The birth story

It's been a few days and I think I'm finally able to sit down and write what happened on Sunday!

It came as a surprise to me. I wondered if what I was feeling was truly contractions or possibly something else (I had eaten a bunch of prunes... so you can guess out the rest). For weeks I had been waking up really early so this morning was no different. I got up to pee around 3:30am and thought I felt something a little different. It was light, but I thought, this has to be the beginning of the "real" contractions, rather than the braxton hicks I'd been having for several weeks. I went back to bed for a while but kept waking Eric up saying, "I think these are real contractions but I really have to go to the bathroom, maybe it's just that!" (again, the prunes). I tried to go back to sleep but it was really hard to do that!

4:30am rolled around and I got up to do some work. I had a few projects which needed to be wrapped up so I did that. I uploaded files to my ftp for one client and burned a disc for another. All of this was completed shortly before 5am, and I knew then I was really in labor. What I didn't know was how light the contractions were compared to what they would be.

Around 5am we called our doula, Tricia, to let her know I was in labor. We started timing them with Eric's iPhone and it seemed like they were coming pretty frequently. I thought things were going to start off slowly and work their way down to 5 minutes apart. My doctor (I was being co-managed by the midwives and an OB/GYN because of the gestational diabetes) said I should come in when the contractions were 10 minutes apart because I had tested positive for GBS or Strep B bacteria. They want to get two doses of antibiotics in you before you deliver. I was a little disappointed that I would have to be in the hospital for so long--I mean, who knows how long it could take to go from 10 min. apart to delivery!

Well, these contractions had completely skipped over 10 minutes apart and went straight for 5 minutes. That only lasted a short time too! We called the hospital at around 6am and they said I had to wait at home for at least 2 hours, until the contractions were more regular. At this point, they were 5 minutes apart for 30-45 seconds. Or 3 minutes apart for a minute. Or 6 minutes apart for over a minute.

I kept thinking, when's my break? I heard about these breaks where you have time to recuperate from the intensity of the contraction. Instead, it kept ramping up. I called the doula again to let her know of my progress and what the hospital said. I thought she would come over but in the end, it wasn't going to happen like that.

By 7am I was having them anywhere from one to three minutes apart lasting from 30 seconds to two minutes. I tried sitting on the ball, and doing a little bounce. I tried laying in bed. I tried sitting on the toilet. Every moment I could, I would do something to keep me occupied. I grabbed my hospital bag and made sure I put more stuff in it. And told Eric he needed to get his together.

At 7:30am I told Eric I couldn't wait the 2 hours the hospital said we should wait. I had to leave now. He was somewhat apprehensive to leave before the 2 hours but realized I meant business. I called the doula again and had Eric talk to her, but not before I told her the contractions were coming one minute apart. Obviously we said we couldn't wait anymore. It was around 7:45am. A little before the 2 hours the hospital told us to wait before coming over.

Eric ran and got the car and brought a load of stuff down: the health ball for me to possibly use during labor at the hospital. My bag, his bag and pillow. I put together a small bag of food and a few bottles of water as well as my bottle of antacid (that was the smartest thing ever! Big bottles of cold water and antacid...) He came back for me and we rushed down to the car. It was then I saw my friend and neighbor, Alyson. We had plans to take pregnancy pictures on Sunday. I told her I couldn't make it for pictures, I was in labor. Gave her a hug and we left.

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. My body was on autopilot and I had started to push with some of the contractions. Of course I was worried I would have the baby in the car, that did not happen. We made one illegal u-turn and sped just a bit to get to UCLA Westwood. It was Sunday morning and the lights seemed to be against us.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the stupid valet for emergency did nothing. They didn't help us at all, it was as if we were driving to the Cheesecake Factory for breakfast rather than arriving at the emergency entrance to the nation's #3 hospital--no one came to help us out of the car or get me a wheelchair. I begged Eric to get me one because there was no way in hell I could walk. He rolled me in to hospital's emergency registration, just bringing my overnight bag and the bag of food, all the rest would have to wait.

It seemed to take forever to get upstairs. They asked so many questions and all I wanted was an epidural. My plan was to go au natural but I was in so much pain I thought, screw this! I'm getting drugs! They finally wheeled me to the labor and delivery room where I was met with a nurse and a resident OB/GYN. I wanted to know who would be the on-call midwife. I had my fingers crossed it would be Ann Trudell but would be happy to see any familiar face at that point. Tricia still wasn't there so I didn't really know what to do.

I told the labor and delivery nurse I wanted the epidural. It took a lot for me to admit I needed it. I felt a little guilty since I thought for sure I could do this naturally. They checked me out and said I was 6 cm. I knew I had to get the drugs if I was only 6! Who knew how much more time it would take.

Tricia showed up and helped me to calm down. She got me some ice chips and I apologized to her and to Eric for needing the drugs. I had to sign a bunch of paper work and was wondering why they couldn't just give me the goddamn drugs! They put in an IV because I still needed to get the antibiotics for the Strep B and it needs to be done before the baby is born. The labor and delivery nurse tried to instruct me on how to sit for the epidural. We were waiting for the doctor because the resident anesthesiologist was not going to put it in herself (I had the wherewithal to find out how long she had been doing it for...)

While still waiting for the doctor to arrive with the drugs, the on-call midwife, and the one I had been hoping for, showed up. It was Ann! And she was there to help me through this. My contractions were on top of one another this entire time and I had been pushing at some point, without even thinking about it. When she realized I was pushing, she asked if she could take a look a me before I got the medication and I was agreeable to that. For some reason I felt much safer with her there. I was sitting on the bed sideways and she just had me lay on my side with my legs folded. She checked me and said I was ready to go. I could get the epidural or I could just have this baby.

Well, the thought of waiting any longer and of having a giant needle shoved in my back really was inspiration enough to just go for it. They asked how I wanted to push and I had no idea. Someone suggested the squat bar and that seemed good. I asked for a mirror, which the #3 hospital in the country seemed to be lacking. The nurses set up the squat bar, got the bed into position and off we went. Eric sat behind me and held onto me while I held onto the bar. Someone found a mirror and for the next half hour or so, I pushed and pushed and pushed until the baby's head showed up. Ann guided me through the last bit of delivery and at 9:21am, less than an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital, our little baby girl was born at 7lbs 9oz and 21 inches long with a full head of hair!

It was amazing to me how quickly it all went--a blur from start to finish. All of the nurses and the doula were startled by the speed at which this baby came. I too was shocked but was so happy to see her and have Eric right there with me, with tears in his eyes, just having witnessed his baby being born. It was pretty magical and aweinspiring to think the little person I'm caring for now was living inside of me.

I know this was a long post but I wanted to finally write down what happened. Everyone has their own story and this was mine.