A Happy Birthstory!

I've been thinking through my birth of Mary Tessa many times over the past week. It seems like there are so many angles and details and I want to both emphasize the most important things and share the kooky "good story" bits.

• my mom and i had been joking over my 41st week that we are both not "water breakers." our pregnancies always go long and the bag holds strong.


• i did in actuality do the bunny hop on the b. day. i had spent 5 days with absolutely no signs of labor or more than a uterine squeeze.


• we already had 3 birthdays that week in our extended family (including mine) and i wanted the babe to have its own day (and not St. Patty's day at that!)

So here goes:

My parents had planned to fly in a week and a day after my due date. Simon was 6 days past, Allianna was 7 (and now Mary Tessa was 8 . . . a trend?), so I felt comfortable promising them I'd have a baby by the time they got there. About a half an hour after their plane landed, I was sitting out in the yard with the kids waiting for them and I reached down out of my chair quickly and "pop!"--whaaaaat, could this be? Was I now among the water breakers??? This was at 6:30pm. I called Mark at work and my parents to let them know--at least we knew now we'd have a baby within an earth's rotation.

6:45--call the midwives to let them know. I love them all, but am delighted to find out that it's Theodorah on-call. She tells me to make my way in and I'm at last feeling some mild uterine work going on.

7:05--parents arrive. i'm in the middle of relaxing through a contraction, so I send the kids out onto the porch to wave down their shuttle. here is my first pitch for Hypnobirthing--it gives you such good preparation to face labor, to be able to dismiss fear and panic as often as you need to, and to create a safe internal place where you can labor as comfortably and easily (yes, I'm actually using that word!) and quickly as possible. Labor is VERY strong, but you can work with it.

7:15--i've had three contractions/surges with my parents and i call mark to find out how close he is. he's turning into the driveway, so i head out and we turn right back around to the medical center. we call Theodorah en route to update her on the pace of things and she coaches me through a contraction on the phone (she has such a sense of discernment--i hope to have her "sooth the laboring lady" 6th sense someday . . .)

um, now i don't know the times for things. i had my eyes closed from here on out. how about some funnies from the next 30 minutes?:

• we go for valet parking. i listen to my hypnobirthing recording through a contraction and then get out into a wheelchair. i chose the valet and the chair because i wanted to be safely nested somewhere with my people (namely Mark and Theodorah) before i got too progressed. now for your mental image: Mark is carrying: his laptop case, a boombox, my green tote"hospital bag," and my purse. he is supposed to push me. having only one free hand, he alternates pushing one side then the other. i get rammed into all sorts of walls and stuck on door jambs. i swear the thing wasn't even properly connected to be pushed with two hands. from somewhere outside my body i find this hilarious.


• we get to the camera where you have to be buzzed in to L and D. i again find it hilarious that though they could see us, they still made mark explain why he wanted to be let in. "oh, no my wife is just sitting in this luxurious chair with her eyes closed as part of her Princess complex . . . take your time"


• when we pull up to the nursing desk i'm intensely focused on my contraction and have my little hypnobirthing recorder pressed to my face while i listen. i hear "uh, MAAA'AAm, you're gonna hav' ta get off your cellll phone." i manage to mutter "not cell phone. my music." i make a mental note that this will be funny later.

There are a few other procedural hang-ups once we get into the room, but already things are getting more comfortable and i feel more free to do what i need to do. My relaxation is tenuous and I have to work hard to regain it in each moment--it is affected by some insensitive or unaware nurses. Mark is doing great at being my advocate and keeping me calm. I should hire him out--he's the best support person. Especially I'm at ease once I sense that Theodorah is there. She (and my previous midwife) has this kind of anti-presence that when they enter a room it seems to suck the tension out of the room. She enters so quietly and non-intrusively that the behavior of all the other workers starts to modify in response. Though I haven't seen or heard her yet, I can sense this. Yes, this is very much a pitch for midwives. She touches my shoulder and tells me to "stay in the place where you need to be. just stay there." This is powerful.

Theodorah checked me and said the cervix had a little bit of a lip--just enough info to keep motivated and not too much to perplex. She gave me to go ahead and do what I felt like I needed to do. After that it was beautiful and quick. We are delighted to find out our little "suprise" is a girl!!! (Those are hard to come by in three generations of lots of male N*s) Mark checks three or four times and is still only 99% sure. ;)

So, from "pop" to delivery, it was only 2 hours!!! Who could've known?!

Within about an hour I'm standing and talking with Mark and Theodorah. Mark holds our little anonymous, who has already nursed, but won't be named for 2 more days--more on that later. By the way, he never looks more handsome than when he's holding one of our newborns.

It is a night of joy and self-discovery.