Joseph Reid Quirk’s Arduous Arrival
After spending a week sweating in 100+ degree heat and 39-40
weeks pregnant, on the boy’s due date (July 3), I had one final prenatal
appointment.
Not-my-usual-nurse-practitioner broke the news that we would go ahead and
schedule an induction for one week later, in case I needed it. When she left the room, I started
crying. She prescribed sex, walking, and
the Preggo Pizza from Skippolini’s. Well,
I did one of the 3, at the mall, with Noelle.
That night, through my requested Mexican food dinner, I was
having Braxton Hicks every 6 minutes.
The child had been moving viciously all afternoon, making the heat even
more uncomfortable. Those BH didn’t turn
into anything, so we watched a movie (Liam Neeson’s The Grey). I went to bed having a feeling that something
was going to happen in the night but I didn’t tell anyone.
Around 12:30, I started recognizing painful
contractions. Looking at the clock, they
appeared to vary between 10-12 minutes apart but they were already very
painful. I went to the bathroom and a
big blob of something came out. I called
L&D and after being on hold for an eternity (not ok people!) the girl
assured me (rudely) that my water had not broken and to call again when my
contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour.
After a few hours of contractions 10 minutes apart, Luke woke up and I
told him I was having contractions but they were very painful and different
than with Addy. He got me a damp cloth
which was a savior. He also put a towel
on the bed under me. Just in case. Around 5am, I started noticing the
contractions coming a bit closer together, varying from 7-9 minutes apart. At this point I was moaning and really
struggling through them because they were all back labor. It felt like my lower back and pelvis were
being ripped apart. Nothing like with
Addy. Nothing like menstrual
cramps. Nothing like I’ve ever felt
before or had any preparation for. Any
time I got out of bed, I would have a contraction, regardless of whether I had
just had one. Luke started timing the
contractions and they were averaging 7 minutes apart but still varied. Around 6am I said, “We need to go. This is not ok. We need to go.” So he woke up Mum so she could shower. As he tried to get in the shower I blasted
into the bathroom, dry heaving, and made it in time to barf in the toilet (sort
of). He was taken aback, but proceeded
with his shower. I crawled out of the
bathroom where Mum greeted me and assured me Addy was being looked after by
Papa. Some how I got to standing and,
with Mum’s support, retrieved the necessary belongings to go with us to the
hospital.
Finally we got in the van, me with my water and damp
cloth. On the drive to Kaiser, my
contractions came closer together (about 4 minutes, according to Mum) and were
extremely painful. Between contractions
I apologized for being so noisy. We got
to Kaiser, got to the second floor, and when a lady came out to greet us, I was
having a contraction and all I heard her say was, “We need a bed!” In Triage I checked out at 7-8cm and 90%
effaced so it’s a DARN good thing we left home when we did. The Kiwi Triage nurse drove me in the bed to
an L&D room where a nurse (Jennifer) and midwife (with the most beautiful
eyes and freckly face and radiant smile) were waiting and smiling at me. They were like angels because I was so happy
to be there. They got me into the bed,
hooked up the stupid antibiotic IV, and I proceeded with contractions. I was in transition at that point, and
nothing anyone did could ease the excruciation of this back labor. We tried different positions, massage, etc.,
but each was more painful than the last.
Finally they asked if I felt like pushing (when I was standing next to
the bed with my head resting on pillows on the bed, my favorite prenatal pose),
and I said maybe, so they put a pillow under me on the floor. Somehow I ended up back in the bed and the
new midwife/drill sergeant (shift-change=Christiana) wanted me to try a
different position on the bed (kneeling facing the back of the bed with my arms
up. She thought I might like to push in
this position. Very nice and midwifey of
her, but no. I was so shaky and tired
from laboring all night and being so hot and dehydrated for so long that I
couldn’t stay like that for long. I got
into a more traditional position for pushing and they broke my water. Shortly after, I was complete and they wanted
me to push when I was ready. I really
relied on Luke’s counting and Mum and Luke helping hold my legs. I wanted to do it the same as with Addy—the
same “choreography.” I pushed for about
15 minutes, not for one second thinking I could possibly finish this, and then
I hear people saying, there’s the head (or something), and the nurse talking in
my ear, telling me I can do this, to breathe, to use my energy for pushing
instead of screaming, to listen to the midwife when she said to stop pushing so
I didn’t tear. I heeded her as best I
could and out came my baby. They put him
on me immediately and I just sobbed, “My baby, my baby!” and kissed his dark
hair. He was so beautiful and I couldn’t
believe it was done. I just held him and
looked at him while other people did who-knows-what. I vaguely recall Luke cutting the cord and
Joseph crying a bit, but mostly just his warm skin on my chest and his little
breathing and his little beating heart and oh-my-god how grateful I was that
that ridiculous labor was over and my little person was finally with me on the
outside.
The midwife talked to me a bit, but was mostly focused on
what mu placenta was going to do. She
offered some prodding to help it get a move on, but it stayed put. She used a catheter to try to create space
for it to come down, but that was just painful and didn’t work. She decided to stitch me up first to give it
time to come on its own. Getting
stitches was painful this time, though I’m not sure why because it was lesser
tearing than with Addy. After 30
minutes, my placenta still hadn’t come out, and the midwife got called to
deliver another baby so she sent in the OB. A lovely small young woman came in and worked
her magic with her hands and out came the placenta (thank goodness nothing more
invasive was needed), but they gave me pitocin to prevent bleeding (fine,
whatever).
When all this was done, they gave me back Joseph and I fed
him. He was a champ from the
get-go. A serious boob-man. That’s my boy. That’s my love.
Born at 8:34am on Thursday July 4, 2013 after about 8 hours
of total, natural labor. He was 8lb 5 oz
and 21 inches long (whoa!).
