Lauren's Birth Story

Since so many people have asked about Lauren's birth story, I thought I'd write it all down so I didn't forget any details when I go to tell Lauren about this when she gets older.  I included the "condensed" version on her "birthday" post, in case not everyone really cares about ALL of the details, so this post may contain more details than you care to know....just warning you now.  This is the "every detail a person could think to ask about" version!!

As background information, on Thursday, November 4th, I went to my MD for my 38-week appointment.  He checked the baby's head placement to make sure she was low enough to induce on Monday, but didn't check to see if I was dilated.  He said that would be the first thing they'd check on Monday.  So, after a quick ultrasound to make sure everything was still okay with the fluid and head placement, I was done and planning to show up at Riverside Methodist at 11am on Monday to have the baby.

Lauren's birth story actually starts on Friday, November 5th.  Hannah had a pre-school assessment in the morning that I took her to, and I had a long list of weekend chores and errands that I wanted to get done before the scheduled induction on Monday.  I'd just started to "embrace" the induction idea, with my cousin, Susan the physician's assistant who was with me for Hannah's birth, re-scheduling patients to come and be with me during the process, and my mom being "instructed" to provide us a brunch before we left for the hospital on Monday (knowing they probably wouldn't let me eat once I got there).  Since I knew Monday was coming, my days to get everything done were dwindling, so I decided to do some Christmas shopping with Hannah.  Now, I realize that I am a planner, but I don't typically do my Christmas shopping this early -- but with my parents coming next week to stay at the house while I'm in the hospital, I figured my mom could wrap the presents for my niece and nephew in DC (since we won't be seeing them this year for the holidays) and take them when they left so we wouldn't have to ship them....but, for this to work, I actually had to purchase the gifts first.  So, after pre-school assessment and a snack (for both of us), Hannah and I set out to shop for Liam and Peyton.  We actually managed to get Christmas shopping for both of them finished in a reasonable amount of time.  I then decided to take Hannah to Panera for lunch as part of our last "Mommy & Hannah" Friday.  We had a fun lunch together and then went home for naps.

For some reason, I didn't feel like napping, so I settled in on the couch to catch up on some DVR'd shows from the week because I'd fallen asleep during the last 10-20 minutes of multiple shows and wanted to find out what happened.  I ended up talking to my aunt on the phone a bit (she was calling to find out our "narrowed down name list" and was shocked to find out we actually hadn't discussed it all that much and actually didn't have a narrowed down list).

Jon finished up his last day of school before his paternity leave started and went out to happy hour with his co-workers.  He'd finished up 6 weeks worth of lesson plans for his sub in the past week or so and was ready to relax for the evening.  He even brought me home dinner so neither of us had to cook.

Now, if I was in labor up until dinner time, I had no idea.  I did think the baby might have dropped into my pelvis a little deeper because it was a little more uncomfortable, but otherwise, nothing was bothering me....and I did start to have some "bloody show" at some point during the day, but I'd read that you could have that for days before labor starts, so I wasn't all that concerned and it wasn't all that much.  [However, in retrospect, I did poop about 4 times during the day, which now is a clue that my body was prepping to get the baby out.]  Around dinner time I started to have a slight pain in my tailbone.  I mentioned it to Jon, but it was more of a bother than a pain.  Every now and then I'd have what felt like a wave of discomfort from my tailbone to the small of my back.  By the time I got Hannah to bed I thought they were coming regularly enough to write them down.  So, I started keeping track in a notebook at around 8pm.

While I was writing down the times, I got a labor bag and hospital bag packed.  I didn't think anything was going to happen that night, but thought maybe over the weekend I might actually go on my own (as I had been praying all week!), so I should at least have the bags packed.  I showed Jon my log book and he asked me if we had to go to the hospital.  I told him no, that the instructions from my doctor were contractions every 3-5 minutes apart for an hour.  Well, in looking over my times, they were all over the place.  12, 8, 15, 7, 10, 5 minutes, etc. I don't think there were two consistent times between 8-11pm and they weren't shrinking - they'd start to get to 5 minutes and jump back to 15.

