Matthew Alan: a birth story

Hooray for having children on (or almost on) their due dates!
          To tell this story, I feel like I should back way up first. When I found out I was pregnant again, I immediately started looking into pain management techniques. I had gotten an epidural with Adaline and that was awesome, but I was DYING before we got to the hospital and it kicked in. This time, I wanted to have a way to deal with the pain that couldn't be avoided before getting to the hospital. But then, there was the change in our insurance. Since I was no longer the student, there was suddenly a $6500 deductible just for maternity care. In other words, unless our baby needed a cesarean or had to spend lots of time in the hospital, insurance wouldn't be helping us at all. This is when I decided I should try to not get an epidural. After reading LOTS of books (seriously, I feel like I've read them all) about natural childbirth, I was lead to hypnobirthing and after researching a few of the ones in the area, I chose Launi's class. (I'm so glad I did! She's the best!) So that's the story about wanting to avoid an epidural...now for the story you actually wanted to hear.

I realize I didn't share (or even take) many pictures of this pregnancy, so here's one from the day before Matthew was born.

          When I went to the doctor on Halloween, I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. Fantastic. My body was getting things started. On Monday (the day before my due date) I had sporadic Braxton Hicks most of the day and by night I was having them about every 7 minutes. They weren't consistent and I knew from Adaline that I was not in labor but I might be soon. More than anything, I just wanted to sleep. Andrew and I went to bed and I was hopeful that Matthew would be coming in the next day or so. I woke up at 4:45 because I felt a little pop, thought I felt some fluid leak, and suddenly had what I knew to be a real contraction. It didn't necessarily hurt, it just felt like the real thing. I started timing just to see, and I was having good contractions every five minutes. I woke up Andrew and told him that I knew it was crazy but I thought my water just broke. Since they had to break my water with Adaline, I didn't expect that to be the first sign of labor this time. Nothing else was coming out, but I knew I hadn't peed on accident-haha. I called my mom so she could start heading down from Logan, then I asked Andrew to make us all breakfast. This was about 5:20, so we had gotten a good night's rest and I was happy that we weren't having to mess with ours or anyone else's normal schedules too much. I went and got in the shower which felt amazing since my contractions were getting more intense. I got ready slowly and Andrew worked on getting the rest of our things put together. I spent 10 minutes picking out a shirt which is pretty hilarious considering that I wore a jacket to the hospital and put on a gown as soon as we got there. Oh well, I was kind of trying to waste time. The slow breathing that I learned from our hypnobirthing class was really helping me get through each contraction. I just had to interrupt was I was doing a lot so that I could sit down or lean against the wall or whatever. I lost my concentration and sort of freaked out a couple times and then I really noticed the difference that it made to stay calm. When that happened, Andrew was so good about getting me to calm down and breathe slowly again.

          Andrew was starting to think I was crazy because I was just not getting ready that fast. I got out Adaline's stuff for breakfast, and just kept saying that we didn't need to leave quite yet. We had arranged for our neighbors to come over and stay with Adaline and I was trying to wait till it was a more convenient time. (Plus I was kind of hoping Adaline would wake up before we left, but she didn't.) When I finally got in the car, Andrew went back in the house to give our neighbor a couple of instructions for Adaline. While he was inside, I started feeling some pressure, so I called him and told him that we needed to leave right NOW. He joked about how I couldn't seem to make up my mind, but he rushed out to the car. It was about 7 when we finally left. I think I dealt with the contractions in the car the best because I wasn't up moving around and the fact that we were headed to the hospital gave me peace of mind. Plus, I wasn't so distracted by all the stuff I'd been trying to get done at the house-there was nothing to do but relax and concentrate. We chose to go the the Payson hospital this time, so it took us just over 20 minutes to get there. The contractions were close enough together that I told Andrew he better get me a wheelchair if we were going to make it inside anytime soon. While he was getting the wheelchair, I  intentionally started smiling and talking to Matthew in my head. I was telling him how excited I was to meet him and that he was doing a great job working his way out. I visualized him coming out and everything opening to make it easier for him. It sounds a little silly, but while I was doing this the contraction was easier and I felt a really big gush of fluid. It was really helping!

