Just as with our daughter Hyla, I was very fortunate to have a smooth, easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, no stretch marks, no complications…in fact, my energy levels were as good, if not better than when I’m not pregnant. I never thought I’d actually enjoy being pregnant, but it really has been enjoyable and relatively easy on me. I knew that this state of being was coming to a close around June 27th when things started to indicate our new arrival would be here soon. I’ll spare most of the gory details, but I’ll say that when I went in for my appointment that day, my midwife confirmed that, while I was not dilated yet, I was certainly effaced, and my cervix had moved forward preparing for the big event. Based on how things went with Hyla, I thought our boy would be here two days later, on the 29th, but nature had other plans.
That evening, Nathan, Hyla, and I went out for dinner at Taj Palace for some aloo gobi and saag paneer. I’d been having somewhat minor contractions reminiscent of Braxton-Hicks before we headed out, but I really didn’t think too much of them. However, once at dinner, things started to ramp up a little bit. They especially kicked in when I was more active, triggered by my movement. Still, I didn’t give them much thought until one hit me on the way back to the car. They were definitely getting stronger, and the Braxton-Hicks-esque feel of them was turning into something more serious. When I lay in Hyla’s bed waiting for her to fall asleep, I started timing them, and they ranged from 18 to 9 minutes apart. I thought it wise to alert both grandmas as well as our doula, Sarah, that evening because I wasn’t sure if we’d have to call on them in the middle of the night. With everyone on alert, I turned my attention to packing my bags. I felt incredibly confident about the whole situation – I knew how smoothly things went with Hyla’s delivery, and I had no reason to stress about the events to come. All would be well, and worrying wasn’t going to help anyone.
I spent the evening having contractions on and off, at somewhat irregular intervals, but mostly ranging from 8 to 18 minutes apart, giving me just enough time to doze off before waking again. These were often quite intense, frequently peaking three times each! Around 1 am I experienced full-body shakes that lasted for 20 minutes. I just couldn’t stop shaking – not due to coldness but likely due to a huge rush of adrenaline. With Hyla, I just had the leg shakes, so this all-encompassing full-body experience was new and crazy. I was really hoping to hold on through the night because I didn’t want to have to wake our moms or the doula. I was determined to wait until morning to go to the hospital. I got up around 7 and went to contact Sarah only to discover she’d already texted me to see how things were going! Then Nate contacted his mom to make the drive down. At the time, I thought it might be too early to bother her, but about a half hour later things started ramping up again, and I was glad she was on her way.
At one point the doula, my healthcare provider, and I all agreed that I should head down to triage to see how things were progressing, especially since I was group B strep positive, and I would have to sit through 4 hours of antibiotic treatment. Waiting too long wasn’t a good option at this point. Nate’s mom hadn’t yet arrived, so I called my mom to come over and watch our daughter in the meantime. It turns out both grandmas arrived at roughly the same time, and we were able to briefly say our hellos and goodbyes before running out the door. Hyla was glad to have some grandma time for a while, I’m sure.
We took Zuni down to Presbyterian Hospital since Central is a big mess due to ART construction, making accessibility from that end highly questionable. On the way, I had about three contractions (possibly more) ranging from 4 to 10 minutes apart. We parked down on S-2 and hurried up to triage as best we could, arriving around 10:30. I had to stop a few times for contractions, but they weren’t nearly as bad as the one that stopped me on my way up with Hyla. Sarah was already waiting for us, but we must have walked right by her. Triage admitted us right away – they had my name and everything was good to go. I was instructed to prep for examination and did just that. In the meantime, Nate texted Sarah back, and she met us in the room. We had a lovely time chit-chatting for what seemed like quite a while, and I didn’t have a single contraction the entire time until the triage nurse Gretchen came in. Then WOO did it hit. From that point on, it seemed as though the contractions were triggered by any changes: new person in the room, new question for me, and movement on my end, no matter how minor. We all marveled at the contraction readings being printed out and their occasional intensity. Anyway, the triage nurse checked my dilation, and I was at SEVEN! Not quite the nine from last time, but we didn’t want it to be, since I needed those antibiotics. So they ushered me down to room three, which everyone touted as having one of the best views, facing the Sandias in the east. Honestly, I was so preoccupied I hardly looked out there.
