Aurora's Birth Story

So she made it! Her name is Aurora.

Things did not go quite as we planned to bring her into the world, but despite the surprises, it worked out well.

My water broke at 9pm on Saturday night, one week and a day before my due date.

I noticed right away that the fluid was tinged green instead of light and clear, and I called my midwife right away. About an hour later, new, thick black meconium was right there in the fluid. The problem with this is that, first, the baby isn't supposed to have any bowel movement before birth, and it is a sign of some kind of stress. Second, the baby could possibly inhale this during delivery which could cause serious infection or worse, and the midwife doesn't have the equipment to suction the baby's lungs. So instead of having a calm, water-birth at home, I transferred to the hospital at 10pm.

Our friend Diana picked up Serena, and Serena stayed at her house overnight (her first sleepover!).

Once we got to the hospital, I was put in an observation room for a few hours so the nurse and Certified nurse midwife at the hospital could monitor the baby's heart rate during my labor.

The hospital midwife was somewhat concerned because the baby's heart rate would occasionally decelerate too much during contractions. She told me that it wasn't too much cause for concern, but there could possibly be a problem and that she wanted hook me and the baby up to an internal monitor, as it is more accurate than the external monitor and could better tell her that everything was fine (or not). I agreed to this (I felt better about the internal monitor as opposed to the hours of Doppler ultrasound that I was currently getting).

After this, at about midnight, I was transferred from the observation room to the labor and delivery room and they put in the internal monitor.

Tim's stepmother, Shawn, came at this point. She was a major help throughout the
entire labor, and I am very glad she was there.

Her being there allowed to to be with me the entire time and not have to deal
with the hospital staff much at all. She also helped me get through the worst parts, feeding me ice and cooling me down.
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At this point my contractions were about 4 or 5 minutes apart and about 30 seconds to a minute long each. I was 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. They were painful, but not bad.
This lasted about an hour, and then things picked up drastically, and pretty much without warning.

After about 3 major contractions, the nurse wanted to check my dilation, which at first I refused. I knew something was happening, was in pain, and didn't want some lady sticking her fingers in me for no good reason. And secretly, I really didn't want to hear how far I was, in case I hadn't opened anymore.

After about another 15 minutes, the nurse pretty much pleaded with me to let her check me, because she thought I was nearing the end and wanted to be prepared. I pretty much knew that I wasn't close to being done, because despite the pain being bad, I knew I wasn't in transition yet. But she was anxious, and I let her. I should have told her to keep the number to herself - I was still at a four. But I also knew the number meant nothing and I could have another hour to go or another 5.

Pretty soon after this I knew transition was close. The contractions were extremely intense, about a minute long and about 30 seconds apart.

Because the baby was posterior, I had some painful back labor. My first daughter was also posterior, but I had a water birth, at home, and the pain was not nearly so bad.

I knew I had finally reached transition when the contractions didn't stop. They would build and build, and then get slightly less, and then build again without actually taking a break in between. As any woman who has done it probably knows, this is the most intense part of labor. I knew that if someone HAD offered me drugs at this point (the hospital was given very specific instructions that NO ONE was to mention it to me) I probably would have thought about for a second before flipping out on whomever asked.

And then, after the worst contraction of all, I had a feeling it was done. I remember actually feeling my cervix sort of pop over the baby's head. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I didn't want to go through another one. I also knew if I had to, I would have no choice. I pretty much dared my body to do it again. But it didn't.

With the next contraction my body was pushing the baby down. I yelled to the nurse that it was pushing, and she (silly lady) told me to hold on. I was like "It's PUSHING!!!" This was probably the funniest (in hindsight) part of the labor because there is pretty much nothing to be done, and I wasn't about to try to stop my body doing it's job.

She "had to" check me to make sure I really knew what I was on about (silly lady again) and she then declared that I was right! (go figure), and the head was right there. Then I got pissed because she wouldn't take out her damn fingers. I yelled at her to get out and tried to kick her away (as far as I remember). I asked Tim about it later, and the nurse had said something about that
she was checking my pelvis. I still have no idea what that was about.

And then I was pushing. This stage was much easier this time than with my first birth (even though the first one was easy too). The difference was that I KNEW what to do this time. Still, it is somewhat a scary experience and at one point, the midwife's instruction really helped, and the baby was out really fast. I had my hand on her the whole time she was coming out, and the feeling of touching her body and feeling her cry was indescribable.

I was somewhat scared during the labor that something would be wrong, and was so relieved that she was all right.

She cried right away, and was put on my chest. She was so slippery!

It's an amazing thing, this birthing stuff. I was in so much pain, and now, just as I was done, I couldn't help smiling this huge, goofy grin. I finally had my baby, and absolutely nothing was wrong. She was healthy, and nursed right away.

She was born at 4:02am, after exactly 7 hours of labor. Tim was with me the entire time. I am almost crying right now remembering it. It's another funny thing, but I think I felt more love for him in those 7 hours than I ever knew. Maybe he'll read this and know, but there is absolutely nothing in the world more amazing to me than those seven hours, the help he gave me, and then to see his face when his baby was born. I will say right here for all you folks, I love him so so much, and I know I am a very very lucky girl to have him.

I'll also let you know, Serena absolutely loves her baby sister. I was so scared, imagining what kind jealousy I would have to help her overcome, but my worrying was for nothing.

The first time the Aurora cried and Serena heard it, I was reading a book with Serena. She looked at me and said "Go, go! The baby is crying, the baby needs you!"

To me, that was amazing! I love her so much, my baby who is not so much a baby anymore. It has never been more obvious than the past 2 days of my new life, I have little girl, and I can hardly remember her being so small as my new little one.

So all, life is good. And to anyone who took the time to read this, thanks, and may you all experience the same happiness. :).