Joel's Birth Story

Joel is 15 days old today! I thought I would write about his birth story before I forget everything that happened on January 20.

I woke up January 20 feeling normal (well, as normal as a 39-week pregnant lady). Tom and I took Luke to preschool and I drove Tom downtown and dropped him off at work. At the time, I did not think labor would happen that day and since Tom works downtown, I could pick him up after work on the way to choir rehearsal. I came home and noticed that I had some bloody show that morning. I did not think too much of it, since that can happen days before labor. I ate some yogurt for a mid-morning snack and started feeling some short cramps around 10:45 AM. They did not really hurt, so I did not get too nervous about it being the real thing. The cramps started happening more frequently by 11 AM, so I called Tom at 11:15. I asked him to take the bus home and work from home in the afternoon, just in case. He got home around 12:15. By that time, the cramps were happening every 3 to 10 minutes and started lasting a bit longer each time. I said we better go the hospital, just in case. On the way to the hospital, I had three or four contractions and they put pressure on my belly, but they did not hurt that much. We parked in the garage at St. Vincent's and walked to labor and delivery. We checked in and they admitted me to triage (about 1 PM). The doctor came in and checked for dilation...I was already at 8 cm! It was a complete surprise to me, since the contractions had not yet been very painful. On the way to the hospital, I thought it was even odds that they would admit me or send me home. They rolled my bed into a delivery room and even called a nurse in who had the day off (apparently, Jan 20 was a busy delivery day). I tested positive for strep B, so the nurse got my IV in right away to get me penicillin. I answered a bunch of medical questions and signed papers between contractions.

While all this was happening, I had Tom call my mom and my aunt Sharon. Sharon generously drove to Silverton to get my mom, so she could be at our house and pick up Luke from daycare that afternoon.

My water broke on its own with a strong contraction (probably around 1:40 PM). After my water broke, I was still at 8 cm. The contractions following my water breaking were very intense. I felt like I needed to push, but had to wait until I got to 10 cm. All I remember is closing my eyes and rolling to my side to get through each contraction. They were much more intense than any contraction I had during labor with Luke. I'm not sure how many of these I had (probably 3 or 4 of these contractions) until I got to 10 cm. The doctor came back in and said I was at the point where I could start pushing. I started pushing during a contraction, rested, and then pushed with the next contraction until the baby was born. I suppose the pushing part lasted about ten minutes (at least that's what the medical report says). Our baby boy was born at 2:23 PM.

I honestly do not remember delivering the placenta, since I had a baby boy on my chest and felt so much love and relief. I pushed quite hard and tore, so the doctor had to do some stitching. This may have been the worst part of the delivery for me...enduring all the poking and stitching with no pain medicine. (Like my delivery with Luke, I had no epidural or pain meds.)

Our baby boy was healthy and alert at birth. He was a beautiful baby and had a head full of dark hair. We were so happy to finally meet him.

That's my birth story with Joel. We are thankful that labor went so well and so quickly with him and I am glad we got to the hospital when we did.