Wren's Birth Story
Once upon a time, I was pregnant for 3475284238 months.
At least, that's what it felt like. This pregnancy was hard, in case my previous blog posts haven't thoroughly conveyed that fact. So when, at my 36week appointment, my doctor informed me that I was already 2cm dilated, I was pretty elated about the fact that I'd be getting this baby out soon. Of course, babies have their own timing, and two weeks later I was still pregnant, although I was 4cm dilated by that point.
On Thursday November 17th, I was just so sick of being pregnant. I was having constant Braxton Hicks contractions, my sciatica had come back, and I was so incredibly tired. I was also nesting like crazy. I hadn't had a chance to nest with Meggy (due to the fact that we were living out of someone else's apartment when we had her, and didn't move into our house until 2 weeks after she was born) and it freaked Thomas out a little. I was always doing the dishes, I think I cleaned out the fridge about 3 times that week, and the floors were being vacuumed almost every day. Also, I was irritated at every little thing anybody did. My poor family. I'm so grateful they put up with me those last couple of weeks!
Friday morning, I woke up around 4am with consistent contractions. They weren't awful, but they were harsher than the Braxton Hicks I had been experiencing, and they were being pretty constant at 7min apart. I labored in the dark in our bedroom for about an hour before Thomas woke up. I told him that I didn't think he'd be going in to work that day, then went to take a shower. I was convinced this baby would be here by noon, so I wanted to be as ready as I possibly could be.
Meggy woke up around 7, and we all ate breakfast together, with my contractions still staying steady at 6-7min apart. By 10, the contractions had moved to 5 min apart, but they weren't getting any worse, and I was getting pretty antsy. So we all packed ourselves up and headed to Target! I don't even know what we did there (did we purchase anything? Probably, but I don't remember) but it was good to walk around. We did meet a family from church, who asked when I was due. "Any time now!" was Thomas's cheerful reply, as I gritted my teeth in what I hope was passable for a grin. I'm not sure how long we spent there, but Meggy and I were getting hungry again, so we went down the road for some sandwiches. That's when I noticed a funny thing - when we sat down to eat lunch, my contractions stopped. Like, completely stopped. I. Was. Livid. How dare they stop on me, when I had been determined to deliver this little girl before lunch?!
After we finished eating, we went down the road a little farther to my in-law's house. They live on a nice straight cul-de-sac, and I thought walking up and down it would help with my contractions, if they decided to come back. Well they did - so long as I kept walking. It was exhausting. I would walk around the (fairly long) cul-de-sac one or two times, during which my contractions stayed pretty steady at 4 1/2 minutes apart. However, when I'd go inside to rest or get more water, they'd stop! Completely! Until I got up to walk again!
Now, a smarter woman would have just decided to stop walking and take a nap, but I was not very smart, just determined. Thomas finally made me stop walking after 2ish hours, and we three went home. Thomas and I turned on Finding Nemo for Meggy, while he and I slept. I think that is the quickest I have ever fallen asleep. If I had any contractions during that nap, I didn't feel them at all. We woke up when the movie finished, and got dinner ready, and this is where my memory starts to get a bit hazy. I was incredibly tired still, but also still having contractions, so long as I stayed standing up and moving. The moment I sat down, they stopped completely. I knew these weren't braxton hicks though, I knew in my gut that these contractions were REAL, they just refused to stay!
Around 9pm, I had a total emotional meltdown, which resulted in me crying on the kitchen floor, and Thomas ordering me up to bed to take a nap. Once he got me upstairs, he called my doctor, asking what the heck we should do. The doctor suggested we go to the hospital to be checked out, so I hauled myself out of bed, deposited Meggy at her Grandma's after waiting 15minutes to get through nighttime construction, and drove the 35 minutes to the hospital. (remember the time it takes to drive, that comes into play later)
At the hospital they got me all signed in, and hooked up in triage. Then Thomas and I sat and waited. And waited. And waited. Well, that's what I did. Thomas slept.
They kept us there for two hours, and there was no real change. about 15min before we got discharged, I could feel the contractions starting to be a little more intense, but but they were still 20 minutes apart, so I decided we should go home. We texted Gail to let her know there was no baby yet, and ask if we could just pick Meggy up in the morning, By this time it was about 2am, and I'm amazed Thomas made the drive home! He immediately fell asleep, and I sort of did, but the contractions were coming on harder and harder, until I thought I was going to throw up. After about 30min of this happening, I decided we should probably head back to the hospital. As I leaned over to get wake Thomas up, my water broke, and I told him we needed to leave, NOW.
Somehow Thomas made that drive in about 20 minutes. He was trying very hard to be as supportive as he could be, which included patting me on the leg. I told him that I loved him very much, but he better not touch me again.
We arrived at the hospital about 4am, and I absolutely refused a wheelchair down to Labor and Delivery. I hobbled my way down the hall, where the nurses immediately hustled me into a room. By this point the contractions were hard, and close! I had two nurses with me - one who was seriously the most amazing woman ever, and one who kept annoying the heck out of me. I guess you can't win 'em all.
