Birth Story

Well, what can I say? Carter's birth went according to plan. Both Coulson and Charlie were born in the wee morning hours of the fourth day past due date, so if Carter planned to follow in his brothers' paths, I would go into labor Sunday night-ish and have the baby early Monday morning. A few days before my due date, I discovered that my OB (the one who delivered Charlie and the one I saw throughout this whole pregnancy) would be the Dr. on call during that time - perfect! Also, both of my previous labors were quick (Coulson 3 hours with not-recommended-home-induction, Charlie 7 hours) and I was unable to get an epidural for either one since I was fully dilated and ready to go by the time I got to the hospital with Coulson and I was stuck in the triage unit of the maternity ward with Charlie until I was pretty much fully dilated and again, not enough time for an epidural. So given my quick previous labors, this time I was more determined to have a natural birth of my own choice, even if I had the luxury of actually laboring in a private labor room with time to ask for an epidural and I was a little nervous about how that would work out. And it worked out pretty well. It would have been perfect if I could have skipped the last hour, up until the part when I heard Casey say, "He's out! Open your eyes, you can look now. "

So, about 12:30am Monday morning (we hadn't gone to bed yet, so it still felt like Sunday night to us...) my water broke. Luckily I was in the bathroom when this happened, so it wasn't a big deal. My parents rushed over as fast as they could - although they didn't need to because I wasn't feeling any contractions yet. We gave my dad all the instructions about getting the kids ready in the morning, then Casey, my mom and I left for the hospital.
By the time I got settled in the room and the nurse hooked me up to the contraction monitor, I hadn't really felt any strong contractions, but the monitor indicated that I was having contractions every 3 minutes. By the end of the 20 minute monitoring period, I was feeling about half of the contractions and dilated about 3cm. Then I got up and Casey and I walked the hallways for a while.

We went back to the room around 3am to be monitored again and to find some Law & Order to watch on TV as a distraction (yep, we found Law & Order on at 3am and somehow I wasn't surprised.) The contractions were getting stronger and after my monitoring I took a long shower (I had already seen that episode of Law & Order.)

Things were starting to get worse around 4am. I think around this time I was 6 cm dilated. Law & Order was replaced with an infomercial and my contractions were pretty intense. The nurses came in and started setting up tables of instruments and blankets and towels to prepare for the birth and the baby. I was getting more and more uncomfortable in any position.

They hooked me up for monitoring again, maybe around 4:30 and after that, I pretty much stayed in bed and couldn't move because the contractions were coming right on top of each other. From this point on, I didn't really open my eyes much. At some point during this time, I remember thinking, "this natural birth thing is such a stupid idea!" But I also knew that my body moves quickly and I could probably have the baby out faster than the anesthesiologist could get the meds in, so I stayed the course.

I was at 8cm and the nurse called the doctor. But about 2 contractions later, I really wanted to push. Of course the nurse is like, relax, don't push yet. But it's kinda involuntary, when your body wants to push, you push. So I tried not to push too much, but I did a little and I could pretty much feel that the baby was crowning. And they kept saying, "Don't push" (I hate these words!) I couldn't talk very well, but I mustered up the ability to simply ask, "WHY?" She didn't answer, which made me think she was just waiting for the doctor, so I tried to relax, but I didn't fight the pushing too much, because between the nurse and Casey and the doctor soon arriving, I'm sure they were capable of handling a head if one happened to pop out. Meanwhile, the doctor was taking his time... The nurse called again and said, "She's ready!" Finally, he arrived and Casey realized that I was crowning, so he encouraged me by saying, "You're crowning! This is it, it's almost over!" To which my response, in my head only, because I couldn't actually talk, was "No shit, Sherlock. Why do you think I want to push so much?"
But then I didn't care because the doctor was here and I could really push now.

Then maybe 3-4 pushes later, Carter James was born at 5:28am. (Exactly 5 hours after my water broke). Casey cut the cord. Now that it's over, I am proud to say I did it naturally. Not sure if it's something I want to do again (but I say that every time)... There are pros and cons for each method - natural, meds, C-section - but in the end, the side effects are just that, side effects. The real goal is what every mother wants: to hold her baby in her arms.

He is precious and I'm already head over heels in love with him. I can't wait to see how his personality develops and discover all the great gifts that God has given him. His brothers are crazy about him and his dad is overjoyed to finally hold him (he says I've been hogging him for the last 9 months...) Carter is one lucky little boy!