The Birth Story of August Robert
Sunday afternoon was warm and sunny. Kyle’s mom came to our house in the evening on her drive back home to Northern California after being in town all week with Kyle’s brother’s family. We hoped that her visit would coincide with August’s birth so that she could watch Adelaide. But my due date came and went with no birth in sight.
My mother-in-law offered to stay the night with us, but I joked that I would only go into labor if she left. We let her know that we would call if labor started that day, but having gone to 42 weeks with Adelaide, I thought that August was content to hang out for another week.
It was Kyle’s and my seventh anniversary, and we celebrated in low-key (read: low-budget) style with a dinner at In-N-Out Burger with Adelaide.
Sunday night, Kyle, Adelaide, and I walked a mile to the grocery store. I started having some contractions on the walk, strong enough that I needed to stop for a few seconds until each one subsided. But by the time we got home, the contractions had slowed.
Kyle put Adelaide to bed and started an episode of Star Trek while I pouted, “I thought we would be spending our anniversary together or having a baby, and we’re doing neither!” I was so frustrated by sporadic contractions that weren’t doing anything but spoiling our night.
At 3 am, I was still awake and still having contractions. I decided to go to bed and listen to some birth affirmations. A few minutes later, I was out of bed, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep through the contractions. A few minutes after that, I stopped listening to my birth affirmations to focus on the contractions.
I decided to take a shower. The warm water was soothing. The contractions continued. I had to adjust my thinking to cope with the strong feelings of discomfort. I told myself that I was not feeling pain, but intense pressure, and I reminded myself that I could relax any muscle in my body. This helped. I toweled off and put on some comfortable clothes.
Things start getting fuzzy at this point. I know I ended up back in the bathroom, kneeling on a towel in our empty bathtub. Kyle brought in my big exercise ball so I could lean on it. Then he cleaned up the house, brought the birthing pool into the kitchen, and lit candles all around.
The contractions were coming pretty close together, so I started timing them on my phone. They were lasting about a minute each and coming every three minutes. I figured that I had been in the bathroom for about an hour, so at 4:25 am, I called our midwife, Sue.
“Sorry to wake you up, but I’m in labor,” I said. (I have a habit of apologizing unnecessarily.)
“Okay. Are you giving me a heads up, or do you want me to come now?” she said.
“Umm…I don’t know. Hold on, I’m having another contraction. Do you want me to call you back?”
“No, that’s okay.”
(Loud moaning)
Kyle came and picked up the phone. “Yeah, she’s been in the bathroom like this for about an hour…OK, go ahead and get some more rest, and we’ll call you when we need you to come out.”
A few minutes later, I asked Kyle to call her back. “Are you sure?” he said.
I couldn’t think straight. “Yeah, I think so…well, I don’t know, just tell her to come!” I said.
Kyle had filled up the birthing pool, so I made my way to the kitchen and stepped in the warm water. It took the edge off the pain a bit, and it was comforting to relax in the water between contractions. I heard Hillsong’s “From the Inside Out” playing in the background. I asked Kyle for ginger ale and to bring in a fan.
The contractions were still coming every few minutes. I said, “I have to sleep,” and laid my head on the edge of the pool for a one-minute nap. I felt another contraction rising and got up on my knees, moaning loud and deep.
Kyle prayed for me, and I begged him to pray quietly. I felt badly about that, but every distraction only made the feelings more intense. I needed to focus every thought. I thought about the baby moving down. I thought about my pelvis stretching and spreading. I thought about turning my energy inward.
The next two contractions were quiet as I brought all my attention inside. With the next contraction, I gave a little push and felt pressure in my bottom. Around 5 am, I heard Kyle helping Sue into the house with all her equipment. “No pushing yet?” I heard her say. Soon, I thought.
I pushed through the next couple contractions, feeling more and more pressure. The pain was now gone, and I was completely focused on moving the baby out. I thought to myself, the sooner I can get the baby out, the sooner I can rest! The more pressure I felt, the more eager I was for each contraction to come.
“That sounds like pushing,” I heard Sue say.
I felt a pop like a water balloon. “My water just broke,” I said. “And some blood just came out.”
“That’s good,” said Sue. She came over and put the doppler to my belly. For the first time during labor, I felt a hint of fear as she searched for a heartbeat. A few seconds later, I heard the familiar swoosh-swoosh of the baby’s heart and got back to the business of pushing.
“He’s crowning,” Sue said.
Kyle came over to the side of the pool and encouraged me. Or maybe he was there all along.
The sensation of birthing the baby’s head is often referred to as the Ring of Fire, for reasons that you can imagine. I found myself thinking, “C’mon Ring of Fire!” knowing it would signal the pinnacle of my labor. I thought about feeling for his head, but I resisted the temptation in case he wasn’t as far as I hoped.
