It's a girl!
Makena - "mah/KEN/ah"
Hawaiian origin.
Meaning: abundance, many gathered, happy one
I've decided to write out Makena's complete birth story (with all the nasty, personal, gross labor and delivery details) for two reasons.
1. I want to remember everything.
2. I LOVE reading other people's detailed birth stories, and now I have one to share!
So, as a precaution, if you don't want to know all these details, this may not be the blog post you want to read. Can't say I didn't warn you ;)
Okay. Here we go.
Just to explain the timeline a little better, I got pregnant in September and was due June 13. Now, I'm a control-freak teacher. I don't like substitutes teaching my students, let alone planning for a sub. I love the subs we have in our school, but I'd rather do all the teaching. So, of course, I planned on staying till the end of the school year instead of taking a maternity leave at the end of the year. The last week of school, on Monday June 1 I was having contractions that could more or less be timed starting after school all through the night. I had a doctor appointment the next day, so I figured might as well wait since the contractions weren't super consistent and relatively far apart. At the doctor, she checked me and I wasn't even dialated or effaced really. Awesome. Since I had been up all night I didn't go to work that day since I desperately needed rest.
I ended up finishing the school year on Friday, June 5th - VERY thankful to have gotten the opportunity to finish the year with my students :)
The next day, I started spotting light brown, and also noticed every time I went to the bathroom there were chunks of something that fell in the toilet. I assumed it was my mucous plug - which I knew was a sign of labor coming soon. On top of that chunky stuff in the toilet, I was leaking a watery substance slowly throughout the day. Not a ton, which didn't make me think anything of it.
Sunday was the same.
Monday was a little different. The chunky stuff falling in the toilet was now bloody/pinkish, and I had what felt like period cramps. I figured I should probably call the doctor about that since I knew anything bloody while pregnant should be discussed with a doctor. After calling, the doctor wasn't too concerned about all that stuff, but WAS concerned if the baby wasn't moving as much. If she wasn't, the doctor wanted me to come in to get a no-stress test on the baby in the afternoon. After coming home from Target and trying to feel the baby move, I was starting to freak out. I couldn't feel her moving around that much - and after crying about it I was sitting in the nursery on the rocking chair and realized my routine is different now. I'm not at school anymore, and am moving around differently, so I'm not feeling her at the same times as when I was working. After sitting and praying, I felt her kick several times, and felt a lot better about everything.
I debated going to school on Monday to finish things up in my classroom to check out, but I was having mild cramping off and on and really didn't feel like going in. In the afternoon, I went to my grandparent's house to do four loads of laundry (since it's free there!). While sitting on their couch filling out my common core standard workbook for the school year, I was timing contractions going in and out more or less every 12-14 minutes. After coming home around 6ish, and after Brian got home, the contractions really weren't going away at all. I decided to call the doctor again around 7:30pm, and explained to the phone nurse all my symptoms. She said just to be safe, we should go to triage and check if the fluid leaking was my amniotic fluid slowly breaking.
I really wasn't thinking anything of it. I assumed this wasn't "it" and slowly added a few things to my hospital bag just in case. After eating a half of a PB&J sandwich, off we went in the car to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 9pm, and around 9:30 changed into a gown and got into the hospital bed. The nurse practitioner did an exam on me to first check if I was dilated at all. Let me tell you. That was the WORST exam I've ever had. She was all up in there. Apparently my cervix was way far back, and I was only dilated a fingernail's worth. SERIOUSLY?! I was a little frustrated... Then she checked to see if my water leakage was amniotic fluid leaking with a really long looking Qtip. At first the nurse said, "I doubt it's amniotic fluid, because it usually isn't, but we'll check." After looking, she changed her mind and said "maybe it IS fluid." And after checking under the microscope she came back in the room and said "well, I have good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it. It IS amniotic fluid, and you're staying! But you're probably going to have the baby tomorrow afternoon or evening. And once you go up to labor and delivery you can't eat anything."
I have never been more thankful for that PB&J I ate before leaving home.
After waiting about an hour and a half to go up to labor and delivery, I walked up to the second floor with Brian to our new room.
Around midnight, the doctor checked me again and said I was 1-2cm dilated. She administered Cytotec to ripen my cervix and get it more effaced. It kind of worked, but not as much as they'd like. So, they started me on Pitocin. The epidural people came in and gave me the schpeal about the risks and consent in case I wanted an epidural at some point. I signed some liability papers, and the anesthesiologist left all in a whirlwind. At that point I was only kind of tired, but I figured I should try to sleep since I knew I was probably in for a long next 24 hours. The nurse offered me an Ambien to help me sleep, so I took it. That was dumb. I think I just didn't realize I was actually in labor, and labor means stronger and stronger period cramps. It took me a while to realize these cramps really were strong contractions, and throughout the night would be getting worse and worse. Sleeping during strong contractions? Yeah. Right.
As the contractions got worse, I started getting a headache and kind of felt like vomiting. The whole time Brian was "sleeping" as I was literally moaning in pain and praying to God out loud that it would stop. Brian wasn't feeling great either. He claims it was because he didn't like seeing me in pain and that made him feel sick.
Around 6am, someone checked on my progress, and said my cervix was cooperating now and I was 5cm dilated. That's when I realized "oh my gosh. this is happening." and the nurse said "you know, you can get an epidural any time!" At that point, I was like "uummm, yes please!" and they made the call to get the anesthesiologist. Let me tell you. BEST. DECISION. I'VE. EVER. MADE. The prick of the epidural was NOTHING compared to the crampy contractions. But I am still glad I didn't get an epidural right away. Something inside of me (before labor) wanted to go all natural, and I really respect and admire those women that go through childbirth without drugs. However, getting an epidural made giving birth so much more enjoyable!
After the epidural started working, I could smile again and breathe a little bit. About 45 minutes after feeling zero contractions, I felt this pressure - like baby's head was pushing into my butt. I told the nurse, she checked me, and I was 10cm already! She called the doctor, and about 25 minutes later the doctor came in and said I could start pushing.
 |
| 10cm! |
I pushed about four more times. Around the end of pushing they noticed meconium in the bloody liquid coming out, so the doctor called the pediatricians to be present for the birth just in case Makena didn't start crying right away when she came out. The second to last push baby's head was half way out and crowning, and I felt her with my hand. That was the weirdest and most amazing feeling ever. Then with one more push, Makena was born at 9:05am, 7 lbs. 3oz. - a little green from the meconium, and crying nice and loud. Praise the Lord!
They placed her on top of me to warm her up skin to skin for an hour before bathing or running any routine tests on her. That was the most surreal moment I have ever lived. I never felt or noticed my placenta being delivered or getting stitched up - just kept staring at this little tiny human that apparently just came out of my body. What a wild experience. I did have a second degree tear from pushing her out, but none of that mattered. We brought a baby into the world! What a miracle that God has given us!
There you have it. Makena's birth story. I was lucky to only be in active labor for 9 hours, 6 of those without an epidural, and be pushing for less than an hour. Now, 16 days later, I can't believe how my life has changed becoming a mom. Sleeping for a span of four hours a night is a "rested" night, breast feeding is hard but getting easier, I cry every day about something, and I love my squirmy, awkward, beautiful baby girl more and more every day. I was made to be a mom, and I'm so blessed God has given Brian and I the opportunity to parent this beautiful baby for Him!
Please keep praying for us, for wisdom that we'll know more or less what we're doing, great health for all three of us, I would continue to heal after giving birth, and specifically we find a good day care for Makena when I go back to work in the Fall.