Around 9pm or so Jon and I started to talk about names.....we had each started some lists in the past and we went over each other's lists, discussed names, and looked up what they meant online.  By about 10pm we'd narrowed our list down to 4 first names and 4 middle names, then picked the top two and finally settled on what we thought would be "the" name.  About that time, my cousin, Susan, called.  We'd called her earlier in the evening to ask if what I was experiencing was labor.....I'd also called my mom to tell her that "I might or might not" be in labor, so she was going to go and finish up her lesson plans that night in case something happened instead of waiting for morning.  Jon had also called his sister with a "we might need you later" kind of message, but told her not to come over until we called again because we didn't know if anything was going to happen anytime soon.

While on the phone with Susan she told us that we were likely just in "early labor" and that it could go on for awhile.  She said that you typically know when you progress to later labor because you can't talk through the contractions, etc.  Jon asked her if we should be going to the hospital and she told us that she'd stick with my doctor's recommendation of every 5 minutes apart, consistently.  But, she might not wait the full hour since I'd had a kid before.  Jon and I were both on the phone with Susan, on speakerphone, for about an hour.  I didn't have any problems chatting and joking around while on the phone (I was sitting on the floor), all the while continuing to write down times in my book.  Just after 11pm, I asked Susan if I should be going to bed and she told me yes that I should try to sleep if I could.  So, I ate a bowl of cereal and went to bed at about 11:15.  On my way up the stairs, I told Jon to pack up the car with all of our hospital stuff "just in case."  (Jon, meanwhile, was watching the Lakers game.)

I laid down in bed and kept a dim light on so I could keep writing down times until I feel asleep.  Once I laid down, I asked (okay, probably yelled) for Jon to come up and rub my back.  After a quick massage (that I didn't find enjoyable), I sent him downstairs for a heating pad.  Once I had gone to bed and was sending Jon up and down the stairs, I had 3 contractions in a row that were 5 minutes apart (for the first time).  I started to think that we'd be headed to the hospital tonight for sure and about 30 seconds later, I felt this "pop" inside me (I thought I heard it, but I could have been imagining that I heard it audibly) and my water broke.  [Fortunately, I put a few "chucks" under my sheets when I laid down for bed "just in case".]  More yelling for Jon.  At this point, it was just after 11:30pm.

You see, Jon was downstairs getting the heating pad that I'd asked for, and I'm not sure if he didn't hear me yell at first, if he was waiting for it to finish heating in the microwave, or what, but it seemed like forever before he came back upstairs.  He got me a towel and I headed for the bathroom to get cleaned up.  I told him we needed to strip the bed (???  Crazy, I know), so he did.  I told him we needed to go to the hospital, so he called his sister to come over.  I called my doctor's office and the recording said that if your membranes have ruptured to go directly to the hospital and they'll take care of calling the doctor on call.  I also tried to call my mom to let her know we were headed to the hospital, but she didn't answer her cell phone.  Jon asked me if I wanted to take a shower while he loaded the car (since he hadn't yet started that, since he was watching the Lakers game), but I said no.

Jon had me wait in the bathroom while he packed up the car and changed his clothes.  I'm sure it wasn't that long of a process, but it felt like he was taking forever to me.  At one point I even yelled "what is taking so long" but I'm not even sure if he was in the house at that point.  I know he backed the car out of the garage and was loading it outside.  I'm not sure why I thought sitting on the toilet was the best place to be while I was waiting for him -- at that point I was wearing my scrub top PJ's and a sports bra with no pants....you'd think I'd have been getting dressed to get in the car, but I hadn't gotten to that point yet.  I was just wanting to make sure I didn't make a mess of my bathroom.  While I was in the bathroom waiting, I felt my first two "real" contractions.  If I'd been at the hospital and asked what the tailbone pain that I'd been experiencing earlier was on a scale of 1-10, I'd have said 2-3.  These two contractions in the bathroom were  a 7-8.  They were painful.  In fact, at one point I know I hit the bathroom wall with the palm of my hand in a "wow this hurts" moment.  It was at that moment that I thought to myself "if this is real, active labor, I am so getting an epidural as soon as I get to Riverside."  [What makes this ironic is that I'd been talking about how I wanted to try to go naturally since after Hannah was born.  I felt like between Jon and my L&D nurse the last time around that I was really pushed into getting an epidural.  The L&D nurse just assumed I wanted one and Jon was really pushing me to get it because he didn't like to see me in pain.  When the induction was scheduled, I was convinced that I'd lost the chance to go naturally because of the pitocin...and that the 3.5 pound baby I delivered before was really my best chance.  My doctor had told me that placental abruption labor is often quick and painless, and I was thinking that if this is "real" labor that goes on for hours -- nope, I couldn't handle it.] 

