LUCY ANN REILLY
4.17.2011
Hello folks! Not that any of you are upset about it, but my apologies on this story taking so long to put on here. Recovery is different this time around, for plenty of different reasons, and I'm looking forward to feeling better soon!
Anyways, here's the rundown:
On Sunday, April 17th, 2011 I woke up at 6AM to very mild contractions. What I considered Braxton Hicks (just tightening) with a little lower abdominal cramping to go with them. I stayed in bed (I mean it was 6AM on a Sunday) for another half hour or so, happy to note that the sun was out and it was blue skies. In that short span I experienced about 4 contractions and considered them to be consistent and rhythmic. All signs pointed to labor! Calls were made to the families and of course our MW and if you want more details of all that, read the previous few posts.
The contractions were steady all day, staying 3-5 minutes apart and slowly gaining in intensity and length. My last update on here was around 2:30PM I believe, when we had just gotten back from our second walk. On that walk the contractions somewhat 'turned'. They dropped down to 2 minutes apart and 1 minute long and I started to lean on Broghan during them to breathe through the peaks. Anna, Krissy, my mom & dad were all here by this point and were doing exactly what I had hoped they'd be doing, entertaining Keller and just hanging around to be a great distraction. I could just sit and listen and pipe in when I decided to and then do my breathing through the contractions and everyone just kind of let me do it without pausing (which is exactly what distractions are supposed to do)
We also decided to fill the tub around this point. So Broghan got to that. Of course the tub is too big for one round of hot water but as soon as we had used up our tank full, I got in. Ahh...it felt nice and it was really a nice feeling of kind of being holed away in our basement office, away from bright lights and people talking. Broghan lit a candle for me and had the country music going :). So I was happy to just be sitting and relaxing in the warm water.
You might be wondering at this point where our midwives were but don't worry, they were on their way. Ever since our 11AM check-in they had stayed within 10 minutes or so of our house, but taking care of some things that they had already scheduled. This was my choice to have them do that since I didn't need them for anything and I knew the baby wasn't coming out for a few more hours. I didn't really want them here just watching me breathe through a contraction every 2-3 minutes..haha..what a boring afternoon that would have made for them!
But once we decided to go into the tub, they worked their way back to our house and just as they showed up, it was perfect timing in a way. I had been trying to snooze a bit between the contractions in the tub but it just wasn't working and I just felt like napping a bit when I could would be best. I wasn't physically tired or even mentally, but it was now somewhere around I think 4PM and I'd been doing the whole contraction thing for about 10 hours. So I got up out of the tub just as they walked downstairs and they were able to do another assessment of me and baby. All was perfect!
As for my decision to lay down...yea...not the greatest. Contractions got quite a bit harder as soon as my body went into the side-lying position (my guess is just the change in positioning did that). So 3 contractions later, back to the tub!
Time really flew by and my timeline gets fuzzy at this point (totally typical of a progressive labor). I can remember starting to vocalize during the contractions, doing what I just felt like for noises. My goal at this point and through the rest of labor was to be louder than the pain was strong. I've since apologized to all those at my house and to my neighbors because I still feel like it got quite loud :). No one cared though, which was nice.
I think the blessing of this labor all along was that my body really gave me breaks in between and even though they were shorter than the contractions themselves, it allowed my mind to almost re-set. Like, because I could come back to consciousness about what was going on around me, I could put the last contraction (and every contraction up to that point) behind me and just know there was one more- that was it- the next contraction was it (even though there were MANY more coming). Such a gift the body gives.
Broghan was amazing through everything and by this point he was now staying in the room with me at all times, just placing a hand on me through the contractions that I could lean on, or holding my arm to show he was there (which is all I really needed since my eyes were closed during the contractions). At some point, and I think this was even before I got out of the tub before, we figured out that a little vibrating massage thing-y did a great job at interfering with the pain signals in my back, so he spent a lot of time during the contractions moving that around from my mid- to low- back. I'm sure his arms were ready to fall off.
