by Cassie G
I remember driving to work the morning that I went into labor with my second baby thinking that my Braxton Hicks contractions felt a little stronger. I was fine throughout the day and it wasn’t until later in the afternoon when things got uncomfortable enough that I had to pause while working to let a contraction pass. I knew that I’d probably go into labor in the next 24-hours, but I didn’t expect much action right away since I had read that second time mom’s can show those pre-labor signs way earlier than first time.
The contractions continued through the afternoon and early evening as I picked up my 2yo and started dinner. At that point I still called them Braxton Hicks because there still didn’t seem to be a pattern, but they were definitely stronger than usual Braxton Hicks. I laid down while my husband, Justin, gave my son a bath and I think I realized then that this would eventually tip into active labor and not just fizzle, but I still didn’t expect things to happen anytime soon.
After my son was down to sleep, I sprung into action adding a few last things to the hospital bag and showering. At that point I accepted that we’d probably be up most of the night and heading to the hospital by 6am when my son woke up, but I thought we had a long night and morning ahead. When I got out of the shower and heard my husband watching TV, I realized that he really didn’t think this was the real deal. I called him upstairs and asked if we should go ahead and get my Mom on a flight first thing the next morning and he just reminded me that we didn’t want anyone around while I was laboring and we should wait until we really know this is labor. I hesitated, mostly because I wanted this checked off my list of mental blocks that might keep me from laboring, but ultimately agreed. I checked in with Elaine over text and she agreed this sounded like early labor, so I just told myself to chill out and went on to dry my hair and get ready for bed.
We went to bed at 10pm and Justin immediately fell asleep. Per Elaine’s recommendation, I drank a big glass of water and laid on my left side. The contractions continued and they were definitely intensifying. I had been listening to a birth story podcast nonstop for the past two weeks and I remember a couple of second time mom’s commenting when they had “productive” contractions and thinking I had no idea what that meant, but I definitely recognized that I was having productive contractions while laying in bed. They seemed fairly consistent, but there was enough time in between where I felt like I started to doze. They would start out steady and then there would be a tiny surge at the end right before it ended where it intensified a little more. I guess I did a decent job of relaxing through the contractions because I stayed laying down for the most part and I never woke my husband. In hindsight, this is probably when I should have woken him and headed to the hospital (whoops). I think beyond this point there wouldn’t have been an opportunity to go (without my son, at least since we needed a good 30 minutes to get someone over to our house to watch him). I was just so determined NOT to do what we did with my first baby, which was both get all worked up and not sleep for three nights of only early labor. I didn’t want to sound the alarm too soon.
Around 11pm I decided to go downstairs and try to watch TV to distract myself. I was never able to put the TV on though because I kept trying to do other things in between contractions like get water or put my wallet by the door so we remembered to take it to the hospital. I timed contractions between 11:15-11:30pm and we can see that they were about four minutes apart and lasting up to a minute. At that point I was too far into the labor zone to recognize, “Crap! This baby is coming fast!” I think I continued walking around downstairs until just before midnight. I remember thinking to myself, “Ok, let’s go to the bathroom one more time and then lay down on the couch and watch TV.” What?! As if I could comfortable lay down at this point.
Thank goodness I went to the bathroom then because I realized that I bleeding quite a bit and I finally woke Justin. That must have been about 11:50-11:55pm. Things happened pretty quickly at this point, but thankfully we have our call logs to help piece it all together!
11:56pm – Justin called the midwives’ answering service. He says “I think my wife is in early labor.” I had to correct him (“This is very much active labor!!!”), but the person on the other end didn’t catch my piece of the message.
11:58pm – Justin called my best friend to have her come stay with my son. I remember him asking me “When should she come?” And screaming, “NOW!”
I think in between these two phone calls is when I realized that I needed to push.
11:59pm – Justin called Elaine and told her that I felt the urge to push. Thank God she lives a block away and also went to bed knowing that we might call – she darted over.
12:01am – the midwife (who thinks I’m in early labor based on the message Justin left) calls back and hears me yelling that I need to push. She tells Justin that we’re not going to make it to the hospital and he needs to call 911. He later admitted that he thought to himself, “But she pushed for 90 minutes with our first kid, we can totally make it!”
12:03am – called 911.