So these two contractions drove me to my hands and knees on the floor.  I was on my towel trying to relax myself with some prenatal yoga poses I'd learned when I felt the urge to push.  I jumped back on the toilet thinking I had to "go #2"....when Jon came back to the bathroom.  I told him I was feeling like I had to push and he told me not to.  I told him I couldn't help it and asked him to look and see if he saw anything (like a baby's head) because it was that strong and I felt like the baby was coming.  He said no, but later admitted that he hadn't really looked closely because he saw blood in the toilet and was grossed out by that.  I told him to call 911.

At first he didn't want to call because he thought (as he shared later) that I was just experiencing "real" labor for the first time and that the EMT's would show up and then tell us "yep, you're in labor, head to the hospital."  He only said "are you sure?" to me (if he'd have questioned more than that, I'm not sure what I would have done).  I continued to have the urge to push, said "YES, I'm sure!" and he called.  The dispatcher told him to lay me on my side and cover me with a blanket.  So, I was on my blue bathroom towel....laying on my side on my ceramic tile floor, when Jon covered me with a blanket (actually, our comforter) and headed back downstairs (I'm not sure why).  Now, I'm not sure if the dispatcher told him to go back downstairs to meet the squad or what (I always heard you were supposed to stay with the "victim" when you called the paramedics and to just make sure your door was unlocked), but I was on the floor for what seemed like an eternity.  My sister-in-law, Rachel, showed up to stay with Hannah and Jon was out at the car on the phone "flailing his arms around" (as she later told me....I also found out he left the car running in the driveway the whole time we were upstairs having the baby -- good thing we live in a safe neighborhood).  She thought he was just excited about having the baby, and then he told her that I was having the baby "like right now" and she ran upstairs and into the bathroom.  She knelt down beside me and wanted to know what she could do, but I didn't think there was anything anyone could do other than get me to the hospital ASAP.  Rachel got me a pillow for my head and was trying to comfort me.

Within 5 minutes, the first round of paramedics from our local fire department showed up.  Apparently, they typically show up and then take a pregnant lady to the hospital, so they were just walking up to the house when Jon met them (at the door, in the driveway? I'm not sure where) and told them I was having the baby right now.  They dropped all of their gear (including their cot) in our front yard and ran up the stairs.  They pulled me (on the bathroom towel) further out into the main part of our master bath (I was in the doorway of our "toilet room") and asked me to lay on my back.  One EMT said he was going to check me and he immediately said "she's crowning folks."  YIKES!

About this time a 2nd paramedic squad had arrived and made their way to our bathroom.  I believe there were 4 EMT's, Jon, me, and Rachel all in our bathroom, but by this point I wasn't paying too much attention to anything or anyone.  The guy who pretty much handled the delivery tried to reassure me that everything was going to be okay, but I was screaming through contractions (at this point, they REALLY hurt), and the one lady at my head told me to "remember my breathing"....my response to her was that "I don't know any breathing - we didn't take any classes."  Seriously, I was going to have a nurse coach me through the breathing, since that is what they do in the hospital!

I remember thinking that I wanted to change positions and kept saying that my back hurt (a tile floor is very unforgiving on a bony back and butt), but I didn't push the subject -- in retrospect, I wish I'd asked them to go to a squatting position, a seated position, all 4's....anything but the one I was in, but I also think that I would have scared them and they wouldn't have known what to do because, as I later learned, the guy who managed the delivery had only delivered 2 babies before Lauren (in 19 years as a paramedic), and the other EMT's that were with him had delivered a total of zero among the three of them.  So, I laid on my back and pushed.  I'm sure that I wasted a lot of energy screaming through the contractions and pushes, but without someone trying to help me manage the pain and pushes, it was a pretty gutteral/primal experience.  At least I was breathing and calm in between the contractions.  Jon kept kissing me on the forehead and telling me I was doing great, as did the EMT's, but I wished someone was helping me control my pushing.  I think it took 3 pushes for her head to come out.  To be honest, I wasn't counting and neither was anyone else there.  I just know I felt like my bottom was on fire as I was pushing.

