My very first non-stress test in the Birthing Center was delayed because the staff was so busy with a glut of deliveries. They swore all the births were tied to the September Full Moon. They hypothesize the gravitational pull of the moon breaks the amniotic sacks.
And with all my extra amniotic fluid, I thought I was an excellent candidate for the "full moon effect". Turns out that it was a Harvest/Hunter Full Moon and was big, orange and really beautiful. Braden wanted me to take a picture of it as we got onto the express way but the phone camera just didn't do it justice. So here's a picture from the internet but it looked just like this.
I'm getting ahead of myself. Rewinding a couple hours before, Braden was cooking dinner and just sharing that the Saturday had not gone at all like he thought. And then minutes later, I came back to him sharing a suspicion that my water had broken (I felt like I was slowly peeing). We just smiled because it was so fitting given the other strange occurrences of the pregnancy and his statement about nothing going as planned.
After dinner (we were too anxious to really eat but the food was already made), we called the midwife hotline and of course got Jen S (the midwife we always seem to get when something weird was going on). At first she said to keep an eye on it, but called back because Dr. D was on duty and wanted us to come in for a non-stress test (ahhh yes, more non-stress tests due to the umbilical cord defect).
So arrangements were made with Mom W to meet us at the hospital to take Ellie. (Fortunately Rose and Mike were running the Detroit Marathon the next morning so Grandma was going to be watching all the little ones anyhow. And Ellie was thrilled to be having a sleepover with her cousins.)
Once hooked up to the fetal monitors, contractions started and we were able to see that Eva was managing the contractions wonderfully. The nurses also confirmed water broke with some kind of test. So I was admitted and we knew it was game on. Eva was going to be arriving one way or another.
They wanted to know if we wanted to do anything to speed labor along. But we asked that we take the evening to rest and see where labor naturally went. Well that was a big, fat no where. But on the good side, we were well rested come morning!
Jo, the birth photographer left a Halloween party to join us for the evening. I was in the hospital bed, Braden had the couch and Jo was in the reclining chair. But in the morning we found out that she had come down with food poisoning overnight. With labor completely stopped and "water" no longer leaking, we sent her home to recover. (Poor thing didn't recover in time for the birth but she did make it up to us in the long run :) )
Although our room was an oasis of calmed excitement, the rest of the floor was off the hook. Full moon craziness reigned. We talked to Dr D at 8am and he had personally delivered five babies since 3am and was headed back in to deliver another one even though he was now technically off duty. We didn't meet our day shift nurse until 1pm because she had been in back to back deliveries (she had started at 7am).
But honestly, we didn't mind. It gave Braden and I plenty of time to settle in and "enjoy" some quiet time together. We went for walks around the floor. Took naps. Ate yummy room service foods. We were actually grateful that everyone was so busy and that we were hardly bothered.
Jen S was back on duty Sunday. After a very busy morning, she tracked us down and started to discuss options. Based on Dr D's recommendation, we decided to kick start labor again with pitocin. He felt that it was the best way to push Eva down the birth canal and ensure that the umbilical cord didn't prolapse if water did break.
But after 2-3 hours on pitocin, we were no farther than when we started. I was hardly feeling the contractions. So at 5pm, we were at the 24hr mark since the initial leak started and potentially facing more interventions (antibiotics, etc). We decided to "needle the amniotic sack" and break the water in more gentle way.
What a crazy, crazy feeling. Once the water was broken, it just gushed out and kept coming for what felt like a really long time. But it also signaled "game time" for us. They kept me on pitocin for another 30mins but the contractions were so intense that we quickly turned it off.
My body took over. The midwives and Braden were amazing. I was asking for an epidural (what felt like) soon after contractions took off. But they just kept kindly delaying my requests and suggesting other comfort measures. Rose arrived shortly and sweetly brought Braden a Smash burger (good for him, stinky for me :) )
Three hours later, at 8:39pm, Eva joined us at 7lbs 1oz and 19.75ins. We had the opportunity to just enjoy her for the first hour or so. Lynn R, the midwife I had been seeing at clinic actually delivered and was awesome at ensuring an intact bottom. And Elizabeth, the attending nurse, was a midwife in Nigeria and took great care of all of us through the rest of the night.
Jo came back the morning of our discharge and took pictures of our room and last minutes together before heading back into the "real world".
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| Memories of a non-stress test |
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| The one and only awesome Dr D |
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| Loved our cranberry juice!!! |
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| Headed home |
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