Helene's Birth Story

**This is really just for my record and will probably be boring and go on way too long for some of you. It shouldn't be too TMI if you do want to read it. I left all the gross stuff out. haha**

I never got a chance to write out Helene's birth story. If you know the stories of Sammy and/or Hannah's birth--you will be so glad to hear how quickly and easily it all went. And if you don't know...ask me sometime.

We had a small family celebration with cupcakes for Sammy's birthday the night before and every time I walked upstairs, I could feel a sharp pull in my groin. Contractions? Maybe. I wasn't too concerned since I had my OB appointment the next day.

I slept well and went to my appointment at 10am that morning. My doctor checked me and I was at a 5. I was thrilled. I had him strip my membranes to get things going since I wasn't having any noticeable contractions. He wanted me to go upstairs to the hospital and check in, but I told him that I had to go home and pack (yes, I am a procrastinator) and make arrangements for the other 2 kids. He agreed, but wanted me back ASAP.

By the time I packed and Sam got together what he needed, and we dropped the kids off and were finally on our way, my doctor had already called twice to see where I was. Since it was my third, he had some concerns about the baby coming quickly (ummmmm...not if you recall my previous two deliveries) and he was afraid I would have the baby in car--plus I'm GBS positive, so he wanted to make sure I got at least one dose of antibiotics before the baby arrived.

On our way, there was an accident on the 110 (of course) and it was shut down while they moved the cars off the freeway. There were only two cars in front of us and I was so tempted to tell the CHP officer that I was in labor and needed to get to the hospital ASAP and ask if we could just go (the left lane was open, but they weren't letting anyone get by). In the end, I decided to just sit there and wait (my brother said that the officer probably wouldn't have let me through anyway and wouldn't have been very happy about me getting out of the car and approaching him).

We finally arrived and checked into the hospital at about 3:30. The nursing staff were anxiously waiting for us to arrive and called the doctor immediately to let him know I had made it. When my doctor stopped by the room to see how I was doing and how far dilated I was. I was only at a 6-7, so he broke my water since I still wasn't in a good labor pattern (i.e. no regular, consistent contractions).

Samuel realized that he forgot a few things and wanted to get a game to watch since there was a VCR there and he wanted to catch up on a few he had missed. I told him to go ahead and go home and have my mom come and hang out with me until he got back.

Anyone who has heard my previous birth stories, knows that I DO NOT have fast deliveries. Sammy's birth took 32 hours. Hannah's was a bit faster (16 hours) , but was so arduous and the contractions were unmanageable (piggy-backing, off the charts, lasting anywhere from 4-5 minutes with only a short break in between) that I literally thought I would die.

I felt quite comfortable letting Sam go home and miss the boring parts of labor--just me walking around, trying to get things moving and get this baby out.

My doctor checked me again at 6pm and said I was at an 8 and would be ready to deliver in 30 minutes. I scoffed at the idea. 30 minutes?? Who did he think this was giving birth? I started to get a little concerned since Sam still wasn't back, so I called and told him to hurry up--fortunately, he was already on the road. I was also getting a little concerned about the pain. Or maybe I should be more specific...the lack thereof. My contractions were no more than 45 seconds long and were barely peaking. And I had about a 2 minute break between each one. Nothing like any of my previous labors.

As I mentioned, Hannah's birth, while faster than Sammy's, was so much more painful. And I wasn't prepared for those off the chart contractions. I was in transition with Hannah for 45 minutes and those were the most painful 45 minutes of my life. I didn't want to do that again.

So even though I totally believe in unmedicated births, I told the nurse to call the anesthesiologist up here to give me an epidural because I refused to go through what I went through with Hannah.

She was shocked.

"You're doing so well--you're already at an 8!" (Can I just say, that having delivered two previous children at the same hospital, unmedicated, this was the most encouragement I had ever received from a nurse who worked there? The rest of them all thought, and pretty much told me to my face, that I was crazy).

I told her that I was aware of how well I was doing, but with my last birth going from 8-10cm almost killed me and I didn't want that to happen again.

She asked me again if I was sure and I told her yes. The anesthesiologist came up, took my vitals and was getting his stuff together when my doctor came in and me asked why the anesthesiologist was there. I told him I didn't want to have the unbearable pain that I had with Hannah and since I was at an 8, I wanted to get the epidural before the pain began. He told me that I was already at a 10 and would deliver soon. I again scoffed at him and told him to go ahead and check me--even though it had only been about 20 minutes. He checked me. I was at 10cm. He told the anesthesiologist to leave.

I don't quite remember when Sam arrived, but he DID make it before the baby arrived. It always takes them a while to get everything all set for the delivery anyway.

The only painful part was that even though I was already at a 10, the baby hadn't come down yet and I had no urge to push. My doctor had me just start pushing to help her down (if I had been in my right mind, I would have said no and gotten up out of bed and walked around so gravity could work it's magic, but you lose your common sense during labor/delivery which is why it's always a good idea to have a doula there to help you out! Missed you Valerie! I could have used you right then!)

Anyway, pushing is awful when there is no urge and it took 10 minutes (vs only 2 pushes with Hannah), but sweet baby Helene made it at 6:37pm in all of her 8 lb 3.5 oz and 21 inches of glory.

I remember how little she felt when they gave her to me and how much she looked like Sammy. I was so thrilled that I was right in my guess that we were having a girl since we didn't find out beforehand.

And I was so happy that she was my fastest (and least painful) delivery.