Not surprisingly, more than two weeks have passed since your
birth and I am just now getting around to writing your birth story. I have also
hauled myself up in the bedroom, alone, with the laptop in the hopes that I can
get it typed in one quick bout rather than stretched over several days (which
is what will happen if your big brother has anything to do with it!). In fact, there are so many details of my
pregnancy with you and first few days that I want to document and like most
second children (and remember, I’m one two!) they are going to slip away before
I get them down. But… your birth story is important Curtis. And deserves to be
told.
You were due tomorrow, Monday, January 28. All along I had
said that my biggest goal, besides having a healthy baby of course, was to have
you pick your own birthday. I didn’t want to be induced as I was with Wesley. I
also strongly felt that you were going to be late. I think I guessed Feb. 2
when someone asked. The morning of January 12 (which was a Saturday) I told
several people that as of Monday I would be more pregnant than I had ever been
before (since we induced your brother at exactly 38 weeks and I was then 37
weeks, 5 days)… not to be outdone, apparently, you chose January 12 as your
birthday. But I get ahead of myself.
Because it was a Saturday, your father was home and so Grandma
and I went to Walmart on our own, in part to shop for birthday presents for
your big brother. We walked around the store for over an hour and at one point
I told Grandma, “I could not put my knees together if I sat down,” because I
felt like your head was so low! We then called Daddy and decided that we were
going to go see The Hobbit at the movie theatre. From the very first Surround
Sound, you jumped inside my belly… and jumped several times during the movie as
well. Only time will tell if that means that you are an extreme Tolkien fan or
if you despise fantasy! By the end of the three hours in the somewhat hard
movie seat, my tailbone and you were done!
We came home, ate dinner, and watched the end of the Denver
Broncos first play-off game. Mommy is not a football fan but Grandma is and
since it’s our “home team” we watched… the Broncos lost in overtime to the
Ravens, which was not supposed to happen. Literally two minutes after they lost
(about 7pm) I felt a sharp downward pressure/pain and thought to myself, “I
just peed my pants!” I got up and went to the bathroom where it felt like I was
continuing to pee… since I couldn’t tell for sure what was happening I went
back to the living room (thinking to myself I KNOW I can control my bladder
standing in the living room) and yet I continued to “pee.” At that point it was
clear to me… my water had broken and I was leaking! That was definitely NOT the
way I had thought I would go into labor.
The last "belly" photo taken jst before we left the house
Last photo of a family of three
Daddy and I hurried around the house gathering the last few
items that needed packed (luckily I had packed most of our bags earlier that
week) and kissing your big brother goodbye, telling him that by tomorrow he
might get to meet you. By the time we got in the car (about 7:30pm) I was
starting to cramp but didn’t feel like I was having contractions yet.
I think we almost literally skipped into the hospital, up to
the maternity ward where I happily chirped “I think I’m having a baby. My water
broke.” I’m sure the nurses looked at me and the way I approached the desk and
thought, ‘Yeah, and you’re a long way off of having a baby!” But, they put me
in a room where I changed into a gown and got checked by the nurse. We listened
to your heartbeat (good and steady!). She confirmed that your water was indeed “ruptured”
and she took my blood pressure several times… and it was consistently too high.
All through my pregnancy this had been our fear and it hadn’t been the case. I
was worried about what this would mean for my plans of a natural labor and
delivery, since I knew I couldn’t labor laying on only one side or another when
the contractions got intense. It had definitely not been possible for me in my
labor with Wesley. Luckily, after having me lay on my left side for about
twenty minutes and realizing that my BP was not going down, the nurse told me
that I could lay any way I wanted and they’d just keep an eye on it. Hooray!
For the next hour and a half the contractions got more
regular and more intense. In between them I watched a good portion of the
Vivien Leigh version of Streetcar Named Desire on tv… I turned it off shortly
after Brando yelled “STELLA!” up the stairs, as I was starting to need to focus
on what I was doing and the contractions were getting stronger and closer
together.
About 9:45 the nurse came in and I told her that I was
having downward pressure. She commented that via the monitoring she could tell
that the contractions were, as she put it, “Not giving me any down time.” I
didn’t need a monitor to tell her that! She checked me at 10pm. When we checked
in I was 3 cm. I was now 5, but she said several times that your head was “right
there” and that all that had to happen was my cervix needed to engage and you
would “be here.” She called Jayne, my
midwife, and asked her to please come as I seemed to be moving along quickly.
Shortly afterwards I felt that I needed to push. I told Reid
to get me a cold washcloth and a basin to throw up in because I was in
transition. He got me both and I could tell the nurse knew it was time. About
10:20 Jayne showed up, took one look, stepped into the hallway and called out “We
need everything in here now!” I opened my eyes a little, looked and saw there
was no one standing at the end of the bed to do the proverbial catching of the
baby, and said very loudly “He’s coming!” followed by a few utterances of “I
can’t do this!” I was very surprised the next morning that your daddy didn’t
have a bruised hand from how hard I was squeezing it with each contraction. But
he stood there stoically and helped me through each one of them.
And luckily I was surrounded by strong, capable women who
know that I could do it and told me so. The nurse continually reminded me at
the start of each contraction to slow my breathing (and myself) down. Jayne
used helpful comments like “Curl yourself around the baby to push” and “Use low
guttural noises” when I was getting high and whimpery. Both of these suggestions actually helped a great
deal. I pushed for, at most, four contractions and you were born. The “ring of
fire” that women talk about for natural births is a really accurate description
and I actually thought of it as I was going through your crowning. But it didn’t
last for long and you were out lying on my chest. My first words when I saw you
were “He’s so tiny.” Jayne assured me that you weren’t and in fact that you
were “perfect.” The truth is you were only a few ounces less than your brother
at birth but we forget how tiny baby’s look when they are first born.
Getting checked out... perfect!
You were born at exactly 10:30pm… three and a half hours
from your water breaking to you being born! Both Jayne and the nurse, who have
undoubtedly seen hundreds if not thousands of births, agreed it went faster
than they had anticipated it going. The nurse kept saying “5 centimeters at
10pm!” As I was delivering the placenta, getting my one tiny stitch, and they
were checking your vitals, the nurse even told me “It’s a good thing I don’t
smoke any more or I’d be outside! My adrenaline is just now coming down.” Jayne
asked jokingly if we were planning to have more children because if so I would
need to come to the hospital at the first sign of discomfort! After all, Wesley’s
labor took 5 ½ hours. Yours took 3 ½!
My BP stayed up through my time in the hospital (though came
down slightly when I was laying on my left side) but they let us go home Monday
morning anyhow. And just like that… we were forever a family of four!
Welcome to the world Curtis Andrew!
January 12, 2013 at
10:30pm
6lbs, 5oz; 19” long
