A Baby Story

I said I would share Arabella's birth story and so I shall. I have been watching an episode or two of Baby Story, as it is part of the daytime tv that I am now discovering as I am at home and often on the couch for many hours feeding Arabella. So here is Arabella's baby story, lucky for you it is NOT caught on tape ;)

Here is how it began:

July 27th - Work lunch where everyone says "goodbye" and I get a lovely giftcard from my co-workers, we have cake, we have fun

July 28th - My official last day of work (before I come back in a year!), I started work at 7 am, left close to 5 pm, a very long day of tying up loose ends & finishing reports

July 29th - My first day "off" which I spend visiting friends in Abbotsford and Chilliwack

July 30th - My second day "off", which I spend vigorously cleaning the house and puttering around, musing about how I will enjoy my long weekend. Kirsten hangs out with me for the evening and I head to bed exhausted @ 11 pm.

July 31st:

1:30 am Time for my first pee break of the night, I get up and head towards the bathroom and am surprised that I am wet before I get there.....and no, it is not pee!

1:45 am I google "water breaking" and find descriptions of what just happened, confirming that indeed my labour was beginning

1:47 am I contemplate going back to bed, pretending that this is not happening

1:49 am I call Brian on his cell phone (he was out with friends in Burnaby) and tell him that I have either lost all bladder control or my water just broke. Brian heads home and I start crying.

1:50 am I call our doula and say I think my water just broke; I then call the hospital who advises me to come in for assessment. Our doula starts heading out to meet us at the hospital

2:30 am Brian is home, I have changed out of my pajamas, put on some mascara (must look half human!) and we walk to the hospital (minor cramps, i.e. contractions at this point)

**From this point on, I lose all track of time**

I am assessed at the hospital and indeed my water has broken, I am 4 cm dilated and am told I will be having a baby today. I am immediately excited, scared and a bit annoyed (seriously, could I not have had ONE week off from work?? I barely rested, and now I have to deliver 3 weeks early??).

Brian calls my parents to tell them the news, as he is on the phone I tell him to tell my mom that she has the hospital outfits for our baby (1 girl outfit, 1 boy outfit) and that she needs to bring those along.

Our doula arrives at the hospital and all 3 of us walk home to retreive my labour bag and other supplies while the hospital sets up our room. I managed to make it home, but had to stop every few minutes for a contraction to pass - we decide to drive back once our stuff is gathered.

Brian calls his mom and asks if she can drive us to the hospital, which of course she gladly does, after we franticly gather supplies. We head back to the hospital and find our room.

Brian sets up the iPod and puts on Micheal Buble, which remains playing for hours and I am actually not sure when it stopped....the contractions continually get worse, longer, harder and closer together. I manage (barely) while the doula recommends labouring positions and while I sit on the birthing/exercise ball and try to focus on what is happening.

Our doula also massages my lower back while Brian massages my upper back, helping me through the contractions. I go from hot to cold and back again several times, feeling nauseous and ravenous as well. Time passes, slowly and quickly at the same time, and somehow by hanging onto Brian in a slow dance position I survive each contraction. I begin wondering if I am going to be checked by hospital staff as to how far along I am, but the nurse rarely comes in and only to check blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat. All appears to be going well and for most of the labour it is just Brian, the doula and I.

I don't know that I could describe the pain, but I visualised a wave crashing over me, hitting me and then retreating, somehow this was mildly soothing. I was desparate to lay down and rest, but each contraction forced me to my feet. I was starting to get overwhelmed with the pain and rang for the nurse so I could try the "gas". I use it to breathe through 2 contractions and then I tell my doula "I feel like I really need to pee; I think I need to push!"

Seconds later there are 4 nurses in my room, a doctor enroute and the trays with all sorts of horrible looking medical instruments are out. Somehow I end up on the bed being "checked" - I am 10 cm and ready to go.

In those frantic minutes my mom arrives, just as I was beginning to wonder if she went back to sleep after Brian had called her and forgot that I was in labour! **NOTE: my Mom got up after Brian called her, washed those baby outfits, some fabric and then began sewing a baby hat. That's right, at 3 am she decided to sew the baby hat that she had promised to make, which is why she didn't get there until sometime afte 6 am!***

My mom, my doula and my hubby are all there, and as I feel the urge to push I do. All 3 are encouraging me, telling me I am doing well and as they do, I hear them but it is almost muffled, like someone yelling at me from across a field.

This can best be described as an almost out of body experience. I feel intense pressure but also intense desire to push through it, to make that baby come out and meet the world. I was yelling as I pushed (and although Brian tells me I didn't yell, it sure felt like I was screaming!) and then time stood still inbetween the pushing. I actually rested between pushes and felt at peace, it was WAY better than riding the contraction waves!

But all good things must come to an end....aaaand then she crowned, wowsers, yes "burning sensation" is a mild description often used...more like a ring of fire, a blowtorch...ahem, ok, it just really hurt. And all of a sudden the doctor told me to push push push, to look and I saw the baby was out!

I stared and stared at her, unsure that it was really over, that she was really here. They placed her on my chest and then I asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?!?" Seriously. No one told me the gender! So the nurse looked and said "It's a girl!".

That moment seemed frozen in time; had I really just gone through labour, transition and then met my baby girl? Brian was by my side, whispering in my ear over and over "I'm so proud of you, you are amazing, she is so beautiful". At that moment I was in shock and awe, I couldn't cry, or move, I could barely breathe. It is only now, remembering those moments that I feel the intensity of the emotions that were in the background on that day.

Arabella Hannah Grace entered the world July 31st at 7:16 am as the sun was rising outside my hospital window. Outside people were perhaps sleeping in, or beginning to wake up, making plans and enjoying the long weekend. We were welcoming our baby girl into our hearts and arms, changing our lives forever, making even an ordinary summer sunrise appear extraordinary.

The post labour moments...

The weighing....

Happy but tired.....

Proud Dad.....