Minutes later, his head was out. Sue told me to move my leg and push again. The next thing I remember is leaning back in the pool and having a baby placed in my arms. It was 5:37 am. “You’re real!” I said. “You’re here, you’re alive!” I rubbed the baby’s back, and he started crying. Sue told Kyle to check and make sure he was indeed a boy. “Yep, he’s a boy!”
We sat and chatted about the birth for a few minutes as August nursed for the first time. Sue clamped the umbilical cord and Kyle cut it. I got out of the tub and sat on a birth stool to release the placenta. “He’s really a miracle baby!” said Sue. She showed us how his umbilical cord was attached to the side of the placenta, and the veins growing over the sac—a velamentous cord insertion, occurring in approximately 1% of pregnancies. The unusual cord placement makes it easy to sever the cord in the womb or during birth, resulting in stillbirth.
I thought with relief about how quiet August was in the womb, how he never turned somersaults and rarely gave forceful kicks. His relaxed demeanor may have saved his life.
I needed a few stitches. As Sue worked, I snapped some pictures of Kyle and August to distract myself. Adelaide woke up and sat with me on the couch. I sipped on coconut water as Sue checked the baby. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 21-1/4 inches long, with a 14-1/2 inch head and a 14 inch chest. After some parting instructions, Sue packed up all her gear and headed out.
Kyle, Adelaide, August, and I spent the rest of the day in bed, alternating sleep with phone calls to family. We talked about the labor and birth with wonder over how smoothly and quickly everything went. One could hardly wish for a better birth, and I am so thankful.
Stilllll waiting.
40 weeks + 4 days.
Kyle’s mom was in town for the past week. Originally, I thought we would be lucky if August waited for her to arrive. But today we said goodbye with no baby in sight.
I’ve been having some uncomfortable contractions tonight, but they aren’t coming with regularity. They are painful enough to remind me that I ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
B-b-b-baby, I just ain’t seen nothing yet.
Do you know who sang that song? I had to look it up. Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I have no idea who that is. They also sang Takin’ Care of Business.
But I digress.
Since little Augie (Auggie?) didn’t cooperate and come in September, I am glad that he didn’t come on days that belong to other family members. Adelaide’s birthday was the 29th, our sister-in-law’s birthday was the 30th, our niece’s birthday was yesterday, and our anniversary is today. We have an open window on October 3rd and 4th, and then it’s my grandpa’s birthday on the 5th. But I’m sure Grandpa wouldn’t mind sharing his special day if it came to that.
So that’s what’s going on.
Now it’s time to take a walk, put Adelaide to bed, and spend some time with my love.
Or, you know, have a baby.
September 28, 2011 - 40 weeks
How Far along? 40 weeks! So… yeah… any time now, baby. Anyyyytiiiiime…
Size of the baby? Pumpkin. Appropriate for this time of year. But not particularly informative since pumpkins can be this size:
Or this size:
Any new symptoms? Not really. Just making me a little crazier and lazier.
What are you craving? The end. Or at least the beginning of the end.
Total weight gain? 27 pounds.
Baby Bump? See previous post.
Movement? Normal.
Gender? Boy.
Nesting? I was, and then I kinda ran out of steam after that false labor on Saturday night. But before then, I managed to dye my two baby wraps and I made another lamp.
Still to do: hem the edges of my receiving blankets and finish the headbands I started for my sister’s baby.
Sleeping well? Yes. And I mostly avoided getting sick. I did have a sore throat for a few days, but no fever or throwing up.
Buy anything for the baby this week? Just birth supplies. I still need to find a few more towels.
What are you looking forward to? Labor starting. I think I am finally at peace with the idea.
What are you enjoying the most/least about being pregnant this week? I am enjoying sleeping in and taking it easy before everything changes. I am least enjoying how slow I feel, mentally and physically. And I’m not enjoying that I’m kind of cranky.
Hopefully next time I post, it will be about going into labor! Stay tuned…
My due date’s tomorrow. Adelaide’s third birthday is on Thursday. I’ve had a bit of bloody show today, which is supposed to mean that labor will start within days or even hours.
This weekend I was in pretty good spirits. But yesterday and today, I have felt super irritable and completely unmotivated.
I’m sitting here at the computer, but there’s nothing to do on the computer. There are toys and clothes all over the floor to clean up. I half heartedly cleaned the bathroom and organized the baby’s clothes. Adelaide has been getting into all of the baby stuff—kinda frustrating. I think she is eating peanut butter out of the jar and playing a game on my phone at the moment.
Maybe it’s just because Kyle’s at work and I’m home all day that I’ve been feeling down. Maybe it’s the unwelcome return of summer weather. Maybe it’s just a sign that labor is imminent. But if so, I’d like to go in with a cheerier disposition.
All I need is for someone to come and bring my husband home, put my daughter to bed, clean our house, make us some delicious food, rent us a good movie, and deposit a bunch of cash in our bank account.
But since that’s unlikely to happen, I oughta put on some happy music, put some clothes in the wash, and start cleaning up this floor.
