Introducing Shayla Marie Snow...

Born January 23, 2010 at 7:02 pm

6 lbs 14 oz
19 1/4 in. long

I haven’t posted this earlier, because I have been trying to decide whether or not to post our whole “birth story.” I know that I always find it interesting to read other’s stories, but then again that was before I had given birth, and I just wanted to have the best idea of what I might expect. I had decided to do a natural childbirth before I was ever pregnant. I read the books, we took the 12-week class together, and did the best we could to prepare. Despite our preparation, it turned out quite different than I ever expected it to. I had planned on avoiding the use of an IV, or having to wear the electronic fetal monitor continuously because I wanted freedom of movement. Next to avoiding a c-section, I really wanted to avoid an episiotomy. I had really wanted to use the labor tub at the hospital, and overall to just be in charge of our birth rather than let the hospital staff tell us what to do. What I found out was that it all happens very fast, and it’s easy to get sucked into the whirlwind of what is happening, and in essence, giving up your control. What I learned is that most of the little things that I wanted done “my way” really didn’t matter all that much because you’re beyond caring at that point, and you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your baby is healthy. So, even though it didn’t turn out as planned, I am mostly satisfied with how it all turned out and would change very little. I have decided to share my story, and you can choose whether or not you are interested in reading it. I promise it’s not graphic.

Thursday, January 21 was my birthday. I also had my weekly doctor's appointment. The baby's head was really low. I was dilated 2 cm and 60% effaced. This week my Dr. urged the baby to "come on out." I told her she had to wait at least until Saturday because I had a full day of work ahead of me on Friday.

Friday was my last day of work, and I worked a 10 hour day. I was fully expecting to have a good portion of the next week to get stuff done before baby was due (on Saturday, January 30), but was planning on getting cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping done on Saturday just in case. I really didn’t expect the baby to come more than maybe a couple days early, and I didn’t really want her to either so that I could have time to relax and get stuff done to be prepared for the birth.

Saturday morning my water broke as I got out of bed at about 8:15, and contractions pretty much started immediately, although they were mild. David had left 20 minutes before to clean the church. I was trying to deny that it happened because I wasn't ready yet, but knew that meant the inevitable. I called David, and got to work while I still felt like it. I started some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathrooms, and tried to finish packing my bags. For the first little bit they weren’t so bad, but by the time I was finishing up the chores, I had to stop for every contraction. By noon, contractions were coming 3-5 min. apart, and lasting 30-60 seconds long. We had the car packed and ready to go. I called my Dr. and she said to call her back at 5 and let her know how things were progressing, and to go for a walk. That concerned me, because I didn't think I was going to make it that long, nor did I have the stamina to walk very far. We hung around at home for another 2 1/2 hours, and then I decided we should just head to the hospital. I was starting to feel more pressure of the baby’s head moving down. Of course the on ramp to the freeway was closed, so it took us longer than normal to get there, probably about a 25 minute drive. Then it seemed like forever until they got me back to triage.

