and knees in the middle of the floor. It felt like something was again, pulling me downward! It was there on my hands and knees in the middle of the hallway, making who knows what kind of sound, surrounded by every nurse and OB on the floor, that I felt what seemed like a head coming out. Courtney put her hand there and said, “DON’T PUSH!” Really though, I wasn’t consciously pushing, my body was doing it all on its own. Someone showed up in front of me with a wheelchair and I guess they basically threw me in it and ran me into the last open room on the unit. I crawled up on the bed on my hands and knees (still clothed, but I guess someone at least got my shorts down around my knees) and I heard “ok, she’s coming.” Hearing this, I actually felt overwhelming relief at this point because I thought, well at least I’m almost done. Courtney was in my ear coaching me through it which was really nice. With that next contraction her head was out and the one after the rest of her at 7:04pm! I was still on my hands and knees in the bed so they slid her up through so I could pick her up and then lay down on my back. The room was full of people and not set up at all. It was really nice to be able to just sit there and spend time with her while everyone was bustling around getting the room prepped (haha I guess I beat them!). I kept looking back and forth from Nate to Courtney (who was still in her dress!) saying “what just happened? I don’t understand!” I couldn’t believe she as here with us! I also couldn’t believe how close we were to having her at home or in the car!
My next thought was, oh cool, we didn’t even miss dinner!
Miss Parker Kate joined us at 7:04pm weighing 8lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. We couldn’t be happier. Kennedy can’t stop loving on her new sister and it’s the sweetest thing!