The next few hours involved a lot of sitting around, getting my IV penicillin, and waiting the four hours for the second dose. Lots of contractions hit during this time, and I found it most comfortable to sit crisscross on the bed, later moving over to the rocking chair against the window, which was even better. I hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink yet, though they did start bringing me some water once here. One neat aside was that the midwife was called Lisa, and I’m fairly certain she’s the same one who delivered Hyla! I never did get to ask her if she was from Wisconsin, but she did say she was the only Lisa working 4 years ago, too. I’ll have to see if I can find any record of her name for sure, since I’m not positive the other one was Lisa – plus, I thought she may have been a traveling midwife from WI. Hmm, who knows?! But how cool if that were the case. The day before, my midwife Erin told me she’d be working this day from 7pm to 7am the next day and to wait to deliver then (jokingly, of course). I was sad she wasn’t my midwife for the process, but she’d come by later that evening to check in.
So let’s see…those contractions got exhausting after a while. At one point, my body just wanted to give up, and while sitting in that rocking chair, the contractions became further apart and slightly less intense, giving me a chance to doze off a bit in preparation for the big show. It was wonderful to have the support from Nate and Sarah, though I felt bad for drifting off and kind of ignoring them. During contractions, I’d moan as suggested, which was helpful, and Sarah would too, to encourage me. I was often so tired, though, that I couldn’t even get those out. Then we heard it: everyone tried to convince me I was hearing a newborn baby crying, but nope, it was undeniably a woman giving birth next door, emitting blood curdling screams of agony. It really didn’t bother me too much, as I know what I was going through wouldn’t have warranted such cries, but what got me is that anyone at this point in labor had the energy to commit to screaming. I could barely breathe anymore, I was so tired, merely from quietly fielding all those intense contractions.
At one point, I felt a quick gush that felt a lot like losing a clot during one’s period. They called the nurse in to check, and it was in fact my water breaking – something I never experienced with Hyla until they did it manually. They managed to get me on my second antibiotic drip, and I thought that the contractions I was feeling might be the end game, but I never had an urge to push while sitting there. He was definitely close, but no one wanted to check dilation for fear of slowing things down. Later on, as the quiet period was ending and the contractions were getting more intense (and I was starting to sweat, indicating the difficult transitional period), we heard a distinct “clunk,” on the monitor just as I felt another huge explosion of water down there and felt the boy drop. They immediately called the nurse in, and they took me over to the bathroom to see if I needed to use it. I barely made it to the door before a huge contraction hit. I felt the boy’s head really low now, and distinctly. It was very strange, and while I won’t say it hurt, it was freaky – I was at the point of no return, and the reality of it all had finally set in. I told them, and they ushered me back to the bed. They checked, and he was at station 2, and coming. This was the end game. They had me lay back and relax in a butterfly position with people holding my legs. The contractions weren’t that painful anymore. During them, Lisa rubbed my legs, which was comforting and encouraging. They told me to push during them, and I did, though I felt it was weakly. I had no energy left at all. This time, though, despite my lack of active pushing, they’d tell me it was good progress and to keep it up. My body was doing most of the work on auto pilot, even though it didn’t feel as much like an involuntary gag reflex as when I pushed with Hyla. I would push when I could, and finally, around the 5th contraction since pushing (which is way less than what I went through with Hyla), I pushed enough to get his head out. I felt what was probably the ring of fire this time, from the stretching and slight burning. It hurt a little but wasn’t awful at all. Still, I was exhausted and wanted him out. I felt Lisa (I think) grabbing him, and I was all, “Get him out!” since I wasn’t sure I had the energy to push him out myself. I tiredly pushed again for the shoulders and out he came, even easier than my last