l'histoire de ma naissance

I haven't written the story about Sonia's birthday yet, although I have told it to quite a few people. But, I should write it down before I forget. I already forgot some of the details, then they came back to me. 

On her birthday, I started having some contractions around 7 am. It seemed like they were right around 5 minutes apart. They weren't very intense though. I called the OB's office around 8:30 to ask the triage nurse what she thought. She suggested laying down for an hour and doing kick counts and recording the time and length of contractions. At that point I hadn't dropped Isaac off at preschool yet, so I figured I had better do that if I was truly going to lay down for an hour. This was three days after her due date, so I figured it could definitely be happening in the next few days. There was one indicator that was not there with her though, and I would tell you but I think it is too much information. :) So, I thought maybe it was not really labor yet.

Anyway, I dropped Isaac off and came back home, emailed work to let them know I would be in late, maybe. I also called Henri (Papa) to let him know how things were going, and told him I would call him back in about an hour. Then I laid down. I actually started falling asleep. But, the contractions woke me up, and I wrote them down. This should have been a clue that they were "the real deal", but no, I had not had my little "sign" yet so I wasn't convinced. They went from being 7 minutes apart to 10 minutes apart by the end of the hour. I called the triage nurse and told her, but already had my mind made up. I was going to work. Laying on the couch was not going to speed things along. Plus, there were just one or two little details - things I could still wrap up, and be really, really prepared. The nurse said, "Oh, it might be a few days. Call me if they get to be 5 minutes apart." 

So I went to work. People, of course, said, "You're here?" Yes, nothing was significant enough. I sat there a long time, tried to come up with little errands I needed to run so I would be getting up and walking around. I had "re-scheduled" the morning kids to the afternoon. I also saw one of the ladies who is covering for me while I am on leave, and I said, well, she should plan on going to see those kids tomorrow just in case I didn't get to see them that afternoon. That way I knew they would get their speech time that week either way. If they got it twice, I know that none of the parents or teachers would have cared, especially since we did not have services the next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. So, most of my kids were covered! Hooray! I just had one kid that I was going to see at 1, then maybe hang out in Springfield and go see the other kids at 3. I was starting to feel like the contractions were getting a little more noticeable, even as I was just at work talking to people. 

I went to work with the kid at 1. For some reason the kid had a long attention span that day and we worked longer than normal on speech, about 40 minutes instead of 25. I had four noticeable contractions during that time, though, and one more before I left. So, I thought, I'd better stay in Springfield because I didn't want to go back to Eugene, then drive back to Springfield if things became less intense. I called the triage nurse around 2 to ask if there was a way to speed things up. It was becoming uncomfortable, but contractions were still too far apart - about 10 minutes! They took a message and said they would call me back. So I checked my work email and finally around 2:40 (according to Nana's phone), I called Nana to tell her the nurse hadn't called back yet and I was feeling such and such a way, just to let her know, but hadn't had the "sign" yet, so I was just unsure. She decided that I probably really was in labor, "sign" or no sign, and said she would start packing up the car and come over. I thought that would be okay, because at that point I was pretty sure it was going to be within the next 24 hours. The nurse still didn't call back, and around 2:50 I decided, forget it, I couldn't possibly focus on teaching a kid how to say their /s/ sound correctly through these contractions. 

So I drove back to the office in Eugene, and dropped off all my work things. By this point (3:00), I knew (somewhere deep down, although apparently I had not admitted it to myself) I was having the baby that evening or night and was not going to be back to work tomorrow.  Or if I was, I could easily stop by in the morning and grab my things again. No big deal. Again, co-workers were surprised to see me there. I called Henri (Papa) and told him that he should definitely leave at 4:30 and not stay late that day. He said, "I think I should probably start driving now, since I have an hour and a half to go." I agreed that this was probably a wise choice. Then I drove home. I needed to grab my bag for the hospital with all my things in it (no, of course I wasn't smart enough to have put it in the car that morning). I finally decided to call the triage nurse back, because by now it was 3:30, and an hour an a half is a pretty long time to wait when you are in labor. They got me back to her after a long wait, and she said she had just tried to call me - what a coincidence - not that I believed her... So I explained how things were going, but she must have just gone off her note from before, because near the end she said, "So, your contractions are about 10 minutes apart. So you need to walk to speed them up." I said to myself, no, I think these are definitely 7 minutes apart at the most. I said, "So, should I walk to my son's preschool to pick him up? Do you think that would help?" She said it should help. 

I hung up and sat there for a few minutes, thinking, then decided, no, forget that. I was so not going to walk to pick up Isaac. My contractions were getting closer together. I called Nana. She was stuck in traffic around Eddyville (construction?) and said she would probably be about 10 minutes late to pick up Isaac. So I formulated a new plan, because I didn't want my poor first baby to be wondering where everyone was, as the teachers were ready to close the school. I decided I would pick Isaac up myself, and drive with him to the hospital, and just meet everyone there. I called Papa to let him know this too. That actually worked out well for him because he was on I-5 anyway, commuting back from Salem. 

