The Welty's: February 2013

Disclaimer: This is really long. The beginning might be a little boring but if you're interested in a natural birth I would highly recommend pushing through to the end. This is my experience with Hypnobirthing, I only read the book and didn't take the classes and it was still really helpful.

Also, I talk a lot about Jackson's "horror birth story". If you want to read more about it, click here.

Also, you'll see some of the most hideous pictures of me. And hear a lot about my body. Hope you don't mind.

Sunday, January 27th

Sunday was Brian's birthday so when Jackson woke up that morning I made Brian and I's favorite breakfast eggs benedict. After cleaning up and getting ready for church I started realizing that I was getting a sore throat and was probably coming down with a cold, which was a bummer because I had lost my mucus plug on Thursday and was hoping to go into labor any day. We had even gone to the Arizona Science Center on Saturday so I could walk around and try and get things going. I left church after sacrament and tried to take it easy, knowing that I'd have a busy day cooking and cleaning for Brian's birthday. I made his favorite dinner shrimp linguini and a homemade Texas Sheet Cake for dessert and was really feeling crummy at that point. (I didn't tell Brian that though because I knew he wouldn't let me do that stuff for him if he knew, and he was already trying to get me to stop doing things.)

We put on a movie and I started to realize that the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having for months seemed to be coming in pretty regular. They weren't painful but they were definitely strong, and after a couple hours of timing I realized that they were pretty consistently coming in every 7 1/2 minutes. I knew that that didn't mean that I was in labor but it could've meant the start of early labor which was exciting, so I let my sister Michelle and my dad know since Michelle would be watching Jackson and my dad would be traveling from CA to come visit once labor did start. I told them I'd let them know how I felt in the morning.

Monday, January 28th

Brian left for work at around 5:45 on Monday morning, and I had slept surprisingly well considering I was usually getting up most nights every 2 hours to go to the bathroom. At around 6:15 I realized that I was having powerful contractions, but this time with each contraction I was getting a really crampy feeling. I tried to keep sleeping, knowing that if it was labor I would need my rest but once I was awake and aware that these contractions were painful and regular, I couldn't help but start timing them. That first 45 minutes they were around 5 and a half minutes apart. My doctor had told me to come when they were every 3-5 minutes, but I could wait longer because I was planning on having a natural birth and should labor at home as long as possible. I started texting Brian letting him know what was going on, and since I hadn't heard from him around 7:30 I called him and told him what was happening. We decided that he wouldn't come home quite yet because they weren't quite close enough but that we would be ready when they were.

By about 7:45 my contractions started coming every 2 and a half to 4 minutes, and I read about some second time moms who progressed so quickly they barely even made it to the hospital on time. I decided Brian should probably come home so we could get Jackson ready and take him over to my sister's house. I guess our car was on empty so Brian had to fill up on the way home so we could even get to the hospital. While I was waiting I took a shower and stopped timing contractions and just started getting through them since they were pretty painful at this point. I was having to stop every couple minutes to just stand there and breathe through the contractions, but they were still manageable. We got the car loaded up (and when I say "we" I mean Brian, I wasn't doing anything but just getting through contractions) and left the house around 9:00. We dropped off Jackson and headed over to the hospital.

I remember driving to the hospital there was a ton of construction and the bumps in the road were so distracting during contractions. We put on my Hypnobirthing CD and listened to a relaxation script. I was so relaxed until we'd hit a bump in the road and it would totally throw me off. When we got there and I went up to the front desk to tell her I was going to have a baby she asked me to sign in. Then she asked how far apart my contractions were and I told her every 2 minutes she just rushed me into the next room to get checked in. Looking back now its really funny because when we were initially asked to sign in I was suposed to write my name and birthday on a piece of paper. When I told her how far apart my contractions were she said "Never mind!" and hurriedly took me into the other room. We thought we were on the fast track to getting admitted but turns out we still had to go through two more rooms and tons of questions before we were actually admitted. Good thing I didn't have to fill out that piece of paper though. During contractions Brian would have to answer questions for me, I would just close my eyes and breathe through them. They took me into a Triage room where they asked a bunch of questions and took blood pressure, etc. I was kind of annoyed at this point because I felt like I was jumping through hoops just to get admitted into the hospital, why was everything so orderly when I was in active labor? I think I had been at the hospital about 30 minutes before they even got around to checking me. At 10:00 is when she checked me and she said "How does 6 cm and 100% effaced sound?" I seriously wanted to cry. I was so terrified that when they checked me I would still be a 2 (which I had been for the past couple weeks) and that things wouldn't be progressing despite my painful contractions. It was so great to hear that I was progressing so well and naturally.

