My First Hospital Birth Experience:Amelia’s Birth Story

Amelia’s Birth Story

5/30 Thursday 

4:00PM

I was getting the girls snacks ready and started feeling a few cramps here and there, but didn’t want to jump the gun into thinking I was having a contractions. So, the girls and I enjoyed a snack outside while I had a bit of discomfort. 

5:00PM

I kept feeling the cramps and thought even if I wasn’t heading straight into labor, I wanted to keep track of what was happening. 

10:00PM

The contractions were really inconsistent. They would be anywhere between 10-30 minutes in between contractions. The girls were in bed by this time and my parents up in the room room they were staying in and we were trying to decide whether or not to stay awake and see what happens or to try and just go to sleep. 

10:30PM 

My contractions started to pick up and get closer together. We decided to pack up and get to the hospital since it’s a 15-20 minute drive and we figured better safe than sorry. I had been texting with my doula to let her know so she could meet us there. 

11:15PM

We had arrived at the hospital and my contractions were between 3-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. We went straight to labor and delivery, where they put us in a triage room. They had me change into my gown and when I came out we gave them our birth plan. They strapped me up to the monitor, but just to begin checking. The nurse checked my dilation and said that I was a “stretchy” 7. So maybe almost an 8. 

11:45PM

Kjell (pronounced Shell), my doula had arrived just as our nurse was about to take us back to our delivery room. Once in the room, they were able unstrap me from all the monitors and would plan to periodically check the baby through a Doppler. 

5/31 Friday

12:00AM

I didn’t want to lay in bed while I labored. Partly because everything slowed down when I did and as soon as I got up things picked up again. I wanted to get things moving. I know my body and squatting has always been the best way for me to labor. They offered me a birthing ball and I said “YES!” right away. Having Kjell there to help with my pain management was SO helpful. With Ty on one hip and her on another, they squeezed my hips together providing a bit of relief. She would also press down on my shoulders as a gentle reminder to relax my body, instead of tightening up. I moaned through each contraction, which were coming quickly and closer together. The sounds I made reminded me of Gollum from the 70’s cartoon version of The Hobbit. Hahaha. It sounds funny to think of, but really getting that low with my voice helped quite a bit. 

12:40AM

Soon I was feeling the baby moving down into the birth canal and the urge to push presented itself. I let everyone in the room know and the nurses quickly went to grabbed the on call OB, who looked too young to know what happens during birth. 

I was leaning over the side of the bed, still somewhat squatting, while Kjell had my hands in hers offering support. Ty next to me stroking my hair. I looked around for a moment and the others apart of the delivery team were nonchalantly getting things ready and chatting. It almost felt like they didn’t realize this baby was about to make her debut and someone should get into position to catch her. With the feeling to push, I did my part and my water broke. Luckily, the OB was getting in position at the right time. 

As I pushed, I tried to be slow and not rush it so I could try to avoid tearing more than necessary, all the while feeling the ring of fire. At one point, I had pushed her head out. I rested for a moment and waited for the next urge. When it came, I pushed out the rest of my baby girl who let out a good cry. The doctor handed her to me and I was so relieved to have that part behind me.

12:51AM

Amelia Katherine was born!

She was COVERED in vernix. We all commented that she was the most vernixy baby any of us had ever seen. And the most hungry. As soon as she was on my chest she started rooting around, desperate for something to eat. I offered her my breast and she latched immediately. While she ate, I tried to deliver the placenta. It took 45 minutes, but not before a few large blood clots. I had remembered it had taken Addy’s placenta a long time as well, but this felt like an eternity. And almost more painful. We had also let them know about having her cord blood sent for testing for Cystic Fibrosis. We gave them the paperwork and they took her sample and had it sent off right away. 

Afterwards, the nurse was commenting that I was looking pale and she was starting to become concerned that I was loosing too much blood. At first, I brushed it off because I felt just fine. About 20 minutes later she brought it up again, and right then I did start to feel lightheaded and sick to my stomach. It was time to get Amelia’s vitals and Ty had just taken her from me anyway. The nurse had been very observant and was able to lay me down and gave me a shot of Pitocin. I started feeling better right away. They set me up with an IV of fluids as well. 

After about 45 minutes, they had me shower quickly and get cleaned off. I was doing alright until just after I was done drying off. I slowly walked over to the bed and started feeling lightheaded again. Ty called for the nurse as I laid back down. This time, they gave me some fluids, as well as an IV of Pitocin to try and stop the bleeding. Amelia was swaddled and sweetly resting in her bassinet. Before moving me to a recovery room, they wanted me to finished off the IV and see how I was feeling after that. We slept a bit until they came back in and then we were finally taken to recovery. 

Little Amelia continue to be constantly hungry and I nursed frequently. Because we had come in in the middle of the night, and things continued to go well after my bleeding got back under control, we only had to stay one night and went home on Saturday. We have absolutely loved having our Amelia. So far the older girls haven’t shown jealousy, but only lots of love and admiration for their sweet baby sister. They want to hold her all the time. I can’t blame them. She’s too lovable!

