Darcy Brynn's Birth

Plans usually go awry. I had a very tentative birth plan. I originally planned to labor at home as far as I could and to progress on my own without an epidural until 8 cm, which my OB had said was the last possible minute to get the one. Of course, you can never predict how labor and delivery might go.

On Wednesday morning, August 1st, I went to my 40-week check up and received good news. All the false labor contractions and recent daily walks actually did some work - I'd progressed from zero dilation last week to 2.5 cm and 60% effacement. The doctor swept my membranes to help start labor. She predicted the baby (estimated at 8 lbs and 1 oz) will come within a week but not likely in the next couple of days. 

Thursday morning, August 2nd, was cooler than it had been in months. Ava complained that she didn't feel good but I could see no symptoms to indicate anything. She was unenthusiastic about going to the park, played half-heartedly, and begged to go home to her stuffed pink cat. She seemed a little bit subdued most of the day, acting oddly at times but completely her normal self at other times. It didn't occur to me to take her temperature until after she'd had her bath and I noticed her skin was dry and hot, instead of cool like it is after a bath. She mentioned that her neck hurt. It turned out that she had a 101.5 fever and her throat was a bit red with some white patches. I was worried that it was strep and I remember hoping that I wouldn't go into labor until I could take Ava to the doctor the next morning.

Greg went out after Ava went to bed. He'd done errands all day but was stir-crazy sitting at home. I was in the living room browsing on the computer when Ava got out of bed. I went down to one knee to get eye-level with Ava and comfort her when my water broke. I acted calm and sent Ava back to bed. It was 9:15 pm.

At first, I wasn't sure my water broke. I was caught by surprise. I mean, I unconsciously thought that kind of stuff happened to other people, not me. It didn't happen with Ava. I even read somewhere that the water breaking before onset of labor happens only 13% of the time. How likely was it that I'd fall in that 13%?

After I waited a few minutes to check and make sure my water had indeed broken and I was convinced, I texted my OB. My OB had said at a previous appointment that I had to go straight to the hospital if my water broke. Sure enough, she texted back and said to go straight to the hospital. There I was, going into labor with a sick child at home and wondering what to do about taking her to the doctor and whether she'd infect a tiny newborn. After Greg came home and the babysitter came, we left for the hospital. It was 10:15 pm.

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived, more than an hour after my water broke. Contractions started immediately after my water broke but I wasn't timing them because I was busy getting my bag ready for the hospital, making up the couch for the babysitter, relaying instructions to her. By the time, I was in a hospital gown and strapped to a fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor, it was 11 pm and my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I was at 3 cm.

I progressed from 3 cm to 6 cm with contractions 2-3 minutes apart for four hours (from 11pm til 3am). I thought that I would have total, pain-free relief between contractions and would be able to rest for a minute or two between contractions but I did not. The breaks between contractions were basically low-grade, uncomfortable pain. I couldn't find any comfortable position to ride out the contractions. That was how I passed the four hours. I finally asked for the epidural and the nurse checked me and said I was too far along for an epidural...at 6 cm. I looked at her like she was crazy and insisted on the epidural. Six centimeters was not too late! She relented and called the anesthesiologist.

Now, I wish I'd taken a childbirth class back in the States. I would've been learned pain management and different positions to get comfortable. Greg would've been better coached on how to help me. When they finally got the epidural ready, they had me sitting up, hugging a big fat pillow and bending over it so they could insert the epidural in my spine between contractions. I had several contractions sitting that way while they were prepping, swabbing my back, etc and I actually felt that pain-free relief between the contractions. If I'd tried that position much sooner, sitting up and hugging the pillow, I probably would've had a better labor experience. Well, hindsight is twenty/twenty.

Ten minutes after the epidural was inserted and the drip started, the pain of my contractions were reduced to the level of a stomachache. I could still move and flex my legs, feet, and toes. I think they would've upped my dose but I told them that I was fine with it. It was 3:00 am.

For the next three hours, I dozed fitfully through the "stomachaches" and at one point, the stomachache became one long continuous ache which I think, in retrospect, I was probably dilating from 9 to 10 cm. I also vaguely remember during that last hour or half hour before the nurse came in to check me around 6:00 am that my contractions had slowed down so I was out of the transition phase and in the pushing stage. I think I dilated from 6 cm to 10 cm just under 3 hours. The total dilation time from 3 cm to 10 cm was probably just under 7 hours but counting from the time my water broke til the baby was born, it was 9.5 hours.

My OB came, got set up, and said I could start pushing. I pushed for about 25 minutes (less than half the time it took me to push Ava out) and Darcy Brynn was born at 6:47 am on August 3rd. She weighed 8.5 lbs and measured 20.8 inches long.

We're home now and recovering well. I just love the precious newborn stage - the tiny fingers and toes, the headful of hair, the funny grimaces, short periods of wakefulness when she looks around dazedly, the tiny yawns, the little body curled up in our arms.

I said plans usually go awry. I hadn't anticipated on my water breaking and having to labor in a little sterile delivery room in a foreign hospital. I would've preferred the comfort and privacy of my own home but it really doesn't matter. The Father had ordained the way my labor and delivery would go in his love, wisdom, and sovereignty.

I'm just glad Darcy is here...

{Note: it's a little more detailed than most people need to know but I mainly wrote this for myself to remember in the years ahead}