After weeks and weeks...and weeks (14 to be exact) of being on bed rest to prevent Benson from being born too early, and then finally making it 'full term' (37 weeks) and trying 'everything' to have this baby by going on walks, attempting to fully take care of my kids...as much as I could anyways, eating hot wings, having my membranes stripped (twice)...it was evident that Benson had his own schedule, and that he would grace us with his presence when he was ready!
Earlier in the pregnancy, I jokingly commented that after all this craziness that we were going through he would be my biggest and longest 'cooked' baby...i'm glad he didn't hold me to that. Benson was born one day before his due date and was in between Marshall and Paisley weight wise.
Paisley was born at 37.5 weeks and so I was somewhat expecting/hoping that Benson would arrive somewhere around that time...because once you go early, any day after that point seems like you're over due!
Now, where to start the labour story!? During Marshall and Paisley's pregnancies I never experienced a braxton hick or false labour. Once I felt cramping it progressed into labour and we had our baby! That was not so much the case this time round. Throughout the pregnancy if I sat upright for too long, or if I walked/stood for longer than 10 minutes, I would experience cramping (Braxton hicks). During this pregnancy I also 'endured' false labour three times!
After we had the ECV on May 8th (External Cephalic Version) to turn Benson into a head down position I would cramp up almost every night. On Mother's Day I woke up with mild back contractions (which is exactly how things started with Paisley) and thought that maybe I was going to have an incredible Mother's day gift. After an hour of being teased, I finally got up to go shower...and everything stopped...Boo!! There were a couple more instances where I experienced mild back contractions while laying down and then presto, stand up, nothin!
So on May 24th, when I had been experiencing mild contractions, both in the front and in my back I didn't really think much of it. As the day went on though I realized that I was still having these random cramps. So Around 3:30pm I texted Irish to let him know about the random contractions, and that I was going to start timing them, and let him know if anything progressed or if it was just another false alarm. By 5:00pm my contractions were 5 min or less apart, with only two exceptions!
I called him up and told him that I thought this was the 'real deal' and that he should head to Calgary. At this time it was only myself, My Mother in Law, Marshall and Paisley at home. So I kept timing a little bit longer, but as soon as my Father in Law arrived home we told him not to take off his shoes, as he would be taking me into Calgary to my Aunt and Unlce's house. I grabbed my hospital bag (that had been packed for nearly 3 months), the car seat, toiletries, kissed my kids good bye and was on my way to Calgary, where I would either wait for Irish to arrive or head to the hospital if my contractions became too intense...which ever came first.
We arrived to my Aunt and Uncle's house around 6ish. I started to 'pace' the floors, trying to keep things going while I waited for Irish. By 7ish my contractions were getting to be 3.5 min - 4.5 min apart and were becoming somewhat intense. If I was back in lethbridge I would not have gone to the hospital yet, but since the hospital was still another half hour drive I was getting a little nervous. Irish arrived to my Aunt and Uncle's around 7:20pm, only to come in, grab my things, load them into the van and be on our way.
As we were driving to the hospital I kept thinking, 'wow, this is really happening, we are actually on our way to have this baby! This day is finally here'. The past couple of weeks I had been creating every type of scenario of how it would happen!
We arrived to the Labour and Delivery triage desk at 8pm and had to wait about 10 minutes for them to get an assessment room ready for us. While we were giving all of my info at the triage desk we found out that my Dr was the Dr on call that night and her shift just started, so she would be the one delivering YAY!!! I was SO happy!
Once we were in the assessment room they checked me and I was 5-6 cm dilated. I thought Oh good, we're 'right on track', because once we arrived to the hospital with Paisley I was 5 cm with her, and she was born 2.5 hours later. Everyone had kept saying that if your second delivery went that fast, your third will be even faster.
Just before the moved me to my labour room another one of the Dr's on call that night came in and started talking to me about my previous history with retained placenta. She said that since I had retained placenta with both previous pregnancies, that she wouldn't be surprised if the placenta was retained this time as well (I was already assuming that it would be anyways...so it didn't shock me when she said that she thought it would be as well).
She then said that it was up to me, but that she would recommend having an epidural. If the placenta was retained then they would manually go in and get it all out, and it would be MUCH more comfortable for me if I had an epidural. Then she started to tell me about some of the risks of having retained placenta/them going in and retrieving the placenta. She asked me how many kids I wanted, because there was a small chance of IF they had to manually retrieve the placenta the uterus could flip inside out, or I could bleed so much that in both cases they would have to give me a hysterectomy...and this baby would then be our last baby...talk about freaking a girl out!!
I opted for no epidural, as I really didn't want one, and they did say that if it came to the point in which they had to help the placenta out, they could give me some sort of local freezing.
