The Birth Story

Inquiring minds want to know, and Elizabeth has tasked me with making a guest appearance on her blog to share the birth story – so here goes!

Elizabeth’s due date was February 1, and for some silly reason (probably because Charlotte was born on her due date), we just assumed AJ would be on time or even early. We were ready 2 weeks early, and Elizabeth’s Mom, Barbie, came to stay with us about 5 days before the due date. And then we waited.

...And waited.

The due date came and went. For the next week I came home from work every night thinking I wouldn’t be going back in the morning. But nothing happened. It got to the point where I actually started assuming it would not happen that night!

At 41 weeks, we had an ultrasound to check how AJ was doing, and everything looked perfect. But he was BIG. The technician estimated 9 lbs., 8 oz. Charlotte was only 6-10, so we figured she must be way off. Heh.

As the second week of “overtime” zipped by we started to get a little worried. We wanted to do a home birth, and our midwife practice would not deliver a baby at home past 42 weeks. We were doing everything you’re supposed to be doing to induce labor, but AJ was not budging. Not even castor oil (no, not Castrol oil!) worked. Running out of time was becoming a real possibility. We had an appointment for Monday morning (Feb. 16) to see an OB we had never met before – with a mandatory hospital induction following shortly thereafter.

I tried coaching him from the outside – “C’mon little guy – giddyup!” And like a seasoned SWAT negotiator, Charlotte was in charge of convincing AJ to voluntarily submit to life outside the womb – “all-you-can-eat ninny – yum!” We were selling, but AJ was not buying.

Finally on the night of Friday the 13th – after I completed another full week of work, we went for a cold walk around our neighborhood, and we didn’t get very far before Elizabeth’s water broke around 8:30 p.m. Finally! We returned home, got things ready at the house, and called the midwife, Regina. She told us to call back if anything started happening, and we called back at 10:20 p.m., a little worried because Elizabeth had not felt AJ move since her water broke. Regina offered to come over and put the Doppler on the baby to confirm his heartrate was OK. We felt bad asking her to come over so “early” but she lives nearby and was happy to oblige.

Regina came to our house around 10:45 p.m., and AJ’s heartbeat came through loud and clear (one of the most wonderful sounds I will ever hear). Although E had been having pretty consistent contractions, we figured she was still in early labor. It was great to know E was in labor and we were going to have a Valentine’s day baby!

After checking Elizabeth, Regina got all her supplies set up and left us alone in the bedroom around 11:15. I actually thought maybe I’d try to get a little sleep. Yeah, right! By 11:45 the contractions were getting pretty strong and were consistently coming every 2 minutes. But Elizabeth was handling them like such a champ that I still misjudged how far along she was. It was great knowing Regina was already there, and just when I was thinking I should probably beckon her back and call the birth assistant, Regina poked her head in and rejoined us. I also ran down to the basement to wake up Elizabeth’s mom.

A few minutes later, I realized Elizabeth was already in transition – and by 12:15 she was pushing! Regina was wonderful throughout – very competent and calm. She basically let Elizabeth do whatever she felt like. She checked AJ’s heatrate regularly, and at one point when it was slow, she calmly asked E to change positions and that’s all AJ needed to return to normal.

After about 30 minutes of pushing, AJ was here at 12:47 a.m.! It all went so fast that our birth assistant, Wendy, got to our house with about 3 pushes left. If it had been much faster, we would have had a Friday the 13th baby instead of a Valentine’s baby! And thank god we called Regina over so “early”! AJ looked very healthy and hearty as soon he was born – probably because he was so “well done”J We could tell right away that AJ was much bigger than Charlotte was – and this was confirmed when he weighed in at 8-14 on the scale.

Regina and Wendy cleaned up everything and were gone by 3:30 a.m. Charlotte never even woke up! And so we sat in our bedroom together and marveled at the newest member of our family. Wow, what a night.

Charlotte came in the next morning at her normal time and, needless to say, had quite a surprise waiting for her!

Happy Birth-Day to AJ!