On Wednesday, February 22nd, I was going on with my usual daily routine, cleaning the house and doing grocery shopping. I had my 38 week check with my midwife. I mentioned my lower back ache and some recent changes that made me think the baby was moving down and getting ready. Midwives here do not measure dilation or effacement until you are past 40 weeks, so I had no idea how much things were actually moving along. The baby's heart rate sounded good. I measured a little low, and the baby's head was down. She told me she did not think I would make it to two more weeks.
That evening, things changed quickly, and I was not feeling well at all. I figured I was just overtired, although I had been napping most afternoons. I went ahead and packed up bags for Dylan and Amelia, just in case the baby arrived before Grandpa and Gigi were here. Eric finally packed his bag too. When I woke up Thursday, February 23rd, I was very uncomfortable. My lower back was sore and I had some mild cramping. I still did not think it was time for the baby. I thought I may go another week feeling like that. I took it easy that day, and Eric and I relaxed on the couch that evening watching some U.S. television through Slingbox. I started feeling my belly tighten and slight cramping about every 20 minutes. That is when I knew IT WAS TIME. But the question is always, "When is it time to go to the hospital?" Speaking of hospital, we made the decision to have the baby at the Chippenham Birthing Centre. The hospital is a 30 minute drive. Since both of my other deliveries were quick, and I mean quick (Amelia was born 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital), I did not want to chance having a baby on the motorway here. The Birthing Centre is a five minute drive from our house. I did not have medicine with Dylan or Amelia, so I was prepared to go all natural for this one too.
Eric was watching me and kept asking if I was ready to go. He was terrified to wait too long. I was blessed to become friends with another mum at school who volunteered to take Dylan and Amelia at any hour of the day or night. Of course, Dylan started running a fever at 9:00 p.m., but I figured it would be better to send him to a friend's house than a birthing centre with new babies. So around midnight, contractions were about 10 minutes apart. Eric scooped up the kids, loaded all of the rediculous amount of bags I had packed and we were off.
We arrived at the birthing centre around 12:30. I was the only woman in labor there, and it was very quiet. There were two midwives working that night. It was a much different scene than a busy hospital in the U.S. I was still contracting only 1-2 times every ten minutes, and they were not lasting more than 20-30 seconds. She monitored me for over an hour. One big difference between my hospital experiences and this one was that I was never hooked up to a monitor or machine. The midwife put her hand on my belly and watched the clock to "monitor" contractions. She used the Doppler to listen to the baby's heart rate between contractions. Although there was a computer in the room, the midwife WROTE everything down by hand. I have the "notes" (medical file) that show every detail she recorded from the moment I arrived. It is nice to look back at now since the timing was all kind of a blur to me. But I am telling you, she spent SO much time writing, writing, writing! I was only 2-3cm and still not in a lot of pain, so she suggested I go home and get some rest. WHAT? Send Angie Trost home? Didn't she know how quickly I give birth? Since it was only 5 minutes away, I agreed. We headed home at 1:40am.
My medical notes
I tossed and turned while I kept setting the timer on my phone to see how far apart contractions were. Eric was able to sleep for a while. Around 4:45am, I had a very painful contraction, the baby made a big movement and my water broke. I wish I would've had a video camera in the room. When I told Eric my water broke, he JUMPED up out of bed and said, "What do I do?" We were back at the birthing centre by 5:00am. I am pretty sure Eric drove there in about 3 minutes. Contractions were one on top of the other with hardly any time for me to breathe in between. I was 4cm dilated when we arrived. It was a painful hour, to say the least. I did try some "gas and air" as they call it here. It is Entenox which is a mix of 50% Nitrous oxide and 50% Oxygen. It is not harmful to the baby, and it goes out of your system as soon as you breathe it out. I am not sure it helped with the pain, but it helped me to concentrate on breathing in deeply. The midwife was very supportive to me. She stepped into the other room, and I beeped her just before 6:00 am to tell her I felt like it was close. She told me not to push. Well, that was about all I could do at that point. With about 3 pushes, at 6:05am, our new baby was here! I was the one who got to discover that the baby was a GIRL! Eric and I were both surprised and overjoyed at the same time. She was absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way! With tears running down our cheeks, we held her on my chest and tried to take in all that had just happened. It does not matter if it is your first, second, third or more...having a child is one of the most exciting moments in your life. Children are truly a miracle from God.
Cora Madeline Trost
February 24, 2012
6:05 am
6 lbs. 12oz.
20.5 inches long
5 minutes old
First snuggle with Daddy
They weigh in kg, so we had to convert it to 6lbs. 12 oz.
Getting measured
A view of the delivery room while Cora is getting checked over
Her very first nappy (diaper) Don't worry, I am not keeping count!
Snuggling with Mommy
Daddy got her all wiped off and dressed
I was prepared with towels, blankets, diapers, wipes, a hat, onesies, clothes, etc. I will say I was impressed that the birthing centre provided towels, blankets and even a hat for Miss Cora to use while we were there. We even received a bag with some freebies of baby products in it. I did have to wear my very own clothes to give birth. No hospital gowns here. I packed water bottles, sports drinks and snacks. They offered us water and of course tea and coffee. They even brought me breakfast. Overall, I had a good experience at the birthing centre. They left it up to me as to how long I would stay there. I had to stay a minimum of 3 hours, and I could stay up to 24 hours. I truly was feeling great, other than a little tired, and I decided to head home after the kids had a chance to come and meet their new baby sister. Eric left around 9:15am to pick up Dylan and Amelia.
Amelia and Dylan with their new baby SISTER! They were so thrilled to meet her. They were very sweet to her right away.
Mommy and the kids
They were so curious about Cora
Our first family picture with Cora
Less than 5 hours old, we prepared Cora to go home. Eric was Superdad, walking out of the birthing centre with all 3 kids. He got them all buckled and picked me up at the front door. We were home by 11:00 am. Wow, our lives changed completely in those quick 12 hours. It did not seem real that she was here already and we were home so quickly. By the time we got a hold of our siblings in the U.S., we were already home with her.
The next chapter in our journey began...life with the 5 of us. And it felt just perfect. We are so very blessed.
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