Ian's Birth Story, Part 2

Continued from this previous post. Warning: This post is a completely honest story of natural childbirth. If you're squeamish or if you just like to cuddle pudgy babies without hearing how they got here, don't read on!

Hour 7: After laboring at home since lunchtime, we arrived at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill. By the time we checked in and got settled into our suite (the same suite where Molly was born a year and a half ago), it was about 8pm. The midwife, Leigh Ann, got my IV antibiotic started and checked me. After 7 hours of labor, I was more than a little disappointed to hear that I was STILL 3-4 cm dilated. The good news was that I was 100% effaced, meaning my cervix had completely thinned out. I still couldn't believe that 7 hours of decently strong contractions hadn't accomplished more. I think it was then that I realized we were probably in for a LONG night.

It took about 30 minutes for the antibiotic treatment and when that was complete, Leigh Ann suggested that we get out of the birth center for a good long walk (the midwife's alternative to Pitocin for progressing a slow labor :-). We headed for Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. It was like a very strange date night. Eric and I haven't been out someplace, just the two of us, for quite a while. Besides the strong, painful contractions every 4-6 minutes, we had a lot of fun strolling around downtown, people-watching, window-shopping, and just enjoying each other's company. We even stopped into Goodfellow's, this cute little English pub, for their Monday night special - game night and a Guinness. Eric enjoyed his Guinness. We played Connect 4; I lost, but I'm blaming that on the fact that I had to concentrate on breathing my way through contractions every few minutes, which gave Eric time to study his next 5 moves. After walking a few more blocks, stopping to lean on bus stops, hanging onto tree trunks, and sitting in store windows, I decided I'd like to be back at the Birth Center where I could get more comfortable and relaxed to handle these more intense contractions.

Hour 9: We arrived back at the Birth Center around 10pm. I took a nice hot shower, ate a few snacks, had some Gatorade, and Eric got my iPod set up so I could listen to my labor playlist. I passed the next 2 hours trying various labor positions: sitting on the birthing ball, tailor sitting (cross-legged sitting) on the bed, contracting on all fours while leaning on the birthing ball or a pile of pillows, standing while leaning on the bed or wall. My contractions were still frustratingly erratic, sometimes close and sometimes spread apart; sometimes weak, but often strong. It was during these strongest contractions that my old friend nausea came back to visit. Every third or fourth contraction would be a real doozy and Eric or the nurse would be right there with the trusty stainless steel bowl.

Hour 11: By midnight the contractions were getting crazy strong and close together, so Leigh Ann suggested I move to the tub where the water would help me handle the contractions better. She just wanted to check me before getting in. After 3 hours of strong contractions, I was expecting some news of progress. Therefore, I was somewhat discouraged when she announced that I was now at 5-6cm. (After Hour 11 on Molly's birth day, I already had a baby in my arms!) At least the water did the trick of helping me to relax and breathe through the contractions more easily. Water truly is the "midwife's epidural". The buoyant effect of the water made the contractions much easier to handle. It also helped that the midwife gave me a few different homeopathic remedies that worked to ease my nausea and deepen my relaxation.

Hour 13: After 2 hours in the tub, relaxing and breathing our way through contractions, I was feeling cold, wrinkly, and water-logged. Eric worked really hard to keep warming up the water, encouraging me through each contraction, keeping me hydrated, and holding my trusty stainless steel bowl when necessary. But, 2 hours of sitting in or by the tub was enough for both of us. A cervix check by the midwife revealed a small measure of progress--I was at 7cm. The next hour of contractions was, by far, the worst hour of my life in terms of physical pain. Every contraction felt long and intense. It seemed like they were coming one on top of the other with barely a break in between for me to catch my breath. Many of the contractions made me physically ill. It felt like transition, but at 7cm, I knew it couldn't be. At this point, I was hardly aware of anything going on outside my own body. I could feel Eric massaging me; I could hear him and the nurse and midwife encouraging me; but, for the most part, I was in my own world. I had to focus all my energy on breathing and making it through the next contraction. My one vivid memory of this time period was when I heard another laboring mother in the suite next door. Up until this point, we were the only couple at the Birth Center. I heard her yelling, etc. (just as I'm sure she heard me yelling too!), and it felt like only a few minutes later, I heard a baby crying. I thought, "You can't be serious!!! I've been here for 6 hours and progressed 3cm. You've been here 6 minutes and you have a baby!". I'm sure it wasn't 6 minutes, but that's what it felt like to my delirious mind.

