Siena's Birth Story

Siena is 10 days old today and I'm finally finding the time to sit down and write out her birth story! This is something I did when Chase was born and I wanted to do it again... mostly for my own memory, and maybe for hers if she's interested, but also for anyone out there who is pregnant or will be pregnant in the future. I know it was always really helpful for me to hear about other people's experiences (especially good ones!) when I was preparing myself for "labor and delivery!"

On July 1st (the day before Siena was born), I was 37 weeks and 2 days along in my pregnancy and feeling good! Chase and I went to our weekly playgroup in the morning, where my friends teased me about "being ready to pop!" But I really felt like I had at least a week or so to go! I wasn't having many contractions or anything, just a little "crampy" every night. I do remember feeling somewhat nauseous that day after lunch time, which is interesting because reading back over Chase's birth story, I realized that I felt nauseous then too. Anyways, the rest of the day was normal for us. I had already packed a bag for the hospital, but that afternoon Chase and I packed a little suitcase for him to take to his friend's house. Thank goodness we did that!! I recently read somewhere that only 1 in 10 pregnant women experience their "water breaking" before the onset of labor. That's what happened with Chase, and amazingly, it happened again for me! It was at 3:15 am to be exact! I was sound asleep when I suddenly heard a loud "POP!" and felt fluid gushing out! There was no mistaking what had happened! I yelled to Eric, "my water just broke!" as I ran to the bathroom! We were both so out of it, and deliriously tired, so it took a while to figure out what we needed to do. Last time when my water broke, we stayed at home for several hours before heading to the hospital, which is what I would have preferred. Unfortunately, I tested positive for group B strep (GBS) during my pregnancy (more about this later), so I had to go to the hospital immediately. Of course, the first thing I did was call my mom! She and my dad got in the car almost immediately and started driving to Florida from Charleston! Then we ran around the house (well, Eric did more than I did!) gathering our camera, laptop, hospital bag, cell phone, etc. Finally, we called our neighbor Julie. I hope everyone has a neighbor as good as ours!! Julie answered her phone at 3:30 am and rushed right over to stay with Chase for us! She then took care of him the rest of the day! I didn't even have to worry about Chase for a minute because he LOVES going to our neighbors' house, and he plays so well with Cooper, their 3 year old son. Anyways, Eric and I hopped in the car and drove over to Tampa General. On the way there, I called the midwife to let her know we were on the way, I listened to my Hypnobirthing affirmations track on my ipod, I ate an Odwalla bar, and I prayed. I was excited, calm, and so happy that Siena would be born that day! I was having contractions every once in a while... maybe about 7 minutes apart... but I only noticed them because I was trying hard to pay attention since I knew the midwife and nurses would ask me how far apart they were.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they placed me in a triage room in the Women's Center (aka "Labor and Delivery"). The Women's Center at Tampa General is brand new and SO nice! It's one of the main reasons I chose to deliver there, along with the fact that it's the only hospital in the area with midwives, plus they have great statistics when it comes to natural births. It took what seemed like forever for them to get all of the "business" taken care of... taking my vitals, filling out paperwork, etc. I think usually they check for dilation and effacement when you're in triage, but they never checked me... maybe because of the GBS. Or maybe because my water had broken, so it's not as if they would send me home at that point (they usually only let you stay if you're about 4cm dilated). Eric and I joked around quite a bit in that room and just waited patiently for them to move us to our "real" room. First they had to set up my IV with penicillin for the GBS.

Okay, here's the story with the GBS. I guess they tested my urine when I first went to the midwife around 8 weeks. I had no idea they even did that, since normally they test you for GBS around 35-37 weeks gestation. I've since learned that if you test positive for GBS in your urine at any point during your pregnancy, you're at a higher risk for passing it on to your infant than if they only find it during the culture later on (because you have a higher level of the bacteria). Since my preferences lean towards having a completely natural childbirth, with no medical interventions, I balked at first. There was no way I was going to have an IV during labor! After lots of research (plus plenty of pressure from "nurse mom!"), I decided to go ahead with it. I was worried that it would lead to more interventions, which it didn't, and that it would be a distraction from my relaxation, which it was a little bit, but not as much as I thought. I just focused on the fact that getting the antibiotics in my system was the best thing for Siena and I visualized the IV in place every time I thought about being in labor.

