the labor and delivery of a little oak sapling

As most of you know by now, Miss Marian Saranne Chesney-House has made her appearance in the world!
When last we left you, I was pretty despondent over the lack of dilation after a full night of contractions. After an afternoon of napping that was mostly contraction-free, the contractions started up again that evening. I was not at all graceful about it -- cursing in my head for the entire night as they came, painful but irregular, allowing me to sleep for at most 10 minutes at a time, and sometimes only 4 minutes apart. This continued all...night...long...
By 8am or so on Monday morning I made myself some oatmeal, sat down to eat it, had a contraction that stopped me just as I was putting the spoon to my mouth, preventing me from fulfilling yet another basic human need, and burst into tears. I was FED up, and Steve, who had slept through the night in the other room, came running, concern on his face. We called the OB office to schedule a non-stress test as requested by the midwife from the day before (to check on how the baby was doing during all these contractions) and I was fully prepared to demand that they induce me right then and there, because I could not take another two nights of these useless, unproductive, but sleep-defying and totally painful contractions before the scheduled inducement on Wednesday. We got there at 10am and met with Lesley, one of the midwives, and found that Acorn was doing just fine. Since I was there, Lesley decided to check me out too.
She looked at me, and said, "Elise." And then the happiest words in the English language: "The baby has fully dropped, you're at 5cm and 100% effaced!" (She also said that she was astonished I was at 5cm and still walking and talking. Apparently I'm a little tougher than I thought I was, given my despair.)
She actually offered to let us go home and wait it out another couple hours, or we could go ahead and admit to the hospital and break my water to move things along.
You can guess what I chose!
They had us in in no time -- all our bags were still in the car from the day before so we didn't need to go back and get anything -- and got me started on an IV right away, since I needed a full bag's worth of hydration before I could get an epidural. I had planned to see how much of the labor I could tough out -- to see if I could go totally natural -- but after two sleepless nights of contractions I decided to opt for the epidural if only to be able to relax for the first time in 48 hours and have the energy for the rest of the labor. The epidural was an incredibly weird feeling -- not often that you have something go POP! in your spine and think "oh thank god" -- but it was perfectly measured out so that I could still wiggle my toes and bend my knees and feel just enough pressure to be able to push. By the time the epidural was in and working and Lesley came by to break the amniotic sac, I was already at 10cm. So that painful dress rehearsal on Saturday night and Sunday morning was worth something -- it made my body incredibly efficient during the actual labor.
I ended up pushing for 2.5 hours or so. The epidural made this a pleasant experience and one I could manage with some stamina. Each time I had a contraction -- about every 3 minutes -- Steve and our delivery nurse, Enza, would lift my legs into a squat position, and I would curl forward and push as hard as I could 3 times in a row for 10 seconds each. In between, we chatted with Enza about her own (grown) kids, about their career choices and parental influence and college majors, like we were meeting over a cup of coffee with a long time friend. It was kind of funny in retrospect, but also kind of a lovely experience.
Finally Acorn's head was visible, and Lesley came back for the final pushes. I could feel pretty well -- not the pain, but the positioning and pressure -- so it didn't take much longer before Marian came out into the world at 4:29pm on 8/23/10, purple and slimy and quick to squall and then relax. She pinked up right away and got an apgar of 9 or so (apgar just indicates the baby's color, reflexes, and general health at the time of birth and then again 5 minutes afterward, and is on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is perfect).
She is absolutely beautiful, and born on her dad's chosen date for the baby lottery as well as being the gender he'd guessed all along, clearly already daddy's little girl.
Some of you wondered how Steve handled it -- he was a total champ. We both were so delighted by the news that I was at 5cm that we got a ton of emotional momentum back. He stroked my head through the final contractions I could feel before the epidural, helped coach me through the breathing during the pushing, kept me laughing, and was exactly the kind of support I needed at every given moment. He also got to cut the umbilical cord and held Marian for a long time while they finished up with me (I had one small tear but am otherwise fine).
I wanted to get this story out for those of you who were curious, but as we speak Miss Marian is looking a little hungry -- more to follow about the reality (and surreality) of the first 48 hours of her life!

