Thank you to everyone for all their good thoughts and kind words. Caleb is asleep in his bassinette (still!!) so I have a few minutes to tell my side of the story!
Caleb’s birth story – as told by his mommy:
Basically it started with some regular contractions on Wednesday night. We went out for Mexican food, and then wandered around Walmart and Superstore – much more fun than walking around home. By 3am Thursday morning contractions were strong and 3 minutes apart, so I got in the shower and Adam called my mom and the midwife to meet me at the house. I got out of the shower and was around 3 cm dialated. So the midwife left and said to call back when things got really active and I was ready to go to the hospital. Of course then things slowed down – a lot! The next morning – Friday, the midwife came back to check on me. I was still only 3-4 cm and baby’s head was so low in my pelvis, it was difficult to walk. However – he had also turned posterier again (sunny side up), and so I had to get on my hands and knees, walk stairs, etc to try to turn him around again. She finally decided things were taking too long, and I should check into the hospital and have my water broken to get things going. So we checked into VGH at 9am, and proceeded to try to break my water at 9:30. Well, that worked, but was painful. Because his head was so low in my pelvis, the midwife had to reach up behind his head, grab at the cervix and break it with the hook. It took 20 minutes of her reaching to finally get around his head… I’m still going au natural here, so it was horribly painful. Active labour began immediately, but so did the urge to push. I got to 6 cm dialated, but he just kept moving. Everytime we thought he was the right way, he’d turn. And we also realized his head was tilted, so that he wasn’t hitting the right spots to keep contractions consistant. So eventually they decided to give me an epidural. (bye bye birth plan)! The epi was great for making me feel good, but unfortunately, the baby’s heart rate dropped and wouldn’t go back up. Suddenly there are an extra 10 people in the room including an OB who checks me out and thinks that the placenta has also started to tear away. So suddenly I hear that there is no time, baby has to come out now. I’m unhooked and rehooked to a million things and wheeled away to the OR. My poor husband is being shoved into a gown and my mom is asked to wait in the waiting room – and everyone is explaining or talking at once. Less than 20 minutes after the OB said let’s go, I hear the first cries of my son. And I didn’t feel a thing – thanks to the spinal they gave me. It happened so fast, it’s still hard to process sometimes. But by 3:37pm that little 7 pound 7 ounce baby boy entered the outside world. The hard part now was waiting to see him. Adam peeked over the curtain and announced he was a boy. He cut the cord, and was the one to carry him over and introduce our son to me.
And he is totally worth all that effort!
The doctors and nurses at VGH were incredible. I’m very thankful they were able to help deliver Caleb so quickly.
Special thanks to Deb and Luba my midwives for all of their help and devotion during the labour and delivery. Deb was there in the beginning and throughout most to the end. And Luba stepped in for a few hours, and helped break the water – a horrible experience for all of us. But I couldn’t have done it wothout them.
Very special thanks to my mom. Without her I couldn’t have done what I did and wouldn’t have been able to endure for so long. She was beside me holding my hand for all the rough stuff, and help not just me, but Adam too. I’m so glad she was able to share in this experience with us, and to help me become a mom. I only hope I will be as good a mom to Caleb as she has been to me. I love you mom.
And of course a very special thanks to Adam. He was amazing. Never once did forget to tell me how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. I never would have gotten through the past week without his love and devotion. He held my hand, rubbed my back and held on to my heart the whole time. I loved him very much as my husband, and love him even more now – as my husband and as Caleb’s daddy. Caleb is very lucky to have him as a daddy. I love you Adam!
And I love you too Caleb! You mean the world to me!
