Drum's Birth

I'm going to try and write all of this down so I don't forget in the future.

I had been having prodromal labor for a little over a week. Drum was breech (again) and the contractions were moving him into a favorable position. It was a pain, but it was worth it. I figured that every contraction I had before active labor was one less one that I would have during. They were time-able and I was uncomfortable, but that was life. I figured I'd go overdue for sure since Tony was an early bird.

People kept asking when he was coming  and my crystal ball kept failing and life went on. My 39 week appointment came and went. Wednesday I tried to get work done in the studio. I refused to sit down and see how far apart the contractions were actually getting at this point. I was in denial.

Thursday morning came and Beau started getting ready for work. Tony got up and tried to kick me out of bed, so I put a pillow over my head and hid. Auds came in and I sent her right back out to ask her dad. Then.... I felt it. That unmistakable "pop" and gush. No. No, way.

I rushed to the bathroom where B came to check on me before going to work. I told him "Yeah, you're not going to work today. My water just broke." He asked if I was sure and I told him I generally don't make a habit of peeing on myself. He set off to get the kids ready while I called the midwife and the sibling doula. Half an hour later we were ready to go.

On the road I got an inquiry for maternity portraits - phone and email. I politely responded that I couldn't since I was in labor myself. And we drove. The birth center is across state lines (our state is really backwards regarding out-of-hospital births, so we had to drive about 2 hours) so we drove for a while. As we were driving through a remote area, we saw my midwife on the side of the road. She saw us and called my cell - her tire blew out.

So, we made illegal use of the "emergency vehicles only" turn arounds to go get her. We were going to the same place after all. We got Drum's car seat out, got her in, and got on the road.  About half an hour later we arrived at the birth center. We unloaded the kids and the stuff. Did a round of vitals and got to business. I did some aromatherapy, took cottonwood bark every 15 minutes, pumped about 3 or 4 times, all that fun stuff to encourage active labor. I would have had to transfer to the hospital if I didn't deliver within 24 hours, and I didn't drive across the state border for a hospital birth!

In between I watched the kids as they played with the sibling doula we hired. That was the best decision ever! The kids got to be there and be a part of the birth experience, but had entertainment so they wouldn't destroy the place. They had stickers, did chalk, went for ice cream, painted piggy banks, etc. They even covered my belly in stickers for Drum. I ate pizza and chocolate and even napped. Now, THAT's a labor experience!

I had only progressed from a 2 (which I had been at for a month) to a 4, so my midwife locked Beau and I in the birthing suite without our iPhones with the instructions to focus and visualize getting Drum in a good position - he was ROT, needed to be LOP. So, I sat there on my birthing ball and focused. And progressed to a 6. Time to get in the tub!

We filled up the tub and things really kicked off from there. I went to 10 and transition super quick. I could feel the urge to push and felt his head moving down so I told Beau to go get our midwife. So, dilation and transition was done and he was in the birth canal after 12 hours. Then came the fun part.

Twenty two and a half minutes of active pushing. Yes, you read that right. This was continuous pushing because I was hemorrhaging so much that my midwife thought the placenta was detached - which can mean bad news. So I really had to work so make sure that he wouldn't be oxygen deprived. Holy ring of fire. I remember the ring of fire with the others, but they were so small it was over in an instant. I even grunted. Once, but it was something. I am not a loud laborer. I internalize everything and you may hear me breath, but that's it. I was almost embarrassed that I did grunt, which is pretty funny in retrospect.

But, he came out without any interventions. I turned around and picked up my baby. I was so blissfully happy with the little miracle in my arms. Thankfully, the placenta was not detached, so there wasn't any problems. I did, however, hemmorage. A LOT. My midwife told the assistant that if you can shine a flashlight in the water and see the bottom, everything is okay. My water could have been the Red Sea before Moses got to it - ain't nothing was parting through that. I got kicked out of the tub.

Got in the bed and delivered the placenta, nursed, and got covered up so the kids could come in. They LOVED him and were so excited to meet him. After some bonding, we sent them out so B could cut the cord (then he got kicked out, too - he's squeamish about that stuff) and they could assess the situation. Everyone was trying to be cool, but we were working hard to prevent a hospital transfer. It took 2 vials of Pitocin and some amazing Chinese herbs to stop the bleeding. I also had 4th degree lacerations which took so many stitches that we lost count.

Once we got that taken care of, I took a shower while my midwife did the newborn exam. B got to help weigh him - 8 pounds, 10 ounces! My biggest baby by 2 pounds! He was 20 inches long, 14&1/4 head circumference, and a head of BLONDE hair!

I had to stay at the birth center for a while for monitoring to make sure I was okay, and we ended up being able to leave around 1 in the morning. Our midwife and sibling doula live by each other so they drove back together - we didn't abandon her!

We stopped once about an hour in to nurse and made it home about 3:30am. Since then I've been recovering and we've been bonding as a family. B has had me take it easy to I don't pop a suture or tear or bleed again. The kids have been their active selves and Drum has been nursing around the clock.

He nurses so much that at his postpartum home visit today he weighed in at 9 pounds. 9 pounds at not even a week old. He's a big boy!

Of course, I brought my camera to the birth center and took pictures. I even handed it over to the assistant midwife so she could get some pictures with me in them. Don't worry, there's no shots of the actual birth or hemorrhaging or stitching up. But, it's pretty sweet.