The EMT's lack of experience showed as they had a conversation while everything was going on as to whether they needed to suction Lauren right away or wait for her whole body to be delivered.  I later learned that she actually opened her eyes as soon as her head was out, before I'd even delivered her body.  The EMT's didn't really do much for the delivery other than catch the baby....so no rotating the shoulders to make them easier to come out....which meant I had a 2nd degree tear when I finally got to the hospital.  I got her head out and then declared myself done.  Jon was trying to encourage me that I just needed to do one more push and I'd be done, but I am pretty sure I said something to the effect of "nope, I'm done, I don't have any more left."  I was so exhausted.  Somehow, I managed to find the strength to do that one long last push and out she came.  Since the EMT's didn't have much of their gear with them (they sent people out multiple times after things), they wrapped Lauren in one of our bath towels and put her on my chest.  A few minutes later someone was asking what time she was born....apparently no one paid attention.  I think the 12:08am time of birth was selected from someone's cell phone reading.  [I had to tell someone our bathroom clock was 5 minutes fast to help make sure I'm on time for work.]  The EMT's were also trying to do an APGAR assessment, and at least one of them didn't know what it was and they didn't bring the charts in with them to do the assessment.

I didn't get to spend much time with her on my chest....they clamped the cord (they had clamps in their "emergency obstetrical kit") and cut it and then started to figure out how to get me to the hospital to deliver my placenta.  Because of a turn in our stairs, they told me that they'd have to take me out sitting up, so the EMT lady took Lauren, they covered my bottom half with a sheet, and put me on the stretcher.  Going down the stairs was pretty precipitous - I was convinced they'd be knocking down pictures off the wall.  They took Lauren and me to the ambulance - it was cold outside - and told Jon to follow them to the hospital.

Inside the ambulance, they lady EMT continued to hold Lauren while they tried to start an IV on me.  Now, after living in the hospital while pregnant with Hannah, I can tell you that (1) I've got great veins and (2) I know the best places to stick me.  I pointed out a great spot and they couldn't get a line started.  They were rolling my vein and the needle around to the point that I told them "ouch, that really hurts"....and this is from a lady who just gave birth on her bathroom floor.  So, they started again on another good spot and were unsuccessful (again, I was telling them that it hurt).  After probably 10 minutes they gave up and took me to the hospital. 

Unfortunately, since it was an emergency situation, they had to take me to Dublin Methodist Hospital, a nice new hospital only 2 miles from our house.....but the reason it was unfortunate that they had to take me there is that my OB group doesn't have privileges at that hospital.  The hospital is so new they don't have a residency program and they rely primarily on certified nurse midwives in the L&D department.  As a result, our OB group hasn't wanted to deliver there.  They took us directly to Labor & Delivery and they started to check both me and Lauren out.  Lauren was a little cold (it was cold outside and she was in a towel!), so they had her under a warming light for a bit.  I delivered my placenta at the hospital (probably about 45 minutes after Lauren was born?).  The midwife told me about my tear (likely from delivering the shoulders), and started to numb me to stitch me up.  At the same time, I had an automatic blood pressure cuff on my right arm and another nurse trying to start an IV on my left arm (same arm butchered by the EMT's).  That was when I decided I'd had it.  I told them they needed to pick a body part and they could only do one at a time -- it was sensory overload for sure.  About that time the midwife told the other nurse that I could do without the IV and they took the blood pressure cuff off.  I felt the stitching (I assume the lidocane they gave helped somewhat, but I'm not sure), and was really "raw" but had to tell my "story" to every nurse that walked in the room, so at least I had something to keep my mind off the pain.

