by Jennifer Mohamed
This story has been a long time coming, as my little squish is now almost 16 months old.
On Saturday, November 5th, I went into the hospital to work my second-to-last shift in the Special Care Nursery before officially going out on maternity leave. I had my bottle of Suki’s Blend ready to start right after that weekend (right when I turned 39 weeks). You see, I went over 41 weeks with my first kiddo, and I was going to try everything to prevent that from happening again!
Of course, because I had a plan in place, the labor gods decided to remind me who is truly in charge. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions each night from 7 PM to 10 PM for the past week, so I was not all surprised when the painless tightening started. It wasn’t an overly busy night; we had women in labor, but no births yet. I was working with a nursing student, so it mostly involved a lot of teaching, which I love!
It was inching towards midnight, and without even realizing it, I had started pacing around the unit. One nurse joked that she thought I was in labor. I laughed it off but texted my husband to go ahead and sterilize the umbilical ties just in case. I had just come back from a birth and was sitting down to document when I felt that warm, watery release. I stood up from my chair as my waters flowed down my scrubs, into my shoes and onto the floor. My first thought was, “Well, at least my fluid is clear.”
It took me a few minutes to gather myself, put on some mesh panties, change into dry scrubs, and finish documenting, of course. I was so grateful to all the wonderful nurses who were working with me that night as they fetched me all the things to get cleaned up and even packed my bag for me to leave work. I called my husband as I was walking to my car, and then I called the birth center while I drove home. Emily was on, and I remember telling her my contractions aren’t super close or that painful so I am going to go home, shower, arrange childcare and maybe get some sleep.
I went home and did just that, except when I laid down and tried to sleep I realized my contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting a minute. Crap — I really wanted a nap! So we called my mother-in-law and had her come stay with our older kiddo, who would be super happy to wake up to his grandmother!
We enjoyed the rather peaceful drive to the birth center at 3 AM. With our older son, we’d had to drive during rush hour, and it was pretty intense! We arrived at 3:15 AM and were the only family there that night, so we got our choice of room. We chose peach, since that is where our older son was born. Emily checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated.
We settled into our space and did all the things. I laid on the bed and tried to get some rest. Rocked on the ball for a while. Ate some gummy bears. We had plans to listen to music, but we always seem to forget that part once labor kicks in. My husband was so exhausted from being up all day entertaining our 3-year-old. Every now and then, I’d glance over at him between contractions, and he’d be asleep.
Once I started to vocalize, my nurse started the bath for me. It was so amazing! I am not a big bath person, but that warm water was so calming and comforting that I got a little rest and so did my husband. At some point, I got out of the tub to go to the bathroom, and I never got back in.
Then came 8 AM, and Allison and Lydia came on shift. Allison was the midwife with me during my first labor, so I was excited by the idea of her catching my second baby.
By this point, I was on my hands and knees being supported with a bean bag. Nothing about these contractions was calming or peaceful. I was in the stage of labor where time is relative– it seems to stand still and fly by all at once. I had completely turned inward and given in to the primal feelings and urges of labor and birth. I am in no way, shape, or form a quiet and gentle laboring woman. I groaned out those low and long tones and frantically reached out for my husband’s arm with each contraction. My primal self must have felt safe in the top corner of the bed, as I wouldn’t be bothered with changing positions.
At 9:57 AM, I started to give in to the urge to bear down. My husband said, “I think you are pushing now. Should I go get the midwife?” I said “No, I am not pushing yet.” However, after another contraction, I agreed, “Yeah, I think I actually am pushing, you can go get Allison.” I pushed in the hands-and-knees position until my knees were just too weak. My hips were so sore as the baby moved down, and Allison suggested a semi-side lying position with my right leg supported on her shoulder.
When the baby’s head and shoulder was birthed, Allison instructed me to reach down and pull out my baby. I reached down and felt the amazing little armpits of my little human, and I felt the rest of his body exit mine as I pulled him up to my chest. It was 10:37 AM on November 6th when I gave birth to my second son. He gave out a cry as his skin was dried, and then he was just hanging out looking around. He was wonderfully alert and beautifully pink. I teared up just looking down at him.
He didn’t look like his brother as I had expected. He was his own little person, covered in vernix. He was perfect! His birth was perfect! I am still so in love with his story and grateful to be able to share it with all of you!