For those who may not know, we had planned to have Kenna delivered at home with our midwife, who had taken care of all our prenatal appointments. We had made this decision for several reasons including safety, being able to make our own decisions for our baby, and for financial reasons due to our insurance coverage. So here is the story!
Thursday, September 23:
I began to feel the heavy cramping I had been told to expect before contractions on Thursday night between 8-9pm. Caleb was gone to any activity for work, so I was home with Dad and Cindy, who had arrived to help on Sept. 17th. I didn't alert them to anything and waited for Caleb to get home. We watched TV for a while, but I soon headed to bed to try to get as much rest as possible. I woke up about 2am to definite contractions that I began to time. Around 4:30, I woke up Caleb and told him I wanted to get in the shower because my back was hurting so bad. Caleb jumped up and began to get some things ready for me to be comfortable. I then sat in the rocking chair in Kenna's nursery and just worked through each contraction. The contractions began to subside around 7am. They never progressed to closer than about 8 mins apart, never up to 1 minute long. We decided they must have been false labor and we continued about our day.
Friday, September 24:
I don't remember having any contractions during the day at all. So, I sent Caleb off to his softball game and hung out at the house with Dad and Cindy again for the evening. I didn't say much when I began feeling contractions. (Can you tell I didn't want them to go into a frenzy!?) Caleb got home around 10pm and I told him things had started up again. We prepared to be up possibly all night and settled in on the couch to watch movies and see how things would progress. As we learned in our birth classes, it was likely my first set of contractions would be false labor and/or a long time of irregular contractions before it was "the real thing." Even if this was thing real thing this time, the first stage of labor could last 12-24 hours. The closest I got to calling our midwife that night because of the timing of the contractions was about 6 mins apart, averaging 45 secs long. Again, no reason to panic! That night we did get some things ready like the bed and the birthing pool, which we were going to use during transition. I spend all night on the rocking chair, just trying to get comfortable between contractions. It is definitely true what they say, lying down on your back, or for me on my side as well, is the most painful position to be in while having contractions.
Saturday, September 25:
Again, at approximately 6:30am, the contractions subsided to basically nothing. I called our midwife around 8am and she decided it was time to come over and check things out. She came to check if I was dialated, the baby's heart rate, and her position. Upon arrival, the midwife discovered the baby's heartbeat was strong, I was about 3 cm, but was shocked to discover she was in a breach position. She quickly called the other midwife who was going to assist her with my birth to come verify. We talked and prayed about what we would do if that was truly the case and what our options would be. This was really difficult as I really was afraid of facing things within the American medical model that we were not comfortable with and did not want to put our newborn through. The possibility of a C-section was also unnerving! Of course, I was also just really disappointed that our plan may not go the way we had wanted it to, within the comforts of home. When the second midwife arrived, she did the exam and thought the baby had flipped to the proper position, head down. Praise God!!
Because we had hardly slept, our midwife recommended we take a long nap, then left us with some homeopathic meds to help speed things up.She left around 11am, and I laid down to take a nap. Just as I drifted off to sleep, I had a very strong contraction, and my water broke! That was about 12:30pm Saturday afternoon. Therefore, no more sleep for me!! I was ready to go! I called the midwife to give her the update and started taking the homeopathics, along with the other vitamins I had been taking to assist in a healthy birth. Well, the natural induction meds definitely helped!! We got comfortable, watched some good old college football, and I continued to labor through the afternoon. Things still did not progress as fast as the midwives had assumed, so by 5pm, she sent us out for some fresh air, a drive and just a change of scenery! We sure needed that!
We decided to go to Chik-fil-a for some sweet tea! As we were getting there, I thought of our chiropractor, Dr. Joe, who I worked for the first year we were on this side of Denver. All week he had said, "Call when you are in labor if you need anything!" He lives about 4 miles from where we were, so I called him up. The timing couldn't be more perfect, as he answered the phone, I saw his car drive by. He quickly pulled over and we met up in the parking lot of the shopping center. I think that will be the only time Caleb and I are adjusted outside, in the middle of the parking lot!
So we headed back home to continue the homeopathic regiment and call the midwife. She decided to come over about 8pm and help work towards a delivery. By 11:30, my contractions progressed to 3 minutes apart, but where barely hitting more than 45-60 seconds.
Sunday, September 26:
Around midnight, the midwife called her assistant to come, as I had also reached 6 cm. From midnight to 6:00am, we tried everything to move the baby further down. Again, by 6am the contractions had slowed and were barely hitting 30 seconds. At that point, we were beginning to be concerned that it was getting to long since my water had broken. Health regulations allow for about 24 hours. We decided by 7am to go ahead and go to the hospital because something was just holding things up from progressing. By this day, I was also 11 days over due. So, I showered and grabbed a few things and headed to the hospital with Caleb in our car and the midwives in theirs. Upon arrival, I was admitted under the conclusion of maternal exhaustion and lack of progression complicated by my water being broken the day before. I was hyper sensitive to the things I knew weren't good for me or the hospital staff was going to restrict me from doing. For example, I had to go to the bathroom as soon as we got there (Obviously!) and they wouldn't let me!! I had to fill out the paperwork (no, Caleb could not do it for me!) and walk all the way to my room before I could go! Then I was hooked up to the monitors and IVs right away, causing me to be in a lounging position on the bed, making contractions far more painful than they needed to be. Every time I tried to sit up more to be in a better position, I bumped the monitor which messed up the print out of the baby's heart beat.
We saw the doctor shortly before noon. She checked everything out and decided that there was still a water sac between the cervix and the baby's head, keeping her from dropping. So.... she grabbed this plastic instrument (similar to a crochet needle I assume) and tried to break my water! When that didn't work..... she decided it was time to get an ultrasound machine. (This is something I thought they would have done first!) The ultrasound revealed...... BREACH! There was no water sack, the doctor was poking my baby's bum!
Within one hour, I was in the OR being prepped for a C-section! It was a whirl wind trip! The surgery began at about 2:15 and Kenna Christine was born at 2:18pm! As soon as she was out, one of the nurses told Caleb he could look. He stood up and snapped a picture and I could just see in his face that he lit up! He was a Daddy! Kenna was crying and screaming right away and I saw them carry her to the nursery basket and begin to clean her up. I could tell she was full and rolly!!! When Caleb brought her over for me to see, she had blue eyes and tons of dark hair! Caleb soon wheeled her out to the nursery to announce her arrival and help clean her up on the nursery. I was very pleased that not once did they take her away from either of us. Caleb was able to stay with her the whole time! It still took them about 45 mins to close me up. I remember lying on the table trying so hard to not fall asleep. I'm pretty sure I did though because it seemed to only take 10 mins. Most of the rest of the day was a blur. I hadn't slept in three days, it took a long time to get the feeling back down to my toes. I still felt weak in the arms when I held Kenna on our hospital room for a few hours. We had guests come and go most of the night and before I knew it, the three of us were alone for the night. Due to the surgery, we were in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. For my first experience ever staying in a hospital, especially in the US, it was a great experience! The staff were so helpful and I left with a ton of information! It was great to have the additional care and food. My mom had also arrived on Sunday, a few hours after Kenna was born, so it was great to have her there for the dirty work ;)
I think we have adjusted well to being at home together. One week from Thursday, we are flying to Texas to see Caleb's family!! We are so excited!! There are so many other details and things that have just changed us over these last few weeks! But this is long enough..... I will share more at a later time :)
Over the next few months, I hope to introduce all of you to our precious girl as we travel between Texas and Saskatchewan!