It is now after 1am and I am just now realizing that we have no pictures of Lauren and my camera is packed away in our labor bag that is in the car.  [The scrapbooker in me actually thought as I was being carted down the stairs that it would make a great picture!]  They are still trying to warm Lauren up and there is all sorts of confusion in the hallway with registration because the computer system won't allow them to have a separate time for the baby's birth that is earlier than the admit time....I think it took an hour to get it all straightened out.  At some point the nurse asked if I wanted to try to warm Lauren by holding her (because she couldn't get a bath until she was a certain temperature and we couldn't move to our postpartum room until she had her bath...), and I think it was about 2am before I had the opportunity to try and nurse her.  She latched on right away, which was great.  At some point during this process, Jon went to get our stuff to bring it in to our postpartum room and I think it was 3am by the time we got settled in our room.  We didn't take any pictures at that point because we just wanted to go to bed.  I nursed Lauren a few more times overnight, and Jon and I attempted to sleep until about 6:30am when he went home to relive his sister and meet my parents (who were on their way).

My mom hadn't gone out to school when my dad went to bed like she said she was going to do.  Instead, she was leaving about the time that I was trying to call and tell her we were headed for the hospital.  Jon finally got ahold of her at 3 in the morning and told her we had the baby....just as she was shutting down her computer at school.  So, she went home, got up my dad, and they hit the road.  Crazy.

I took a shower and was up and moving around by 8 or 9 am.  Even though I tore, I felt great physically.  There must be really something to the "no drugs" delivery leads to a faster recovery.  I cleaned up the couch bed that Jon slept on and was organizing my stuff while waiting for Hannah to come and meet Lauren.  I had visits with Hannah and my parents, Jon's sister and her husband, and then Jon's parents.  That evening I called my OB group's on call doctor to let them know I'd had a baby (the doctor on call was upset that the hospital hadn't called them to let them know).   I was discharged on Sunday and headed home.

I later found out that I had to fill out all kinds of paperwork to get a birth certificate for Lauren since she wasn't born at the hospital.  The hospital had filled out the paperwork and submitted it, but we got a call from Vital Statistics telling us that we needed to fill out information on my prenatal care, the birth, etc.  They wanted us to drive downtown to pick up the paperwork, but I talked the lady into mailing it to me.  I had to call my OB's office to get answers to some questions (i.e., number of visits (21!), etc.), and had to call the hospital to get answers to other questions (i.e., what eye ointment was applied, grams at birth, etc.), and then had to call the fire department to find out the name of the person who actually delivered Lauren.  Then I had to get my OB to sign a document saying I was actually pregnant and had to get the paramedic to sign a document (that was notarized) saying he'd delivered a live newborn girl to me on November 6th.  Unreal.  We made an appointment to drop off the paperwork, and ended up waiting for 40 minutes to have the lady scan the papers, say "yep, you filled out everything" and tell Jon he'd have to come again in a week or two to sign the birth certificate.  Government inefficiency at its best.  But, Lauren does have a birth certificate now.


My sister-in-law, Rachel, was amazing in the whole process -- she cleaned up our bathroom -- I had no idea what it looked like when we were done, but I can't imagine it was pretty.  I'm so thankful she was there for that.  She told me later that she was so wound up after watching the birth that she and Susan (who'd called wanting to know what was going on) talked on the phone for an hour and then she cleaned up.  Rachel was so thoughtful to have gifts for the baby and Hannah when they came to the hospital and she gave me the nicest card telling me how amazing it was so see me give birth and how proud of me she was.  The funniest story from the evening is that Hannah (who was at home in bed asleep during the entire birth process, which included me screaming, Abby barking, paramedics yelling up the stairs, etc.) woke up around 3am and asked Rachel where we were and crawled into bed with her.  They fell asleep together and about 15 minutes later Rachel woke up with Hannah poking her saying "Aunt Rachel piggy, oink, oink" -- apparently, Rachel was snoring and it woke Hannah up.  Rachel was floored that me giving birth didn't wake her up, but a pregnant lady snoring did! 

I joked that I like to deliver impatient little girls, as Hannah came early (and fast), and Lauren came a little early too (and much faster).  My OB told me that I'm now his example of "fast labor" and his comments on how this labor will be longer than Hannah's "shows how much [he] knows."  Fortunately, everything went well with the unplanned home birth.  Jon later told me that he was panicking that the paramedic would see a foot or umbilical cord when I was delivering, but he did a good job of keeping calm when he was in the bathroom with me.  I'm so thankful everything turned out okay, and now I've got a great story for the rest of my life.