Luke Rainier: Birth Story

It's been about three weeks since Luke was born, so I want to get his birth story written down while the details are still fresh in my mind. I had a very long, difficult delivery with Peter (28 hours, 4 hours pushing) and for the past two years, everyone (myself included) has said that the second delivery HAD to be easier. It was...sort of. This labor lasted many days, so the story isn't short. You've been warned. =)

Heading into my 39 week Dr. appointment

My body began making progress as early as 36 weeks. I was having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions and my Dr. confirmed that I was beginning to make progress towards labor. I'd spent the whole pregnancy feeling like this baby was going to be late, but when I was 3.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced at my 39 week appointment, I started to feel like maybe this was going to happen sooner rather than later.

My Dr. did a membrane sweep for me at my 39 week appointment (November 16) to see if we could give my body a little nudge towards labor. I had lower back pain and mild contractions all afternoon, but was trying not to get my hopes up. I started timing contractions that evening at 6:00 and they were not very consistent or strong, but they also never let up. I finally went to bed about 11:00, deciding they weren't real, but I had a very hard time sleeping because of excitement and ongoing contractions. I decided to start timing them again at midnight because it felt like they were happening really frequently.

I was diagnosed as Group B Strep positive this pregnancy which means that I needed to arrive at the hospital in time to receive at least one dose of antibiotics before giving birth (two doses is preferable). My Dr. asked me to come into the hospital when my contractions were consistently 5-7 minutes apart for one hour. When I began timing my contractions at midnight, they were 4 minutes apart for a solid hour. I decided to wake Kory up and tell him we needed to get going, since they were already closer than my Dr. had recommended. If things did move quickly, I was afraid we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time.

Taken just as we were leaving for the hospital.

After packing the final items in our bags, we called our babysitter to come stay with Peter and headed in to the Family Birth Place. We arrived at the hospital about 1:15 a.m. My contractions weren't terribly strong but they were very consistent at 4 minutes apart. By 3:00 a.m., I was dilated to 4.5 cm and was admitted to the hospital. Every nurse that came in our room said, "We're going to have a baby today!" and "Today's a great day to have a baby!" There was some small nagging voice in my head that kept saying something didn't feel right or maybe today wasn't the day, but I didn't pay much attention to it. 

Feeling good while laboring

I  slept a little bit, walked the halls many times, bounced on the birth ball, took several baths, and worked through the morning to get this labor going. I eventually progressed to 5 cm with contractions 2-3 minutes apart. That was as far as I got. By about noon, my Dr. was telling me that we could stay at the hospital and she could break my water to help things move along. We didn't feel comfortable with this option because if breaking my water didn't help me progress, they would have to give me Pitocin, which I SO desperately wanted to avoid. We ultimately decided to leave the hospital and come home. It was so hard to make that decision because it felt like I had failed (and I was a little embarrassed since lots of people knew I was at the hospital in labor), but Kory and I both had peace about it and knew it was better to let my body progress in its own time. We left the hospital about 1:30 p.m. and came back home. 

I spent the next two days having contractions almost all day and night. I kept wondering if labor was progressing when the contractions would get really strong. I finally did some research and learned about prodromal labor. Essentially, my body was contracting and making small progress towards labor, but there was no change in dilation to show for it. This can go on for days or weeks. Many believe this happens when the baby isn't in an optimal position for delivery, so your body works and works to get baby in a good position, and then when it can't, it takes a break before contracting some more. I don't know for sure if this is what happened to me, but it makes a lot of sense that this could have been the issue. I spent the next several days trying to relax, help baby get in a good position, and focus on anything besides labor. 

My parents arrived in Roseburg on Saturday, November 19. We spent the weekend hanging out with them and enjoying a relaxing few days together. Peter was a great distraction for me and I was able to go about regular life for the most part during these days. My contractions continued all day and night. They were pretty manageable in the day, but would intensify greatly when I would go for a walk and when I was laying in bed in the middle of the night. 

On the afternoon of Monday, November 21, I went in for my 40 week appointment (though it was technically the day before my due date). After 5 solid days of contractions, I discovered that I had zero change in my dilation. I was pretty disappointed, but not too surprised as I still had this nagging 
feeling that this wasn't the real thing yet. My gut feeling was that my body would need a little help to get started with active labor. When I asked my Dr. what her opinion was, she said that I would likely continue to contract for the next week or two and then we'd have to induce at that point. We decided 
that waiting for the sake of waiting was silly. My parents were already here. We found out that our insurance changed the next week and if baby didn't arrive before that change, we'd have to pay two deductibles in 2016. No thank you! Let's have this baby!

I went home to shower and re-pack our hospital bags. I called Kory home from work and we went to the hospital about 4:15 p.m. so they could start my antibiotics. We didn't tell anyone that we were going to the hospital besides my parents, who had Peter at our house. We thought it would be a fun surprise to just call/text people and tell them that baby was here, whenever that happened.  

 

39 weeks, 6 days: headed to the hospital for the 2nd time

Dr. Powell broke my water about 6:15 p.m. She gave me 4 hours to make progress on my own before we had to talk about Pitocin. I was SO determined that I would do this naturally--without Pitocin or pain medication. Once again, I spent the next few hours walking and bouncing and swaying and bathing. My contractions were definitely increasing in intensity and I was no longer able to walk or talk through them. About 9:45 p.m. I got my second dose of antibiotics and I was dilated to a 6. I was in a lot of pain by now, so I was really discouraged to learn that I'd only progressed 1 cm in the past 4 hours. (I know that dilation isn't the best way to determine progress in labor, but I still felt like this meant I had a LONG way to go.)

