Silas's Birth Story

To you, on the anniversary of our birth,

I was 8 days past the estimated due date. I really didn't want to have to be induced, but in my trademark impatience, I was anxious for you to be born. Not to mention it was July in Minnesota and hot and humid!
My aunt, uncle, and cousins were visiting us for a few days before you were born. We had them over for croquet and badmiton. We went out to dinner with them and went to their hotel for a swim in the pool. Your aunt Catherine was kind enough to come up for an extended visit in order to be present for the birth. We put meals in the freezer, played cards, picked blueberries, and read books to pass the time until you finally arrived.
We went to bed around 10 pm. I was, as usual, exhausted. At about midnight, I woke up to wet sheets and we thought my water had probably broken. It wasn't much fluid, but what did I know? I still hadn't had any contractions, so I tried not to get to excited and went back to sleep.
At three in the morning I started getting a few contractions. They were not very strong, but were coming regularly ever 10 or 15 minutes. By now I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went down to lie on the couch and read a little bit. I started one of the books Catherine brought, Alexander McCall Smith's, "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency." The contractions kept coming pretty regularly every 10 mintes. At around 5 am I called your Grandma Lise in Indiana to tell her I was in labor, so she could come up and meet you when you were first born. She started the 8 hour trip at 6 in the morning. I also finally woke up your Dad and Aunt Catherine.
They ate breakfast of cold cereal. I wasn't hungry at all, but I did eat a couple popsicles. I started getting a little restless, and moved from the couch to the blue rocking chair that I usually really hate to sit in, with my feet up on the yoga ball. The contractions were getting closer together, abotu 5 minutes a part, but still not too painful. Still, I was starting to get nauseated, and the popsicles I ate were thrown up.
Your Dad called the hospital, and told them we thought my water had broken and that contractions were 5 min. apart. They told us to come in right away. We loaded up the pick-up, with your Dad driving, Catherine in the front seat, and me in the backseat wearing the plaid dress G-ma Lise made me, sitting next to your empty carseat. We saw our neighbor Colleen, who was excited to see that we were headed to the hospital, and spread the news all over the neighborhood!
We arrived at the hospital, and despite our protests, I was hooked up to a monitor to make sure I was actually in labor. I was 3 cm dilated, and yes, those were contractions every 3 -5 minutes, but no, my water had not broken. So, we waited, walked around and around the square hallway of the birth center, I chewed some watermelon gum. We waited some more. They hooked up the monitor again, yep, still in labor. They decided to admit me. This meant changing into a lovely hospital gown and robe. And more walking. I was accosted by a nurse who demanded that I put on a pair of slippers, because the floor was just not clean enough to be walking around barefoot. Bodes well for hospital hygiene, yes? And, it would just make her more comfortable if I had something on my feet. Well, I wouldn't want you, nurse, to be uncomfortable while I'm in labor here. (Sorry, Silas, even in pseudo letters to you, I can't quell the sarcasm.)
I got in the bathtub at the hospital for a while because the water was really soothing. I was draped in towels, your Dad used the shower head to massage my belly, and I sipped ice water. It was warm and cozy and relaxing. You must have though so too, because the contractions became very weak and slowed down. So, it was out of the tub with us, and back to walking the halls.
It was around noon by this point. The contractions were stong enough that I couldn't keep walking through them, but still not too bad. Grandma Lise arrived around that point, as we were walking the halls. She was amazed that you were still not here, but excited that she would get to be there to see your birth.
At this point, I went back to the room, for another exam and monitor hook-up. I was about 5 cm, and the nurses suggested breaking my water to speed things up. I wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but everyone else seemed to think it would help speed up labor, so we went ahead with it. There was was much fluid, I couldn't believe how much!
Right away it seemed that the contractions became very intense. I threw up some watermelon flavored liquid from the gum earlier. I tried sitting on the birth ball, hands and knees, standing, kneeling and leaning against the back of the bed. Nothing seemed to help. The pain was most intense at the top of on my thighs. Even between contractions they always hurt, and I couldn't relax them. Finally, the position that seemed most comfortable was lying on my left side in bed. Grandma Lise had me focus on this philips head screw on the side of the bed. I'd read about having an object of beauty to focus on during labor, so this wasn't excatly what I had in mind, but having a visual focal point really did seem to help me deal with the pain. The nurses were also running aorund saying things like, "look at these variables" and other things and no one would really tell me what was going on. Either they eventually told me, or they told me after you were safely arrived, but your heart rate was what was varying. With each contraction your heart rate would drop, so they were concerned that the umbilical cord was pinched. They decided to put on an internal monitor to get a more accurate report on your heart rate. It was still varying. This meant that I had to have oxygen, which was pretty terrible. It was sweltering hot in the room, and breathing (panting) into a plastic mask was unbearable. So your Dad helped me sneak it off during the exhales and back on for inhales. The nurses frowned upon this, but by this point, I didn't really care what the nurses thought.
I don't know how long this went on, but it must have been a couple hours. Finally, it felt like I was ready to push, around 4 or 4:30. They checked me again, and said I was fully dialated. So I made a quick trip to the bathroom, climbed back in bed and waited for the next contraction. I guess you wanted to give me a chance to really push, because the contractions were very spaced out at this point. So I had plenty of rest in between pushes. Everyone was still worried about the heart rate, so they tried doing a vacuum assist. On the first try, the suction cup fell off your head. The decide you needed to arrive sooner rather than later, so I had an episiotomy. This was probably the worst part of the entire labor. I had really not wanted this, and even though the doctor gave me a shot to numb the area, I could still feel and and hear everything. Luckily, once that was over the suction cup was back in place, a big contraction came, I pushed, the nurse pulled, and out you came into the big bright world. And the sound and the feel of the preceeding hours was washed away when the sound of your precious cries and the feel of your warm squiggly body was placed on my tummy.

I've never been so relieved and joyful as I was at the sight of you. You changed everything. You made me question myself. You made me trust myself. You make me proud and you make me humble. You are all the best I can see in myself.

Happy Birthday.