Jinxed

Well, we got the okay to head to the hospital, got all signed in and hooked up to the monitors, and got ready for the big event -- only to discover that I hadn't dilated. At all. Not even a little bit since the 1.5cm last noted on Wednesday. They gave me the option to walk around for an hour and check again, which I did -- nothing.
I can't convey how incredibly frustrating it is to go through some seriously painful contractions -- not the worst I'll feel, but still, much more than a nuisance -- for hours on end, with maybe 3 hours of sleep last night, only to find out that they were literally doing nothing but causing me pain.
So after around four hours at the hospital, we were discharged with instructions to call if the contractions got much stronger, much shorter in interval, or if my water broke or other unequivocal symptoms happened. Also to hydrate as much as possible. We've been home for probably an hour and I've had maybe two contractions since then.
It's looking like we might be checking in on Wednesday night for that induction after all, although the discharge nurse was sweet and said she was sure we'd back sooner than that, that a woman next door was sent home at 1cm and had just come back 4-5cms. How nice for her!
So to anyone who was holding their breath after the latest two entries, sorry, but it's time to breathe again. I'll probably be a bit more cautious about updating until we have concrete evidence that this kid is actually planning on showing up.

still at home

Hi there: I called the answering service and one of the midwives called me back. She told me that because I could talk through the contractions that told her I wasn't as far into labor as I'd thought, so she recommended I wait another hour, take a long shower, and walk it off. True to form, the contractions slowed, and I figured if I could I should try to get some sleep. So I've been sleeping (mostly) rather than at the hospital since last I posted.
The contractions that I'm getting now? I haven't been timing them but they are WAY more painful when they do come. I can see how eventually they are going to take my breath away to the point where I can't speak when they occur.
As for phone calls, don't expect them at any moment this morning as I'd previously implied. This is shaping up to be a very long day. But rest assured, you will be called when Acorn arrives, and like me, you'll have to be patient until then!

in labor

I woke up this morning (meaning Saturday, 8/21) with mild contractions. I spent the day with phases of consistently-happening-but-irregularly-timed contractions and interludes where I'd get maybe one or two and hour. At about 9:30pm they resumed consistency with irregularity and escalated in pain, but by 11pm they began to be relatively consistent -- and as of right now, they are less than 5 minutes apart and have been so for about 45 minutes. Another 15 minutes and we've hit the threshold to call the OB office and alert the doc, and then head to the hospital. Technically you're supposed to call when they're 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long each, and have occurred for at least 1 hour. Since I'm actually averaging more like 3-4 minutes apart in the second part of this hour, I may have already passed that threshold, so maybe I'll call now.
*Not* looking forward to the car ride.
In any case, this is probably my last update as a pregnant woman. If you're reading this blog entry on Sunday morning of 8/22 and you haven't received a phone call yet, expect one soon!
Wish us luck!

T minus one week and one day

Had my final OB office visit today...that's right, final. We talked about our options and Dr. H recommended that we not go too far over one week past the due date (which was yesterday), so we picked a date. On the evening of August 25th we'll check into the hospital and they'll apply a cervical softener overnight, which in and of itself sometimes induces labor; on the 26th, if nothing's still happening, we'll use the pitocin and go ahead and have a baby. (Thus no more office visits.) He suggested that date as Lesley, one of the midwives, will be on the ward that day and can spend one on one time with us.
This is, of course, if Acorn decides not to make his/her appearance sooner. This week I was 1.5 cm dilated and 50-60% effaced according to Dr. H. The dilation may be subjective (since I see a different person each week, Sue's 1cm last week could be the same as Dr. H's 1.5cm this week) although the effacement appears to be a significant change from last week. When he checked, he could also feel the baby's head, which means the rather squeamishly-named "mucous plug" disappeared at some point without me noticing. Again, the slight dilation, effacement, and loss of the plug don't necessarily mean I can expect labor to happen right away, but they are all signs that my body is thinking about it, along with the somewhat regular Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been getting this past week.
I am still hopeful that this will happen the natural way -- I don't love the idea of being induced, although Dr. H reassures me that while it makes the earlier stages of labor happen faster, it's not more painful. We'll see about that!
Send some momentum vibes our way this week!

Another interesting date...

It just occurred to me that this Friday is the 13th, and I was thinking, if this baby takes after its dad (he loves horror movies) or somehow absorbed the info that our favorite bar in San Francisco was called "Lucky 13," maybe we'll see some action then?
"Jason Voorhees Chesney/House" has a nice ring to it, no?