I decided to get in the bathtub again as that had been the most soothing thing for my contractions thus far. The jets in the tub felt amazing but things started moving really fast at this point. I was quickly in so much pain that I couldn't open my eyes or focus on anything but getting through each contraction. I was using my Lamaze breathing and relaxation techniques, but it didn't feel like they were helping much anymore.

I recognized that I was anxious and dependent and had all the signs of transition and I remember wondering at one point if I was possibly transitioning, but I was also trying not to get my hopes up, so I kept reminding myself that I was only at a 6. Eventually, I asked Kory to call the nurse because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. If I still had hours of labor left, I was going to need some drugs to make it through. I asked for a dose of IV pain medicine, hoping it would take the edge off and help me get back to my relaxation and breathing. The nurse told me I had to get out of the tub and meet 
her back in the hospital bed in 5 minutes. I dreaded the thought of standing up and walking, but the promise of drugs was motivation enough to get me up.

As soon as I stood up, while Kory was helping me out of the tub, I felt an incredibly strong wave rush over me and this deep, loud roar came out of my mouth. Kory was in shock and asked, "What was that?!" I quickly responded that I was pushing! Again, I had a very quick moment where I thought, "I just transitioned! I'm pushing!" but then doubt crept back in and I started telling Kory something was wrong and I shouldn't be pushing since I was only dilated to a 6. I headed straight for the bed (sans any clothing at all) so that the nurse could check me and see what was happening. When she came back in the room, she could tell that things were getting serious and had me get in the bed immediately to check me. 

Being forced to stay in bed while contracting/pushing is the ultimate torture. My nurse completely shocked me when she said I was at a 9, headed for a 10 and this baby was coming out. However, my Dr. wasn't at the hospital and they needed to call her so I was instructed not to push. Every woman 
who has felt the urge to push can roll their eyes with me and say, "Oh yeah, right. Sure. Let me stop this freight train that's going full speed ahead. No problem." Let's just say I didn't try not to push at all. The contractions felt like my body was being ripped in two while also crushing every organ in my torso, but pushing actually felt kind of good, so I kept doing it.

This is a good time for me to point out that a few days prior I said to Kory, "I don't know why women scream in labor. It doesn't help anything. I am just not a screamer. I can't even imagine doing that-it's so dramatic." As you might have guessed, this is the part where Mandy eats crow. I screamed like a maniac. I would be laying quietly in the bed and a contraction would hit and this deep, primal growl/yell just came bursting out of me. I remember feeling embarrassed that I was doing that but also recognizing that it kind of made me feel powerful. Regardless, I couldn't stop it. Kory did his best to keep me calm and breathing deep, but I was kind of out of control. One of the strangest parts of this phase of labor for me was that I could NOT open my eyes or talk, even between contractions. I would be laying in bed thinking about what I wanted to tell Kory or wanting to see his face for reassurance but I just couldn't do anything about it. 

While I was laying in bed pushing, I mean "not pushing", I asked again about those drugs. I mean, if I'm going to just be laying there waiting for the Doctor, I figured we should go ahead and get those started! The nurse told me I couldn't have them because it was too late and the medicine would make the baby sleepy and when they come out sleepy they don't do as well. I am not proud to say that I still asked for them again, not particularly caring if it was bad for baby. I just could not think about anything but the pain; not even the well being of my baby. Dr. Powell came into the room in her everyday clothes and told me it was time to meet my baby...but first she had to go change into her scrubs. I remember getting really mad at that point because I could not fathom continuing to labor while waiting for her to change her clothes. 

She was back in my room quickly and everything was made ready for baby to arrive. I was trying to prepare myself for a very long pushing phase and was repeating over and over, "I can't do this! I can't do this! I need drugs!" Dr. Powell told me she could see the baby's head and I just had to push him out. I think I asked her if she was serious and I remember thinking she was lying to me. Sure enough, I pushed through 2 contractions and his head was out. I distinctly remember feeling him moving down with each push. It was the most amazing feeling and was really good motivation to keep going. With his head already out, I remembered that Dr. Powell told me months ago she would need to be reminded that I wanted Kory to be the first one to hold baby. As the final contraction hit, I sat up, opened my eyes and yelled that reminder to her! 

Kory quickly got into position and with one more push, he grabbed baby and delivered him. As with Peter, the moment that is forever engrained in my memory is seeing Kory holding our baby and handing him to me for the first time. I cried out, "my baby!" and laid back to enjoy the first moments with my little guy. I was still in shock that he was here and that labor was already over. 

Luke Rainier Mereness was born at 11:01 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and measured 21.25" long. 

Kory called my parents about 30 minutes later to let them know that Luke was here. They woke Peter up and came to the hospital right away. We hadn't shared his name with anyone but Peter, so he got to introduce Granna and Pop to Baby Yuke. 

(Kory was present, despite what these pictures show. He was taking pictures of us and then we discovered Luke had some blood sugar issues so he was whisked away for a few hours to work on that while we slept.) 

And just like that, we became a family of 4. Welcome, baby Luke. We're so glad you're here!