SM - Birth Stories

A natural birth in a hospital with a Midwife.
By: Dad

      It was early morning on Monday, October 13. It was around 5am and Brynn woke me up and told me she was having contractions - she had had about 3 since 4:30am - every 10 minutes or so. We got up - Brynn went to the bathroom, and I got her a croissant and some water. The contractions remained steady. We started timing around 7:30am for about an hour. We were down stairs with Brynn on the couch. At that point they were about 7 minutes apart and about 45 seconds to a minute long. There were some 'mini' contractions in between the big ones that lasted about 20 seconds or so. Brynn was worried that they weren't real and kept wanting me to go to work. I told her I wanted to 'hang out a bit longer to see what was happening'. Brynn had another croissant and some tea.

      Brynn became ensconced in the upstairs bathroom, and got settled on the toilet. Around 9am I called the midwives and spoke to Jackie. Jackie was VERY excited and told us to come over at 10:30 for a labor check. By that time the contractions started getting closer together and they were 4-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. Mom was around and helping out down stairs while I made sure brynn was keeping hydrated upstairs. Finally the time came, I got the car ready, and we jumped into the car and sped off to the Birthcenter.

      The car ride was NOT fun. Brynn got onto the mantra of "Out baby" which worked well to get her through the pain. We finally arrived at the Birthcenter and Brynn waited in the car while I went in to make sure she could go right into an office. Gail, Stephanie and Gennifer were all there waiting and had an office all ready. I zipped back to the car, and Brynn just walked right in to the office and got up on the table. Stephanie checked her out. She was at 3-4 centimeters and 100% effaced. The baby was still at -1 station - but Brynn had made some good progress. Stephanie asked us if we wanted to go to the hospital - but Brynn wanted to labor at home for a bit longer. Stephanie was OK with that - and just told me to be careful and check back in 2 hours later - around 12:30pm. We got back into the evil car and headed home.

      We got home - and asked Mom to go out for a walk. Out she went, and the dogs were really good and stayed down stairs and kept themselves out of the way. Brynn got back into the bathroom where she was comfortable. Around noon she had a bout of nausea and brought up all the water and such she had in her. She calmed down and had another 1/2 a croissant so she had something on her stomache. I called the Midwives again and spoke to Gennifer to let her know what was happening. At 12:30 I called Stephanie again to let her know too. Stephanie wanted to know if we wanted to go to the hospital yet, and Brynn wanted to wait a bit longer. I made sure Brynn was still getting hydrated and just helped her get through the contractions. Brynn set the goal of 2pm for 'going to the hospital'.

      Around 1:20pm Brynn was about ready to go, and I called Stephanie. She had called the hospital and told me that we may have to wait in Triage a bit as it was pretty busy apparently. I told Brynn and she said she wanted to stay. I said OK. 2 contractions later, she was ready to go. I called Stephanie and told her we were on her way. We got to the hospital rather quickly, though Brynn was unhappily chanting her mantra the whole way. Brynn went in and I valet-parked the car - which was REALLY stupid. I ran in and caught up with her at the elevators. We went up to the third floor and checked in.

      The check-in nurse was rather rude. Brynn was standing there obviously in active labor and the nurse was asking her questions - all of which I answered. Except for the question about the purple towel - which Brynn had brought in case she vomited in the car. They still had her social security number wrong from last time, and none of her paper work from 'pre-registration'. She finally brought us over to triage room 1, the same one we were in for the pre-term labor at 33 weeks. I noticed they had a new monitor machine. They got Brynn into the 'strechy' belly band as opposed to the belts. I goofed and forgot that Brynn wanted to labor in her own clothes. I felt really bad.

      They got through the test strip and Stephanie showed up. Thank goodness she did. She was the one consistent medical staff person during the whole experience. The triage nurse changed. The new triage nurse - Jennifer, badgered me about the vitamin K shot and asked me questions about everything - all of which were answered on the Birth plan - which she never bothered to read. She badgered Stephanie about what room and the aqua-ease tub, and she was rather loud and boisterous, which is NOT what we needed at that moment. They disappeared for a few minutes and Brynn went into the bathroom for a bit. Brynn came out and went back to the bed. Stephanie came back and told us - to our delight - that the room was ready with the portable tub and everything.

      Brynn went first down the corridor and I followed with all the stuff. We were in the corner room at the end of the hall - which was very nice and quiet. I was a little taken a-back by the hoses and the pump for the tub - which were really to help it drain. Brynn got comfortable with the room - and we got her un-dressed and into the tub. There was much hubbub with checking the baby's heartbeat - with an under-water doppler which only worked once, and then finally with the telemetry monitor - which worked much better. The nurses apparently had no clue that it was water proof. They also seemed to be having significant difficulty with getting the blood-pressure cuff to work too. All new technology - and no training to go with it. Fortunately Stephanie was patient and worked with us - she didn't force Brynn to get out of the tub when the technology failed, and figured out how to get the monitor to work.

