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Thursday, September 09, 2010

Her birth story


I know that not everyone is interested in birth stories, but I wanted to get it written down before I forgot the details. Baby girl is now 9 days old (!!) and we're finally settling in to a bit of a routine. Her bilirubin levels had gone back up to a 20 and she was admitted to the hospital overnight last Friday. We spent 24 hours there and then got to bring her home again. On Tuesday she had her last heel stick and is now home for good.

Here's the story of her birth, sorry for the formatting.

My water broke at work just before 2pm on Tuesday, August 31st. I had just been home for lunch with no signs that I should expect to have a baby that day. I had my first contraction a few
minutes after 2 and texted my back up friend to come get me at 2:09. I called Mike, who was about 45 minutes away from town. I told work I was leaving and pretty much left immediately. Brianna picked
me up at work, and I got to the hospital at 2:50. By the time we got there I was contracting pretty hard, but still maybe 3 minutes apart. Got checked in and back to the room, skipping
labor triage.  Immediately got changed and into bed, the nurse checked me and I was already at a 7. She said I wasn't going to have time to get an epidural and that I
shouldn't freak out but that things were likely to get really hectic
around there. Contractions got closer and closer together, with very little rest in between. Just minutes
later I was at a 9. She said I could have an iv drug if I wanted it
and I did, but in the end it didn't matter.

My dr got there about 3:30 and I was already wanting to push. Brianna
called Mike at 3:36 to ask where he was- in the parking lot! She told him
to hurry. (I have very little memory of any of this part. Brianna was a total rock star answering my phone and returning texts and all that.) He ran in after pushing started. I really freaked out a bit,
thought I wouldn't be able to do it, and instead of finding some kind
of wild strength like you read about just felt crazy and wild. In the
end it was maybe 10 minutes of pushing (uh, I think?), but I didn't find that "place" of calm and strength and all that, it just hurt like hell. She was born at 3:47, less than an hour after getting to the hospital and no more than two hours after it all started. Mike made it in the room by 6 minutes. It was crazy.

The Pirate's labor was about 12 hours long, induced after my water broke but contractions didn't happen.
The Bug's labor was about 5.5 hours long, following the same pattern as the Girl's- water broke, immediate contractions- but not quite so fast and hard, and I got to have an epidural.
Baby Girl- 2 hours start to finish, no epidural, fairly pointless iv drug (made me briefly loopy, but did not give any pain relief.)
If I needed another reason not to have a fourth child, it would be because I don't want to have a baby in the car! I'm really glad that I wasn't any farther from the hospital and that someone was able to take me in right away. I'd never have been able to drive myself and if I'd waited for Mike I'd never have made it in time.

Anyone else have experience with a super fast birth?  While I expected it to be quick, I really never considered the lack of drugs. I know that some people choose to go drug free, but that is so not for me, at least not on purpose!


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27 comments:

  1. Gah, I am so far behind on everything and I missed that you had your baby! Congrats to you! I am glad I saw on Twitter!

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  2. Good heavens! At least Baby is here safe and sound and you are okay. Enjoy. :)

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  3. I had a pretty fast, easy delivery. I didn't have drugs because I never needed them. That's the way to have a baby, in my opinion!

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  4. WOW! She didn't wait did she? She is adorable and I know that you are happy. Congrats!

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  5. When my second son was born, I waited so long for the contractions to get regular that I never made it to the hospital. Born at home. With my kids, when the water broke the head crowned, 1 push and hello baby!!

    She is adorable by the way. Enjoy her, there is such a difference with a girl. At least I think so, 3 boys and a girl for me.

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  6. Oh my, this is so weird because I had a very similar experience. I went in and instantly started dialating and by the time that they did give me an epidural it was too late and they explained that it wasn't going to work in time. No drugs is no fun and I didn't find my happy place either. I did survive though :) and it was a definite reminder that I'm done having anymore children. She is beautiful by the way!!
    Good luck with everything and keep those pictures coming!

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  7. OMG, Elisabeth! At home! I will NOT have a 4th, nope not chancing that!