 

My First Birth Center Experience

      I didn't realize that when I posted the last belly pictures that I'd only have two weeks left of pregnancy. Just for fun here's the last two.

      The last two weeks I started to get more uncomfortable, but even more so in the last few days before birth. 

Sunday 1/31

      We went to church and I think everyone asked how I was doing and how much longer I had. I told them that was tired/exhausted/ready to not be pregnant and that I had about a week left. Ha! (This is why due dates are silly and I don't like telling mine until after. This pregnancy, I was due February 7th.)

Monday 2/1 Wee hours of the morning 

      I woke up several times to go to the the bathroom and once was almost soaked in sweat. I had a hard time getting back to sleep after the last potty break and when I finally did it was around 6:30AM. I was pretty groggy around 8:00 when I woke up for the day. 

9:00 AM

      Ty had just left for work and I was busy getting Anna's breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, and starting laundry. My mother-in-law was coming that day to stay to help with baby and ironically, I thought it would be too early, but glad she was coming. I went to move a chair into the table and the leg came off. (It's an old set so that happens.) I went down to put it back on and felt a little leak. I went to the bathroom to find there was a bit of mucus. My body was definitely getting ready to have this baby. 

10:00 AM

    I started feeling some contractions and felt like I needed to go to the bathroom again, but this time there was bright red blood. My mind went immediately to panicked and nervous. I texted Ty to let him know and then called the birth center. I was able to talk to the midwife on call, Hannah, and described what was going on. I had a prenatal appointment scheduled for that afternoon so she said I could come in now since we would know more after being checked. 

10:30 AM 

      Ty arrived home and we decided to pack everything as if we were going to stay for labor. I was glad, but felt silly because I thought we'd end up coming back anyway. There was a crazy snowstorm that day and the wind was blowing the snow everywhere across the roads. It almost made it look like fog. The whole while I was still having intermittent contractions that seemed to get closer together and longer when I was sitting in the car. I could tell that I was at least in early labor. By now, I could also tell that I was going to have back labor. Apparently, I'm just one of those lucky people who gets that. 

11:15 AM

      We made it to the birth center and contractions calmed down during my appointment. From what Hannah could tell, since the bleeding seemed to be slowing down a bit, I was losing my bloody show. It wasn't like this with Anna so I wasn't sure that was the case, but I'm glad I went in. She checked me and she and I were both surprised to find I was 5 centimeters dilated and 80-90% effaced. I figured I was a bit dilated, but not that much already. Hannah was convinced that our baby would be coming soon. We decided to wait to schedule a 40 week appointment because we both figured Baby Girl would here in the next few days. We decided to call our sister-in-law, Celia, and have her meet us there to pick up Anna. The snowstorm was still going and we wanted to make sure Anna was taken care of just in case labor picked up. 

12:00 PM

We went downstairs to wait for Celia and her friend, Becca, who was driving her to us. Contractions started picking up, getting closer together. They have a room with a couple of couches that I was able to use and laid down while timing contractions on my phone. A little after noon, Celia got there and we said goodbye to Anna. I told her next time we saw her that her baby sister would be here. When they left, Ty asked how I was feeling and if we should go or stay since my contractions were getting closer together. I already had forgotten what Hannah said about how far apart we should wait for contractions so I asked him to go upstairs and ask again. When he came back down, he relayed the message that I could come upstairs and might as well stay if contractions were already that consistent. 

12:30 PM

      We got upstairs and I realized I hadn't eaten anything at all that day and that in grabbing Anna's things, Celia accidentally grabbed my purse. While we waited for her to bring it back, we decided on a sandwich place close so I could try to eat a turkey sandwich and get some protein. They offered me some juice they keep stocked in the fridge and I chose peach. It was so good and nice to have something other than water. While Ty went to grab lunch, I got situated in the birthing room. They took my vitals, checked baby's position, and heartbeat and started getting everything ready and set up. While we waited for Ty, I sat on a birthing ball and breathed through each contraction with the intern midwife, Roaya there to help me. I remembered Anna labor and birth and tried to avoid tensing and made a conscious effort to be loose and relaxed. Not easy, but I think I did okay. 

1:30 PM

      Ty came back and I started to eat my sandwich in between contractions. I really only got a few bites in before I felt a little sick to my stomach. Contractions were steadily progressing now and getting stronger. I knew if I wanted to keep down the little bit I had already eaten, I would need to stop or it would be wasted. They did another check of my vitals and baby's heartbeat. At that point, Hannah had started filling the tub and I couldn't wait to get in there. Ty was also very happy to not carry heavy pots of hot water up the stairs to fill it. Haha. 

2:00 PM

      I got into the tub and loved feeling the warm water. I stopped timing my contractions at this point since I didn't want my phone in the water. And really they were close enough now that it didn't seem to matter. I had planned to watch a movie during labor to help past the time and relax me. Ty set up the portable DVD player and put in "Willow". Hannah thought it was great and said it was definitely a first for a mom to watch a movie during labor. 