12:08am – Elaine arrived and I felt so relieved!!!
The paramedics arrived a few minutes later. It was like five old white dudes who have probably never seen a baby born…or at least acted like they hadn’t. At some point during all of this, I went into our closet to get my yoga mat because, duh, if you’re going to push a baby out on hands and knees on hardwood floors, why not give yourself some cushion? I was never able to grab the mat and instead just ended up on hands and knees in the closet.
When the paramedics arrive, they ask me to move out of the closet – right, like it’s easy for me to maneuver around at this point. I remember Elaine suggesting that I lean against the end of the bed with my knees on the area rug and I silently dismissed her because the duvet was white and the rug was new, haha. They paramedics asked all these questions about how we ended up in this situation. They ask Elaine what’s her relation and she says, “I’m their doula.” To which they reply, “Their what? Are you here to deliver the baby?” She explains that she’s not a medical professional and I swear they were all thinking, “Damnit.” Then they start trying to get us to the ambulance to head to the hospital and we’re all like, “Oh hell no!” There was no way. I’m starting to push by now but kind of holding back because there was so much going on. I knew I could get that baby out in a couple of pushes and I wasn’t about to leave my bedroom without getting that kid out. They eventually conceded and start to set up their stuff. At one point one of the paramedics says he’s getting the suction out and my sweet husband FREAKS out, thinking they mean a vacuum to extract the baby since I’ve started pushing. The paramedic starts arguing with him, “This is for the benefit of the baby! Are you against medical treatment?” (I swear they thought we were anti-medicine since it looked like they just walked into a home birth gone wrong or something). Anyway, Elaine and I had to tell Justin it’s fine, it’s in case the baby has trouble breathing. Next obstacle was this one “brave” paramedic who positioned himself behind me to catch the baby. He would NOT move his hands from my vulva. I actually had to ask him not to touch me because it wasn’t necessary and it was distracting. I really think he thought that a baby was going to shoot violently out of my body. Anyway, chaos continues. There are five paramedics crammed into our tiny bedroom, plus me, Justin and Elaine. My 2yo is asleep in his room, like ten feet away and Justin keeps checking the monitor terrified that he will wake up. I just remember it was so loud and crazy and poor Justin was freaking out. He kept asking if we should just go to the hospital (he later told me that he legit thought I was going to die because there was so much blood. He didn’t realize that my water broke right before I started pushing and that just gave the illusion of a lot more blood than there actually was.) Anyway, I remember thinking that I was going to be forced to do something I didn’t want to if I didn’t get that baby out quickly. So I barked at everyone to be quiet so that I could focus (they listened!) and I think two pushes later, he was out!
Justin and I held our breath until we heard a cry, but it came very quickly. Quinn pinked up and looked great, so everyone told me. They wrapped him in a bath towel and this ridiculous looking silver thing to keep him warm. There was a big ordeal trying to get me down our old narrow staircase on a stretcher, so Justin had to hold Quinn while they got me to the ambulance. But once we were all on the ambulance, Justin brought Quinn to me! I was so relieved, but also super uncomfortable trying to crane my neck to see him and feeling anxious to do skin to skin and get to the hospital so the midwife could deliver the placenta. It wasn’t ideal (neither was giving birth on the bedroom floor), but whatever. We did it! And everything felt totally normal once we got to the hospital.
I keep looking back trying to figure out where I went “wrong”. I felt kind of dumb for not recognizing that things were tipping into active labor, but I honestly think I was too far gone to even process and I labored with my first child for so long that I didn’t believe my body was capable of delivering a baby so quickly. Anyway, I see where things could have gone differently, but I really don’t have any regrets! If we had gone to the hospital between 10-11pm, I know things would have stalled between all the coordinating to get my son taken care of, etc. And I was so friggin anxious about having a long labor, I’m was just so grateful that it wasn’t a repeat of first delivery. And that everyone was safe, of course. I remember talking to Elaine before my delivery about the unlikely (haha) scenario of delivering in the car and she told me to take comfort in knowing that babies who come super quick are also incredibly healthy and safe deliveries, which is why they progress so quickly! Remembering that did help keep me calm.
Quinn will be three next month and his birth was definitely a good indication of his personality – quick and bold! He keeps us on our toes and we love him so.
bornathomecolumbus.com 