An "Unexpected" Arrival: Daniel Watson's Birth

Daniel Watson Iveson decided to be born on April 12, 2014. While I had thought earlier in the week that 4/12 sounded like a "nice, even date for a birthday" (I like fun number dates, like 8/7/87 for my birthday and 06/07/08 for my anniversary) I didn't know how likely it was that Daniel would actually arrive.

Friday and Saturday morning I had some indications that labor might be starting, but I wasn't going to get my hopes up. I had some contractions throughout Saturday morning, but they were comparable to my Braxton Hicks I've been having since 25 weeks. I went about my morning and afternoon as usual. 

That afternoon I took a nap when Jackson did, which I did most days. I woke up twice during my nap because of a contraction. They had never been strong enough to keep me awake or wake me up. I noted the change and went back to sleep. 

Throughout the afternoon contractions grew stronger, but I didn't track them because every other time I had started they stopped. So I just did some cleaning and made dinner. By this time I had to stop and stand/sit still while having a contraction, but I could talk through them. They were pretty uncomfortable but I kept telling myself not to get excited. After eating dinner and cleaning the dishes I told Matt, "If this is labor then it's worth it, but if it's not then it needs to stop!" Which I realized is almost exactly what I said when I was in labor with Jackson. I sat down at 6:30 pm and began to track the contractions using an app I downloaded. In the first hour they ranged from 3-13 minutes apart with an average of 7 minutes apart. The next hour they were averaging 5 minutes apart and continued this way or more frequently for the next couple hours. Matt blew up my exercise ball for me to sit on, and it did help, but unfortunately Jackson thought it was a new toy for him! I let him have it and settled into rocking on the floor when a contraction came. I had Boy Meets World playing in the background but at this point wasn't paying much attention to it.

I had warned our babysitter that the baby might be coming earlier in the afternoon just so she was prepared. I texted her again once contractions were 5 minutes apart with an update. Half an hour later I decided she needed to come. She was babysitting another family at the time, but she had told them about my situation so they were prepared. She was able to get to our house within 15 minutes and we were ready to go. We left the house around 8:40 pm and while I was a little worried about how Jackson would do overnight, I knew he would be safe with Kelsi. 

We arrived at the hospital at 8:57 pm (I checked the clock when we parked). Since it was after hours, we checked in to the ER. After going through some registration steps (you would think pre-registering would allow you just to "check in" when it was baby time) I was taken up to labor and delivery. We went straight to our birth room and waited for my exam. At this point I was pretty positive it was actual labor and Matt was just waiting to see what the nurse said. Around 9:40 pm, 20 minutes later, the nurse came in and I had been complaining to Matt the whole time! I just wanted to know if I was staying or if I just needed to tough it out through the contractions if it wasn't labor. The first thing I said to her was, "I'm ready for my epidural!" While I wasn't in horrible pain at that point, since I knew I was at least 4 cm already (from my Dr. appt on Thursday) I didn't want to miss the window for my epidural. I wanted to steer clear of other medications, but have no problem with the epidural. She examined me and I was already dilated to 7-8 cm! She quickly left the room to get everything ready. I turned to Matt and just started crying. 

I told him I didn't want it this way and I didn't want to do it. I knew at 8 cm you rarely have time for an epidural. The nurse came back with a tech to take my blood. She hung my bag of fluids and said we were getting that epidural. I was hooked up to the monitors for my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. I watched the bag slowly drain telling myself that it was only a little more left to get the epidural. The contractions got significantly stronger after the exam and I began to strain. Having expected an epidural I honestly hadn't practiced any breathing exercises or refreshed myself on various techniques. Matt reminded me to breathe and held my hand. I found that long inhales and exhales worked far better for me than the short "he he hoo" that was recommended in birthing class with Jackson. I began saying "it's ok" with each exhale but changed to "no" drawn out over the exhale. While it sounded ridiculous and I'm not sure what I was saying "no" to, it helped! Internally I kept telling myself that it was all mental and it was just glorified menstrual cramps. No big deal. A couple times I let the contraction take control and it was like I couldn't breathe or move or do anything but tense up my entire body. I would force myself to breathe and relax and then it wasn't so bad. It truly is a mental battle. 

The contractions never got as close together as with Jackson. With him I didn't have any let up between contractions when I decided to get the epidural. This time I was able to take a few breaths normally between contractions and that made a huge difference. Once I asked God to give me just a couple more seconds before the next contraction and He did! It sounds silly, but that gave me such a boost. 

Around 10:00 pm the nurse came back (her name was Linda and she was a great l&d nurse) with the anesthesiologist all ready and waiting. Dr. Cabell (not my regular Dr. but I had heard great things about her) came in to check my progress. She said we weren't doing the epidural, I was at 10 cm, and the baby was right there ready. I knew this already as I could feel the baby right there and had a strong urge to push. She turned around to get ready, turned back around and said, "Don't push! Just breathe!" Linda and Matt helped me get into position, Dr. Cabell broke my water (which was seriously like old faithful had erupted!) and said to push. I pushed and it was such a relief to be working with the contraction as opposed to breathing calmly through it. While it certainly wasn't comfortable, I was surprised that the pain was much more tolerable than I expected. I pushed a couple times and then it was like sweet relief. The rest period that I didn't think truly existed. I thought they tell moms about it to keep them from quitting at the end. But you have a few moments of relief from pain and contractions. Time to catch your breath and think that in a moment you will have a baby! Dr. Cabell gave me an episiotomy along my tear scar from Jackson and it was time to push again. Two pushes later and Daniel was wiggling and crying out his displeasure! They gave him to me and I just couldn't believe it. It was 10:38 pm. 

I also thought that the relief they promise once the baby is born was a myth. No. It was like the contractions, the pain, the mental exhaustion had never happened. All I could think of was my sweet, new baby and how perfect he was. Matt and I were both crying at seeing our precious baby. When I cooed at Daniel he settled down. He knows his Mumma. 

After a little while a pediatric nurse took Daniel across the room to be weighed and measured. He was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Absolutely perfect! He began to root around for me while he was being examined so they brought him back to me and I nursed him. He latched on immediately and knew exactly when he needed to do. The nurses and Dr. left us alone for an hour or so to just get settled with our little one. 

Matt spent some time holding Daniel and then left to relieve Kelsi. It was close to midnight when he went home. Thankfully, after some crying Jackson had fallen asleep so it wasn't a traumatic night for him without Mumma and Daddy.

All around, it was a pretty perfect birth experience. I certainly didn't have to worry about being pressured into drugs I wasn't interested in. Progression certainly wasn't an issue. I had birth completely unmedicated, which wasn't on my list of things to do in life, but I now know what it is like and that I can and did do it! It was a fast labor and delivery, which is what every mom wants. The only downside was everything happened in such a rush some things were forgotten- like an "in labor" picture, pictures of Daniel getting weighed and measured, etc. Little and insignificant things that don't matter at all on the grand scheme of things. I am so thankful everything went so smoothly and I was able to keep calm and in control during labor. 

I have no doubt that God created me to be a mother. It is so fulfilling and there is nothing else I would rather do than be there for my two boys. Even the difficult times, even the sleepless nights, even the daily messes are worth it and bring me joy because it gives me an opportunity to serve my boys. I love having two boys already and am so glad Daniel made his way into the world this past weekend.