They immediately got me on the electronic fetal monitor, and started to put the hep-loc in. I also had a heart rate monitor for me attached to my other finger. They asked me if I wanted the epidural, and I said no. They didn’t bother me about it again, which I’ve heard can be a problem. Laying there in that bed was a seriously painful way to deal with contractions, especially with everything they had attached to me. I also was getting really hot and sweaty. When they checked me, I was 5 cm and 100% effaced, but they were having a hard time finding the baby’s heart rate because it was so close to mine. It seemed like a really long time before they got me into the labor and delivery room because baby’s heart rate was so low. I had to keep wearing the electronic fetal monitor (which was not part of the original plan) since the baby’s heart rate was so low, but they did allow me to wear a portable one so that I could move around. They also put an IV on (again not part of our plan) to increase my fluids since they thought that might be part of the reason her heart rate was low. The next time I was measured (I think maybe an hour later), I was at 7 cm. I was trying as hard as I could to relax during contractions, which was much harder than I expected it to be. It was even harder when I would start to get the chills, because then my body would be shaking and it’s impossible to relax when the rest of your body is tensing up. I tried several different positions that we learned in our class to deal with the contractions. Laying down and sitting were the least effective for me. I spent quite a bit of time just walking around the room, and when a contraction would come, I would wrap my arms around David’s neck and just let my weight hang from him. The most effective way for me to deal with the contractions, was to sit/stand in the shower with David running hot water on my lower back. Most of the time I would sit between contractions, and then stand up during the contraction and bend over and lean against the wall. The poor nurse had to stay there with me--most of the time squatted on the floor--to hold the electronic fetal monitor on. The nurse told me to let her know when I started to feel the urge to push, and she would check me. As time went on, I could definitely feel the baby dropping lower, and was getting more uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell if I was feeling like I wanted to push because I really felt the urge or because I just wanted to start getting this whole process over with. Plus, I kept waiting for transition. My contractions never really got any closer together, in fact, it seemed like sometimes I would get a decent break between them. I definitely had the emotional mindset of transition of not wanting to do it anymore. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I asked the nurse to check me. It meant I had to dry off, change into a dry gown, and go back and lay in the bed. Any time I changed positions, it was quite a production because we had to move the IV and fetal monitor with me. She said I was about an 8-9. She started to push the cervix back during the contractions, which certainly did not help me to be able to relax either. She left me alone for a little bit, and told me I could start to push a little bit during contractions. After maybe half an hour the Dr. came in and we started getting down to business.

Once we got to the pushing stage, I didn't really feel any more pain. I naturally wanted to blow my breath out as I started pushing, so it took me a few times to get the hang of it. They kept telling me to push, push, push, and I just couldn’t hold my breath any longer. They told me to take a deep breath and keep going, and I could never tell if the contraction was over or not. I’m not sure how my times I pushed before they started to see her head. It was new motivation for me, especially when they told me she had lots of hair. I just wanted to get her out. I officially started pushing around 6:30, and she was born at 7:02 pm. Once her head was out, her body came shortly after, and the Dr. helped me pull the baby up to my chest. I didn’t really get to do the skin-to-skin thing because the cord was still attached, and I couldn’t really move her around enough to get the gown off. I couldn’t really see her face either, just the top of her head. I held her there for maybe 10 minutes. David and I had our little moment together with our new baby girl, and David cut the cord.

I did end up with an episiotomy, which I was really hoping to avoid. My doctor said at the time that the baby’s heart rate was dropping lower as I was pushing, so they sped it up a little bit to get her out. She was perfectly healthy. I don’t know if the episiotomy was really necessary or not, or how much longer it would have taken to get her out had she not done it. Recovery was much more difficult than I expected because I was so sore. Any change in position was really painful for the first several days, especially from sitting to standing. I almost felt like that defeated a lot of the reason for doing the birth natural. I have been told how much easier recovery is when you give birth naturally, and that was the initial reason for me deciding to do it that way. As I learned more about natural birth, there were several other reasons as well, but the quicker recovery was a huge part of that decision.

The baby was really alert the first hour or so. I feel like I missed out on some of that because they were cleaning her up, and cleaning me up. They also brought me in some dinner. My family came, and they all held her as well. It seems like the rest of the night we spent trying to get the baby to breastfeed. The nurse spent a lot of time working on positions and trying to get her to latch. As soon as she would start to suck, she would fall asleep. She didn’t eat much the first 24 hours, so even though the pediatrician had OK’d her to go home after 24 hours, the nurse convinced them to have us stay one more night. It was probably useful, because we did learn a few more tips on how to get her to eat, but it seemed like it took them forever to get us out the next morning. It was actually late afternoon before we were able to go home.

I never would have guessed she would have come a week early. I expected a couple days early or a couple days late. I am so happy she arrived healthy and perfect. I still have a hard time believing that she was the little being moving around inside of me, and that she is really our baby. She is so perfect and so precious. I know she won’t stay this little for very long, so I try to cherish every moment with her the best that I can. Sometimes it’s a little difficult when she is fighting me to eat in the middle of the night, or when she poops after we just put a clean diaper on. We just try to laugh and move on, and remember how lucky we are to have her in our lives. We feel so blessed to have her in our family. The miracles of life never cease to amaze me. It's hard to believe this perfect little girl is mine.