We ended up making it to that hot air balloon festival on Saturday. The balloons didn't get to launch because of the breeze but they did try to inflate and participate in the "glow" that evening before having to call it quits since the weather wasn't in our favor.
On
Monday I had another Midwife appointment where we discussed scheduling an inducement. I was dilated to 3 cm and 70% effaced but we planned on calling in on Friday (if our baby hadn't arrived) and getting on the list for inducement. I really
really didn't want to be chemically induced. I had my membranes stripped again before leaving and kept my fingers crossed I wouldn't make it my next appointment on Thursday. During my visit the Midwife mentioned it felt like our baby was posterior rather than anterior. Leone was this same way and I began to worry since we were so close to our due date that she wouldn't turn. Knowing this had happened with Leone I started early on in this pregnancy using yoga poses and other strategies to help the baby turn and settle into my pelvis...but maybe it's just the way my pelvis is shaped that my babies tend to face the wrong way. It doesn't create a complication like a breech baby would but it can slow labor and creates painful back labor. It basically means a long early labor and a fast delivery.
I went home that day and kept working on turning the baby and we were bracing ourselves for her to arrive any day. I was warned that having my membranes stripped would cause cramping and contractions but I felt nothing...
On Tuesday I woke up at 8:00 a.m. with mild contractions. Nothing major just the "Hmm...that was a contraction". Spencer went to work and Leone and I spent the day around the house cleaning, ironing, playing, and resting. All throughout the day I kept having contractions (mainly in my back spreading around to the front) and every once in a while I would have a pretty intense one the "woah...that was strong" kind, but nothing crippling. I started keeping track of the contractions but they didn't seem to regulate in frequency although the duration and intensity were consistently progressing. I just kept watching for the magic 1 minute long-5 minutes apart-for 1 hour combination. At times in the day it even seemed like the contractions stopped and that was terribly frustrating. I was able to go about the entire day having contractions but getting things done. This was completely different from my labor with Leone when I couldn't do anything but rock on my hands and knees and I was exhausted early on.
That evening I went to bed as usual. I remember having two contractions right before falling asleep. I woke up around 12:45 a.m. (
Wednesday morning) for a bathroom break and then I noticed my contractions again. I couldn't fall back to sleep as the intensity and frequency were increasing. Around 3:30 a.m. Spencer woke up and kept me company and started tracking the contractions for me. During a contraction I had to focus but after a contraction Spencer and I would talk and laugh as if nothing were happening. This just wasn't how I expected labor to feel, especially after having Leone. I always scoffed at the idea of being able to sleep through any part of labor, or to go see a movie, or do anything but
labor during early labor so I was thinking this may be my body reacting to my membranes being stripped.
At this point my contractions were getting closer to 5 minutes apart-we'd have a few 5 minutes apart then a 7 minutes apart, a 9 minutes, a 4 minutes, then a 5 again. Spencer started gathering our bags and waking Leone around 6:00 a.m. but I wanted to speak to a Midwife first. Just after 6:00 I called the hospital and asked the Midwife on call about the frequency of my contractions to which she responded "Is this your first? (My second.) Since this is your second I would come in to the hospital." At this point my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and 40-60 seconds long.
Leone was so excited she woke right up and didn't dawdle while getting ready. We dropped her off with Spencer's parents and made it to the hospital by 7:00 a.m. Riding in the car while in labor is THE WORST. I had three three contractions during our short drive to the hospital. Luckily we didn't hit rush hour traffic.
We arrived at labor and delivery and were running through the usual questions. The receptionist asked a nurse if a triage room was ready to which she said yes. Then a few minutes (and contractions) later the receptionist asked the nurse "do you have a room available?" to which she said "I'll check". The same thing happened with Leone--we walk in and instead of going to triage I ended up going straight to a delivery room. I was dilated to a "5+"cm!