They wheeled me up to the Labor & Delivery room (I absolutely hated being in a wheelchair) where I met my nurse Jeanne. I gave her the plate of Texas Sheet Cake we had brought from Brian's birthday. She ended up being my nurse through the whole thing, and basically stayed in my room the whole time. I was surprised because she didn't have any other patients, so her whole focus was on me. I didn't like being strapped to the monitors and having my blood pressure taken, plus I had to sit on the bed for a long time while I still waited for all the technical stuff to be done. I definitely was starting to see the downside of giving birth in a hospital, but really I'm glad that I did it there.

As soon as I'd start to feel a contraction coming on I'd bow my head and close my eyes and that was everyone's queue to stop talking and do other things. I would let my entire body relax and just let my stomach tighten up. They would build, reach a peak, and then decline. I found that the best breathing technique for this part of labor was the one where I take a quick inhale counting 1-2-3-4, then breathe out a long, deep breath counting to about 20. I wouldn't actually count the individual numbers in my head but that's the technique my Hypnobirthing book gave me and I found myself doing that one naturally. The reason I liked this one is because I found that breathing in during a contraction was harder than breathing out. Exhaling was so much more relaxing. I told Brian to just put his hand on my head during contractions because anything more than that would break my concentration. I remember the intervals in between contractions I was the most relaxed I had ever been in my life. Even after a lot of the contractions were over I would keep my eyes closed and keep breathing deeply and just fully appreciate the down time that I had. I think that was a major difference between this birthing and Jackson's was that during Jackson's labor I would be freaking out in between contractions in anticipation of the next painful contraction. This time I would fully soak up all the time that I was not in pain and I was so relaxed listening to the ambiance music that we had playing on our iPod.

Usually they make you talk to an epidural specialist and go over the risks and sign some paperwork, but from the beginning my nurse Jeanne was so supportive of me that she told me I didn't need to. She kept telling me that even people who planned on doing it natural needed to talk to this guy but she could just tell I was going to be able to do it. She was really impressed with my relaxation techniques and the fact that I was able to breathe so deeply even being so far along.

Eventually we were able to get out of bed and get on the birthing ball. It actually took me awhile to get comfortable and I can't honestly say that it was that much more comfortable than laying reclined in the hospital bed. After a time Brian and I got in the shower and I continued to labor on the birthing ball in the shower. Brian would hold the shower head and spray the water on different parts of my body. The only problem was that everytime someone in the hospital flushed a toilet the water would get scalding hot. When I was in between contractions that wasn't a big deal but during one it would really break my concentration. I eventually told Brian to only spray my back when I was having a contraction to which he said "I can't even tell when you're having a contraction!" So I would give his leg a quick squeeze when they would start, and after awhile I told him to just stop spraying me with the water because the temperature change was just so distracting. Brian was a pro and taking the water off me when it got too hot, he was so sweet.

After about an hour in the shower Dr. Beck came in and suggested we break my water. That wasn't in my birth plan to have my water broken but when he told me it would speed up my labor I was definitely at a point that I was ready for things to pick up. We got out of the shower and Dr. Beck came in to break my water at about 12:45. I was dilated to an 8 at that point and at station 0 when he checked me. Brian and I were surprised how much water there was, but apparently the water sac was "very saggy" and would've broken soon anyways. After he broke my water he told me that I would be having the baby within the hour. I was shocked when he said that and hardly believed him, but he and the nurse both agreed things would happen really soon. That was when we called my sister Michelle, who we had invited in to see the birth and take pictures, to come to the hospital. She got there at about 1:30 and when she walked in the door it was so peaceful and quiet she said she for sure thought I had gotten an epidural because I looked so peaceful. I didn't even say hi to her because I was in the relaxation zone and she just snuck in and sat down.