They checked me around 4:12, and I was dilated 8cm. As soon as I herd that, I asked for an epidural. They sent off for the anesthesiologist and the doctor and I just sat there on the bed, in immense pain, huffing and yelling, and making my poor husband shut up any time he dared to open his mouth. I don't know exactly how long this went on (it wasn't that long) but at one point the annoying nurse asked me if I felt like I needed to push.
"I don't know!" I yelled at her. The last time I did this, I had an epidural! And meds! What did pushing feel like when one is not hazy and numb?! But as soon as she turned around, I realized exactly what it felt like.
"YES. YES I NEED TO PUSH!"
Now, I didn't see what else was happening in the room, but this is Thomas' favourite story about Wren's birth. Apparently the doctor and the anesthesiologist arrived at the door at the same time, as I was yelling "I do need to push!" The doctor walked right in, and said "Let's have a baby!" putting his gear on and getting down to business. The anesthesiologist looked in the room, gave a little laugh, and walked away.
I did not get my epidural.
Things get fuzzy after that. It didn't help that I had taken off my glasses - does anyone else get like that? It's hard to remember things when you don't see them clearly. I do remember one of the nurses asking Thomas to take my leg at one point. He hesitated, and she asked if she get someone else to help?
"No, I'm fine" he responded. "It's just that... she told me not to touch her." I managed to convey to him that he was fine to touch me, if the nurse told him to do so.
Well, whatever the case, Wren was born Saturday morning at 4:34am, after only about 5-6 pushes. They immediately laid her on my chest, and I saw how beautiful she was. Just like Meggy, she came out pretty fast, so her head wasn't all wonky the way a lot of newborns are. She had brown fluffy hair, also just like Meggy, and invisible eyebrows. She whimpered a little bit, but didn't cry at all, just observed what was going on. The nurses had me latch her to breastfeed as soon as I was all cleaned up, and she latched beautifully.
The no epidural thing was a beast during delivery, but made for a very nice recovery. I was able to be up and showered by 10am, before anyone came to visit. Meggy was the first one to see her baby (along with Grandma), and she was every inch the proud big sister. My dear friend Christian came to the hospital (We had scheduled to get together that day, but had to change the location, haha) then Mom, Dad and Rachel came. I spent a glorious 2 days in the hospital. It was super busy, so the nurses didn't come in all that often. Honestly it felt like a hotel, where they just happened to check my blood pressure every couple of hours.
Phew! There you go, birth story for baby #2. We love little Wren so very much. Nine months of torture were certainly worth it to bring her precious little soul into this world!
At least, that's what it felt like. This pregnancy was hard, in case my previous blog posts haven't thoroughly conveyed that fact. So when, at my 36week appointment, my doctor informed me that I was already 2cm dilated, I was pretty elated about the fact that I'd be getting this baby out soon. Of course, babies have their own timing, and two weeks later I was still pregnant, although I was 4cm dilated by that point.
On Thursday November 17th, I was just so sick of being pregnant. I was having constant Braxton Hicks contractions, my sciatica had come back, and I was so incredibly tired. I was also nesting like crazy. I hadn't had a chance to nest with Meggy (due to the fact that we were living out of someone else's apartment when we had her, and didn't move into our house until 2 weeks after she was born) and it freaked Thomas out a little. I was always doing the dishes, I think I cleaned out the fridge about 3 times that week, and the floors were being vacuumed almost every day. Also, I was irritated at every little thing anybody did. My poor family. I'm so grateful they put up with me those last couple of weeks!
Friday morning, I woke up around 4am with consistent contractions. They weren't awful, but they were harsher than the Braxton Hicks I had been experiencing, and they were being pretty constant at 7min apart. I labored in the dark in our bedroom for about an hour before Thomas woke up. I told him that I didn't think he'd be going in to work that day, then went to take a shower. I was convinced this baby would be here by noon, so I wanted to be as ready as I possibly could be.
Meggy woke up around 7, and we all ate breakfast together, with my contractions still staying steady at 6-7min apart. By 10, the contractions had moved to 5 min apart, but they weren't getting any worse, and I was getting pretty antsy. So we all packed ourselves up and headed to Target! I don't even know what we did there (did we purchase anything? Probably, but I don't remember) but it was good to walk around. We did meet a family from church, who asked when I was due. "Any time now!" was Thomas's cheerful reply, as I gritted my teeth in what I hope was passable for a grin. I'm not sure how long we spent there, but Meggy and I were getting hungry again, so we went down the road for some sandwiches. That's when I noticed a funny thing - when we sat down to eat lunch, my contractions stopped. Like, completely stopped. I. Was. Livid. How dare they stop on me, when I had been determined to deliver this little girl before lunch?!
After we finished eating, we went down the road a little farther to my in-law's house. They live on a nice straight cul-de-sac, and I thought walking up and down it would help with my contractions, if they decided to come back. Well they did - so long as I kept walking. It was exhausting. I would walk around the (fairly long) cul-de-sac one or two times, during which my contractions stayed pretty steady at 4 1/2 minutes apart. However, when I'd go inside to rest or get more water, they'd stop! Completely! Until I got up to walk again!