We we're finally moved to our labour room around 8:45pm. Right away they hooked me up to an IV & the monitor so they could keep tabs on baby's heart beat and my contractions. At first Irish and I started pacing the hallway, but after about 10 minutes of that I felt pretty retarded and it was a little awkward to be dragging the pole around. So we decided to head back to the room. My nurse was in the room at a table doing paper work and so that felt a little awkward as well. At this point I didn't know that the room had a shower, or that I could go in being hooked up to the monitor and everything...but my nurse didn't inform me of all the 'options' i had either. I was excited when I realized there was a shower and that I was allowed to go in it! I spent about an hour in there and then they wanted to check me. At 10:40pm I was 7 cm. My Dr said she could brake my water if I wanted her to and that we could probably have the baby in about an hour. But I opted against it as at least with both Marshall and Paisley, once they broke my water, my body wanted to push...and there was no way I wanted to push at 7 cm!
Back to the shower it was. It felt like this labour was taking so long to progress, I'm not sure if being on bed rest for so long is the reason for that...but that is my thought! My contractions were getting pretty intense. I was too dilated for any morphine or an epidural, so my only option was to try the laughing gas....which was absolutely pointless. I didn't feel like it did anything, except make me feel light headed. Needless to say I stopped using it.
I was feeling pretty weak as the last actual meal I ate was lunch. By the time I realized I was really in labour it was dinner time, but I didn't want to eat. I layed on the bed for a little bit, listening to some calming music. I then decided I would try the birthing ball. By this time I knew...well I guess I hopped it wouldn't be much longer. My contractions were really intense and I was starting to feel some pressure.
It was midnight, and I asked my nurse when my Dr would come and check me again. She said it wouldn't be until 12:40 (as they check every two hours). I knew I couldn't wait that long. I just felt that if they broke my water, everything would progress and we would have our little boy. So I asked my nurse if my Dr could come and break my water, she said "Oh yes, of course, it's what ever you want"...to which I replied "okay, yes, I want them the brake my water"
My Dr came in, broke my water at 12:16am and the pushing began. Instead of pushing I tried to "breathe the baby out" for a little bit like it talks in the book Hypnobirthing....but I really had no idea what I was doing...even though I did practice doing what the book said. Looking back I think I just felt like that would take too long, and since I have never done it before, I had no idea how to gage my progress. SO I 'gave' up and started with the pushes!! There were times that I thought it felt like I had pushed his head out...but no one said anything soooooo I kept pushing.
I sat (reclined) on the bed with my eyes closed, one hand holding onto the bed and the other squeezing the life out of Irish. I somewhat zoned everyone out and tried to focus on working with my contractions. It felt like it was taking forever and this was by far the most painful part! Then all of a sudden I heard my Dr calling my name and telling me to look down. It took her at least three times to "snap" me out of my concentration.
I looked down and there I saw head and shoulders of our little one! She then asked me if I wanted to help deliver my baby. I was confused! How can I help deliver the baby...I'm up here...and the baby is down there. I just stared back at her with a blank look on my face. She asked me two more times, and still I had no idea what she meant by it. So I finally just said Yes, and then I was told hold onto him and push. I did just that and before I knew it they were clamping the cord, Irish got to cut it and I was able to pull his warm little body up onto my chest. Our little man was born at 12:23am weighing 6lbs 14oz and 19" long
As I held him close, I couldn't help but replay the last four months in my mind (in extreme fast forward, because honestly, I hope I never have to experience bed rest again!!!). I was so thankful to finally be where I was. I was so incredibly thankful to a Heavenly Father who had watched over and protected me and this sweet little spirit. I was thankful to be entrusted to care for, teach and watch over yet another sweet little baby!
Maybe it was because I was feeling a little weak or maybe it was the hat they put on him...but I thought he smelled like popcorn!!
My Dr then sat at the end of the bed and told me that she wasn't going to rush the placenta. She was just going to sit there and let it do it's thing. I LOVED this. It made me feel like she was there for ME, and not just trying to "get the job done". I pushed for a little bit, and maybe after 10 minutes it came all by itself...AND ALL IN ONE PIECE!! I was a little shocked when she said that it was all there, bus OH SO HAPPY!
After inspecting the placenta she did find something interesting. Instead of the umbilical cord implanting itself into the middle of the placenta, mine had imbedded itself into the side of the sack and then into the placenta (I forget what the medical term for it is). She did say that the sack around the area where the cord had imbedded itself was pretty weak, and that if it had burst there, Baby would have "bled out"....and there was my 'answer' as to why I was on bed rest. As hard (and frustrating) as being on bed rest was, I would do it again just so we could have our little Benson in our family.
