Hannah

stats:

Hannah was born at 1:10 AM on Friday, May 29th
15 1/2 inch head circumference
22 1/2 inches long
11 pounds

She has tons of black hair! She doesn't look a thing like James. We think that she is going to take after me, James takes after his daddy. She has three rolls on her thighs!! She is plenty healthy!! She was 16 days overdue -- but she came when she and only *she* was good and ready!!

long version:

Contractions started at 2:45 AM on Thursday, May 28th. I woke at my usual time to go to the bathroom and discovered that I had finally lost my mucus, and it was pink tinged. While on the toilet I had my first contraction. Contractions continued every five minutes all day Thursday. I woke up Albert at about four because I thought I needed help to get through them. They were strong right from the start. I called my sister and she came over at about 6 AM. I woke Mom (who had been staying with me) at about that time also. Well lunch time came and went with no progress at all. I had been having to breathe through them right from the start. Mom wants me to go for a walk, so I do. I end up going for four walks altogether to try to get things going. It was a very muggy 80 degrees or more out there! Well the walks must have ended up working somewhat because the contractions got much harder to deal with at about 5 PM but still not any closer together. When I would lie down, they even stretched to 8 minutes apart. I had some bloody show at this point too. I tried to find things to do, but not too much so as not to wear me out! I baked the baby's birth day cake and read and responded to some email. At about 8 PM we decided that James (age 34 months) should go to his grandma's house. This was not in the plan, but in hindsight I am glad that he was there. Things were way too intense here. He did handle things well while he was here though! Even got some great pictures of him trying to do hand compressions with me to help me through a contraction! It really didn't seem to bother him at all what I was going through. But *I* needed him to be gone, he was taking too much of my concentration, I was always wondering where he was, what he was doing and such. I had sister light some candles and put in a CD title "Tranquility". I didn't want the CD anymore after it had run out, but I really liked the candles lit, it gave me something to look at I guess! It must have been at this time that Mom had finally agreed to do the first internal. My plan was to not have *any* done, but you should have seen me begging to know how far dilated I was!! She had a hard time telling though. She said that the bag is bulging big time, and that I could be very close, but she didn't want me to push yet until she was able to tell for certain that I was fully dilated. I must have asked her 20 times to break my water with one of her crochet hooks! I'm glad that she didn't but I really wanted things to speed up! Not long after that (you know how your perception of time is at this point) she pronounced me fully dilated and to push if I felt like it. Contractions are *still* five minutes apart! So I give it a small try, but it didn't feel right so I quit that and continued to breathe through them. I keep thinking about all of my friends? easy births and what Bradley says about breathing the baby out and about that overwhelming desire to push that overtakes you. Mom and I were waiting for this but it just never came. Albert and my sister were irreplaceable at this point. Both were great at helping me get through each contraction. I came to depend on those hand compressions. Both were very good at it! I soon came to the place where I wanted to be in a cave, no lights, very cool, all blinds pulled closed. I even asked that someone please lock our front door (which never happens in this small town). I labored right in my own living room. Something really really special happened between Albert and me at this point. I had come to favor him over my sister for support, and he was right there for me! for each and every contraction. He encouraged me a lot. His words of encouragement really helped me! I didn't know he could be so good at that type of thing! It was a side of him I hadn't seen before. My forewaters broke at 11:30 PM. I had hoped that it would help speed things up, I guess it did a little, contractions got closer together finally, but there wasn't that "relief of pressure" that I hear about when your waters break. I am trying all different positions. I can't seem to stay in the same position for longer than two contractions. I walk through the house, leaning on Albert during the contraction, I lean on the birth ball, I sit on the birth ball, I sit on the edge of my glider rocker, I try hands and knees, I try to sit on the floor with my back again the loveseat, but that doesn't work well at all. Nothing really helps at this point though! Finally a short time later, I try pushing again. I