Where to begin?? I wasn’t very good about documenting my
pregnancy with Rocky. Besides some
placenta previa that quickly resolved and a kidney stone, this pregnancy was
pretty uneventful. That was such a HUGE
relief, considering the roller coaster of our last pregnancy and eventually losing our precious little girl in July 2011.
Our baby was due on September 24,
2012. When that day came and went I was
a little disappointed it didn’t end in a baby arriving. At that point, I was definitely feeling VERY ready to have the baby. I felt so huge and uncomfortable!
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40 weeks pregnant
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The next day I had a doctor’s appointment and
at this point, I was convinced I would go 2 weeks overdue. For the past three weeks I had been 2 cm dilated and about 70% effaced. While this was a little bit of progress, it hadn't changed in three weeks. At that appointment I discussed with the
midwife different options for induction.
Since Caleb and I had decided we wanted to have our baby “naturally”, we wanted to postpone any induction as long as possible. To maintain sanity, I kept telling myself that I still had
another two weeks before baby Merrell would come. No rush!
That week I continued to go to
work. A lot of my coworkers kept asking when the baby was due, and it was fun to say "yesterday". I knew that if I
stayed at home I would go crazy with anticipation, which would delay the labor
and delivery even more. I decided to
live my life as normally as possible to help the time pass.
Thursday, September 27th,
I woke up to a “bloody show”. This got
me pretty excited, and I knew it was a sign labor would be coming soon. I went to work as normal, but as the morning
passed I could feel my contractions changing.
Braxton-Hicks contractions had been my companion for the past several
weeks, but I could tell these were a little
different. They felt more
cramp-like. Again, this got me excited
and I knew labor was beginning. I tried
to stay at work as long as I could, but I was seriously distracted by the
prospect that my baby would be coming soon.
Around 11 am I decided I wasn’t being productive at all and it would be
better to go home and get some rest while I still could. It’s a good thing I did because this was the
last sleep I would get for a LONG time.
By Thursday evening the
contractions were becoming much more regular.
Around 9 p.m. they were strong enough to make me stop and pay
attention. Through the night the
contractions were about 7 minutes apart. I didn’t really get any sleep that night. Not because they were painful, but because I was so excited to finally be in labor! Despite the lack of sleep, I still felt rested in the morning.
In preparation for our labor and
delivery, Caleb and I took a Hypnobirthing class. This sounds super strange to a lot of people, I know. It's not as weird as it sounds, I promise! I had learned about Hypnobirthing in Nursing
School, and decided a few years ago that I would want to use this technique for
my labor and delivery. I was a little
nervous Caleb wouldn’t want to go the Hypnobirthing route, but I was
very surprised after taking the class to find he was more into it than I
was! Since July we had been practicing
the relaxation techniques our Hypnobirthing class taught. This mostly consisted of deep breathing
exercises and Caleb using guided imagery to help me enter a deep, relaxed state. I’m VERY grateful I took this class because
more than anything, it gave me a confidence about my impending labor
and delivery. Instead of being scared an anxious, I was empowered and excited!
On Friday morning I knew I was in
early labor, so Caleb stayed home from work to be my labor support. We started the morning by going for a
walk. I was pretty anxious to get the
labor progressing. On the walk we would
stop about every 7 minutes during my contractions. I would close my eyes, lean on Caleb, and try
to relax as much as possible.
As the day progressed I could
feel the contractions becoming more intense, although they weren’t getting
closer than 7 minutes apart. This was a
little frustrating. By around 3 p.m. I
started to feel like things were really changing, so I called the midwives
office to see what they thought. They
said I could come in to get checked and that would help us decide whether or
not it was time to go to the hospital.
We got to the office around 4 p.m.
The midwife checked me, and I was now 4 cm dilated and fully
effaced. Yay! Definitely progress! She said I could either go to the hospital
now or I could labor at home for a few more hours. Caleb and I decided to go home and wait it
out a little longer.
By the time we got home I was
definitely feeling the contractions grow in intensity. When they came, it took a lot of concentration
to get through them. I started getting
bugged by noises and other distractions.
Caleb and I tried watching a movie, but the noises were way too
annoying. My contractions were still
about 7 minutes apart, but I was feeling more and more ready to head to the
hospital. By 6:30 p.m. I decided it was time, and off we went! While I was uncomfortable, I was in such a good mood and so excited!
We got to the hospital and checked in around 7 p.m. The nurse
checked me, and at this point, I was about 4.5 cm dilated. It was a little bit of progress, but not
much. After getting settled, I just
continued through the contractions. I
was feeling like I was doing pretty well with relaxing. They were intense, but I felt like I could
handle it. As the evening progressing,
things definitely intensified. The
midwife of call, Claudia, was busy helping with another delivery, and finally
came and checked on us around 10 p.m.
