38 weeks 4 days: Kinsey's Birth Story

This time 3.5 years ago I went into labor with Kinsey, so for nostalgia's sake, here is her Birth Story:

Thursday, February 3rd 2011 was a lazy day. I had been on Maternity leave for almost a week and the most productive thing I had done was have my car smog-ed the day before. I was bumming around at my mom's doing a whole lot of nothing until Brian got off from work in the evening. For some reason, I was determined to roll all my loose change into bundles and as I was sitting at the dining table I just couldn't quite get comfortable; but I chalked it up to not having a cushion between my bum and the hardwood bench, and life went on.

I made the drive home (all 20 minutes of it) shortly before Brian got off to heat up some burritos for dinner and relax on the couch to read some Reader's Digest magazines my FIL had just dropped off for me. Brian got home and we ate our burritos before the TV and then decide to turn in early, about 8p.

Well, as soon as my head hit the pillow and just as Sawyer was curling around my head for his cat nap, I get a crazy surge of adrenaline and pop back up and literally start pacing around our apartment (incidentally, that was also the last time Sawyer ever slept on my head like a hat). I felt anxious and lying down just didn't suit.

I started to have sporadic contractions at 8:32p and I tried using a massage pillow to soothe my back. It didn't help. Then after a bathroom trip, I noticed my mucus plug (a sight that can never be unseen) had come out and then I really became pleasant, har har. At this point I had probably woken up a couple of neighbors plus Brian and we began to get a hospital bag packed.

I called and left a message with my Doctor and then called the hospital.  The nurse on duty advised me to wait for my doctor to give me further instructions but in the meantime, to take a shower. Just as I stepped out of the shower, my Doctor called and he told me to get to the hospital and he would see me soon.

We checked into the hospital around 11p and I was maybe 2 cm dilated. Well, progression began to pick up and all I could do was lay in bed and roll with them. I spent a good amount of time keeping my eyes closed and feeling like waves of nausea were rolling over me as each set of contractions came and went. Luckily, every time I opened my eyes another hour had passed. It was pretty steady and painful and all my notions of a natural labor flew out the window by 4 cm. I was given something in my IV that was supposedly to help with pain management (Pitocin?) and it sucked! I am so thankful for the sweet older nurse who finally came in, patted my hand and said, "why suffer when you don't have to?" and gave me "permission" to get the epidural I desperately wanted but was too embarrassed to ask for (because, you know, it wasn't on my 'birth plan').

Sometime around 4 or 5 in the morning, Brian made the calls to our parents that baby girl was definitely on her way.  This gave him some time away from the room and me, I wasn't doing much talking and the nurses could tell he was getting anxious. I was feeling such extreme pressure I was getting the urge to push which I was told was "not good" and he was feeling helpless.

I vaguely remember my mom and brother sitting in the room for a little while but I must have scared them out. They ended up waiting with my In Laws out in the reception area.

In between my keening and moaning my Doctor arrived and broke my water and then sometime after that the Anesthesiologist came by with my wonder drug. Which, BTW, is the most awkwardly administered drug ever- how they expect a laboring, pregnant woman to stay perfectly still while sitting hunched over is baffling. But let me just say the relief of it was immediate and I went from a 10 to a 1 on the pain scale in under a minute.

 The next 30 minutes to an hour was spent joyously chatting with Brian and our parents and laughing with the nurses, I finally felt like myself again. And then I felt the need to push and everyone was hustled out.  I was instructed to grabbed my ankles and give a "test push" and Brian instantly teared up, "I just saw her head."  To which I replied, "Does she have hair?" because I am a little creeped out by bald babies, and he just nodded.

Well the next push and she was in my arms! Kinsey Olivia entered the world on Friday, February 4th at 8:26 am. She gave a good, strong cry clearing her lungs and then calmed down almost as fast as she came into my arms. Brian was pretty much forced to cut her umbilical cord which he was previously opposed to doing and then supervised her weighing (7.12 oz), measuring (19.5 in), and bathing as I was stitched up (only slight tearing and it didn't bother me a bit, thank you Lord.)

I looked like a hot mess, Brian looked and felt like one (he being awake for roughly 24 hours) but Kinsey was the star. She was petite, looked just like a doll with her 10 little strands of dark hair and red cheeks. She fit perfectly in my arms and on that day, I finally understood what unconditional love is: it feels like becoming a mommy.