Imogene
At my 41 week appointment after a couple weeks of pre-labor warm ups I found out I was 5-6 cm dilated/opened and opted for a second membrane sweep as the 42 week mark felt like it was quickly approaching. I will say I was not very patient and trying everything I could Google to get the birthing process started.
We went to bed that night around 10 p.m. and I woke up with a surge a little after midnight. I had felt a couple stronger ones in the past week so I didn’t think much of it until I had a couple more. I started timing them around 12:30 a.m. and even though they were irregular and still kind of short I woke Matt up a little after 1 when they had been going on for about an hour. I got into the shower and he called the hospital. Because I was already so dilated and this was a second baby they told us to pack our bags and come in. I was nervous to do this because the surges were not super strong and I didn’t want to go too soon, but by the time we were in the car things started to ramp up. For the early surges I found surge breathing really helpful while I squeezed a plastic comb in my hand as a distraction. As the surges got stronger I started to shake and I noticed my breaths becoming panicky so I started “singing” with the ahh vowel sound, which really helped me take longer breaths and ease the intensity of the sensations.
When we got to the hospital we were sent to triage. Matt asked them to turn the lights down, which made a huge difference. I found out I was 8 cm dilated/opened at that point and admitted. When we got to the labor room a midwife, resident, medical student and a couple nurses were already there. This made me nervous and excited because I knew this meant we would meet the baby soon. I really appreciated the lights were already lowered and I could see the midwife reading our birth preferences. At that point I felt pressure and the urge to push. The resident asked if I wanted to be checked again, which I consented to and she said I had a little lip of the cervix left, but I could push if I wanted to. The midwife suggested a couple positions to remove the lip and agreed I could push as I felt the urge. I found the second stage of labor to be the most challenging part. I wonder if I should have tried to rest at this point, breathed and let my body do more of the work, but the pressure was intense and I just wanted to actively push to get her out. It took an hour of hard/forced pushing and a few different positions. She was born at 4:15 am about 4 hours after I felt the first surge. Once she was out there was a lot of talk about how big she was and we found out she weighed 10 lbs 13 oz. Her older sister was only 8 lbs so I did not expect to join the 10 lb club!
I am so grateful for Matt’s calm and steady presence and the midwife and other birth attendants that gave me the care and confidence I needed when I started to really doubt I could push this big baby out. The birth team even asked if I wanted to touch the head while I was crowning and a medical student gave me a tour of the placenta after, which were unexpected special moments for me.
Imogene is so sweet – mostly sleeping and eating and Florence, her big sis, is obsessed.
