Wesley’s Birth Story

Saturday, June 28^th, 2008

Just after midnight I started to feel shaky and like something was 'off'. I tried eating, lying down and then showering but the feeling didn't go away.

While I was in the shower I had Paul call Christen, our doula, to let her know we planned on going in to L&D. She said she would meet us at the house and follow us to the hospital.
Paul also called a friend to come spend the night with Judah.

At 2:40 am we arrived at the hospital with my doula Christen and Tammy who was shadowing our doula.

We had a really sweet nurse. She read over our birth plan and was completely supportive of the choices we had made. My doctor wasn't working when we arrived, but we were told he would be starting a 24 hour shift at 6:30am, so I was rather pleased to know he would be there! He had already read my birth plan at a prior appointment and had been completely supportive of it.

They checked me at 3:30 am – I was 6cm, almost 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station.

The monitor indicated I was having contractions, but they weren't anything that I could feel. We ended up walking the halls for a long time, trying to encourage some action.

Strolling the hallways

They checked me again at 6:15 am – no changes at all! It was discouraging. Christen and Tammy went out to pick up breakfast for us – I finished almost an entire large fruit platter and a McDonalds breakfast sandwich – and then I slept for awhile.

At 10:45 am the monitor indicated that the contractions have stopped. So I walked the hallways some more hoping to encourage them to come back.

At 11:45 am I asked my doctor to check how far I had dilated – there weren't any changes! I was still at 6cm.

Paul and I decided that we would sleep for awhile and then decide what to do when we woke up.
My doctor was willing to send me home at 6cm dilated, though he did tell us he was a bit concerned about me going home. I really trust my doctor – and neither Paul nor I really felt comfortable going home – so we opted to stay and start the pitocin.

Pitocin was started at 5pm. I didn't feel any of the contractions, but the monitor indicated that they were coming strongly every couple of minutes. The doctor, nurses and doulas would touch my stomach to see if there really was one as I wasn't acting like I was having one.

At 7:20 pm I had another exam – this time I was 7cm dilated and the baby was at 0 station. It was exciting to hear things were progressing!

At 8:45 pm I spent some time on the birthing 'bean' – like the birthing ball, only shaped like a jelly bean. I bounced on it for ages hoping to speed things along :)

At 10:10 pm I started to feel like pushing. The doctor examined me and I was still only 8 cm.

I started to feel some back discomfort at this point and so Paul and Christen started rubbing my back. We also had two rice socks with us that they kept getting heated up for me and one was always on my lower back. It felt so good! Other than the lower back discomfort I was still not feeling contractions.

At 11:42pm I remember looking at the clock and saying that the baby had 18 minutes if he wanted to be born on the 28^th.

At 12:08 am the doctor examined me again. I was still at 8cm and the baby was at +1 station. The Dr was concerned about the baby's heart rate and suggested Artificial Rupturing of the Membranes. As soon as he did that I could feel the changes in my body.

At 12:10 am I was 10 cm dilated and felt ready to push.

I used a squatting bar for a bit and then switched to sitting in the bed. I did get sick and vomited up quite a bit.
It was SO nice to not have anyone telling me when to push or counting for me when I did push. I was laughing and crying between the urges to push – anytime I would lose focus and start to freak out Paul would refocus me and remind me that we were about to meet our beautiful boy.

I kept alternating between asking for very hot compresses and then asking for ice cold water to be poured all over me while I was pushing. This was when having the second doula was so nice! Tammy was kept busy keeping washcloths hot (we went through over 50 of them!) and cups full of cold water.

It felt like an eternity that I spent pushing this little one out – the doctor gave me a few gentle reminders that the heart rate was a concern and for me to push him out as soon as I was able. I yelled quite loudly with each push – Paul encouraged me to yell as loud as I wanted and told me later that the yells left his ears ringing! They were yells of anticipation and joy and somehow yelling so loudly made pushing easier.

Baby Wesley entered the world at 12:26 am with a hearty cry. It was a beautiful sound! The doctor cut the umbilical cord right away as he needed to draw a blood gas and he was immediately placed on my chest for some bonding moments. Having not been able to hold Judah until he was a couple days old this was really special to me.

Wesley's very first picture

Paul was then able to 'trim' the umbilical cord and help clean him up and weigh him. He weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz - three pounds bigger than his brother!

Bonding with daddy

Throughout most of the labor I had my iPod on and I was listening to either relaxation scripts or praise and worship music. I loved having the distraction from everything that was going on. Up until the Pit started I was actively encouraged to eat and drink as much as I wanted. Once it was started I was simply warned to not eat anything in front of the nurse :) I know that eating and drinking as much as I felt like really helped to keep my energy up and made me feel good.

My sweetheart