Breaking my water was such a game changer. While I was able to breathe through the painful contractions, the water sac was almost like a cushion protecting my pelvic bones from the baby's head pushing down on it. Once that cushion was gone there was so much pressure down there. I was still breathing and relaxing the best I could but I found that my legs were starting to shake a bit and my hands were squeezing Brian's. At first I felt like I was able to use some of my self hypnosis methods to help me. Every time the baby would push down on my bones, I would picture him moving down the birth canal and would try and be grateful for the progress the pain meant I was making. Yeah, that only got me so far.

You know when you're running a long distance and you reach a point where you feel like you need to walk? As soon as you let yourself walk that first time, every time you start to run after that its hard to keep yourself from walking again. If you had just kept running that first time its easier to resist the urge to walk again. That's how I compare my experience with the epidural. The first time that I let myself really tense up during a contraction it completely ruined my relaxation concentration. Then the thought of getting the epidural entered my head, which it really hadn't up until that point. I had felt so in touch with my body and so in control that the thought of getting one hadn't even occurred to me. Once it did though it was hard to get it out of my head.

At 1:40 I finally cracked and asked Jeanne for the epidural. I was so completely torn because I knew I was so so so close and my last experience with the epidural was such a horror story but every contraction was so much more painful now that my water was broke. I think that Dr. Beck telling me I would have the baby within the hour also didn't help because an hour after that point when they checked me I was still only an 8 1/2, and that was discouraging feeling like I wasn't progressing. Jeanne said she would check again and see if she could push away the last little bit of cervix and that way I could start pushing. When she checked again she said I was a 9 but that she couldn't quite push it away and I would have to wait. She was such a huge supporter, once I asked for the epidural she said "I don't want to sway you either way but I want you to know that you can do it. You are so close and I don't want you to have any regrets. I know its hard right now but you are almost there and this is the worst of it, you've done so well so far though and I know you can do it." That made me even more torn because I had come so far, but the thought of going even one more contraction was unbearable. I remember in between contractions I felt like I could do it, but during them I was screaming inside my head wanting pain relief. I asked how long it would take the anesthesiologist to get there, thinking if it took more than 10 minutes I could just wait and not get one but she said she could be there immediately. I told her to bring her in.

From there things got so crazy. That's when the nurses, anesthesiologist, and some random guy shadowing the anesthesiologist came in a huge hurry. The lights were turned on, everybody was talking loudly and the atmosphere changed immediately. I was still trying to relax through contractions but I wanted to cry because I felt like a failure asking for the epidural and I was in so much pain and couldn't get back into my hypnobirthing mode. The anesthesiologist was an older lady who was supposed to be the best anesthesiologist at the hospital. By then my delivery (horror) story with Jackson had gotten around, as well as how well I was doing with this birth, so she was well aware that I was really skeptical of getting an epidural. She came in and was really abrupt and down to business, exactly what I wanted because the anesthesiologist who messed up my other epidural with Jackson was so nonchalant I wanted someone who wasn't going to beat around the bush. Jeanne was trying to ask her if I could get any relief through any other means but she came right in and said "I'm giving you the epidural. Not a spinal or anything else." I wasn't about to argue with her. The random guy following the anesthesiologist, on the other hand, was cracking jokes, talking loud, and trying to be a real charmer. I wanted to punch him in the face. I was having contractions every minute and a half and that guy was trying to be a stand up comedian. I was surprised when I got it it didn't initially give me any relief. If I was going to get the epidural I wanted relief NOW. I didn't want to go through even one more contraction. By 1:50 I had the epidural and was starting to feel some pain relief. I was scared to death something was going to go wrong but they assured me I'd have to "be like a bear scratching its back on a tree trunk to make this epidural come loose". It started only numbing one side of me and my mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that this epidural had failed also. They rolled me over and I felt some relief on both sides, but I was scared to roll back onto my back for fear the epidural would come out so I did most of my laboring on that side from there on out.