The nurses who helped us were incredible! I'm so grateful. The triage nurse continued with the admittance process while my delivery nurse was getting me hooked up to the monitor and setting up the instruments. I consented for the water birth trial but I wasn't sure I would actually
want a water birth. I asked them to set up the pool so I could try laboring in the pool. While everything was getting set up the Midwife arrived (the only one I hadn't met). I was a little worried since I didn't have an idea of her personality or style yet but Theresa (the Midwife) was wonderful! A blessing really, she was exactly what I needed for this delivery. She immediately dimmed the lights and she spoke in a low soothing voice and was forthcoming with information so I felt completely present and informed.
The pool was ready so I decided to give it a shot. From my research I learned that laboring in water is really most helpful if you can submerge the entire belly (I had tried using water with Leone's labor but I couldn't ever submerge my stomach) so I wanted to see if it would make a difference. Before getting into the pool I went to the bathroom and while I was there I mentioned that I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. Theresa (the midwife) called from the room "Don't push yet sweetie-that could be the baby!" She came to check and as she did she said "There goes your cervix. It's slipping away as we speak." (The cervix slides out of the way just before delivery so that is completely normal).Then suddenly my water broke! She checked to make sure everything was clear and then I climbed into the pool.
The birthing pool is an inflatable pool filled with warm water. It has several handles on the inside and outer edge, and one small bench inside. Spencer sat on a stool on my left and Theresa sat on a stool on my right. Between contractions we would talk and ask Theresa questions. The nurses would chime in...honestly the environment was friendly and casual but professional. Everything felt so right. The water helped
tremendously with the contractions. I could still feel the pressure of a contraction but the pain was minimal. I was amazed!
Not long after climbing into the pool I felt the urge to push again. Theresa gave me the go ahead but suddenly I was scared. I didn't want to push...I wasn't mentally ready...and I wasn't prepared to not be ready. I was kind of panicking in my mind, psyching myself out. I knew I would probably tear again and I didn't want to. I realized that throughout my pregnancy I relied on knowing what to expect but then come labor and delivery knowing what to expect made me freak out a little. I started crying and saying "I don't want to do this", "It hurts", "I'm scared"...everything you're NOT supposed to say or think and deep down I knew that. Spencer, bless his heart, kept encouraging me and I could see in his eyes he was concerned for me. He wanted to help and was ready to demand anything I wanted but at the same time he knew there was nothing we could do except deliver our baby. Theresa kept coaching me and telling me "you're going to have a baby any minute...just push, breathe the baby out." I was thinking "yeah, sure,
any minute...I pushed Leone for an
hour!" I couldn't have done it without Theresa and Spencer and all the other nurses encouraging and pushing me a long. I could have moved to the bed but I didn't feel like going anywhere. I didn't even want to change positions in the pool; partly because where I was felt good but, I think, also I was a bit frozen with fear. Theresa finally, gently said, "What do you want? Do you want to get out of the pool and get in the bed and have an epidural?" I didn't verbally respond (I may have whimpered...) but she must have seen the hope in my eyes because she said "No...you're baby is so close, I know that's not what you really want." And she was right....that wasn't what I really wanted but anything sounded good at that moment. All I wanted was for someone to reach inside and pull the baby out--suddenly C-sections didn't seem so bad after all...
Theresa suggested I reach down to feel the baby and I could! That was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I could feel the crown of her head just two knuckle lengths away! That gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush--like when you can see the "finish" line so I made sure to make my next pushes productive. When I checked again I could feel her head just one knuckle away! A push or two more...I tried to check again...but I couldn't distinguish anything. Theresa checked and she said "That's because that's her crown. You're there!" Our baby was literally a push or two away. I went for it! Suddenly---
so suddenly--- she was here! Spencer was able to catch her and hand her to me and then he cut her umbilical cord and she was born!! I couldn't believe it. I was crying with relief and joy and gratitude. I was overcome.
My first thought was she looks like Leone...but not...then that she resembles my Dad. I handed our baby girl back to Spencer while I stepped out of the pool and into the bed. There I was able to hold our little girl, Vivian Lebel, skin to skin. I did tear again but not as bad as last time.
Only an hour and a half after being admitted to the hospital, weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz (a whole pound more than her sister) and 20 inches long, Vivian was born on Wednesday August 12th at 9:15 a.m.
She has my chin.