2:30ish

      I'm not exactly sure when I fit started feeling the need to push, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. I had prepared myself for a good few hours yet of labor. Hannah went to grab Roaya from a prenatal appointment and both were surprised that it was already time. I'm not sure when my water broke (think during one of the few pushes), but things were certainly progressing quickly. I didn't count pushes, but with each one I could feel our baby moving down. Before I knew it, I felt the ring of fire and the pressure of her head crowning. Hannah and Roaya were coaching me to go deeper with my moans and yells, and I tried, but I think there's only a certain amount of control I could have. With one final push, Adalind Louise Robbins was born in the water at 2:45 PM. 

      I immediately picked her up and held her, leaned back in the water and just stared at this beautiful new person. Her head was so round and hadn't coned at all. She came so quickly that I don't think she had the time. They put warm towels on us and checked both of us while I held her there on me. Adalind latched really quickly and she ate while we waited for the placenta to deliver. It seemed to take forever and we all jokes that it took longer for the placenta to deliver than the baby. 

      After I delivered the placenta, I gave Adalind to Ty, while the midwives helped me over to the bed. Just as I was getting out, Adalind peed on Ty. I'm pretty sure Anna did that after she was born. It seems to be a right of passage for our kids. Haha. When I got to the bed, and after putting a diaper on baby girl, I continued to nurse Adalind while they checked on my tearing and stitched me up. I tore the same as I did with Anna, but I don't know how many stitches I got this time. 

      In total, we stayed about four hours after Adalind was born. This included getting stitched up and watched for hemorrhaging, being able to stand and go to the bathroom, continued nursing, getting the baby checked and weighed, finish eating my sandwich (so glad I still had that), getting dressed and ready to go. It was around 7 o'clock when we left and we couldn't believe how early it still was. Overall, we really loved our experience, but I'm still hoping that if there's a next time, we can have a homebirth, mostly so we don't have to go anywhere after it's all over. For this experience, I couldn't have imagined it going any better. When Hannah and Roaya came over the next day for the day after visit, they were thanking us for letting them be apart of such a great birth. Apparently, they had had several births in a row that were pretty tiresome and long and it was so nice to have a quick and easy one. We feel pretty blessed as well. 

Baby #2 Belly Pics Update 2

      Wow!  It's been a long time since I posted some baby belly pics.  And now I'm almost done with this pregnancy.  How crazy is that?! Everything is going well and I feel like I've been in nesting mode since I started feeling better in the second trimester.  The plan is still to have a birth center birth with a midwife.  We've really enjoyed getting to know each of the midwives at the birth center and I'm so excited to have this baby with them there.  Okay, onto the pictures...

      So, I didn't notice this until looking at the pictures after posting them here, but I think it looks like baby dropped at 34 weeks.  Weird! I was sick around 36 weeks with an awful cold that stole my voice, energy, and care to wear makeup outside of the house except church.  I'm doing much better, thank goodness. Just in time! Baby Girl will be here soon and no one wants to be sick when they go into labor.

2015 Update #3

      October was a fun month.  I took Anna to pick out a pumpkin at a local pumpkin patch.  She loved seeing the tractors and I think she could have picked a hundred pumpkins out.  Instead of carving, we used felt stickers.  I think I'll be getting those for the next couple years.  It was so nice to avoid the mess and the work.  We did lots of fun Halloween activities for preschool.  It might have been my most favorite week.  The day before Halloween, Ty's office let's families come in and the kids can go around to everyone's desk and trick-or-treat.  Anna has been asking to go to Daddy's office every time we need to drop him off at work.  Unfortunately for her, this is the only time they ever allow us to do that.  So she was anxiously awaiting this day and had so much fun.  She came away with so much candy that I was seriously considering say that was it for Halloween.  We did go out for Halloween though, and seriously, her bucket was full for quite awhile.

      November was pretty low key.  We decided to stay in Utah for Thanksgiving since traveling while I was that pregnant didn't sound like a great idea.  We were able to have our Thanksgiving with Ty's brother's family and despite being in charge of the turkey (which I did in the Crockpot and it turned out perfect!), it actually was very relaxing day.  Plenty of delicious food! And great company!

      December, we only did one week of preschool and I'm afraid that I've completely slacked off.  I spent the entire month just focused on Christmas and really trying to relax when I could.  I don't remember feeling that tense when I was pregnant with Anna, but walking around in the cold made my belly tighten. We had fun though with our Ward Christmas Party, St. Nikolaus Tag, seeing Christmas lights, making a gingerbread house, playing in the snow, and visiting Santa.  On Christmas Day we got to Skype with my family and little brother Michael.  It was great to see and talk with everyone.  In a year we'll be able to spend Christmas together.

      Just after Christmas, Ty started getting hip and leg pain that we think is either Sciatica or Piriformis Syndrome.  It's been improving a little bit each week, but it's still giving him pain. He's been seeing a chiropractor and doing stretches everyday, but started physical therapy today and hopefully that will really make a difference.  I wish I could say that we've been up to fun things in January, but really it's been all about preparing for Baby Girl's arrival.  Nesting has definitely set in and our condo has probably never looked better.  It's great.  Our house is nice and clean and I'm no longer embarrassed by the state of our home.  Haha.  She'll be here in just a few weeks and I'm starting to feel more prepared.