Kydan’s Birth Story

I woke up at 1:40 with a contraction that felt more painful than my toning contractions had been.  I fell right back asleep, but woke up again an hour later with another one.  From there, they came pretty regularly.  I was trying to decide if they were the real thing, so I watched how long it was between them.  I also walked around the living room for a while to see if they stayed consistent.  They did, and at about 4:30, I woke up Frank and told him that I thought something was happening. 

He got up and we started timing the contractions and logging them.  The first one we timed came out as over a minute.  I was surprised, because I hadn’t thought they were lasting that long, and I wondered if we were timing them right.  I would realize later that a major part of the difficulty in timing was that they were lingering.  An hour later, Frank asked if I would like to call the midwives, and I really wasn’t sure. I still wasn’t sure if I was in actual labor.  I think that maybe I didn’t want to get my hopes up if it wasn’t going to happen that day.  We walked around some more and the contractions stayed right on schedule.  I think Frank was getting really anxious to call the midwives, because he kept asking me if I wanted to call them.  When he finally pointed out that I had had 8 contractions in the last hour, I decided we probably should call. 

Kip was the one that called me back.  I told her that I wasn’t sure about how we were timing the length, but that I had had 8 contractions in the last hour.  She asked me where I was feeling the contractions, and I told her that they were down low in front and in my back.  She said I was off to a good start.  That made me excited, because it meant it was the real thing.  She said that labors usually progress more quickly at home and that we should call them when we were ready to come to the birth center.  I asked her if that was when I couldn’t talk through them anymore.  She said I would reach a point where I wanted to be where I was going to be, and that that would be the time to call.  After we got off the phone, we tried to settle into laboring. 

I tried to lie down and relax through the contractions, but it really didn’t feel good to lie down and I couldn’t relax.  Frank went and got my birthing ball, and we tried the position where I lean forward on my knees and rest on the ball.  That didn’t feel good either.  We decided that I should eat something, and so I had Frank go ask my mom to make some pasta with meat sauce (I had decided a few weeks earlier that I would have this meal at the beginning of my labor even if it was breakfast time).  We then decided that I should get into the tub.  The water felt good and it helped me to relax, because now I could focus on floating to relax my muscles, which was a lot easier than trying to feel out which ones were tense and relax them, as I had done in the bed.  While I was in the tub, the pasta finished, and Frank fed it to me. 

I think it was while in the tub that I started to make noise during my contractions.  I remembered that I was supposed to keep my sounds low and my throat relaxed, so I started doing a low aahh sound during the contractions.  This also gave me something else to concentrate on.  I started to imagine that I was pushing the pain away with these sounds.  We decided to call the midwives again because we needed some guidance.  My contractions seemed to be about 3-5 minutes apart and were lasting over a minute.  This time, Clarice called us back, and I talked to her.  I told her how the contractions were going, and she asked if I wanted to come in now.  I told her that I wasn’t sure.  I could tell I was sounding a little out of it.  She said to call back in an hour and see how we were doing.  Soon after, I decided to get out of the tub.  I found that the best position for me was standing.  So, I would walk around a little bit and then I would brace myself during the contractions.  It was maybe 40 minutes after talking to Clarice that we decided it was time to go to the birth center. 

So, Frank called the answering service, and when the midwives called back he told them we were on our way.  When we arrived at the birth center, I walked inside, and Kip and Clarice were in the kitchen.  I managed a smile and they asked how I was doing.  Before I could really answer, I started another contraction.  I braced myself on the counter and moaned as I had been doing.  Clarice showed us to the room and told us to make ourselves comfortable and that we were just going to need to check my blood pressure and that she could check my dilation if I wanted her to.  I said that I did.  I hadn’t been speculating about how far I was dilated, but I think I was expecting to hear 4 or so.  When she told me I was dilated to 6 or 7, I got very excited.  I had made it so far already. 

Clarice started running the tub and I continued to labor standing.  When the tub was full, I got in.  It was really nice, because the tub is huge and very deep.  I labored in the tub for quite a while.  I was continuing to moan and they were getting louder.  I eventually decided I was ready to get out of the tub.  So, I put my gown back on and I just started to pace the room.  During a contraction, I would either lean on the bed or I would put my arms around Frank’s neck.  My contractions finally reached a point where I started to want to push, and I told Frank to go get Kip and Clarice.  They told me that I should use the bathroom, and that they would freshen the bath while I did.  After using the bathroom I got into the tub.  I decided to lean back into a relaxed position.  It took me several contractions to get the hang of pushing.  I eventually figured out how to feel the peak of the contraction and push with that, which took a lot less effort. 

Soon after I began pushing, my water broke, and I felt a little pop and a small gush in the water.  After I had been pushing in a reclining position for some time, Kip asked if I would like to try a different position, and I decided that I would like to squat.  I continued to lean back and rest between contractions, and my groans changed to a shhhh sound during these resting periods.  It was almost as if I was trying to tell them be quite and give me a rest.  As the pushing went on, I started to get incredibly tired.  Time was flying by, and I didn’t even realize how many hours I had already been pushing (it was probably 3 at this point). 

As Kydan began to crown, I was completely drained of energy.  I just kept saying over and over that I was too tired and that I couldn’t do it.  Everyone told me that I could and that I was making great progress.  Clarice said I should try leaning back because it would use less energy.  So, I leaned back and she and Frank helped hold my legs bent up in a reclining squat.  I could now feel his head in between contractions, which was really awesome, although I was way too tired to show much excitement.  Kydan was still coming slowly, so Clarice and Kip suggested that I stand in the tub and lean on Frank.  So, I had several contractions in this position and Kydan’s head dropped a little further.  They then suggested that I get into the bed.  I got out of the tub and waddled over to the bed. 

Kydan was crowning quite a bit in between contractions and it felt like I had a bowling ball between my legs.  Thinking Kydan might need some help in making his way around my pubic bone, Clarice had me lie on my back.  I still wasn’t making much progress and I could only push for a couple seconds at a time I was so tired.  Clarice finally said to me, “Jenny, how do you feel about an episiotomy?”  I said that I really hadn’t wanted one.  I asked if she thought that it would help get the baby out, and she said that it would.  I decided to push for a few more contractions.  My first push, I didn’t make any progress, and I could feel it.  I started to get really frustrated.  I got a surge of energy, and pushed as hard and as long as I could.  Three pushes later, his head came out, followed immediately by his body. 

He started screaming right away, and Clarice put him on my chest.  They covered him with blankets and dried him off.  I just looked in awe at the squirming little person on my chest.  I couldn’t believe that he was actually here and I was done pushing.  The midwives told us that the reason he was so slow to come out was that he had his fist in front of his face.  It was a couple minutes later when Clarice asked if anyone had looked to see what we had.  She told Frank he should take a look, and he peaked under the blanket and looked at me and said it was a boy.  We both got incredibly excited, exclaiming that we had a son. 

Kip asked if we had wanted a boy, and we laughed and told her we actually didn’t care at all, but that we were just really excited.  Clarice asked what his name was and I told her it was Kydan Benjamin.  They asked me if everyone could come in and I said yes.  Our family came in, with huge smiles on their faces, and everyone told me how proud they were of me.  The midwives covered us both with warm blankets, which felt really nice.  A little while later, I breast fed him for the first time, and he latched right on.  It had been a long birth, but it was successful, and Kydan was healthy, and we were off to a great start.