When she checked me I was a good 5+ cm. Again, a little bit of progress!
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| Laboring, Hypnobirthing Style |
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| Caleb, the Great Hypnobirthing Coach! |
As the night went on, I was feeling
more and more need for labor support.
Caleb did a really good job at putting counter pressure on my knees and
my lower back to help with the labor discomforts. He was so great at quickly responding to my
needs when a contraction came.
Around 12:30 a.m. I was really
beginning to struggle. I was so
exhausted and having problems relaxing through the contractions. Just in time, another room opened up with a
laboring tub. Claudia was so great at
pulling strings to get us over there as quickly as possible. Getting into the laboring tub made a world of a
difference. The moment I got into the
water, I felt a huge relief! While
the contractions were still very intense, I felt like I could at least relax
between them. Once I got into the water,
I didn’t want to leave.
After about 2 hours Claudia
checked me again. At this point I was
about 7 cm dilated and my contractions were still between 5-7 minutes
apart. While this was progress, it wasn’t
moving as quickly as we would like. So,
we decided to break my water and see if that helped. I was sad to get out of the water, but it was
necessary to keep the labor progressing.
At about 2 p.m. Claudia broke my
water, which brought me to 8 cm right away.
The baby’s head was nice and low, which definitely gave me the urge to push. Claudia said I was fine to push if
I felt the urge. So, around this time I
started pushing, and around this time I began to lose it. Man, were those contractions intense! The next few hours were really a blur to
me. I remember being incredibly
exhausted and barely able to focus.
After about an hour of this, it
came time to really begin pushing.
Unfortunately, my contractions still weren’t coming more than 5-7 minutes
apart. (Normally at this point they are about 2 minutes apart, one on top of another). Any progress I made bringing the
baby down with one contraction was undone because of the length of time before
the next one came. This was very
frustrating! For the next 1.5-2 hours, I
pushed as hard as I could. Caleb was on
one side of me and Claudia was on the other.
Both were helping me hold my legs and applying counter pressure as I
pushed. This pushing really took a lot
out of me! I was so exhausted at this
point, I couldn’t think straight and could barely follow instructions. As the time passed, I began to think I would
need a C-Section. There is no way I
would be able to push this baby out! I
began to panic, and I could feel myself losing it. Because of the physical strain of pushing,
the fatigue, and the anxiety, my heart rate was about 144 bpm, which was
the same as the baby’s. I had to put on an oxygen mask because the baby's heart rate was dropping a little bit as well. With
every pushed I was praying it would be the last. I remember asking several times, "Is he almost here?" and "How many more pushes?" Finally, at 4:48 a.m. on 9/29/2012, I
delivered little Rocky!
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| Rocky Samuel Merrell, right after birth |
Or not so little Rocky! This boy was a good 8 lbs and 8 oz and 21
inches long. How did I fit him in my and
how on earth did I get him out? Especially because Rocky had his little fist by his face as he was delivered :)
Right after Rocky was delivered, the nurses quickly wiped him off and put him on my chest to hold. I have never been so relieved in my whole life, both physically and emotionally. This delivery was definitely the most physically exhausting/strenuous/intense thing I had ever done. I had heard that having a baby was an athletic event, but I didn't really understand until going through it myself. Rocky was a beautiful, perfect baby, making all I had gone through for the past 9 months definitely worth it. I was so happy to have him in my arms, finally.
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| Claudia, our Amazing Midwife |
I am so grateful we decided to have a midwife assist our birth. Claudia was great, and was at our side from 10 p.m. until Rocky was delivered. You don't get the same treatment with most MDs. She was such a wonderful labor support and definitely helped me keep it together through the most difficult parts.
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| Rocky meeting Dad |
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| An Hour After Delivery |
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| Brand New Baby! |
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Sucking Thumb
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| Nap Time! |
Considering this was my first baby, things went pretty well. I only tore a little bit, and required 3 stitches. This was a huge relief, because I know some first time moms get torn apart! (My midwife gave me a great tip to help prevent tearing. Let me know if you would like in on the secret :)
After things calmed down and we had some time to ourselves, Caleb was exhausted and decided to take nap. You would think I would be tired and want some sleep, especially because I hadn't really sleep in two days. But, I was definitely on a part-partum high and wanted to tell the whole world that our little boy had arrived! Caleb was able to sleep, while I stayed awake and thought about our new little miracle.
More to come on journey since birth...