      Stephanie got Brynn to drink some apple juice. Unfortunately it didn't stay down for too long. They had given us a little yellow curved cup in the triage room for just such an emergency - though it wouldn't have lasted long. We got the bedpan for Brynn and she filled it right up. Brynn seemed to 'enjoy' laboring in the tub. Soon she had to go to the bathroom, so I got the drain pump working - which I think Stephanie asked me to do on purpose because Jennifer seemed a little clue-less. (I heard her mention to Jennifer that "He's and Enginner"...) So we got it draining and got Brynn up and out of the tub and dried off. She was shaky from being in the tub - which was perfectly normal. She went to the bathroom - where she stayed for the rest of 1st stage and transition.

      In the bathroom - Brynn kept contracting at 2-3 minutes apart. The head nurse came in to tell us that she had to put Jennifer back in triage - and so she was replaced with Barb. More monitoring took place. A lab tech came in to take Brynn's blood - which fortunately went quickly - she got a vein on the first try! Gennifer arrived and stayed with us through most of the contractions. She was very supportive of Brynn - telling her how good her contractions were and how good she was doing. I just held her hand and let her squeeze it as much as she wanted - and told her how good she was doing. Barb was very nice - though somewhat authoritative. I think I may have upset her when I pretty much ignored her arrival. However I was completely focused on Brynn. Oh well.

      Stephanie and Gennifer were very encouraging in helping Brynn through the end of first stage and transition. Brynn wanted to go home, she wanted it to be over and done. She was going though transition, and got through it really well. Transition was over, and Brynn was out of the bathroom like a shot. She went through a few contractions by squatting into them and supporting her self by grabbing on to the edge of the portable tub. It got tough though as Brynn was getting fatigued and needed help getting back up. Stephanie suggested getting Brynn up on the bed, kneeling on the bottom half and draping over the inclined top-half. So we got Brynn up on the bed, and then the fun began.

      I was on Brynn's left, working with her top half so to speak, making sure she had water to drink and relaxed in between contractions. Gennifer was on her right for the most part, doing the same, stroking her back and helping her relax. Stephanie and Barb were getting absorbent pads placed underneath Brynn to catch her water when it broke. Before getting on the bed Brynn said she felt like she had a big bubble inside - which was her amniotic sack protruding from the cervix. After being on the bed for a few contractions, during one of them, Brynn let out a higher-pitched but short "ooh!" - and the absorbent pads were suddenly covered with a clear fluid. Brynn's water had broken. She recalled being able to feel it and even hear it - though all I heard was her.

      After this, it begins to swim together. First, Stephanie was working with warm compresses on Brynn's perineum, which Brynn asked to be stopped. She felt a burning sensation around her vagina and perineum. Stephanie and Gennifer switched off, and Gennifer was getting all set up with various medical paraphanalia (i.e. clamps, scissors, large aluminum bowls for the placenta and cord blood). Then they remembered that I wanted to help 'catch'. They asked if I wanted gloves - which I politely declined. It was a little while before much more started to happen so I worked on Brynn's top half again.

      I kept making sure that Brynn had water to drink - she had a few sips between each contraction. It became pretty clear that she couldn't do the bottle, so I switched to a cup with a straw which worked much better. As we were running low on water I asked the nurse to get some more. Brynn continued contracting, and started to get really hot and sweaty. I got a damp cloth from the nurse and dabbed her head - helping to clear the sweat and cool her off. She was in for a real workout. She was grasping the top edge of the bed, and sliding down almost to a hands-and-knees position with each contraction. The look on her face was just one of pure, intense, labor, pain and hard work. The term 'Labor' is definitely no mis-nomer. She got through each contraction with a minimum of noise - just grunting mostly - if anything. It was amazing - she was so strong and so determined.

      Soon, the baby's head began to crown. Gennifer told me to look - and even said I could touch his head. It was this little ghostly bluish-white long oval shape pushing its way down through Brynn's vagina. It would come out and go back up a little with each contraction. After a few of these though, it finally stayed and didn't retract upwards. It was slimy to the touch - being covered with amniotic fluid and so on - but smooth and firm.

      After a few more contractions, his head started to come out. First I saw an ear, then his nose and mouth. Gennifer tried to suction his mouth a little bit. The next contraction and his whole head was out, and he started to make noise. Then his body came right out afterward. It all happened so quickly. All I really have are snapshots in my memory now. The next thing I knew he was out and I was holding him by his chest, he was face down and crying. Brynn was a little stunned that he was out and she was a little confused. They got her turned over on the bed and I put our son on her chest. They swooped in with towels to dry him off, and there he was. Born at 7:11pm EDT.

      Brynn and I were both flooded with emotions of joy, amazement, and perhaps a little confusion. It was so amazing and so quick. Fortunately the medical team reminded me of the camera earlier on, so I had it out and took a few pictures. Stephanie was nice enough to photograph the three of us together. During the last bit as Brynn was in the final stages of pushing, the nurses were switched again. Barb was replaced by Patricia during the 7pm shift change. It wasn't a big deal at that point though, as all the nurse was doing was keeping the record. I heard Barb bring Patricia up to speed on what had been happening. Then she left. Also during this period the nurse was preparing the warming bed. Unfortunately there was some commotion over this because: firstly it made a loud high-pitched beep - I assume to say it was ready. Also - they ended up switching it out as we had one from the ER when we needed just a normal one. Needless to say the incessant beeping did not add to the experience. Especially as it continued after Asher was born into the 'moment of silence'.