Everything just continued on and ramped up slowly and around (I think) 6:30PM Broghan got into the tub with me. I had entered into the transitional phases of contractions and he sat next to me for a few, then behind me for more. Between then and 7:30ish I kept switching positions from kneeling and draping my head/arms over the side and sitting in Broghan's lap (I think??...its fuzzy..) due to my legs going tingly from the kneeling position. But at around 7:30 (is my guess) I got into the kneeling position for the last and hardest contractions. It was around this time that the "urge to push" started and well, you can watch any number of baby stories on youtube or hulu to know the crazy noises women can make. I was not shy, I was not quiet and it felt good knowing that I could now be active in this labor and END it!
After watching the video, I now realize that my actual pushing phase was only 5-10 minutes long. I attribute this to my choice not to get a 'cm' check at any point- making my only option then to wait until there was a pressure to push. As strange as it sounds, I really forgot what that sensation felt like. You'd think that this being my 3rd pain-med free delivery, I'd have some clue. But nope, I had to ask. And it was obvious that it was time to bear down. I did ask also, that since I'd never decided to push on my own (always told and given the a-okay by a Dr. after they made sure I was 10 cm), how do I know if its alright and that I won't be pushing against cervix? My midwife easily stated that, well...if you feel like bearing down, try it out. If it feels like a good thing, you're ready and if it feels like it hurts or there is tension, don't push and wait. Easy-peasy! Because it definitely felt good to push!
Anyways, as I noted before, I was kneeling and my head and arms were kind of draped over the side of the tub...facing away from everyone else in the room. This was something I really liked because I was only aware of 2 other people...Erin and Broghan. I knew the midwife was there because I could hear her voice and encouragement and I knew Broghan was there, well because he was in the tub with me and also giving me awesome words of encouragement. AND rubbing my back with that vibrator thing! Such a trooper he was!
Anyways, this was my mental imagery during the pushing: step 1: get the head out. I knew that this was the hardest part, but that if it got too hard my body would probably pause a bit between a contraction to let me rest...and this did happen...twice during pushing! So I could feel the 'head' crowning and that lovely little 'ring of fire' commencing. Although I did notice it wasn't nearly as bad as I seemed to remember, but it was seeming a little bit more difficult to push through...but I also figured my baby was full term and much larger than Keller or Madison. But after a little bit of hard bearing down...pop...'head' out! And just like I expected...a pause to catch my breath! Again, such a gift the body gives!! Once another contraction built up, I was focusing on the step 2: push the shoulders through and then the rest of the baby just kind of spills out. Again, this was my mental imagery and I can vividly think...gosh, why am I feeling a 'ring of fire' again? This baby has to have super broad shoulders! But at this point, I figured this was my last thing (and it was) so I just got serious with myself (haha...like I wasn't serious before) and seriously pushed with every muscle in my body. Out came the 'shoulders' and just as expected, the rest of the baby.
I was done. No more pain. Just relief. and kind of an strange positioning since I couldn't see the little babe. I had to swing a leg over the cord to turn and hold her. Not that I knew it was a girl until a few minutes later.
I also got to learn (a few minutes later), that this little girl was born...not the way I visualized, but 100% frank breech! SO the 'head', was the hips; and the 'shoulder' was the head! Super crazy stuff and totally explained why the double dose of fire happened.
Lucy Ann Reilly made her appearance into the world at 7:54PM on Sunday April 17th, 2011 (Palm Sunday).
Fun little postpartum details:
-we left the cord in tact and attached and didn't cut it until almost an hour later. Yours truly was the one who got to cut it too! Courtesy of Broghan since he said he got to cut Keller's, I should get to cut Lucy's.
-we stayed in the pool, took pictures, and held our little girl until after the placenta naturally detached.
-I got to put her to my chest and gave her the option to nurse a little within minutes of delivery which helped the post-birth cramping to start and the placenta to be released and for my uterus to start clamping down.
-Once out of the tub, I moved to the spare bedroom and relaxed with my baby girl while everyone chatted, took pictures, cleaned up.
-our midwives did monitor both of us every once in a while to make sure Lucy was warming up nicely and keeping a good color, breathing okay, and that my blood loss was under control.
-we didn't do weight/length stuff until about 2 hours after birth
-Lucy was either with me or dad at all times post-birth.
-Keller got to meet Lucy while we were still in the tub and again when we were lying in bed.
Lucy officially weighed in at 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 inches long. Neither myself or Lucy sustained any complications from her birth presentation. Just a peanut of a little lady!
Welcome to our world Lucy! Born at home and on purpose. ;)
