and we welcome our son….
Sunday’s post was prophetic. Sunday evening at 10pm, I was working through one of the weekend’s contractions (not too hard but needing to concentrate) on E’s bedroom floor, hands & knees when I felt a big POP and a very strong contraction. So strong I was sure I would not be able to crawl out of her room to the office where G. was watching the Canadian Grand Prix on the computer. I called for him twice and then felt my amniotic fluid leaking.
Contractions started right up about 3 minutes apart, and G. got E. over to the neighbors in time to load the car. I labored downstairs, over a beach towel, and he loaded me in the well-toweled back seat of the Subaru.
They continued about 3 minutes apart til we got to the hospital. Then, in OB triage, when the nurses were asking me for my ID and to sign stuff (my purse was, alas, at home), I was on my hands & knees in the door way and G. was saying “we don’t have time for all this”. They got me into a triage room, the resident checked and said “she’s complete!” and all of sudden, there was this flurry of people and activity: “She’s complete!” They wheeled me down right in the bed, asking “are you feeling pushy?” and I was not at that moment.
But soon, a few contractions later, I was. I struggled to get in the right position, which seemed to be hands & knees but up, on the back of the lifted bed. I tried turning around to the standard classic push position, but G. could see, and I could feel this wasn’t working. The resident asked me to lay on my back (!!) but we knew better. So G. got me back facing the back of the bed. I was, as usual, howling, not pushing, but once I got the hang of the contraction (wait until it starts to peak THEN start pushing) it went smoother. I could FEEL his body moving down in me. Then, the pain just got intense, wouldn’t let up even in between contractions (which were a not-very-comfortable two and a half minutes apart). It was so, so hard. I was crying “why won’t he come out? what’s wrong?” But soon, I could feel his head crowning (let’s not discuss the messy, except to say labor is messy, and the staff knows how to handle it). And then, last push, very painful but I knew he was coming out. A pop, a slip and he was out!
They were great – they got me turned over and the bedding cleaned up a bit and laid him on my chest, let him nurse while still connected to the cord. Eventually the cord stopped pulsing and they let me cut it. My son! You’re on your own now (sorta!)
We got everything we wanted – two hours of bonding and nursing, weighing and measuring and such at the end. All his baby care in the room, not the nursery. It was delightful!
Both OBs stopped by, cheered for me having birthed without anesthesia, commended me on a good birthing position (Drs. both said that most of their natural patients birth in that position).
It was, amazing. Intense, fast, incredibly painful, but amazing. And now, looking a lot like E. as a newborn, is sleeping in a bouncy seat next to me. My son. Our son. We did it!
Christian Robert Siegle
7lbs 12 oz. 11:57pm 6/13/10
We did it, my boy, 39 weeks exactly, a beautiful pregnancy that you gave to me. It was my gift to nurture you and I am sad it’s over, but I’m ready to move on, and YOU are the prize. I don’t think anyone but a mother or father can understand a parent’s love. I am blown away how I can love TWO children this much.
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