Auden's natural (and fast) delivery
Our baby girl was born on the evening of March 26th, much to the surprise of both myself and my husband.
This was my first pregnancy, and I had learned from others that I should pretty much expect to carry over term. Bearing that in mind, I planned to begin my maternity leave on March 27th, just five days before my due date. Apparently, the baby and I were on the same page because my water broke just an hour and a half after I got off work!
I left Starbucks shortly after 5, when my shift ended, and proceeded to get ready to go out to dinner with some friends and my husband for a friend's birthday. At 6:35, just as I was putting on my shoes (with much difficulty - that belly!), my water broke. It was such a strange feeling, and so theatrical! It was entirely both random and unexpected; not only had I not experienced any contractions or even Braxton Hicks by this point, but I just had a doctor appointment earlier that day where they said they had decided to induce on the 30th since I wasn't experiencing any contractions but was almost fully effaced and was already 4 cm dilated.
I yelled to Nate that I thought my water had broke. He came into the room and was like, "Well, yeah. Obviously!" He quickly called our friend to cancel our plans, and just as he was hanging up I began experiencing very intense contractions.
I didn't know what to expect, and so although I wasn't surprised by how bad they hurt, I was still alarmed at the thought of how much worse they would get later. He helped me change pants and we were off to the hospital.
The drive to the hospital was unforgettable. There's pretty much a red light at every block, so it can take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes to get there. He did a great job driving there, weaving in and out of traffic and cruising through yellow lights. Although it only took about 15 minutes to get there, it seemed much longer because my contractions were getting much more intense and were getting closer and closer together - going from six minutes apart to two by the time we arrived at the emergency room.
Once we got there, we were checked in right away, with everyone in the waiting room looking at me excitedly, which made me feel even more anxious.
I got into the room and was changed into a hospital gown. The pad I had put on for the drive was more than overflowing and bloody, too, which made me very nervous, but the nurse assured me that was normal. They strapped monitors to my belly and began asking my questions for the computer system's information, but by this point my contractions hardly had a break in between!
I couldn't bear the contractions, and not having any break in between them was more than exhausting. I wrongly assumed (and so did the nurses and doctor) I would have several more hours of labor to go and was distraught because I didn't think I would be able to bear with the pain and gave in and agreed to have an epidural, which I was hoping to avoid at all costs as I had wanted Auden to be born alert and naturally.
But the contractions kept coming and I couldn't do anything to be more comfortable. The best thing for most of my labor was to sit up on the side of the bed with the nurse supporting me. The pain was entirely unbearable! I kept telling them that I had to push - that I couldn't help but push! They told me I couldn't push yet, that I couldn't be that far along in my labor.
But, your body knows what to do and when to do it. I told them "Sorry! I'm pushing, I'm sorry!" and finally the nurse checked to see how I was dilated. Within 45 minutes I had gone from 5 to 9cm and Auden was on her way out whether they thought she was ready or not. We then began the pushing process.
The anesthesiologist hadn't come in by that point, and neither had the actual doctor. After pushing for about a minute or two, the nurses (who were frustrated that the doctor hadn't come), began calling out into the hallway for him. After he arrived, though, the nurses wouldn't let him help deliver the baby (so says my husband. I was too busy pushing and experiencing the most terrible pain of my life!).
So the doctor just stood behind them with his arms folded, nodding. At this point, says my husband, the anesthesiologist opened the door most likely planning to administer an epidural, but the baby was crowning, and so after looking very surprised, quickly left.
"Two more minutes!" the nurse said. "ONE more minute," the doctor corrected.
"A couple more pushes!" the nurse said. "ONE more push the doctor corrected.
And then, after one more push like he said, Auden was born. It was so overwhelming. I heard the nurse tell the doctor that she was trying not to get my hopes up if it were more than one push or so, but the doctor laughed and said something about how fast and efficient the labor had been. The nurses seemed both proud of themselves for handling the delivery mostly on their own.
They put Auden on my chest and she began to cry, and it was so so so overwhelming and beautiful! I was still in tremendous pain, and I could see them stitching me up down there, but I decided to just look at the baby and Nate. Even though the dull pain was constant and terrible, nothing could compare to the last couple of contractions and her crowning...
I had lost a lot of blood and my body must have been in a bit of shock, because I began shaking a lot, but I guess that's normal and they covered me up with several thick blankets. My husband cut the cord, which he really hadn't been planning on doing whatsoever, but changed his mind last minute.
She was cute and so new, and so tiny. I'll never forget how she looked laying on my chest, comforted because I was the only familiar thing to her in this new world.
After a couple minutes, they took her, cleaned her, checked her vitals, then brought her back. We had her for a while, then they took her to the nursery to let me rest and to finally give me some pain medication since I hadn't had any at all at that point.
I don't know how women experience a labor longer than mine, but I will say I am so glad to have delivered Auden naturally. She was very alert and wide awake her first day and throughout the night - the nurses mentioned it every time they brought her from the nursery, and when I nursed for the first time she immediately latched on without any problems (and we haven't had any so far yet!).
Auden Noël was born at 8:55pm, less than three hours after my labor began! She was 7 lbs, 6 oz. and 20 inches long.
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