Phillip's Birth

Finally writing this down, two weeks later, so that I get it taken care of before I forget everything! :)

On the morning of Monday, Aug. 13, I went in to the clinic for my routine weekly check-up. Earlier that morning I had been having contractions about 4-5 minutes apart. I thought that I was in labor, but they petered out after about an hour and a half.

At my appointment, everything was fine except that my blood pressure was high and my hands were looking puffy. My bp had been high the previous week as well, so the midwife suggested that I go to OB Emergency Services at the hospital to be screened for preeclampsia. I was a bit concerned with how long this would take, since that day was school registration for Zaylee and Thomas, and I didn't want to miss that.

I spent a couple of hours at OBES, where my blood pressure was checked every fifteen minutes. Blood tests for preeclampsia came back negative, but my blood pressure continued to be high. Because gestational hypertension (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure) can quickly escalate to preeclampsia, which can be harmful to both mother and baby, the midwife on duty, as well as the high-risk doctors she consulted with, strongly recommended that I be admitted for induction right away.

Induction with pitocin was something that I very much wanted to avoid - I'm passionate about natural childbirth. But the risks to baby's health and my own overrode my desire to avoid medical intervention. I did ask about the possibility of breaking my water to start labor, but as of my check-up that morning, baby's head was too high in my pelvis and there would be a risk of cord prolapse.

So I was wheeled across the hall to Labor and Delivery. By this time, Jeff had registered the kids for school, found someone to watch the kids for the night, and arrived at the hospital to be with me. I got all set up in the delivery room and hooked up to an IV. All that was left was for the midwife on duty at L&D to come and talk with us a bit, and order the pitocin.

Waiting to get the show on the road!

Jeff and I waited for the midwife for several hours. We sat through episode after episode of House Hunters International, we chatted a bit, we sat around doing nothing. Finally, a little before 7 in the evening, the midwife came in and talked to us a bit about what we were going to do. Then her shift ended and a new midwife came in.

By this time, I was tired of waiting! But the long wait ended up being a blessing in disguise. When the midwife checked my cervix, she found that during our long wait the baby's head had descended enough to make it safe to break my water - minimal risk of cord prolapse. Hooray! So we were able to induce labor a bit more naturally and avoid the pitocin altogether.

When the midwife broke my water, she discovered meconium in the amniotic fluid. This didn't really make any difference in the labor and delivery - there was already going to be a pediatric team in the room for the delivery because I had a history of shoulder dystocia (shoulder getting stuck in the pelvis, this happened when Audrey was born).

After my water was broken, Jeff and I were left alone to do our own thing for a while. I spent early labor listening to my affirmations, deep breathing, and basically just relaxing as much as possible. Soon though, the contractions started getting stronger and I got the shakes. I could not stop shaking violently. I felt like I was going to chew my tongue off and I couldn't control it. I had Jeff help me through the contractions by pushing really hard on my lower back, and later on my knees, as the contractions got more and more intense.

I was so grateful for the midwife at this point. She helped me to stay focused during the contractions. She reminded me to keep my voice down low instead of high-pitched, she told me how great I was doing, she helped Jeff provide counter-pressure by pushing on one knee while he pushed on the other. She remained calm despite my yelling and roaring. It was just so helpful to have her there with me.

As I got closer and closer to delivery, people started coming in and getting everything ready. The pediatric team was working on the warming table, the midwife was working on her stuff, and the nurse kept reminding me not to push yet, don't push yet, try not to push. Yeah right. At this point, I was doing whatever my body felt like, and it felt like pushing! I feel like everyone was running around frantically while I sat there and pushed. The stirrups were going up as I felt the head in the birth canal and yelled, "He's coming!" A few pushes later, and he was out. It was 12:23 am, August 14.

The midwife put him right up on my chest and I said over and over, "My baby, my baby! It's over, it's over! My baby!" I was alternating between being so happy that my baby was there in my arms, and being absolutely ecstatic that I was no longer in labor.

Baby was taken over to the warmer to be checked by the pediatric team. He was given a bit of oxygen, and because of hospital policy, that meant he had to be taken to the nursery for observation. But they left him with my for about 15 minutes before taking him, which allowed us to have our first feeding and some sweet bonding time.

We have named our sweet boy Phillip Stephan Basker. Stephan is pronounced STE-fun, like Stephanie without the -ie. At birth, Phillip weighed 7 lb. 14 oz, and was 21 inches long. He has a head of somewhat dark hair, and looks so much like our other kids did when they were born. He's only been here for 2 weeks, and I already can't imagine life without him.