Now, a smarter woman would have just decided to stop walking and take a nap, but I was not very smart, just determined. Thomas finally made me stop walking after 2ish hours, and we three went home. Thomas and I turned on Finding Nemo for Meggy, while he and I slept. I think that is the quickest I have ever fallen asleep. If I had any contractions during that nap, I didn't feel them at all. We woke up when the movie finished, and got dinner ready, and this is where my memory starts to get a bit hazy. I was incredibly tired still, but also still having contractions, so long as I stayed standing up and moving. The moment I sat down, they stopped completely. I knew these weren't braxton hicks though, I knew in my gut that these contractions were REAL, they just refused to stay!
Around 9pm, I had a total emotional meltdown, which resulted in me crying on the kitchen floor, and Thomas ordering me up to bed to take a nap. Once he got me upstairs, he called my doctor, asking what the heck we should do. The doctor suggested we go to the hospital to be checked out, so I hauled myself out of bed, deposited Meggy at her Grandma's after waiting 15minutes to get through nighttime construction, and drove the 35 minutes to the hospital. (remember the time it takes to drive, that comes into play later)
At the hospital they got me all signed in, and hooked up in triage. Then Thomas and I sat and waited. And waited. And waited. Well, that's what I did. Thomas slept.
They kept us there for two hours, and there was no real change. about 15min before we got discharged, I could feel the contractions starting to be a little more intense, but but they were still 20 minutes apart, so I decided we should go home. We texted Gail to let her know there was no baby yet, and ask if we could just pick Meggy up in the morning, By this time it was about 2am, and I'm amazed Thomas made the drive home! He immediately fell asleep, and I sort of did, but the contractions were coming on harder and harder, until I thought I was going to throw up. After about 30min of this happening, I decided we should probably head back to the hospital. As I leaned over to get wake Thomas up, my water broke, and I told him we needed to leave, NOW.
Somehow Thomas made that drive in about 20 minutes. He was trying very hard to be as supportive as he could be, which included patting me on the leg. I told him that I loved him very much, but he better not touch me again.
We arrived at the hospital about 4am, and I absolutely refused a wheelchair down to Labor and Delivery. I hobbled my way down the hall, where the nurses immediately hustled me into a room. By this point the contractions were hard, and close! I had two nurses with me - one who was seriously the most amazing woman ever, and one who kept annoying the heck out of me. I guess you can't win 'em all.
They checked me around 4:12, and I was dilated 8cm. As soon as I herd that, I asked for an epidural. They sent off for the anesthesiologist and the doctor and I just sat there on the bed, in immense pain, huffing and yelling, and making my poor husband shut up any time he dared to open his mouth. I don't know exactly how long this went on (it wasn't that long) but at one point the annoying nurse asked me if I felt like I needed to push.
"I don't know!" I yelled at her. The last time I did this, I had an epidural! And meds! What did pushing feel like when one is not hazy and numb?! But as soon as she turned around, I realized exactly what it felt like.
"YES. YES I NEED TO PUSH!"
Now, I didn't see what else was happening in the room, but this is Thomas' favourite story about Wren's birth. Apparently the doctor and the anesthesiologist arrived at the door at the same time, as I was yelling "I do need to push!" The doctor walked right in, and said "Let's have a baby!" putting his gear on and getting down to business. The anesthesiologist looked in the room, gave a little laugh, and walked away.
I did not get my epidural.
Things get fuzzy after that. It didn't help that I had taken off my glasses - does anyone else get like that? It's hard to remember things when you don't see them clearly. I do remember one of the nurses asking Thomas to take my leg at one point. He hesitated, and she asked if she get someone else to help?
"No, I'm fine" he responded. "It's just that... she told me not to touch her." I managed to convey to him that he was fine to touch me, if the nurse told him to do so.
Well, whatever the case, Wren was born Saturday morning at 4:34am, after only about 5-6 pushes. They immediately laid her on my chest, and I saw how beautiful she was. Just like Meggy, she came out pretty fast, so her head wasn't all wonky the way a lot of newborns are. She had brown fluffy hair, also just like Meggy, and invisible eyebrows. She whimpered a little bit, but didn't cry at all, just observed what was going on. The nurses had me latch her to breastfeed as soon as I was all cleaned up, and she latched beautifully.
The no epidural thing was a beast during delivery, but made for a very nice recovery. I was able to be up and showered by 10am, before anyone came to visit. Meggy was the first one to see her baby (along with Grandma), and she was every inch the proud big sister. My dear friend Christian came to the hospital (We had scheduled to get together that day, but had to change the location, haha) then Mom, Dad and Rachel came. I spent a glorious 2 days in the hospital. It was super busy, so the nurses didn't come in all that often. Honestly it felt like a hotel, where they just happened to check my blood pressure every couple of hours.
Phew! There you go, birth story for baby #2. We love little Wren so very much. Nine months of torture were certainly worth it to bring her precious little soul into this world!
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