"Pregatory"

Today I met the final mid-wife at the practice, meaning I've now met all of the staff who might show up on labor day. And this mid-wife, Sue, informed me that I am 1cm dilated. While it's nice to hear that something is happening, there are many tales of people walking around 1-2cm dilated for weeks, so I'm not allowing myself to get anxious or excited.
I was not, however, surprised to hear of the change. Yesterday I had about 1/2 hour of Braxton-Hicks contractions (essentially translating to "practice cramps") that I was able to relieve by lying down and hydrating (which is one of the ways one knows they're not the real thing -- they go away). They felt a little different from the belly-tightening I've felt before but were not painful, and I thought to myself "I bet when I go to the OB I will have dilated a little bit." Pure supposition on my part, and yet, lo and behold!
By Sue's estimation, since I'm not really effacing and only dilated a tiny bit, I will probably make my Wednesday appointment next week without having gone into labor, at which point we will start to talk about how long we'll wait past my due date, inducing labor, etc. Still, I think I'm finally going to pack that hospital bag and get the car-seat set up. We have a waterproof liner on my side of the mattress and we wrapped up the rest of our registry shopping on Sunday, so we're just about ready in terms of practical preparations.
Mental preparations, however, are still in progress. Steve and I chatted a bit and both agreed that however we feel about having a baby in our lives, we are good and ready for it to come just so we can start adapting to it already. This waiting around stuff is pregatory (= pregnancy + purgatory, in case that's not obvious). Once baby comes, we can adapt to it with hopefully just enough time to adapt to all of the girls returning to school in early September and my job starting, and then...finally...routine. After a summer-long period of transition after transition, it's hard to imagine a routine again!
But I digress. One centimeter, people. With the actual speed of the events to follow still unknown, at least we can say, "it has begun."

Gender fun, redux

Last night I had my first really vivid dream about the baby, and it was once again a boy. It looked normal and healthy and I recall noting it had eye color like mine, only a lighter, more aqua color.
The midwife today asked me what I thought it was and I mentioned the dream, and she said she thought it was a boy too. I told her lots of people said that because of how I was carrying it, but she said she thinks dreams are even better indicators.
Do with that information what you will. :)

All quiet on the Southern Front

Met with midwife #2 today, a woman named Sara who I'd also be happy to have show up in the delivery room. I measured the same weight and centimeters; my belly and baby growth seems to enjoy an echelon style of giant leaps rather than the old slow and steady method. Sara reported that there's nothing new in indications-of-oncoming-labor town; the shop is still closed up and quiet. The midwife said I could take evening primrose oil supplements and that those supposedly help loosen things up (but only if they were on the verge of loosening up anyway) but I'm feeling kind of que sera sera about it. On the one hand, am I about ready to meet this baby and have my body back to being a one-horse town again? Yes. On the other, am I ready for the huge major enormous monstrous life change of delivery and having a baby? Not sure that anyone can really be ready for that. So let the little one make its own decision about when to emerge without prompting from me, and I'll be ready when it tells me to be.
Another interesting note -- I mentioned that they had not yet re-tested me regarding my previous low iron count results, so Sara looked back through the notes and surprised me by saying my iron count had actually been pretty darn normal for a pregnant woman, just a little low for a non-pregnant woman. She said she wouldn't have bothered to put me on iron in the first place, although it doesn't hurt. So we're not going to bother with the retest after all. Maybe the CO doctor's concern was an altitude thing?
I have had one annoying symptom to speak of this last week or so -- Symphysis pubis dysfunction, or SPD. The name is a pretty fancy way of saying 'pelvic girdle pain,' meaning that the hormones that loosen up the ligaments and tendons to make the pelvic girdle bones roomier for birth are doing their job, only a little too well and a little too soon. It's not perpetual, it mostly occurs when I do things that stretch my legs apart -- like, say, take the big step up into a pick up truck -- which gives me a pretty sharp and stabby pain. The only real treatment is to avoid said stretching apart, so I sit a little more carefully and put pants on a little more carefully.
The good news about this is that the stronger onset of SPD (I'd had it slightly for a while now) is a good indication among others that the baby has "dropped," or at least started to, meaning that it's starting to line itself up into birthing position. This normally happens at 2-4 weeks out for first pregnancies and it's right on time. I've noticed I feel a little less compressed, I can eat a little bit more in a given sitting, I use the bathroom more, and the appearance of my belly has lowered. The midwife confirmed that Acorn's head is pretty low while she was palpating my belly to check for its positioning so she could get a good read on the heartbeat (which is as strong and clear as ever).
Acorn, true to form, squirmed and swirled underneath her hands.