I still have delusions of bringing this blog up to date, but I thought I’d better cut straight to the interesting part because this is a story people have been interested to hear. And truly, it is a crazy story. Not at all how I expected to bring my second daughter into this world!
In contrast to my pregnancy with S, this time, toward the end, I was sufficiently uncomfortable that I was ready to be DONE. When I’d imagine how I wanted my labor to begin (as if anyone gets a choice unless they’re induced), I thought perhaps 7 am on a weekday would be a good time to go into labor. Not in the middle of the night (so I’d be about as rested as I could hope to be), but early enough that the baby would most likely arrive during regular business hours so my doctor could be the one there for the delivery. I like his philosophy on laboring and birth, and I’ve become comfortable with him, so I really hoped to have him as opposed to the OB hospitalist or whoever was on call.
But I had no idea what I thought would happen this time. At my last (39 week) obgyn appointment, I was still 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Baby had been low for a couple of weeks, but I didn’t know how low. Basically not a lot had changed. (In contrast, at my 39 week appointment with S, I was 2.5 cm dilated.) He asked me then how I felt about being induced. I told him I got a sweep with my daughter and I was fine with that, but past that I really would rather avoid it. He said okay. I think he attempted to do the sweep, but he said he couldn’t quite reach (I believe him…I think). Many people will tell you how your second usually comes earlier than your first, and, while I knew these things could change quickly, here I was not as far progressed as I was at this stage with S, and who knows how long she would have baked had my doctor not done the sweep. So I was starting to wonder how much longer I’d have to wait for this child to come.
Wednesday, November 5, I woke up at 7 am with my husband’s alarm. My first thought was like, okay, another night and nothing happened, oh well. I got up to pee and crawled back into bed with Pete (he hits snooze a time or two before he HAS to get up, and I generally get to sleep a little later on Wednesdays). It was then I started feeling what I thought maybe…maybe…was a mild contraction. With S, labor began with pretty intense contractions that were about 2.5 min apart, so it was a pretty stark contrast. I knew it was possible to have mild contractions at random intervals for a while before real labor, so I wasn’t thinking too much of it yet. But if it was real labor, I was like yay this timing is perfect (after 7 on a Wednesday!) and getting started a lot easier and presumably more gradually than before. I snuggled on Pete for a short while before deciding maybe I should shower just in case it was THE day.
The hot water was very soothing, so in the shower I was feeling pretty good. I was pretty sure I was having mild contractions in there, but totally manageable. Pete came in, dressed and ready for work, and asked me if he should go to work or stay with me. I told him he could go to work, but I might be calling him away in a couple of hours. He decided to just stay home (thank God). After I got out of the shower, I was getting a bit more uncomfortable. Enough that I thought maybe I shouldn’t try to go into work, just in case. I sent the office manager at the office where I was supposed to work this text message at 7:49 am (pay attention to these time stamps!): Started contracting as soon as I got up this morning. Not sure if this is IT because it’s not starting as intense as it did with S, but I can’t work like this. So I’m calling in for today. I’ll let you know if/when there’s news. Sorry!
Also around this time–I think Pete said his call log said 7:51—he called my parents to come pick up S. Again, “just in case.” It was still quite a bit milder than it started with S, so while I was pretty sure I was in early labor, I wasn’t 100% it was going to keep progressing. That’s probably slightly insane on my part, but it was just so different. I got a text from my mom at 7:56 am: Love you, Angel! I replied, Love you! Still not sure it’s the real deal but wanted to be ready. She replied, Good thinking.
