And Then There Were Three!

A Labor Of Love

***Disclaimer: gross stuff people.

Forgive me if this post goes astray or seems difficult to follow; I've finally gotten two hours of consecutive sleep since waking up on the morning of Naomi's birth. I'm going to try and inform you all on the experience of bringing her into the world in the most classy way as possible; let's face it; labor was truly exhausting and downright disgusting!
Many people have asked how long labor was. I've been responding with "13 hours" because that's how long my "active labor" was. It's hard to pinpoint when it all started. Omitting details, I will simply say that more mild symptoms began about 12 hours prior to active labor. About 9:00a.m. on Sunday morning we decided to throw in the towel on holding out and went into the hospital to get checked in. We were both excited and anxious for what was ahead, and crossing our fingers that all my symptoms were the real deal. They hooked me up to the monitors and ran a series of unmentionables on me- this was it! They advised we stay and be admitted. I was so hesitant to get admitted and end up with an induction. My fear with an induction is that it would lead to complications and/or cesarean section.
Over the next several hours we tried multiple strategies to encourage labor along, and to my surprise things were indeed, progressing. Contractions became extreme and unbearable- a pain that makes you want to crawl out of your skin. Now comes my disclaimer: I have maintained the decision all throughout my pregnancy to go through labor with the most comfort as possible. My husband very much supported my decision to get an epidural. We both agreed that the benefits of being able to labor without extreme pain outweighed any reason not to. I held out as long as possible and once the epidural kicked I was finally able to relax enough for my body to naturally finish the process of preparing. To debunk any epidural myths, the answer is yes- you still feel it. I was completely in control and aware of everything that was going on. Well, I suppose you are never "completely in control"... but you know what I mean. I knew when my contractions were occurring and increasing, I felt pressure and everything that you are supposed to feel that would signal you to push, but without the excruciating pain. In a word: amazing.
The only thing that wasn't moving along was my water. We were joking among ourselves (staff, nurses, doctor, Matt and myself) that we should  try to deliver her with the amniotic sac in tact. I think the doctor even considered it for a brief moment, but then decided not to. So, he simply did it for me. I'm happy to say this was the only intervention we needed to move things along. After another couple of hours of waiting to see if she would make her way down the birth canal, the nurse decided we should do some "practice pushes". She instructed me to push with everything I had. I'm not sure she was truly prepared to see me meet that challenge. You see, there is one thing about pregnancy and labor that is incredibly frustrating- the lack of control. As an expectant mother you are never in control. You just have to make healthy decisions and hope for the best throughout the whole process that in the end you will come out with a healthy and happy baby. This was my chance- the one thing that I could control to help with the outcome. As much pain and anticipation, exhaustion and excitement that I had endured up until this moment, nothing else mattered but my chance to push- as hard as I could, and finish this thing.
And so I did, four series of pushes later the nurse was yelling for me to stop. The baby's head was right there at the point of no return, and the doctor hadn't made it back to the room yet. You know what did it? Matt. He let curiosity get the best of him and investigated. His face was priceless when he made the comment about her being right there. I couldn't help but laugh at this and that was it! All it took was a laugh and out she came! There was a rush of tears and relief as they put her on my chest and she took her first breaths with a tiny squeal of a cry. The doctor entered as this was happening and couldn't believe he had just missed it! At Yokota Air Base on January 19, 2014 at 9:57pm Naomi Rose LaClair was born. Weighing in at 6.5lbs and 19 inches long with all ten fingers/toes. We are truly blessed!

Stay tuned for my next entry which will describe the first few days.