      After Asher was born, there were still some loose ends. First, the umbilical cord, which had not yet been clamped - was waiting for the cord to stop pulsing. Once it did so, Gennifer clamped it, and I cut it. It was strangely a happy and yet sad moment. It was happy as it meant Asher was born and he was now his own separate being. It was sad in that I was cutting the last direct physical connection between him and his mother. Then, the placenta had to come out. It had already detached from the uterine wall and needed a little cord traction to help get it out all the way. It took Brynn another contraction or two to get it out, but out it came. It was a large mass of tiny dark red-brown blood vessels. It was about a foot in diameter and a couple inches thick. It had many striations like those on your hand - as though it were in many different puzzle pieces all woven together underneath. The amniotic sack came out too and it was basically a stretchy translucent membrane. It was all kinda cool to see - but also weird to think that that stuff - along with Asher, were inside of Brynn, and had been grown by her body.

      Brynn was in a bit of a daze during most of this - as she was still recovering from labor. It was such an intense experience physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was as though she were in a trance-state she was concentrating so hard. We found out around this time that Asher had had his first bowel movement all over Brynn's right arm and chest as I handed him over to her right after he was born. The nurses quickly got her cleaned off though. Gennifer announced that Brynn had a minor tear that didn't require stitches - (she had to search for it in order to even know it was there!) thank goodness!

      Gennifer and Stephanie posed for a picture with us which the nurse was nice enough to take. At that point, the midwives departed. The nurse disappeared for a moment, and it suddenly became very quiet. The room was filled with... us. The three of us. Asher was looking up at his mom, and we were looking down at him - the moment slowly sinking in to the three of us that we were now... the three of us, a family.

      The moment was shortly punctured by the very quiet and polite return of the nurse. It was time for all the official stuff - weighing and measuring the baby, and all the necessary paperwork the nurse was required to fill out. There was a magic little room off to the side of the bed where the warming tray, the scale, and so on were kept. Asher was handed off to the nurse, and she placed him in the warmer.

      I was looking at him upside-down from the top end - lookinng at his head. I was talking to him - he was fussing and not sure what was going on. I put my pinky fingers in for him to grab and hold on to. To my surprise, he started to do pull-ups! He was so strong - he was starting to pull him self across the warming tray. His hands were so small, their width was barely half the length of my pinky fingers. He looked into my eyes, searching, but comforted by my presence. The nurse then measured his length - 21 and ¾ inches long! Then she quickly took him and placed him in the scale - he was not happy about this. But there it was - captured in electrons - 7lbs 13oz.! She also took his foot-prints on a special certificate, and then placed that along with his measuring tape and a few other odds and ends into a bag for us.

      Then the nurse swaddled him up all nice and warm, and handed him to Brynn. She suggested Brynn might like to take a shower. So, Brynn got up - came over and kissed me, got me to sit in the rocking chair, handed me the baby, then walked into the shower.

      And so, here I was, holding this little bundle in my arms, with his little blue hand-knit hat - a gift from the hospital, a little face staring at me from his blanket coccoon. I began to rock with him, and he quickly fell asleep. It was such an amazingly perfect moment. I felt joy, wonder, amazement, pride, relief. As with all truly good moments it lasted for a long time.

      After Brynn returned from the shower, she let me continue to hold the baby until the nurse returned to usher us down to the second floor post-partum recovery wing. Brynn got to hold the baby and ride down in a wheel-chair, I got to walk - as was appropriate. Once we got to the second floor, the security nurse checked our id-tags with the baby's - several times. We were confirmed to officially belong together and were handed off to the second floor.

      Once there, there were some minor confusions from the nursing staff about who we were, who Asher was, what color the sky was on Venus, and whether or not Asher was being circumcised. There was also some confusion around what was considered edible in the food department. So it was at this point I left the hospital to go and retrieve Wendy's, and call the entire planet on my cell phone. By then it was about 11:30pm. I called everyone I could -Brynn's parents, mine, our grandparents, Aunt Ann. It was a very surreal experience, driving around in my car, telling my parents they were now grandparents, and driving through a perfectly normal Wendy's drive-through as though nothing special had just happened.

      Of course, in order to find my car in the first place, I had to go through the emergency room and ask security where my car had been valet-parked earlier. Fortunately it was only a short walk to the car. Unfortunately I had to find my way back in to the normal part of the hospital from the ER entrance carrying Wendy's takeout. But I eventually made it and found my way back to Brynn's private recovery room.

      Brynn was on the phone with her family, Asher was sleeping in the isolette. Brynn ate her Wendy's burger and frosty, and we got ready for bed. Less than 24 hours later, we were hopping in the car to drive home, wishing of course to get out of range of the hospital as quickly as the law would allow. Asher is now 2 ½ years old, and a wonderful son and older brother.