Bell's Corner: August 2009

Around 4:20 on the morning of August 17th (my due date) I woke up to my water breaking and quickly woke up Cass and shared the news. I took my temperature and it was within my normal range, my water was clear and I felt my son move and so I knew that everything was okay. I tried to go back to sleep since I had just gone to bed less than an hour before this happened. At 6:46 am we called my mother-in-law and let her know what was going on and she prayed over Cass and I that we would have a smooth delivery.

At this point my contractions were not regular and I still doubted whether or not they were actually contractions as I didn’t feel them in my back and they didn’t wrap around my stomach. Instead I felt them low in my pelvis and they felt more like menstrual cramps. I had had problems sleeping before this and was getting ready to take a walk to help labor progress but when we spoke with the midwife on call at 7:10, Melissa suggested that we sleep instead of walking. Miraculously Cass and I were able to fall asleep and I would wake up about every ten minutes or so during a strong contraction. (It was great that we were able to get some extra sleep this way and that I was able to sleep right through the more “minor” contractions at this time). Cass used the contraction master website to keep track and at this time my intense contractions were not regular as they varied between 7, 9, 10 and 11 minutes apart.

I would wake Cass up when I awoke and he would help me get through the contractions using the visualization that we had practiced.

My contractions started to become more regular and so Cass called Melissa and at 11:41 am we got the go ahead for me to get in the tub.

During this period of time we continued to check my temperature every few hours and it continued to be normal. I don’t remember why but at some point I got out of the tub. I discovered during this time period that I liked standing and leaning over the railing during contractions. Cass would come and massage my lower back, which felt great and made it easier for me to relax. My contractions were shorter in duration (from beginning to peak) but they were becoming more and more intense. Although they were not lasting a minute in length to the peak of the contraction, my midwife had told Cass that we would know when it was time to go. Finally at 3:19 Cass called Melissa and told her that I wanted to come in. She told him that she would get the tub ready and see us in a little while. At this point my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds. Before leaving I had an especially painful contraction for which I bent over the railing. Jake, our big black cat, was so sweet and came to check and comfort me. He circled my legs and reached up to me with his paws almost as if he was trying to take my pain away.

We got in the car about 3:40 and the trip to the birth center was awful. Being forced to sit through the contractions was the worst feeling. I kept telling dh that I was fighting the contractions to which he would just tell me to relax. I told him that I couldn’t while I was sitting in the car. At the traffic lights I begged him to let me get out of the car, but dh said no as he didn’t want me to get hurt. We finally arrived at the birth center a little after 4pm. When we started walking toward the door I became upset as I was scared that we were going to get sent home while at the same time I was scared about pushing. I told my midwife when I saw her that I was a little emotional and I cried for about a minute. She said that it was okay and gave me a hug. We went in the room and she did an internal and to my surprise I was 7 cm dilated and 90% effaced – so we were definitely staying.

It took a long time to fill up the tub in order to get it to the right temperature as the water had to be between 98 and 100 degrees. In the meantime Cass was helping me get through the contractions by rubbing my back or cupping my face in his hands while tickling/rubbing my check and jaw gently. I spent this time at first sitting on a birthing ball and leaning on his lap and later standing during the contractions.

We communicated really well during labor with me telling him what I needed and him meeting my needs beautifully. The nurse also gave me a great suggestion about rubbing the sides of my belly during the contractions, which gave me something to do with my hands and really helped to relax me.

I got out of the tub at one point to go to the bathroom and I still had pains even when I was not contracting. Melissa thought that maybe the baby was on a nerve and she suggested that I walk the hall and go up and down the stairs sideways to try and move the baby into a better position. This served to make the contractions much more intense and frequent. Cass was a big help in motivating me to continue to do the stairs as well as helping me relax during the contractions. Shortly thereafter, Melissa came up and checked me right around 8pm and said that I was 9 ½ cm dilated. She offered to break the rest of my bag of waters. I was unsure if I wanted this done as I was afraid that it would make my contractions more intense. She said that it was whatever I wanted. I said that I would let her know. I got back in the tub but I didn’t have as much relief as I thought that I would have.

Cass continued to reassure and comfort me during this time. I kept on “telling on myself” when I would sporadically push for a second. I couldn’t help myself and I wanted to get checked to see if I was fully dilated but at the same time I didn’t want to get out and lay on the bed. When it was only Cass and I in the room I yelled and said, “I want to push! I want to push!” Shortly after this point the nurse and midwife came in the room and something like a wave came over my body and I PUSHED. I heard a pop and the rest of my water broke. Melissa checked the water and saw that it was full of vernix but no meconium. I started pushing around 9pm. At one point Melissa told me to push even though I did not have a contraction. I did not know anything was wrong until I heard it in dh’s voice. The baby’s heartbeat had gone down to 80 bpm. After he moved past the part in my pelvis that was constricting him his heartbeat returned to normal and he was fine.

After pushing for what seemed like forever, my son’s head came out and I was told to wait. I then asked if I could push him out and Melissa told me no to reach down and grab my baby. It took me a second to register what she had said and so Melissa started to grab him and I quickly took over. At 10:25 our beautiful baby boy, Matthew Isaiah was born.

I will never forget how his skin felt. I didn’t know this at the time but Matthew was born compound presentation (with his right hand next to his eye). His little hand and arm actually shot out before his head did. Melissa kept on checking to see if the cord was pulsing and when it stopped Cass actually surprised me by cutting the cord.

Cass checking to make sure that Matthew was a boy.

Cass holding his son for the first time.

Matthew getting his vitals checked.

Cass and I went away this past weekend on our Babymoon, also known as our last vacation before the baby's arrival. We went to Ocean City, Maryland, which is about a 2 and a half hour drive from our house.

This is a picture of Cass and I being silly. It rained on our way down and so it took us a lot longer to arrive than we had anticipated.

These images are all of these beautiful sand creations that this one man makes on the boardwalk. I don't know how long he has been doing them, but they have been there for as long as I can remember. He changes the images each week and alongside his labor of love he writes some of his favorite bible passages.

A trip to the beach would not be complete without an opportunity to eat our way down the boardwalk. This was a family tradition that I grew up with and Cass eagerly embraced it as well. Our first stop this year was for some wonderful pizza at the Dough Roller. We then went to Thrashers for some french fries. We were really surprised by the line as it is was quite long especially considering the fact that it was before 6 pm.

I wanted a few fries "Maryland style" so some of them had vinegar on them and the others had Old Bay Seasoning.

After enjoying some french fries we made our way down to Fishers for some good ole' caramel popcorn.

Following our popcorn excursion, we walked up to the Kite Loft to look around at the amazing and zany kites. By this time we were both tired so we decided to head back to the car. We still had one last stop to make on our trip of gluttony but luckily for us, they have more than one location.

And so we arrived at Dumsers. Normally, we get a milkshake, but we decided to forgo the lines and the heat by sitting inside. We both opted for small sundaes and boy were they delicious!