THE BIRTH OF EMMA JOY
We got home late Monday evening and I woke up with somewhat regular contractions and an intense desire to unpack at around 2:30 AM. I spent about an hour unpacking and generally cleaning up, just marveling in the way my body was working. Then I headed back to bed for some rest. I got up with Keith at 6:00 and told him it would probably be soon, but that he should go ahead to work and I would call him if I wanted him to come home. By this time the contractions had slowed down a bit and later in the afternoon all but stopped.
I called my chiropractor and set up an appointment for that afternoon since I was having some lower back pain, which I thought, was due to the long car drive and super firm bed at my in-laws’. Keith got home a little after 3 PM. And I told him that the contractions had pretty much stopped, but on the way to the chiropractor they started up again. I got my adjustment and we headed for the bowling center, since Keith had planned to meet someone there to practice. After an hour, I told him it was time to go. We stopped and got some dinner and then made a stop at the store to pick up a few things we knew we would need in the next several days. I had to stop a few times at the store to breathe through the contractions.
We arrived home around 8:30 and I settled the children into bed. I settled down on the couch and focused on staying relaxed. Keith worked on some lesson plans for the next day, since it looked like he would need a substitute. Around 11 he said he was going to try and get some sleep. He was expecting a long night. My labors have all been very long, and he thought that as long as I was all right, he’d rest up for the coming night. I was having a lot of crampy feelings in my back between contractions and thought the baby might be posterior, but by palpating, I could tell she was definitely in a good anterior position. I spent a while leaning over the couch and rocking my pelvis. It helped a bunch. The baby was extremely wiggly, moving even through the contractions, which really hurt! I kept talking to her and asking her to calm down. I wanted to reassure her that everything was ok. At about midnight, (After the Tonight Show monologue, which is absolutely NOT funny when you are in labor!) I decided to draw a warm bath, mostly in an attempt to calm the baby down. All of that wiggling was so very uncomfortable. It really did help since she slowed down quite a bit.
Soon I was vocalizing deep moans at the peaks of the contractions. That felt good. I called Keith to come sit with me shortly before 1 AM. I woke Hannah Grace and Silas up with my moaning and they came in to sit for a while. Silas was farting and laughing at himself, that goofy boy. After a while they lost interest and went back to bed. I had really become an emotional wreck at this point. I was handling the contractions fine, but I was crying and feeling miserably sorry for myself between them. I also threw up twice. I hate throwing up! I’m glad we didn’t capture it on video.
For the next couple of hours, I labored in and out of the tub. I even managed to catch some sleep on the bathroom floor between contractions. I felt like I might want to bear down and decided to get back in the tub. I checked my dilation. I was wide open, but with an anterior lip, and I really didn’t feel like pushing. I could feel hair on the baby’s head through the sack. It was really encouraging to feel that hair. It gave me some renewed resolve and I really started working with the contractions. Keith kept reminding me not to tense my shoulders.
At about 4:15 my mucous plug floated out into the water. I know I must be a regular comedian during transition. I don’t remember half of what goes on, but it’s always worth a good laugh later. I warned Keith that I was going to cuss like a sailor only to mutter “Gosh darn it!” when the next contraction came on. I also announced that I was done and going to bed. I guess I was expecting Keith to finish up by himself.
Soon I was grunting at the peak of the contractions and during one good grunt, my water broke. The water in the tub turned a little bloody, but it didn’t worry us. I immediately got the desire to push. Keith went to wake up Daniel, who wanted to see the birth of his new sibling. I heard him in the next room trying, in vain, to rouse a sleepy 7 year-old. Meanwhile, I was growling the baby out. Keith got back in time to jump in the tub and announce that the head was out. The cord was wrapped around her neck, but Keith just looped it over until it was free. I was on my knees and couldn’t see what was going on. One more push and out she slipped. Keith announced, “It’s a girl!” and handed her around to me. I had wanted to catch her, but she came so fast (3 good pushes) that I couldn’t really change positions, and I was so caught up in the intense need to push, that I couldn’t think about anything else.
She didn’t cry. In spite of the bright bathroom light (she came so fast we didn’t think to dim the light) she just looked around. I wondered if she was breathing when she let out a soft little mew. That sweet solitary note is one that will never leave my memory as long as I live. The next thing I noticed was just how big her hands are.
Keith stuck a cap on her head and wrapped us in a towel. As I stood up to get out of the tub, I felt the placenta move down. I warned Keith, who told me not to worry about moving. It basically fell out into his hands and he had to scramble to find something to put it in. I moved over and sat on the toilet and the children came in to meet their new sister. She started crying a little bit then and we thought to turn off the bright overhead light. She latched right on and started nursing while Keith helped Hannah Grace cut the cord. She had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She had her much-desired sister.
This was a much more intense labor than I’d experienced with Silas’ unassisted birth. I think it was because it progressed much faster. It also wasn’t as magical feeling. I think the thing that struck me the most was just how normal it was. It was still a miracle, but in a very normal way like the sun rising or the rain falling. It does amaze me that she actually grew inside my body and that my body pushed her out into the world. She is our perfect little everyday miracle!