Sort of a side note, in the weeks/months leading up to this labor, I’d been thinking I really wanted to try again at a natural labor. I had tried it with S, but after about 10 hours (my best approximation since I couldn’t see a clock), they were going to give me pitocin because I’d been stalled at 8 cm for a while, so at that point I opted for the epidural. I’d had almost no break in between contractions for a while and seemingly no progress to show for it, so I was frustrated. Not that I doubted it would be, but the epidural was amazing. I’m sure the pit played the greater part, but I kind of wonder if just being able to relax helped things along as well. After S’s arrival though, I continued to have mixed feelings about having had the epidural, but I no longer found it to be such a bothersome option. This time, I thought I’d try seeing how long I could go without it, but not beat myself up if I had one. I thought since I made it 10 hours before, if I could make it that long again (or hopefully less), I’d have a baby in my arms. On the other hand though, I knew just how nice the epidural could be. My tentative thinking going in was that if I went into labor in the middle of the night, I’d be quite a lot more likely to have the epidural so I could rest up before baby came. That was one of the hardest parts before, being completely drained of energy before the marathon of caring for a newborn even began.
Anyway, even in this early stage of labor, I was thinking, let me have that epidural, how nice would it be to be totally relaxed and chill, all smiles and not having broken a sweat when the child comes into the world. Maybe under those circumstances I’d even allow visitors in the labor and delivery room. (LOL)
Shortly before 8, my parents arrived to pick up S. She came into the bedroom to hug and kiss me bye, and she was so excited about meeting her baby sister that day. I was hugging her and kissing her but also kind of trying to temper her excitement because I didn’t want her to be crushed in the event it was a false alarm (a pretty remote chance at this point though). It was just starting to get a little more intense too because I think I remember trying to get her on her way before she saw me having another contraction. But they were still less intense than they were at the onset of my labor with her.
After my daughter left, things picked up FAST. I had put this contraction timer app on my phone to have ready when contractions began, so I tried using that. I was buzzing around the house trying to do last-minute stuff. Like I thought I was going to do my makeup again (ha…that plan was abandoned quickly). So between being distracted and the contractions picking up in frequency and intensity, I had a hard time keeping up with my phone. Eventually, I gave up trying altogether because I was too busy laboring to hit the dang button. Best I can determine though, starting at 8:01, contractions were about a minute and a half apart (with the range being 00:59 to 1:59 in duration before I stopped timing). Somehow, at 8:10, I managed to text the office manager again to say, This is the real deal. By now I think I was really wanting the epidural, haha. I remember looking at the screen, a little too out of it to form complete thoughts, but I was halfway like whoa this is going quick…and halfway like no way, this just started a few minutes ago.
At some point, the contractions starting bringing me to my knees in pain. Right after I had gotten dressed, (TMI warning) I started squirting (sorry, gross description but best I can come up with) a small stream of amniotic fluid with each contraction. So I ended up pulling my pants right back off. Once I dripped blood on the floor, and once again on toilet paper. I showed Pete the blood on the TP and I think he kinda sorta panicked. I told him that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I knew things were moving. Pete was loading up the car with the stuff we’d had packed and ready to go when something in me clicked (I still don’t know what) that we might not make it to the hospital. I called out to him from the bedroom to call an ambulance, which he did promptly.
I wish I knew what time he called 911. It doesn’t show in the logs on his phone, either. But I’m pretty sure it was after I abandoned any efforts at logging contractions on my cell phone app, and the last contraction on there ended at 8:18. After that contraction (the one that made me ask for the ambulance), I was like Pete, never mind, it’s okay, we can make it. I was afraid I was being a wimp or something. THANK GOD he was like uhhhh no. Next contraction hit, and I was on my knees again. By now I was screaming. Not like horror movie screaming, but something a little more primal. I really, really, reallyreallyreallyreally did NOT want to be a screamer. Even at that time, some part of me was completely embarrassed because I’m just not a super vocal person and making any kind of noise would have been embarrassing. But the sounds just come out. I remember I kept saying, “OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod,” too. Which isn’t at all in character for me to say “Oh God” as an exclamation. Prayerfully, sure, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t totally said in prayer, though I am so thankful God’s hand was on the whole ordeal!
I managed to get my pants back on before the EMTs came. I was somewhat aware of Pete being on the phone with 911 until the ambulance arrived. He was on speaker, so I could hear as the operator kept asking him stuff to keep him occupied, like questions about big sister. For a second, part of me was like, “Yeah Operator, I know what you’re doing, he’s fine, leave him alone so he can pay attention to me.” Ha! But seriously I didn’t care that much because I was busy. At one point I started toward the bathroom just to clean up, and Pete and the operator were like, “NO, NO, do NOT go to the bathroom!!!” I told Pete I’m not going to the toilet (I’m thinking they were afraid I’d give birth on the toilet because 1) I thought the sensation was poop instead of baby–except I did not think that, or 2) the toilet is a place to “let go.”) I kept saying no I just want to clean up!