push three times per contraction for maybe three contractions. Mom says she feels some swelling. This is the worst news I could hear at this point because the last birth that she and I attended, she had some anterior cervical swelling and we had to make her breathe through contractions for an eternity! It wasn't the smoothest birth and I was so afraid that mine would be like that too. Well, my support team really had to jump into gear now that I had to breathe through some! I breathed through two contractions then begged mom to check to see if there was still swelling and thank goodness it had gone away! I could now push again. I ended up in a squat in front of the loveseat holding (actually yanking on!) Albert's and sister's arms. Although pushing still was not that overpowering urge I was looking for, I did it because I just needed to get that baby out! My stamina is really low at this point and I can only fit in two or three pushes per contraction. Contractions are still not any closer than two minutes or so. Eventually I end up getting the head out although I didn't know it at this point. I thought the baby was at crowning all this time. Then I heard mom say, "Rebecca, I need to you to push him out, he's trying to breathe!"  I didn't understand what she was saying. Previously she was telling *me* to stop and take a breath. A couple of seconds later I was finally able to figure out that she was referring to the baby's breathing, but I just didn't have any gumph left. Probably 15 pushes later I was able to push the rest of the baby out! Hannah was born at 1:10 AM on Friday, May 29th. I was told later than Hannah had shoulder dystocia. I was glad that she didn't say that at the time, because Mom knew that I knew what that was and I might not have made it through!! Also, she was compound presentation. Had her elbow up by her 15 1/2 inch head! Her apgars were 6 and 8. Mom took off for not breathing, limpness and color. By the three minute mark she was breathing, but not real good yet. Mom had to suction out her mouth and nose a lot and stimulate her skin by rubbing her. She was absolutely covered with blood. The placenta had separated from all of that pushing and because she was right on the pelvic rim for such a long time. But all is well, and she breathed -and is breathing- fine with no wetness sound at all. She also had the cord around her neck, but not tightly, so that was not a problem at all. By ten minutes after birth, the cord was cut and she was doing just fine. My arms are so week I can not even hold her so Albert puts her up to my breast and she latches on!!! She stays latched on for the next 40 minutes!! AWESOME!! I push out the placenta. Right after this I start to pass out. Mom says I lost a lot of blood, but she has some tricks and uses them all! I had to drink cayenne pepper with hot water to prevent hemorrhage. Mom, Albert and sister are telling me not to close my eyes, and as long as they keep at it I don't lose consciousness. After they get all of the mess cleaned up-which didn't take long-they start to try to get me cleaned up. They bring me up on the loveseat but I promptly pass all the way out this time. Mom gets a cold wet washcloth and rubs it all over me and that helps a lot. Albert kept his cool through all of this. I remember opening my eyes and saying, "Did I scare you guys?" They said yes!! It was kind of shocking to wake up and see the looks on their faces. Mom keeps cramming the cayenne pepper and juice down me and it seems to help. I also had some of my protein powder (Shaklee) mixed in some of the juice to help me regain my strength. I am feeling much better and really want to go take a shower, but every time I try to get up I get faint, so they left me to sleep right there on the loveseat all night long. They gave me Hannah who slept on top of me and Albert stayed awake all night to keep and eye on me. Now three days later, I finally have about 80% of my strength back. I am feeling great and thoroughly enjoying baby Hannah and having two children now. James is so much in love with her. All of us slept in our family bed the last two nights and that was just pure joy to wake up and see both of my darling sweet children's faces when I first wake up. Hannah is nursing like a champ. James can't wait for my milk to come in. Not sure if he will start again or not. He's nursed just twice in the last 10 days or so. I so enjoyed having a home birth. Even though this was not even close to the birth that I wanted, I still have hope that someday I will have an easy birth. Still I cannot even imagine giving birth in a place where I was not fully comfortable. I adjusted the environment any way I wanted. Hannah came into the world in same way she was conceived, with lots of love around her! Her birth was a gentle a transition as it could have been, and for that I am very thankful. We all feel so very very blessed. She is absolute remarkable!!