It has been eight months since I gave birth but I felt that it was important for me and for Coral to get this written down. I ran this story by Matt and my midwife to check for accuracy and they said I got an A-. I'm happy with that.
Coral’s Birth Story 11-12-11
It has been 8 months since Coral was born but I still want
to write down what I remember about my experience. I should say “our”
experience because it was a remarkable experience for myself as well as Matt
and Coral.
Leading up to Corals due date of 11-11-11, I was indifferent
about when she was born. I was just excited to meet her. When I woke up on the
morning of the 11th, I was overwhelmed by the desire to give birth
that day. I didn’t have a name picked out yet, but I felt that I needed it to
happen. It was a Friday and I had a Dr
appointment to get my fluid level checked. I wasn’t as good as I should have
been about hydrating so I was getting being monitored for amniotic fluid levels.
Matt picked me up and went with me to the Doctor that afternoon and while I was
there one of my midwives said that it would be so great for everyone if the
baby came that day since the fluids were a little bit of an issue and we were
all just ready. She swept my membrane as a gentle way to induce and sent me on
my way. I wasn’t sure what kind of feeling to watch for since I had no idea
what a contraction felt like. I knew that I felt strange the rest of the day,
as if my muscles and sinews were grumbling and rearranging themselves in
confusion. Matt made me a wonderful steak dinner that night and I even had a
little red wine in our celebrating. We then went to the store to walk around
and buy some receiving blankets for the baby and distract myself from the
twisting and pulling in my abdomen. When we got home it was about 8pm and I
told Matt that if we were going to be up all night, I wanted to go to bed then
so I would be rested. Matt and I had just dozed off when I felt my first
contraction. I woke up with a start and started shaking. I went to the bathroom
and lost all my amazing dinner and was shaking uncontrollably. Matt came in and
helped me get off the floor because my muscles and nerves seemed to all be
confused and panicking. We came downstairs and Matt ran hot water over my back
in the shower while I was leaning over the side of the tub like a sea sick
sailor. It was about 9:00 when I dried off and knelt in front of the couch and
rested my arms and head there while we tried to figure out how the heck to use
the contraction counter on my phone. I knew to start the timing from the
beginning of each contraction but they were so quick and short that I wasn’t
sure if it was one contraction or 5. We gave up for a while and Matt just
talked to me a bit while I zoned out and moaned and rocked. I directed all of
my pain sound through my deepest hum which is supposed to help relax and
release the pain. It seemed to help and it kept me calm. We were convinced that
the labor would be a long arduous one and were determined to stay home as long
as possible. I think it was around 10:30 and I was still on the couch/floor and
I realized that these were not one long contraction but many short one and I
had been at 2-3 minute intervals for a while. That is when you are supposed to
be at the hospital already, or reading to give birth wherever you are. I told
Matt to call my parents and get me down to the birthing center in which I had
pre-registered. It was only a 5 minute drive but I was in so much pain sitting
in the cold seat. My contractions were hammering me into a stupor at that
point. I felt like I was the town drunk as Matt led me staggering towards the
birthing center door. I stopped right in front of the automatic slider and
threw up on the loveliest Japanese maple. I wiped my mouth with the back of my
hand and we got inside. We were buzzed in and the nurse at the desk asked me
how I was doing, I told her not very well and she escorted me into the exam
room. After what seemed like 2 years, she was done checking my cervix and said
I was at 4 centimeters. They checked me in to my room at 11:11 pm and got an IV
placed just in case they needed to give me some fluids but I told them I wanted
minimal intervention. My midwife got there shortly after the nurse had turned
the back of my hand into Swiss cheese trying to get the needle placed. I felt like someone should be as astounded as
I was that I was about to have a baby but my midwife calmly greeted me with a
cup of tea in her hand and talked with me about how I was doing and what might
help. I was sitting on a yoga ball with my head resting on the edge of the bed
doing my deep humming. I couldn’t stand being touched. Everything hurt when it
touched me. The band they put around my stomach to hold the round disk that
listened to the baby’s heartbeat was like a torture device. I took it off a few
times and the soft spoken nurse kept putting it back on while mumbling words of
encouragement. I wanted to punch her. Sam suggested I get in the hot tub and
rest. My mom and Holli arrived from Eugene by then. It was probably midnight. They helped me get in the tub while my
midwife cleared the room so that I could have some calm. There were fake
candles and bird chirping sounds that may have annoyed me if I wasn’t so
focused on the pain. The strange thing was that I could control the pain if I
concentrated on it and let it wash over me. If I lost concentration I started
to lose control of myself. That happened a few times when the soft spoken nurse
was telling me to do something and I couldn’t hear her over my low humming. From
here on out I will refer to this nurse as “Mumbles”. I snapped at Mumbles a few
times as I was fighting the panic.