After getting my IV started and being moved to my room, a midwife came to see me. Like last time, the OB group that I go to has about 6 midwives and I don't really know all of them. I hadn't met this one before (or the one that actually delivered Siena). She was really nice though and explained that I needed to have the antibiotics in my system for 4 hours before Siena was born to avoid extra testing and an extended hospital stay. This is what they had been telling me during my entire pregnancy, so I was prepared for it. She also said they wouldn't check me for dilation until after the 4 hours was over (about 9:30 am). Another midwife took over with the shift change, but I didn't see her until about 10:15 am. In the meantime, Eric and I just waited. If I had been at home, or if I didn't need to wait for 4 hours to have the baby, I know I could have gotten labor going much faster. I would've been walking, cleaning the house, going for a run (kidding!), etc! But instead, I kind of sat around. They took me off the IV (I had a "heplock") after about 30 minutes, so I could've walked the halls, but I knew that if I did, she would've been born too soon. So Eric played music on the laptop, we talked, watched a storm rolling in off the water with the awesome view from our window, we called our families, joked around some more, and just waited.

Waiting...

waiting...

waiting...
and the view!

This is the part of Hypnobirthing that is hard for me to explain. During the whole time that I talked about above (5:30-10:15 am), I was in "active labor," meaning I was dilating to 9 cm. I felt the contractions, but I was never in pain. I wasn't "hypnotized," but I was completely relaxed. I had been "training" myself for labor for several months by listening to relaxation tracks on my ipod, but when the actual day arrived, I didn't need to listen to them anymore. My body just knew exactly what to do. I carried on like normal in between contractions and when each one occurred, I would close my eyes and focus on working with the muscles and not against them. I visualized what they there were doing and relaxed every part of my body. I was so happy at the onset of each contraction and looked forward to the next one because I knew it was one step closer to seeing Siena! That's really all there was to it. The only discomfort I felt was in my low back, which I think was more from "pulling" my back muscles a few weeks ago when I was moving too much furniture around the house! Eric was always there to massage my low back when I needed it and that definitely helped. And I just kept changing positions so that I stayed comfortable.

At about 10:15 am, the midwife Simone came in. By that point, I could feel the contractions starting to change and noticed that my legs were shaking a bit. This is usually a sign of "transitioning" from active labor to pushing, and one that I remembered from Chase's birth. I told Simone that I though Siena would be coming out soon. She checked me and said I was 9 cm dilated and that the baby would "probably be born within the hour." She joked with the nurse about calling the "Baby Story" crew because I was so calm and "no drama!" Then she left, along with my nurse. I have no idea where they went but I knew right away that it was a mistake for them to leave. I was already starting to "breathe the baby down" (this is a hypnobirthing term) and I could feel her moving lower and lower. I joked with Eric that he should go ahead and "get down there" so he could catch the baby! And then suddenly it seemed like she was literally coming out! I grabbed for Eric's hand and let out what I'm sure was a strange sound! Eric asked me if he should go get the nurse and midwife and I remember yelling, "YES!" He called them and they came running in, along with the nursery staff. Everyone was running around, setting things up, taking the bed apart (they pull off the lower end to get better access to the baby), and trying to get me to calm down a bit. I have to admit I was totally taken aback by what I was feeling. With Chase, I pushed for about an hour and so it was a totally different experience. With Siena, I could feel her moving down so quickly and just before she crowned, yes, I was in pain. I truly believe that you can experience a pain-free birth, including the "pushing" part. Eric and I had seen a video of other hypnobirthing moms who gave birth to their babies in almost complete silence. It didn't even look like they were "pushing." I know that if I had been truly relaxed I could have achieved this also, but everything just happened so quickly and I think I lost control a bit. The little bit of pain I felt didn't matter, though, because it was over so fast. I think I "pushed" twice and she was out! It was the best feeling in the world and I remember crying tears of joy. Siena was placed on my chest right away, Eric cut the cord, and I was beyond happy! What an amazing experience! There is nothing in the world like it!!