A Birth Story with a Man's Perspective

(Warning: this is long due to me wanting to get it down for posterity's sake.)

The chain of events in photos.

Description below.

Above: Thursday night as I was checking in.

Below: Me in the final stage (minutes) of Labor- I did not know this was taken.

Lily's birth has a unique story as does each child's but the above picture is the way Peter has described her entrance into this life.

Joey was my first and so I did not know what to expect. I was induced the day before my due date and spent 4 1/2 hours off and on pitocin. I got an epidural and Joey was born 15 minutes la

ter by the doctor. For a first timer, it was pretty quick and gave me valuable knowledge to tuck away until the next delivery.

Jon, I had been having contractions all day long off and on. It was getting later and so we headed to the hospital to see if it was real. My contractions pretty much stopped but Jon's heart rate dropped low after one last contraction so we stayed. I got antibiotics and then they broke my water and started pitocin and 1 1/2 hours late he was born without the doctor. This time I went all natural because I had almost made it the first time so I knew what to expect.

Arabella, due to the previous speedy deliveries I was a bit nervous about making it to the hospital for her delivery. Again, I had some contractions during the night, headed to the hospital for them to stop and get sent home. I slept. I had a good hard contraction about 1:30 and had one about every 20-30 minutes until about 3:15 when they got a little closer. At 4:05 my water broke at home and we made a mad rush to the hospital where the nurses did not believe I was ready to deliver until they saw the head was crowning and I was ready to push. If anyone ever tells you to just keep your legs closed I encourage you to laugh in their face. Anyhow, Arabella came into the world at 4:54 and was caught by a nurse wearing one glove that was only about 3/4 of the way on.

Now Lily. Her pregnancy was complicated by my anti-phosphlipid syndrome (clotting disorder). Due to this, my OB and my peri-natalogist did not want me to go over 39 weeks so I was induced at 38 1/2. I had to stay overnight at the hospital where I was given some cervix softener and antibiotics (strep positive).

About 6:30 am I was started on pitocin and my doctor broke my water about 7:00 at which time I was only about a 1 1/2 to 2 cm. It did not seem like a whole lot was happening and so they kept increasing the pitocin. About 9 am they had me roll on to my side and that seemed to do the trick. I began to have stronger contractions. About 9:56, according to Peter, I started to really complain of pressure. I was a 5 but would go to a 7 with a contraction and I was nauseated which is an indicator for me that the end is near. I asked them to call the doctor and they gave me some Zofran for the nausea. My doctor showed up about 10:15 and checked me, I was an 8. She told me not to push yet- good advice but begins to get tricky when you are getting medications that causes your uterus to contract on its own and you don't really have control over that muscle anyways.

My nurse (who was training a new nurse) came in and I told her that I was really uncomfortable and did not think I could make it any longer. She said okay, put on a glove and opened my legs to check me and there was no stopping the inevitable. My doctor who had stepped into the hall came in and saw the head was about 1 inch out, turned to put on her gloves and missed the delivery. Yes, that is right. The picture above is how Peter described what happened "A great white shark launching out of the water". I asked if he could not at least call it a whale (it seems more majestic), he said, "No it really was more like a great white."

Now, mind you I did not push- except for what my body was doing beyond my control. So, basically once the head was out past the widest part, Lily "launched" into this world and almost landed in the nurse's lap. (The new nurse said later that she was really glad she had not come in to check me because she did not think she was ready to deliver a baby. The nurse who delivered worked in California where apparently it is not unusual for doctors to miss births and so she had done dozens.) My doctor was stunned to say the least and after checking me said, "Now, Miss Lily you could not have waited for me to get my gloves on."

It was quite the experience. I was so relieved she was here and healthy! We both were healthy-

I did not have any major bleeding which was a risk due to my blood thinners but I was in great hands. Lily came out wanting to eat- she is still a good eater but initially she lost weight. We came home on Saturday night and she weighed a mere 5 lbs 13 oz. (A whole pound lighter than any of our other kids.) She is filling out though- by Monday she was back to 6lbs even.

Lily and I ready to go home and her foot is as narrow as and as long as Peter's thumb.

My parents came on Thursday night and stayed until the next Saturday. We loved having them here. The kids had a great time with grandma and grandpa. Jon and Arabella cried when it was time for them to go- as did I. I love being with my family and having the extra help was wonderful. It also helped that my dad has an i-pad with angry birds and my mom has an i-touch with angry birds and a few games for Arabella. My boring non-gaming phone just can not compare.

Lily gets held plenty by all of us. Jon is especially doting. He will just wonder over by her and give her a kiss or rub her hair. She looks most like him. I think she is going to be a blond. Her hair now reminds me of Peter's baby pictures and he was very blond as a kid.

Our life is an adventure and we are trying to make the most of each day-with these 4 kids!