The epidural was actually really nice. Once I got over feeling like a failure I really just enjoyed it. I could still feel each contraction because she just gave me a light one, but I only felt the first half of it. Jeanne would tell me that by the time it had subsided for me was about the peak and most painful part of the contraction. So it was the best of both worlds, I could still feel my body and even wiggle my toes but I wasn't in such horrible pain. I was so happy with my decision to get one

At about 3:20 ish Jeanne told me that I was fully dilated and that I should give a practice push. Brian and Jeanne got on each side of me and lifted up both my legs. I panicked. With Jackson's birth I was practically begging them to let me push because of the pain I was in and the fact that my body was already starting to push on its own. This time I was just starting to relax and feel normal, it was weird to have someone basically tell me "You can't feel it but your body is ready to push." I think I was the most afraid to push, because during labor all I had to do was sit there and endure the pain. Pushing required who knows how long of hard work, and it scared me to move on to this next stage. So I gave one good practice push and I could actually feel him move down the birth canal. With Jackson I pushed for 2 hours, and every time I'd make an inch of progress he would go back up once I stopped pushing. So you can imagine how weird it was to feel him crowning after one push. I don't think Jeanne was expecting that to happen either because she said in a surprised voice "Wow you're a good pusher! Let's see if Dr. Beck is still here." After he broke my water, Dr. Beck said that he would stay at the hospital because he thought I was going to deliver so quickly. I guess he had to get back to appointments because when Jeanne asked if he was still there they said he had left. So at that point I had to sit there for about 10 minutes waiting for the Doctor to get there with my baby's head almost out. I don't know what they would've done had I not had the epidural, there's no way I could've just sat there without one.

Every time Jeanne checked me prior to that she kept saying, "Your baby has a lot of hair!" Now that the baby was almost out, I was able to reach down and feel his head while I was waiting there. The first time she told me to reach down and feel his head I was shocked how much was out. "That's his head!?" I couldn't feel his hair because it was so wet but I could definitely feel that he was sticking out of me. That was the point that Brian had overestimated his weak stomach and had looked a little too long at the baby. Suddenly he said "I have to lie down." He said he had blacked out for a minute and was about to hit the floor. Michelle gave him some crackers from her purse and the nurses ran and got him some orange juice. Poor guy ;)

Dr. Beck came in in a hurry. He threw on his scrubs and got in place. At that point I felt a little more ready to push. We waited till there was a contraction, I took a deep breath and pushed. She told me to push like I was having a bowel movement but I could feel the difference. I knew exactly how to push and knew it wasn't like that because of my last birthing. It was funny, last time they kept telling me to put my chin to my chest when I pushed, and I remember last time not doing it because it felt wrong and didn't actually work. The same thing happened this time, she kept telling me that and when I would I wouldn't make any progress, but once I did what I could tell was right was when I would make the most progress.

I basically pushed him out in one contraction after the initial first "practice push". I gave a good long push, took a deep breath, pushed again and his head came out. They told me to keep going to get the shoulders and he basically came flying out with that push. It took about 5 minutes. The total time including the waiting time for Dr. Beck to get there was 20 minutes but it was really just the one contraction. Brian and I were shocked and kept talking after that about how quickly it had happened. He practically flew out, a HUGE difference from the 2 hours of pushing it took with Jackson. I was in active labor for a total of 10 hours, 8 of which were drug free.

The second Colton was out of me I was completely sobbing. I think it was a mixture of the shock of it happening so fast, the hormones, and the happiness I felt at being able to see my baby. I can still see so vividly Dr. Beck holding him upside down, the umbilical cord still attached. I'll always remember that sight, it was so beautiful. The first words out of my mouth when I saw him were "He looks JUST like Jackson!!" I seriously felt like he was the same baby, it was crazy how much they looked alike! The biggest difference was just that Colton's hair was a little darker. They laid him on my stomach while they wiped him down, massaged his skin, and Brian cut the cord.