Birth Story- super long!

Corban's Birth Story probably begins at week 37. I had my appointments on Fridays afternoons, after my Chinese class- my doctor's last office appointment of the week. I was already dilated to 1 cm, the baby had dropped and the head was getting nice and cozy down there. After my appointment I had gone to Costco- it's right next to my doctor's office. I wanted to start stocking up and getting ready for the baby (nesting was in full force by this time and I really get into it.) I hauled all these heavy drinks and cans into my cart and it was getting to be dinner time and I hadn't eaten much that day. I started to have some painful contractions. It was a bit scary because I didn't feel at all prepared so I went home. When I got home I couldn't even put any of the stuff away but had to lay down on the couch and the contractions didn't go away. They continued throughout the night waking me up (which hadn't ever happened to me before) but magically by the morning there were gone with no help at all.

That false labor experience helped kick my butt into gear and nesting became super extreme. I hurried and got all my papers and assignments done for school (except for one that I was having a super hard time with- I told Heavenly Father that I could have the baby without finishing this one, I didn't mind- and I just barely finished it last night and turned it in late!!)

We had just got pictures for Ariana done so I also had to get some new picture frames to fit some of her pictures (plus our new house has more wall space than our old apartment so I had been meaning to fill it for awhile.) This led to a frame search and then eventually to redecorating and moving pictures into almost every room of the house- even three of the bathrooms. Reuben was not so happy with me because I needed him to help me measure and nail and put the larger pictures up.

The weather had also been changing at last and I felt that I better put away those last Christmas decorations. (Don’t worry, it’s a common thing here to have Christmas decorations up while there is still snow on the ground- I saw a ton of houses that still had wreaths on their doors in March!) It was mainly a matter of changing the pine garland that I had above the counters with something a bit more spring-like; this was something that I didn’t feel comfortable with when it was still freezing outside.

Anyhow, I got done with all of these projects on Friday afternoon, ending with doing my Chinese oral final in advance. Reuben had got out of work early that day- he is on a slower and easier rotation and had decided to go see a movie. I wasn’t having any contractions by that time and I actually felt great and really alive that day, but I felt that I really needed to know how long he was going to be gone and exactly where he would be. Generally I felt that there was something a bit special about that day in all.

During my Chinese class I finally got smart and sat by the window instead of sweating and panting in another part of the classroom (the building is really old and there is no A/C.) I remember thinking that I probably figured this out a bit too late and that this day would be the first and last day that I would be sitting there. After class I talked with a freshman classmate. He always asks weird questions about the pregnancy- it’s a totally foreign concept for these kids. I told him something about contractions and that they weren’t a big deal, in fact, I had had 5 during class. Don’t worry, they don’t always mean that you’re going into labor, I said confidently.

Afterwards I thought about it- 5 contractions in 50 minutes- that’s one every 10 minutes.

After class I hurried to my doctor’s appointment and in the 20 minute drive I had 3 more contractions. I got to the office and there was a ton of people still. I waited for 45 minutes and had 5 more contractions that were increasingly painful. Finally I told the receptionist about it, and that they were starting to be painful. The nurses seemed excited, especially one hyper nurse in particular who joked about putting me in a wheelchair and wheeling me to the hospital nextdoor. (which unfortunately wasn’t the hospital that I was going to deliver in- ours was the same private hospital company but in downtown Saint Paul, St. Joseph’s). The nurses hooked me up to some monitors to help chart my progress. I sat in a lazyboy chair for another 40 minutes and had regular and painful contractions. I started calling for a babysitting and called Reuben to get his bag ready. The doctor came in and told me that he believed me, I wasn’t lying about having contractions. He checked me and I was dilated to 3 cm and mostly effaced. He said that he could feel that this was probably it and I could feel it too, but was still scared that it wouldn’t be it and I would feel stupid. The doctor said I could go home into the contractions started getting closer to 5 minutes apart.

After my appointment I went to Costco again and got some healthy and fast food to eat (mostly fruit and some frozen pizzas.) This time I didn’t worry about lifting any heavy objects- if I was in labor anyway it couldn’t hurt!! I got gas from Costco gas and went home.

When I got home we ate and packed the car and waited around for a bit longer. The contractions were still regular but less painful! I grabbed Ariana, our toddler and ran up and down the stairs for a few minutes until I felt better about everything. We finally took Ariana to the babysitters once we were pretty certain that it was labor and made it to the hospital. We got lost on our way to labor and delivery and I was carrying half the bags so that detour helped the labor progress a bit more. Still when we checked in the staff said that it didn’t look like I was in labor. I knew that too but didn’t want to be sent home embarrassed, especially when we already had a babysitter!!! (Thanks Annie!)

They got me all ready and put me in the room. They checked my cervix and I was still a 3! But I was still have regular contractions that were once again painful so they said that I could stay and maybe just get in the back while I waited. I got in the bath and stayed in for at least 45 minutes. At first the water made the contractions almost go away, but by the time I got out I really had to breath to make it through. They checked me again and I was a 7! They got the epidural ready but it takes awhile. Once they had got the anesthesiologist and had got the fluids in me, it was getting late in the game. The anesthesiologist was not so good and he used an older technique of positioning to get the needle in. It was probably the most physically uncomfortable (and painful) that I have ever been. I had to sit and lean forward with pillows on my lap trying to hold still through the worse pain I have ever endured. I felt like vomiting and fainting and screaming all at once. The first two didn’t happen (no throw up and no passing out) but I screamed my fair share. The nurses kept on saying to breath but I hadn’t even thought about Lamaze once this pregnancy because I thought that the epidural would make it obsolete, like last time. The anesthesiologist was taking forever. When he finally said that it was going in, I had a super painful contraction and my water broke. It scared the living daylights out of me- just like I had sat on a warm water balloon. Although my water broke last time too, I guess that it was more of a leak. This time it was all of it at once. I started crying and pretty much going crazy. There was no way that he was going to be able to finish the epidural and I was in so much pain that I couldn’t hold that awkward position anymore. They mentioned an interthecal and I went for it. The doctor got it all ready and this time the needle went right in. I felt so much better within moments. Less than 5 minutes later the doctor came in. He checked my cervix, a 10 and 100% effaced. He told me to get ready to start pushing. This time pushing wasn’t so tough. I asked for a mirror to help my motivation. It was about 5 contractions before I got his head out. The rest of him just slid out too. It was 1:32 am. He had a strong cry.

Last time I totally cried when Ariana came out, perhaps because for the first time ever, I was a mother. This time I didn’t cry at all. In fact, my emotion was just mostly excitement and relief. I held him and he was super cute. Soon after I fed him and he was super good at it right off.

Before me knew it, Reuben and I had fallen asleep. We only slept a few hours that night. The night after Reuben was at home and I slept only a few hours too, waking up every 30 minutes or so. The third night was the same. I threw up from jet lag that next morning. After a couple days at home he got into a super awesome schedule. Since then he has been waking up every 3 hours, eating and then going back to bed. He sleeps all day but usually has one or two wakeful periods where he opens his eyes and looks around- at lunch and then after Ariana goes to bed. He’s a good baby and a real joy to have in the family.
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