monday
After going to the doctor’s on Monday for a check up when Melissa didn’t feel Charlotte moving quite as much, we were reassured that everything still looked great and that we should still come to our scheduled appointment the next day. Melissa still hadn’t dilated much more than a fingertip, but we knew Friday meant induction if nothing had progressed, so we hoped that Charlotte would decide to join us sooner than later.
tuesday
As we woke Tuesday morning Melissa mentioned that maybe her water had broken overnight, but she wasn’t sure. So we got ready for our appointment at 10:30am and headed over to the doctor’s office. First thing, an ultrasound, once more to check to see if there was enough fluid around Charlotte and that the placenta was still doing it’s job. Her fluid was a little low so, they sent Melissa over to be weighed and low and behold she was 3 lbs lighter than the day before. Upon examination, they used something like a pool testing pH kit to determine that indeed her water had broken! We then also found out that between 2:00pm on Monday to 10:30am on Tuesday, Melissa had dilated to 5cm. Melissa asked if we could go home first, but the doctor explained that we should take the walk over to the adjoining hospital and check in to get things started.
After signing a few forms out, being issued a sexy hospital gown, Melissa and I knew it was time to begin our long awaited day of being parents. We were equipped with a great education from Bradley Birth Method classes that we had taken over the previous 8 week period. We had written out a birth plan, where together we decided to have an all natural birth if possible. So with anticipation I quickly drove back to our house to pick up our hospital bag and some other supplies. Melissa contacted parents and our Bradley coach who gave great encouragement and wished us well. I felt like I was gone forever, but Melissa reassured me at one point while I was gone that she was fine and all was well via text message.
I got back to the hospital to find Melissa relaxed and finishing up some medical forms and waivers. We had always planned on laboring at home as much as we could, but Melissa’s water breaking put us on a 24 hour time clock, so we knew it was going to happen soon. Melissa was hooked up to a machine that measured both Charlotte’s heart rate as well as contractions her uterus was having. As before we could see the contractions on the screen, but Melissa really never noticed them. We opted to take a walk around the labor and delivery floor to see if we could get things going that way. Upon return the doctor currently on call mentioned that Melissa walked the halls quicker than he did and also that she “didn’t have any sweat on her upper lip” so she probably wasn’t in active labor, just yet. Upon checking her again at 3pm, she hadn’t progressed any, so we were told that if not a whole lot changed by 6pm, he would want to start her on pitocin to jumpstart labor. With that in mind we started working on a few things to jumpstart labor, like different positions and sitting on a yoga ball and rolling around.
One of the things we learned in our birthing classes was called emotional sign posts; visual clues on Melissa’s face and demeanor to know as she progressed on and very shortly I noticed a small grimace on Melissa’s face during one of her contractions. And with subsequent contractions her feet would squirm and her legs would move. All of these were great signs that she was heading into the first stages of labor. Over the next hour our so we used different positions ranging from sitting on the toilet, to leaning over the back of the hospital bed or birthing ball and so many more to work through the contractions together. I would rub her back and put wet towels on her forehead and Melissa was laboring wonderfully. It soon went to Melissa saying things like, “how about you just hand me the wet towel and I’ll put it on myself” or “please don’t touch me right now”. All of these great signs that she was progressing and moving towards the big moment.
Our birthing classes stressed the importance of maintaining a calm environment, something I also learned from a handful of calfs that have been born on my parents farm. All female animals give birth easier in dark, quiet and calm settings, so we ventured to the bathroom of our hospital room where I closed the door most of the way giving us a cool, calm and dark environment. This is when the contractions started to come on heavy, so one after one Melissa worked through them and then would rest waiting for the next one to come. Another thing I learned is that when a woman says that they feel like they need to push.....they are usually right, so when I heard Melissa say those same words, I ran out to get the nurse.
We were able to get Melissa over the hospital bed where the nurse could check things out. After a quick check, she looked at both of us and said that we were ready to start pushing and that we were going to have this baby. Melissa had went from 5cm to fully dilated in a little under an hour. So at this point Melissa was ready to push, but the on call doctor was nowhere to be found...
to be continued...