So, I loaded everything into the car and drove off. I went to Isaac's school to pick him up. Sweet little guy said, "Mama, do you want to see me do something?" but I had to tell him, no, not today, how about later? "Isaac, we have to go now." We got his things and got in the car, around 4:10 now. The contractions were getting worse and I said, "Isaac, Mama is going to have to breathe some while we drive. We are going to the hospital and the baby is coming soon." When the first contraction happened while we were still sitting in the parking lot, I had to breathe through it. Isaac asked, "Mama, what is that sound?" Of course I was breathing hard. So I said, "Isaac, Mama has to breathe." I decided that we had better take the freeway rather than Coburg Road. Too many stoplights. I had at least four contractions on the way to the hospital, which were now 4 minutes apart. Poor Isaac, I had not planned to have him at the hospital: "Mama, why are you breathing like that?" 

We got to the hospital, parked, and took the elevator up to the first floor. Our last outing as just Isaac and me, I guess. I had heard you were supposed to check in at the front desk, then they send someone to get you. So I went up to the front desk, and said, "Is this where you check in for labor and delivery?" 

They asked, "What is the patient's name?" 

I said, "I am the patient."

 "Oh! Did you pre-register, what is your last name?" 

"C-A...." (contraction)

"Oh, it's okay, you can wait." (to the other guy at the desk) "Can you send a wheelchair out for her? Thanks." 

I finished giving her my information, then they brought out the wheelchair, which was wonderful, because they are so wide that Isaac was able to sit next to me. It was amusing enough for him to be momentarily distracted while I tried to be distracted from the contractions. We waited a few minutes, then they brought me up to the 5th floor. I told them I felt like I was going to vomit, and the lady had me grab the trash can on the way in. At the desk, she asked if we could have an "emesis bag". Lovely. Something about the sight of those bags just tells me, no, I can't do it. I don't want to see my puke in a bag. Gross. So, I did not throw up after all. There was this uncertainty then, around 4:30 p.m. "Do you want her in triage or a delivery room?" Well, for crying out loud, I was not going home. I knew that. But, after much hemming and hawing, they decided I should probably go to the triage room first. 

So, into triage we went. I mentioned that my husband should be here pretty soon. Luckily, that was the case. By now the contractions were about 3 minutes apart. I didn't mean to be a jerk, but when the nurse asked, after taking my information and vital signs, how far apart are your contractions now, I thought to myself - maybe I said, "I don't know, can't you tell when I put my head down and breathe loudly? I think it's happened multiple times already! The contractions are pretty obvious to me!" But maybe I just said, "I don't know, about every 3 minutes..." And then, hooray! Papa came in! I was so very relieved because I felt like someone else needed to be there for Isaac at this point. When the nurse said, "Now we are going to check your cervix," Papa kindly said, "Isaac, let's go out in the hall." Excellent plan. Once they were gone, I told myself, forget it, this time I am not going to be tough. If I have to whine, wail and cry a little bit, so be it. This hurts. The nurse tried to check, and after again what seemed like a very long time, she said, "I can't find your cervix. Maybe it's behind the baby's head." Okay, if you can feel the baby's head... whatever, you're not sending me home, that's what matters. So finally this nurse advocated for me and said, "Look, she needs a delivery room." Then she said, "She's at +1, I could feel baby's head and a bulging bag of waters, but couldn't find the cervix." What is +1? +1 cm more than the 10? Who knows. Anyway, they wheeled me over to a room, which was good because I didn't pay a lot of attention to what happened on the way over there. 

Once we got there, I had a thought, "Wow, this is really painful. I definitely understand why some people get epidurals." I had no idea how far along things were. Isaac was asking, "Why is Mama crying?" Papa was trying alternately to rub my back and help Isaac stay in one corner. We didn't really want him to see a baby get pushed out. It seemed like a little too much information for a little boy. My water broke on its own in the delivery room, and Isaac said, "Mama, why did you pee so much?" That made me smile. I was glad he could interpret things on his own terms.

 Finally though, I felt like I had to push. I didn't really remember what labor felt like with Isaac, but what I will (maybe) remember from this time is that the pushing part, although it probably should be the most painful part, is definitely not. When you know you have to push, you know it will be over soon, and knowing pain will be over soon is pretty empowering. Or relief-inducing or something. It is a powerful painkiller, that is for sure. Again, luckily Nana came in right then, and whisked Isaac away into the corner with a new book she had brought for him. She was just in time, because Sonia was born five minutes later, at 5:40. 

And that, my dear, is the story. 

Isaac's summary to Nana that night was this: "My Mama was weeping because she had a tummy ache." and "My Mama peed a LOT."