The ambulance arrived quickly. I remember being incredibly, incredibly thirsty and asking Pete for a cup of water. He started to hand me the glass when another contraction hit, and I wanted nothing to do with it. After the contraction was over, I tried to take a sip, but it was still hard to do anything else besides labor. Then the EMTs had the gurney inside, so they helped me onto it. I remember the cold air felt so good when we went outside.
The EMTs introduced themselves as Meg and Megan, but Meg was kind of the one directing the show from the back of the ambulance. She had said before we left the house that she’d need to check me (meaning my cervix) once we were in the ambulance. I said okay. We got in the ambulance, and I really can’t remember what all took place right when we got there. They asked Pete if he was going to follow, and he said he wanted to ride along. They said okay, but he’d have to ride up front. They told me some stories about some dads who got a little physical when things got crazy, so they were just trying to keep things under control. I remember sending Pete back in because I was worried about not having my purse (which had my ID and my insurance card). I can’t remember what they did with me after I got in there. I think first order of business was getting my pants down. They never got around to checking my cervix, and we were on the road.
I had at least a couple more contractions, and it was tough to get through them. Meg told me to breathe, and I remember thinking yes I’m breathing while I scream lol. (Really, it’s not like I was panicked at all, or even super tense as far as I was aware, but I do wonder what contractions are like for people who are like ohhhh just relax through them. What.) I focused my breathing a little better and made it through. On one contraction though, something else in me clicked and I announced that I had to push. I really don’t even remember what sensation made me think this or say it. Instinct is an amazing thing…it’s like my body knew what to do and it even made my mouth move. Meg looked down and saw the baby’s head. She called up to the front, “Step it up or pull over!” Megan, now in the driver’s seat, replied, “Your call!” (I didn’t remember her reply, but Pete was up front with her, and I think that’s what Pete said she said.) We pulled over. I remember thinking, okay, this is it, I’m gonna have my natural birth, haha. At this point, they let Pete come around so he could be there with me. (Poor guy, I know he would have wanted to be by my side through it all, and it’s just now dawning on me that he could only really be there at the very end. But I’m so thankful he could be there for that.)
Meg said, “Okay, on this next contraction, you’re going to push.” It was still excruciating, but it did help–a lot–to have something to do. It did not take much effort at all to push out the baby’s head. With S, there was pushing for maybe (best guess) an hour and a half. There was counting and various techniques and I hoped I was doing it right. This time, there was not a lot of thinking. Just doing. And it took seconds, not minutes or hours. Once the head was out, the relief was instantaneous. But I still had to get the body out. Body came out with the contraction after, which was even easier. Time of birth: 8:40 am. I found it kind of interesting: before you go into labor, you think pushing a baby out…of there…is going to be the most painful part. Because it’s kind of hard to imagine doing it until you actually do it. Yeah it hurt, but it is NOTHING compared to the contractions. If you can make it through the contractions, you’ve already made it through the hard part.
I started laughing and I said, “I just gave birth on the side of the road!” Meg said, “Actually, we’re in the Walmart Neighborhood Market parking lot.” I laughed. Less than a mile from my home. The whole thing was just so absurd. It makes for a funny story, but really I’m glad it went so smoothly for both of us and I didn’t have any risk factors. With S, it was fairly uneventful too, but there was a fair bit of bleeding from a couple of arteries and they kept asking me if I felt like I might pass out (I didn’t).
Anyway, they waited for the cord to stop pulsating, then they clamped the cord. Even in the back of an ambulance, Pete got to cut it, so I was really glad about that, and I think he was too. Finally they placed her on my chest. Love. Then Pete got on the phone with my parents. I asked him to put it on speaker. That was one of the funniest and craziest calls I think we have ever made. I think I’m the one who said something like, “Hi, Dad. I just gave birth in an ambulance in the Neighborhood Market parking lot.”