Hour 14: When the midwife came to check on me at 3am, I was so sure that I was close to being fully dilated. How could I not be after the kind of contractions I'd had for the last hour? Therefore, her announcement that I was STILL at 7cm was like a punch to the gut. I was completely exhausted. I literally felt like there was nothing left in my body to give. I'd been throwing up bile for the last 2 hours. Leigh Ann could clearly see what state I was in and pointed out that I had most likely reached what is called the Natural Alignment Plateau (or N.A.P.), a point in some labors where the labor seems to have stalled. In a hospital, this would be the point where the doctor would offer Pitocin and an epidural. Thankfully though, midwives understand that some babies just need some extra time to be born. Perhaps my pelvis needed more time to open up. Perhaps Ian needed more time to work his way into a good position in the birth canal. Regardless of the reason, my body needed more time to open up and help this baby out. However, with the intensity of my contractions, my body had reached it's breaking point. Leigh Ann didn't force, but highly recommended that I take something that would help me sleep through the next few hours of contractions so that, when the time DID come to push, I would be rested enough and have enough stamina to push my baby out. I hated the idea of taking something, but I hated the idea more of being too exhausted to deliver my baby. So I agreed to take Nubain, a drug that would help block my perception of the pain and help me to sleep. I don't remember much about the next 5 hours. According to Eric, I continued to have contractions and continued to react to them, but for the most part, I was effectively asleep. Part of me regrets that I was not truly aware of those 5 hours of my labor, but another part of me knows that, without that sleep, I may not have been able to bring Ian into this world in the way that I wanted. That sleep was essential to all three of us: me, Ian, and Eric - my ever-present, ever-wakeful coach and cheerleader.

Hour 19: Five hours of "sleep" and a complete shift-change later, the Nubain wore off and I was ready to get this show on the road! At 8am, a new midwife, Sara, came to check on me. And the verdict was---STILL 7cm! In terms of dilation, I had not progressed at all in the last 6-7 hours. The good news was, my water was finally trickling. It wasn't fully "broken", but the trickle would help. Sara pointed out that, up until this point, our baby had been floating in an abundance of amniotic fluid and his head hadn't been doing much to help with dilation, but hopefully, with this trickle, he would drop down further and move things along.

Hour 21: Sara was right! After 2 more hours of labor, she checked again at 10am and I was finally at 9cm. Since Ian had fully dropped into the birth canal, she felt it was safe to break my water the rest of the way. It would have been dangerous before that because he was still floating so high; his cord could have dropped into the birth canal before his head and caused an emergency situation. After she broke my water, she actually helped to stretch my cervix from 9-10cm because I was feeling MORE than ready to push!

The Birth: I started pushing around 10:15am. Just as with my labor with Molly, pushing was, by far, the very best part. It felt productive---like I was DOING something rather than just ENDURING something. It felt like hardly any time had passed at all when Eric told me that he could see the baby's head and that everything was going really well. He kept telling me what a great job I was doing, which was such a huge encouragement. Sara delivered the baby's head and shoulders. Then she told me to reach down and pull up my baby. I grabbed him under the arms and delivered him the rest of the way onto my chest. As I pulled him up, I saw that it was a boy and I got to be the one to announce, "It's a BOY!" It was such an awesome moment! So, on 2/22 at 10:42am, after roughly 22 hours of labor, our little boy, Ian Zachariah Frueh, was born.

When the nurse, Helen, picked him up she said, "Wow! Big boy! I bet he's 9 lbs." I didn't believe her and thought she must be exaggerating. There was no way he was that big.

Nurse Helen was RIGHT! At 9 lbs. 3 oz. and 20.75 inches long, Ian was much bigger than I ever expected him to be! Of course, I expected him to be a girl too, so I suppose I should just leave the guessing to Nurse Helen from now on ;-)

BIG stretch! He had a LONG night and was ready for a nap. So was Mommy!

Proud Daddy and his son. Eric was such a trooper through the entire labor. Everyone marvels when I tell them my babies were born naturally and asks me how I did it. Well, you're looking at him! Eric was the one walking with me, encouraging me, massaging me, helping me to relax, keeping me nourished and hydrated, and even watching me throw up for all 22 hours of labor. I never could've done it without him.

Molly meets her baby brother for the first time. (His body temp. was a little elevated. That's why he's practically naked in these shots. It went back to normal with some naked time.) Molly was a bit tentative at her first meeting, but has been in love with him ever since. She loves to give Ian kisses before bed.

So, in the end, Ian's birth was filled with surprises, not the least of which was that he was a boy, and a BIG boy at that. His size can probably explain the long labor leading up to his birth. With lots of amniotic fluid and such a big boy, it simply took longer for him to get where he needed to be in order to be born. I'm just so thankful that we were both in the hands of two very competent midwives and many excellent nurses who did absolutely everything to make sure that he was brought into this world in the safest and most natural way possible. I can't thank everyone at the Birth Center enough for helping to bring my two blessings into this world.