While I was in the tub Matt and Holli took turns holding my
hand. The contractions got harder and faster quickly while I was soaking. After
about an hour, so 1am I panicked a little because I was convinced that I was
going to pass out in the tub so I jumped out and Matt helped me to the bed to
stand near it. I was convinced that I didn’t want to get in the bed because the
contraction would be unbearable but I was really tired. My midwife suggested
trying to hang my weight on Matt’s shoulders while she supported my hip bones.
I was told before that this helps relieve pressure as the baby descends. This
did not help at all and I started to lose it a little as the pain got ahead of
me. I was so tired at this point that I laid down on the bed because I thought
I might fall down. I was correct about the contractions being worse while in
bed and I did lose control at that point and started to wail and writhe in the
bed. Matt lowered the bed railing and got into the bed with me and talked to
me. He told me I was doing great and he was so amazed with me. I wasn’t able to
acknowledge him but that did help. My midwife helped me get propped up with some
pillows and Matt was laying right next to me talking to me. I started to focus
on the contractions again and they became manageable again. My midwife checked
my cervix and said I was already at 10cm and we should start pushing after she
broke my water. I think Coral must have heard her because her head started to
move and broke the sack. I was starting a contraction about that same moment
and my abdomen seized and I went from humming to a full out groan when my body
started pushing. I was confused for a second and then realized it really was
time to push just before my midwife started to talk me through the pushes. Matt
kept saying how amazing I was and I kept thinking how amazing my body was, that
it was doing all of this on its own.
It was 1:20am and my
mom was holding one knee up for me, Mumbles was holding the other and my
midwife was telling me I was making good progress. I was so tired that I would
feel a contraction coming and fear it, then I would push with all my might
through it, and then feel like I was going to pass out after it. I kept saying,
I’m so tired, I can’t do this, and then another contraction would come. I
started to be afraid that I really would pass out and they would cart me in to
the OR and cut me open. This fear made me push even harder during a contraction
and I would stubbornly be pushing even though the contraction was over. Mumbles
and my midwife started telling me to relax between and save my strength. I had
my hands behind my knees so that I could hold on to something. After a few
pushes they were just stuck there from all the sweat and pressure from my knees
being bent. Mumbles kept telling me to relax my hands and I was too tired to
tell her that I was relaxed, they were just stuck so after a few times I just
yelled it at her. The pushing fell in to a pretty good rhythm and as I pushed I
was thinking about the baby working her way down and I would say “come on
baby”. It was half encouragement, and half pleading. I’m not sure how the
onlookers interpreted it because I’m pretty sure I heard snickering. My midwife
was so encouraging that I started to get a false sense of progress and after 10
minutes I asked if she could see the head. She said “no” and I was so
disappointed. I had no concept of time. After a few more pushes she said she
could see it. A few more and the baby’s soft furry head was nearing the cervix.
I got to feel her head and it was kind of creepy but amazing. It gave me the last bit of energy I needed to
push her head out. I think they sucked some fluids out of her nose and mouth
and my midwife said “push” so I pushed like crazy and thought that the body was
out. It was not, so I was again so disappointed when I was told to push again.
The baby didn’t move and my midwife could feel that the baby’s hand was stuck
by her face so she wasn’t going to come out very smoothly. She told me not to
push but I had to. There was no way to fight it. There was a little bit of
tearing and a sharp pain and the baby’s torso was mostly out. One more push
finished the job at 1:48am and I didn’t even think about the pain when they
pulled a purple crying baby up towards me and laid her on my chest. She had one
eye winked closed and a soft little whimper as she moved her little hands
around my neck. Her hair was dark and soft. I had been so focused on pain and pushing that
I was a little shocked when they handed me a baby. I said “Oh, thank you God. Baby,
I’m so glad you came out”. I just watched her as they cleaned us both up. My
midwife gave Matt some scissors and he cut the cord and helped wrap the baby up
in a blanket on my chest. I was told to push one more time so the placenta
could come out. I asked to see it and it was huge. I had to get stitched up but
it was easy to forget about it with a baby to look at.
They wiped her face and head with a cloth and put a hat on
her. Everyone was ushered out of the room for a bit so Matt and I could bond
with her and name her. I asked Matt what we should name her and he said, “you
did so great, I think you should name her.” So I named her Coral.
The family that had been waiting patiently came in to greet
the new baby and then left us for some more alone time and some resting time
for me.