          Being in the wheelchair made it a lot easier to stay relaxed and focused while we got checked in and over to where we needed to be. When we got up to the nurses in L&D they just said, "um hi, can we help you with something?" Andrew explained that I was in labor and my water had broken. They kind of looked at each other like, "who wants to take this crazy woman who thinks she's in labor?" especially when when told them it was my due date. I guess we kind of looked like we figured we should go to the hospital just because it was my due date. The student nurse was asking where she should put us since they had a room ready for a woman to be induced at 8am. The other nurse whispered to just go ahead and use that room and they'd just see how progressed I was. I think the nurse was a little shocked to discover I was at a 7. I was so relieved to be that progressed when we first got there! Andrew showed the nurse my birth preferences and, after reading them, I distinctly remember her asking the other nurse to find a good spot for it so that they could refer back to it as they needed to. It made me feel so good to hear her say that because I felt like she respected me and the fact that this was my birth and my baby.

I checked the time stamp, and Andrew took this picture 15 minutes before Matthew was born. It looks so much easier than it is.

          Part of the reason we chose to go to Payson this time was because I was trying to avoid that epidural and I knew it would be easier the later I got to the hospital. My doctor lives just a few minutes from the Payson hospital, so I figured he'd have a better chance of getting there in time if we were down there. He showed up in the next few minutes, but I was no longer paying attention to most of what was happening. I was listening to the relaxation track while Andrew answered the check-in questions. I took out my headphones a few times so I could help Andrew when he didn't know the answer and to say hi to my doctor. Andrew did a great job of applying counter pressure on my back to help during each contraction. I was feeling some pressure and I was starting to lose focus, so I asked to be checked again. They said I didn't need to be checked because I would know when it was time to push. I insisted and so my doctor checked me and said I was at a 9. That helped me so much. It hadn't been very long, but I just needed to know that I was making progress. Not 5 minutes later, I suddenly understood the whole "urge to push" thing, except with my body it was less of an urge and more like every single part of my body was forcing me to push this baby out. I couldn't stop it. Everyone in the room immediately knew what was happening so they started adjusting me and the bed so that I'd be able to get him out. Andrew was pretty shocked by what took place during the next couple of minutes. Since I had an epidural with Adaline, this stage was pretty calm. With Matthew, I got connected with my primal instincts and just started screaming. Andrew was having to sort of hold me in place because I just kept moving my head around saying, "I don't know what to do." Andrew kept telling me what a good job I was doing, but Dr. Nance had to get strict with me and tell me that I HAD to push him out right NOW. Luckily it only took a couple minutes and a few pushes. Matthew was born at 8:31am. He was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long. They immediately placed him on my stomach and I got to talk to him and hold his little hands and rub his head. They waited to clamp the cord until it had stopped pulsing which was good because his color wasn't that great and this way I didn't have to worry about him getting enough oxygen. I got to hold him and just bond with him for a while. 

          Eventually they had to take him to weigh and measure him and I needed a couple stitches. I only had 2 small tears this time which was much better than the episiotomy  I had to get last time. Unfortunately I wasn't the least bit numb and so these stitches hurt...anyway. I got to hold Matthew again pretty quickly, a nurse brought me juice and some breakfast, and then everyone left and Andrew and I got to hang out with our newest family member. Matthew ate well right from the beginning and I have been sooo grateful for that. After a couple hours (I think?) they were ready to take Matthew for a bath and I was ready to shower. It was so nice to be able to get up on my own . After I showered, I was even able to walk over to the recovery room and then down to the nursery to see Matthew get his bath. It was a great day, a crazy 3.5 hours, and we love our little guy so much!

He calmed right down when daddy held his hand.

This picture makes me laugh so hard

Adaline LOVES him. She was SO excited to meet him and immediately begged to hold him

Giving Matthew a kiss

"whoot whoot, we're finally going home"

The hospital was pretty empty, so we got to stay in one of the suites. We had this fancy queen size bed that even had a memory foam mattress. It was sweet! (hehe)

Random happy thought from yesterday:

          Andrew is such a good dad and husband. I was asking how he was doing with his school work and saying that I felt bad about him being tired and having to get up early to finish homework. His response: "I'm not tired, I'm just a dad. And I only got up an hour early because I chose to spend time with my family instead of doing homework on Saturday :) It was worth it." I know I'm very hormonal right now, but that made me cry. I love that man so much.