Liam's Birth Story (Part 2)

Disclaimer- This is Liam's detailed birth story. If you think the details of an unmedicated childbirth will disturb you, do not continue reading. If you missed part 1 you can catch it here.

At 5 AM on May 7th, I woke up unable to sleep through contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart. They were not very intense, but definitely noticeable enough for me to not be able to sleep. I got up and put away the dishes in the dishwasher, did some laundry, and watched TV. At 6:30 I woke Bobby up to tell him that I was having contractions and I was not sure that he should go to work, but also was not sure if he should stay home. I figured we had a long time to wait, since I was in labor for 24.5 hours with Shawn. We decided that he should stay home for the first part of the day to see how things progressed. If they were not progressing, he would go in for the afternoon, but if they did he would be home to help.

At 7 AM I decided to call my parents. I let them know that I was in labor, and could not sleep through contractions and that it seemed like it was time for them to come. Mom packed enough stuff for the entire week, and her vacation for the following week. They finally got on the road about 9 AM.

At 7:30, Shawn woke up. He asked to nurse, which is not unusual. He still nurses once a day in the morning before we get out of bed. I allowed him to go ahead and have that sense of normalcy. By the end of the nursing session, which really wasn't that long, I was shouting at Bobby to get Shawn off of me because I could not sit down through the contractions any longer. During the contraction, I did not have the strength to move Shawn by myself.

At that point, we decided it would be a good idea to let the midwife know what was going on. I sent her a text message saying that contractions were now about 5 minutes apart. I could no longer walk through contractions, but was still talking through them just fine. She responded that whenever we were ready to come in to the birth center, she'd be there! We started gathering everything we needed, and Bobby loaded up the car. We left for the birth center at about 8:45 AM. Shawn came with us.

We got to the beautiful green room of the birth center at about 9:10 AM. Shawn played with crayons, blocks, and his Daddy's iPad. I continued to have contractions, getting progressively worse, but luckily slightly more spaced out than they had been before we'd left the house.

Laboring at the Birth Center

At 11 AM our good friend Ashley came in for her and her son's six week checkup. She popped in the room to check on us! It was great to see her. At the time she came in, I was still dealing with the contractions very well. I had to breathe through them and not talk or move, but they were not to the point where I thought I wanted to give up! She left and had her appointment, and then my midwife came back to check on me. I said "I just had two in a row that made me cry!" and she said "YAY!" Christine is always thrilled to hear when people are in that stage of labor, because it means they are close to having a baby!

I called Mom and Dad to see where they were, because it was at the point where I really needed Shawn to not be in the room anymore. He was not good at understanding that his Mommy had to concentrate on something rather than his coloring! He was also getting very hungry. They were still 30 minutes away. The three of us continued to manage. Bobby, I think, had the hardest time of all. He was trying to be as much of a support to me as possible while dealing with a toddler who just completely did not understand what was going on.

As soon as Mom got there, she took Shawn into another room at the Birth Center and played with him. When Dad arrived, he took Shawn out to lunch. As soon as Shawn left the room, we filled up the birth pool. We knew it wouldn't be a good idea until he was gone from the room because he would think it was his bath time.

Once the birth pool was filled up, I went to the restroom and was pretty sure my water broke while I was in there. Then, I got in the birth pool. I was still doing really well in between contractions at that point. I was talking and laughing. I concentrated hard on breathing during contractions, but otherwise was okay. It was SO different from Shawn's birth. I could barely think between contractions last time, let alone talk and laugh. I think it was because this was a daytime labor, after a decent night's sleep. Whereas Shawn's was a long labor, overnight. I was much more physically exhausted.

Somewhere around 1 PM, I felt the need to push through the contractions. It was at this point that I could tell that Liam really started to descend. I was no longer very comfortable between contractions. I had to really rest, and collect strength for the next contraction. At this point, the midwife checked to see where he was and that his heartbeat was still strong. She said "He's either bald, or your water hasn't broken yet!" I knew based on the heartburn that I'd been experiencing for the last 20 weeks or so, that he was NOT bald. As I pushed through the next contraction, I felt and heard a pop! My water had officially broken and the contractions were suddenly much closer together.

Despite pushing for two hours with Shawn's birth, the pushing stage this time was much harder for me. It was approximately 30 minutes, but Liam's head was bigger. I had less time to stretch, so instead, I tore. I also did not take any classes or read any books on relaxation techniques this time. I think I know now, for next time, that I should re-do those things to refresh my memory.

Pushing through a contraction

As I was pushing, I could tell progress was happening. The problem was, that in between contractions, I could feel him move back up. I was getting discouraged. It apparently felt like he was moving up more than he actually was. My midwife kept encouraging me that he was right there, just one or two more pushes would get him out. She was right.

At 1:38 PM, after just about 8.5 hours of active labor, Liam was born. When he came out, I reached to pull him out of the water, but Christine pulled him back. He had the cord wrapped around his neck. She untangled him, and placed him on my chest. We could tell that his lungs were about three weeks more developed than Shawn's were at first. He was crying very loud. There is not a sound more comforting in the world than your baby's very first cry.

 Our first moments together

We do not cut the umbilical cord right away. We wait until it is done pulsing, and baby has all of the blood needed out of the placenta. During the 20 minutes that it took for the cord to stop pulsing, I was having trouble keeping him up out of the water. His umbilical cord was too short. I felt incredibly blessed that he was so healthy despite the short cord being wrapped around his neck at first. 

Bobby Cutting the Cord

Liam was covered in vernix. He was pretty slimy. Bobby avoided touching his back at first, because he didn't want the slime on him! It was rather unusual because usually the further along a baby is, the less vernix they have. Shawn had significantly less than Liam, despite being 2.5 weeks earlier.

Christine wiping Liam off

After we moved into the bed, and I birthed the placenta, we decided it was time for Shawn to come meet his baby brother. My dad came in with him. Shawn was unsure what to think, but then saw cameras and said "cheese!" He didn't really care that there was a baby in the room.

After about an hour of snuggling, nursing and enjoying his existence, we passed Liam off for his newborn exam, and to get dressed. When he was about 5 hours old, after we'd eaten and gotten cleaned up, we headed home to rest and heal.

Liam Andrew

May 7, 2012

1:38 PM

8 lbs 11.5 oz, 20.5 in.