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  8. Wooo hooo! You go girl, you are a rock star!

    I am totally with you, I wouldn't want to do it without drugs either. Of course, both of mine were C-Sections due to complications, so I've never had a choice! I'm glad it all went well and that she is home and healthy. She is gorgeous!

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  9. Wow, that nine months went by fast! :) Yes, I've had super fast births, in fact, with my second, it was 10 min. after arriving at the hospital, and they told me the same thing as you "no time for an epidural!" I freaked, but did fine and after that (for #3) did it that way on purpose. But for #4 I freaked again, and got it after all. I've done two with (#1 also) and two without, but all of them were pretty fast.

    Congratulations!

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  10. Congratulations, she's beautiful!!! <3

    I had a really fast birth- got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors at 10:45 (I asked what time it was). Walked down the hall, got to the room, changed into a gown and felt pushy. Ds was born at 11:27. I told my dh if he and I have a child together (he's my 2nd husband), he needs to learn how to catch the baby, just in case! :) No drugs for me either, but I didn't want them, and honestly, it was uncomfortable but it didn't hurt. I puked for nine straight months, though, and the pregnancy ruined my teeth, so I got my pain later on at the dentist. ;)

    Enjoy that delicious little baby! <3

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  11. Aww, thank you -- I LOVE birth stories!! My birth wasn't quick (I guess first ones aren't, usually). But I think I emailed you about a friend I know who recently delivered in her car. I'm a little freaked about it happening! Because I did get to the pushing stage pretty quickly -- that stage just lasted forever because he was posterior positioned and never turned. I will try to go all natural again, though you never know what will happen. I laughed about you talking about a place of peace and calm. During the final pushing, I kept saying how much my back hurt, and the midwife finally said, "You know what will make it stop hurting? Just push the baby out!" So I did, and the whole time I said, "ow! ow! ow! ow! My back!" lol. Congratulations again.

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  12. Holy smokes--that's one of the fastest labor and deliveries ever! I have a friend that was 45 mins. start to finish...with her first child! To say that she was nervous when she got pregnant the second time is an understatement! Baby is adorable--congratulations!

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  13. 2 hours! Holy crap. She's absolutely gorgeous, and I love hearing birth stories. How great to have such a wonderful birth partner and that your husband made it just in time!

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  14. This is amazing Lisa! Thanks so much for sharing and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

    Kara

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  15. I LOVE birth stories! =)
    Congratulations once again on your adorable little baby girl. xo

    I'm glad you and Lauren have a happy, healthy birth story. I studied the Bradley method of childbirth for my second baby and was SO determined to have a natural birth--no drugs, no IV, etc. and was thrilled to have had a quick, intervention-free delivery with her. Needless to say, with a fast, drug-free birth, I'm pretty sure that happy place isn't until the second they're out. LOL! But so empowering and thrilling-- I'd do it that way again and again.

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  16. Crazy!! Thanks for sharing that! Since I want kids in the future I'm very interested in this stuff. She is so beautiful!! Glad you two are doing ok!

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  17. Wow! That makes my head spin, and I'm sure it did yours, too. Glad it worked out and that he got there in time, if just barely!

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  18. I want to squish her cheeks, by the way.

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  19. Wow, that was fast!! She is so beautiful!

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  20. Well, you know I'm interested in your daughter's birth story! :-) My mother nearly had my brother in the parking lot at the hospital--he was her second. She was in much longer labor when she carried me. I here it goes faster with each successive child, so I imagine mine might last awhile? Not looking forward to that part. LOL

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  21. OH CONGRATS!!!!

    I had fast labors too! 1.5 hours and 3 hours, start to finish.

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  22. Lisa, She's gorgeous! I wanted to just stop by and say congratulations!!!

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  23. That was super fast! She just didn't want to wait one second longer. I am so glad you guys got to the hospital in time and that Mike was there was the delivery. Must have been absolutely crazy!!

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  24. Congratulations!! We were away during all your excitement, and I missed the news. She is an absolute doll!

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  25. I'm incredibly behind in reading blogs, so forgive me for being so late, but congratulations!!!!!!

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