birth. Just like with Hyla, it’s so weird to feel a person coming out of you like that. They immediately put him on my bare belly for skin to skin, and let the cord pulse some. Here was my son, red and goopy (though they cleaned him frantically as he lay there), right on my belly, with people telling me how cute he was. I couldn’t get a good look at his face from my angle, and I was too tired and in another mental zone to try. I was just glad he was out and with me. He cried more than I remember Hyla doing, and he had quite a bit of fluid in his lungs, which is probably why. But he was healthy with apgar scores of 8 and 9, which is excellent for high-altitude NM. Anyway, I knew how significant this moment was, but I was so tired I think I was only partially present. I did have to deliver the placenta at this point, which was super easy. Then Lisa was going to give me a stitch for a small tear I had from the birth, but I asked her if it was necessary, and she said no – just like with Hyla. I’ve never had stitches in my life – why start now? I had a full hour with him for snuggles before they did the vitamin supplements and measurements and such. He was born at 5:34 pm at 8 lbs even, 20.75 inches long. I was later told by our nurse Aretha that he was the largest baby on the floor, and it had been a very busy day of deliveries. I guess NM babies tend to be small due to lack of proper nourishment. Sad. Anyway, he’s big and strong and alert, and he already seems to be trying to roll over.
Just a note: throughout the process, everyone seemed so impressed with how I was handling this. I don’t think I’ve ever been called a rock star so much in my life. Sarah thought I was good at internalizing the struggle, and everyone thought I was so cool and collected. That’s what lack of energy does for a person, but honestly, at no time did I ever feel like I needed to scream or have pain meds. The thought of having them just cut him out did occur to me a time or two, and wondering if I really wanted to go through with it was a thought, too, even though I obviously had no choice at this point. It is just such a weird sensation, and kind of scary even though it all works out in the end. I did often think about how lucky everyone else in the world was that wasn’t experiencing labor. It was hard to imagine that it would be over anytime soon, or very abruptly for that matter. I also felt mostly present, though near the end with the tiredness, I couldn’t really look at anyone directly or communicate as much.
Back to the room, eventually Sarah left us to our bonding, and my midwife Erin came in to say hi and express her excitement for us. I went into the bathroom, and while there, I heard familiar voices. My mom, Karla, Sumarin, and Hyla had shown up! I couldn’t believe they let them into the delivery room, hazmat that it probably was at this point. We had a wonderful time showing off our newest addition. Hyla seemed somewhat interested, but she was so distracted by all the family around as well as the zeroth birthday cake they picked out for Griffin. It had two candy stars on top, one for each kid, and she had to eat them right then and there. Too funny. Then, before long, they transferred us up to the recovery room, where we’d spend the night, room 633, looking to the south, just like Hyla’s recovery room when I had her. The family met us up there briefly before heading back home, probably almost as exhausted as we were.
The rest of the evening and next day would consist of lots of nurses and techs coming in to take vitals, do tests, and have us fill out birth certificate paperwork. He passed all his tests easily (heart defect, hearing, etc.) Thank goodness he’s such a healthy one! As for how he looks, he has dark slate blue grey eyes so far and some blonde hair all over his body, dark brown wispy hair on his head, but not much, and no eyelashes. If he has eyebrows, they’re so light you can hardly tell. He has great coloration and very wrinkly hands. As for me, I did get my energy back about 2 hours after birth, so that was good. I could focus my time on snuggling our son and eating some dinner.
The night went smoothly, and it felt so good to rest a while. Anyway, back to that night, I didn’t want to leave my bed, but I always kept checking if Griffin was breathing. He seemed to do fine and slept a lot. We wound up staying until about 9 pm the next day, since we had to wait for all the testing to be completed, but all went smoothly and without incident, and before we knew it, we were home, starting the next chapter in our lives with our new son Griffin.