Pause. “You did not.”
Laughter from inside the ambulance.
Baby cries out. Meg says something like, “Hello sir, this is Meg, I’m a CoxHealth EMT….” Dad puts mom on the phone (I think…I think that’s what he said…this part is a blur to me). They were shocked, but convinced! I think they were thinking…we just picked S up maybe 45 minutes ago! Yes, that would be right!
The placenta was in no hurry to come, and it was time to start back to the hospital anyway, so we went on our way. They assured me that everything was okay, but they were putting on sirens and lights to get us there quickly (and get the placenta out, though I don’t think it had been long enough to actually worry). I think that was one off of Pete’s bucket list: ride in an ambulance with sirens and lights (bonus that no one was actually having a medical problem to necessitate it).
When we got to the hospital, we went through the ER entrance. While we were waiting for the elevators to go up to 5th floor for labor and delivery, we were chatting with the EMTs. Somehow it came up that we were THEIR first baby delivery! They were like, yeah aren’t you glad we tell you that now? Haha. Well yes probably. I had sort of assumed that they would have done it before at least once. But all things considered I thought they did great. They will always be memorable to us, but I think there’s a good chance we’ll be memorable to them also.
When we got up to L&D, some woman who was leading the way (swiping her badge to give us access since it was Cox EMTs and Mercy hospital) was like uhhhhh we have a baby. LOL. Let me tell you, it is a little weird to go into L&D with a baby already in your arms! We had quite the story to share with the nurses. We had to clarify that I wasn’t actually shopping at Walmart when it happened…that’s just as far as we got!
When my Dr walked in the door, the look on his face cracked me up. He said something like, “Way to cut out the middle man.” They were talking about how I hadn’t delivered the placenta yet and wondered if I’d need help. I couldn’t tell if he did much of anything to help it along, maybe he did. I saw an IV bag labeled “Oxytocin,” but I didn’t pay attention if they ever hooked it up. But it was also around this time that I started feeling some contractions again that felt like they might actually do something (still not bad though, but maybe it’s all relative). (The rest of this paragraph might be a little TMI for some readers) I think the Dr helped guide it out at least when it was “right there.” But I remember him telling the nurses that I could have done it. After that, he stitched me up for a second degree tear (once I was numb enough…eep!) and I was good as new (well, almost).
My doctor joked in L&D (and again the next day when he came to see me) that I’m the most educated patient he’s had give birth at Walmart. The second time, I asked him if he’s had many patients give birth at Walmart. Turns out I’m the only one (imagine that, haha). It did surprise me a little though that I’m his first patient to not make it to the hospital (at least not anywhere on hospital grounds).
We got to have our “golden hour” of cuddling the baby skin-to-skin and nursing (she was awesome). Pete got to call his parents. He told them it started after 7 and baby was here by 8:40. His mom was like, poor Erin, a long labor. Pete was like no, you don’t understand…. 7 AM to 8:40 AM. And then it started processing.
Daddy got to hold the baby girl (he was chomping at the bit to hold her) while I signed some paperwork. Then they got her stats: 6 lbs 5 oz, 19″ long. Weight is about what we expected (they estimated 6 lbs 3 oz by her due date, but she was 5 days early), but I was surprised she was that much shorter than her big sister, who was 21.5″ at birth. I did somewhat predict a kiddo shorter like mommy though, so we shall see!
Incredibly thankful that it was a positive experience when there were so many what-ifs that could have changed things dramatically. What if Pete had gone to work? He would have missed the whole thing. What if we hadn’t had my parents get S when they did, or what if my dad had taken a few minutes longer getting there? S would be traumatized. What if I hadn’t asked for the ambulance? Pete would have seriously been catching that baby on the side of the road somewhere. What if I were GBS+ or otherwise somehow high risk? So many things. Thanking God things went so well.
Feeling very blessed to be a healthy mommy with a healthy little tiny. It’s a day I’ll never forget, even though I can still hardly believe it actually happened!