The Birth Story

9 months old today. In honor of Eliza living 9 months outside the womb and 9 months in it, I thought I'd share her birth story which I wrote a week after she was born and never published.

The Birth of Eliza Wren
Following her big sister's cue, Eliza Wren was born six days after her due date. Four days after my due date, my mom arrived. Still no baby but she got to see me pregnant. very pregnant. On the evening of the fifth day post d-day, we were eating dinner and I was starting to feel a little, well, uncomfortable. Gee, my stomach seems to be tightening and I feel so much pressure. It wasn't until just before 10 pm that these odd sensations were happening more regularly and I was able to admit that perhaps, just perhaps, I might be in labor. How is it that even after having done this once before, I still wasn't able to recognize contractions when they happen. I kept thinking that it was just the baby doing one of her stretches that seem to cause my entire belly to expand like a star going super nova. Cap had been getting ready to go to a friend's party and was about 5 minutes from departure when I had to come to terms with the fact that we were going to have a baby. soon.

At 10:45, I heaved myself out of bed to better tackle a pesky contraction and then POP! my water broke. My water didn't break with Addie so I was just a wee bit surprised by the sensation. It was, actually, more like how it is on TV - a sudden pop and then a giant gush. I'm pretty sure I screamed and then hollered "my water broke!" before shuffling my soggy self into the bathroom where I went into hysteric peels of laughter. I couldn't help myself. HA HA, HAAAAAA, HAAAA!!!!. I was laughing, guffawing and cackling with such enthusiasm I had tears streaming down my cheeks. I'm not sure why it was so funny. Maybe I was a little startled and a little bit relieved that I wasn't making up this whole I'm in Labor shenanigans, and I was going to get to go the hospital. now.

I left my doctor a message. I was wondering why he hadn't called me back when I realized I had my phone on vibrate and missed his call. I could tell I'd woken him up because all the message said was, "go to the hospital." click. end of call. Cap finished packing our hospital bag and I woke up my Mom. I am so so so glad that she was already here. I didn't have to worry about Addie and maybe when she woke up in the morning, she'll be a big sister!

While I was waiting for Cap to pack up the car, I sat on the giant yoga ball but when I stood up to leave, splat! My water broke again. I changed into another outfit and brought a giant beach towel to sit on. Thank goodness I did because my water broke two more times in the car on the way to the hospital. WHOOSH! Gurgle gurgle gurgle. WHOOSH! Gurgle gurgle gurgle. It was like sitting in my own primordial hot tub except it was in the passenger seat of the SAAB, and I wasn't drinking a mai tai. Contractions were coming 5 minutes apart and it took me ages to walk to the maternity ward stopping for contractions, soggy with amniotic fluid.

By midnight I was all settled and hooked up to machines and tubes, 3 cm dilated and waiting for the magic anesthesiologists to rouse himself from his sleeping berth a few doors down the hall. By 1 pm, I had the epidural and was curled up on my side in complete bliss from having been safely delivered from pain. The nurses turned out the lights and told us to try and get some sleep. She'd be back to check around 3 pm. I was in this euphoric state, excited and amazed that soon we'd be having a baby and that I was given the opportunity to stop and reflect mid-way through the birthing process thanks to the epidural. I couldn't really sleep but I remember the sound of the machines whirring and crackling giving me the impression, when I closed my eyes, that I was sitting in a log cabin dozing off to the sound of embers slowly dying in the fireplace.

Giving birth at night was a magical experience. The entire world was asleep and quiet. It was just me, Cap, the doctors and nurses who had stepped into a small rocket ship and blasted off into space to circle the planet, bringing back upon our return a new life. At 3 pm, my nurse came in to check on me and said that she'd be back again around 5 or 6 am. By 3:25, I felt an enormous pressure, well, down there. I called the nurse and very eloquently announced that I either needed to poop really really badly or I was going to have a baby soon. Suddenly, the solitude of the last few hours was broken. Lights were on, sleeping husbands were woken up, doctors called and trays of shiny utensils were shuttled in. Wouldn't you know it too that my own doctor was (surprise!) on vacation which he neglected to mention when he left me a message to go to the hospital only a few hours before. The on-call doctor would be delivering my baby. Well, fine by me but he better get here fast.

Within 15 minutes, I was "bearing down". I still have no idea what that means but I tried my darndest to push push push. My contractions were irregular which meant I had 2 often back to back and then nothing for several minutes making this final stage a little unpredictable. Also the baby was facing up instead of down and I would have to push harder and longer for her to make it over the pelvic bone. All I knew was that there was no way it could possibly take 2 and a half hours like it did with Addie but she also wasn't go to just fly out after a push or two. I'm not really sure how long I did push for - maybe 40 minutes.

I had the nurse bring a giant mirror so I could see the birth. I didn't do that with Addie thinking that I didn't want to freak myself out and that why would anyone want to see something so gross. But this time, I thought, what the heck. Bring it on! When I saw the crown of her tiny fuzzy head, I burst into tears. There she was! She was coming! Push push push! Then her head came out. More crying on my part. Resting for a few moments and then the final push. Cap was there beside the doctor and helped deliver her. They placed her on my tummy, she cried. I cried. Cap cut the cord and then off she went to get cleaned up before coming back into my arms. She was so chubby and sweet with a little fold-up Murphy bed chin.

And down we came in our little rocket ship to land safely back on planet earth at 4:35 am with a perfectly healthy, little baby girl - all 8 lbs 8 oz of her.

Happy birthday Eliza Wren!