The Long-Awaited Birth Story of Reuben Matthew

Well, now that I have a few minutes to myself I decided it would be a good idea to let everyone know, and write down how my little man came into this world.

First of all, I want to say that it didn't go as planned - at all. I don't feel cheated or "robbed" though of my birth experience. Yes, I'm dissapointed and have moments of sadness that it didn't go as I wanted it to, but I just look at my baby boy in awe and I don't care how he got here. He is safe and beautiful.



Saturday, August 7th

8pm

Adam's mom and sister arrived this evening. We went over to the cottage they were staying at and played cards and hung out. It was a great time, despite the fact that I kept having cramps. They were like period pains - but nothing like contractions - or so I thought. They were random, and didn't hurt on my bump, just in my back. So I ignored them.

10pm

Adam and I got home from the cottage and were getting ready for bed. The cramps were getting pretty bad, and Adam suggested that we time them and that they could be contractions. I said, annoyed, "Adam, don't be silly." They were not contractions! They felt nothing like what I expected. And they couldn't really be timed because they weren't starting and stopping, they just...were.

About an hour later, Adam decided to start timing them anyways. Within a couple hours, they were definitely starting and stopping - and they were coming really close together. They weren't THAT painful, but enough for me to be needing a back rub and sitting on my birth ball. We timed them throughout the entire night. They were coming between 3-5 minutes apart, but sometimes they were 20 seconds and sometimes they were 2 minutes. I called the birthing centre and they told me to wait until they were strong, long, and close together.

August 8th

5am
Adam and I had been up all night. We decided at 5am to take the dog for a walk, but only made it about 30 yards down the road and I had had about 4 painful contractions. We skipped Church and decided to go to the hospital to just check what was happening, and if any progress was being made.

9am
We got to the hospital and they told me that I was measuring about 2-3 cm and that this doesn't count as "established labor." They sent us home. It was annoying because at that point, they were close together, but as soon as we got to the hospital they stopped. Then, just as we got in the car to leave, I had an excruciating car ride home. It felt like a 40 minute long contraction from the hospital to our house.

10am-8pm


During this time the contractions didn't stop. Adams mom and sister came over for lunch - they stayed nearly the whole afternoon and every few minutes I had to leave the room as Adam would hold me and rock me back and forth through the pain of the contractions. Several times during the day I called the birthing centre and they said that I could come in if I wanted, but if I wasn't at least 3-4 cm dialated then they were going to send us home. We decided to wait. The pain was getting fairly unbearable though - I was sure that I must have been at least 3-4 cm , if not more.

8pm

At 8pm we said goodbye to Adam's family and said we were heading to the hospital. Again, the car ride was the worst part. It was so incredibly painful - as if the entire contraction never stopped. The pain was completely in my back, and I couldn't even feel pain anywhere else so it was confusing because I didn't think this is what a contraction felt like.

9pm
We arrived at the hospital at 9pm. At this point, we were brought to a room with a bed and a recliner, and a birthing ball. The midwife checked me over. She said I was 3-4 cm. This was good because they weren't going to send me home; bad because I was in so much pain already. I didn't think it was going to be that painful at that point.

As the midwife checked me over she said, "Did you know this baby is back to back?" She said it flippantly - yet I knew that this was a bad thing. She then left the room, told Adam and I we were "doing great" and that was that.

11pm

At this point the midwife came back and I still had no idea what was going on. I had to ask "what happens now?" She told me that every 4 hours they would check on me. Thanks for letting me know. She was highly unhelpful.

August 9th

2am
After waiting 5, not 4, hours in the corner room in extreme pain, the midwife came to check me out. She did an internal examination and said that I was 5-6cm. She had expected me to be at least 7cm so this wasn't great. Before she was done the check though, she said that she felt something along my water (it hadn't broken yet.) She couldn't tell what it was, so she went and got her colleague.

FIVE examinations later it was confirmed that something was on the outside of my water. It could be a blood vessel, but they couldn't know for sure. The birthing centre supervisor and the labor ward doctors confirmed it was best to send me to the labor ward for further monitoring.

3:30am

I was scared out of my mind but found sweet relief in being given gas and air. Until this point I had been offered no pain relief. The gas and air was incredible, although it didn't make the pain go away. It just made everything a little bit funnier.

A lot of what happened from now on out is a blur. I had some serious contraction pain and was very high on gas and air when the doctor came in and told me that they had discussed the situation and felt it was the best option to offer me a cesearean section. They did not know what the thing on my water was, however they thought that it could be a blood vessel attached to the placenta. If my water broke, then the blood vessel could bleed and basically my little boy would bleed.

They were very honest with me and told me that they just didn't know what it was. I could either have a c-section right then, or I could try and continue with the labor with an epidural and be ready for an emergency c-section.

We asked the doctors to leave the room while we discussed our options. While I was high as a kite on beautiful gas and air during the conversation, I know that I wanted 1) my little boy to be safe and 2) this pain to go away. I knew that something was not right and there was no way on earth I was going to be able to give birth if I was already in that much pain. It was a difficult situation and to be honest, it felt like the only situation Adam and I hadn't discussed. We wanted very badly to have a natural, peaceful birth. I hate needles and didn't want lasting effects on my baby.

At that point, the doctor came in and said we needed to make a decision. We said we would take the c-section. I signed a paper (how did I do that on gas and air? amazing) and they sent me off to the operating room. I was given more gas and air (stronger!) when we got there and was told to hold very still. I was given an anesthetic so I didn't feel the spinal, and then given the spinal which I do not remember in the least because my entire life went completely blank and numb. I came around a few minutes later and couldn't feel anything but my arms.

4:50amWithin 5 minutes my little boy was crying and I couldn't beleive it. I couldn't see him but they soon handed him to Adam, and then put him next to my face. My arms were shaking uncontrollably (a side effect of the spinal) and that was probably the worst part of it because it was so uncomfortable. The c-section itself, I won't even attempt to describe because there is no way to do so. It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced and not a very nice feeling either!

I heard people saying he was a big boy, so I asked how much he weighed and they said they were going to weigh him in the labor ward. We headed back to the labor ward and I was soon told that my little (or not so little) boy weighed 8lbs 11oz. No wonder he wasn't making any progress - he was in the wrong position, and was somehow fitting nearly 9 lbs of himself in my tiny body.

They cleaned him up and the numbness wore off within a couple hours. I was then able to hold (and actually feel) the most beautiful little person I have ever laid my eyes upon. His big blue eyes and dark hair were incredible. I still stare at him in disbelief. How did we make such a miracle?

I stayed in the hospital for the following 3 days (came home Wednesday afternoon) and while it wasn't fun being in the situation, the hospital staff were incredible. Adam had to go home during the night but I was so happy to feel so supported by all of the people at Musgrove Hospital.

We came home Wednesday afternoon like I said, and since then have had a steady flow of visitors, gifts, cards and meals brought to us.