Quentin's Birth: Part 2

The beginning of this birth experience was much like Malcolm's. Uneventful.

Elliot and I put on a television show after my midwife broke my water and she and her assistants left for dinner (obviously close to the house so that if things progressed quickly, they could be back quickly). We were watching Sherlock on Netflix when they got back from dinner, but still no progress besides the regular contractions I had been having for months. I was leaning over my exercise ball and swinging my hips from side-to-side to wiggle this little guy out. No progress for 3 hours, just like Malcolm"s birth. So it was 10:00 p.m. Alison and the girls were upstairs in the loft doing paperwork and would come down every once in a while to check The Baby's heartbeat and take my blood pressure. I don't even think we were keeping track of contractions because it bugged me last time. It was such a beautiful night that Alison told us to go for a walk.

I was already in my birth dress, but oh well, it was 10:00, right? So we headed out into our cute little neighborhood for a walk on a most beautiful night. We only ran into one couple from our Ward who were coming home from their date and had no idea that I was moments away from starting active labor. Walking is awesome. Note to self: Next time, walk. By the time we got to the end of the beginning of the other cul-de-sacs on the other side of the neighborhood, I had to pee and I had started having some real contractions. None that I had to stop for, but I think I also wanted to get home to pee so I wouldn't have to pee on the lawn in our new neighborhood. Welcome to the neighborhood Dibbles!

When we got home, I did my business and then we put our show back on. It was the end of the Season, so exciting things were happening, but I honestly can't remember any of it. It was the last episode at the very end when I got to the point in active labor and contracting regularly where I needed silence so I could focus completely. However, it was an exciting and confusing ending to the show and Elliot had questions and wanted to discuss. I can't remember what happened besides he was just talking and I wasn't willing to answer. T.V. off. I believe it was midnight by then.

Alison came downstairs to check on me and said that the water in the pool was ready upstairs if I wanted to get in. I was worried that I would be getting into the water too soon and it wouldn't help with relief, but I really wanted to be in a different position and water sounded awesome. We headed upstairs and I changed to get into the pool. There is just a transition (I think it's actually called transition) when the contractions go from intense to SUPER intense and as I was getting into the pool, that happened. It was awesome. Perfect timing.

The water was cold. I didn't want to birth in cold water. They grabbed buckets to empty some of the water to have room to put warm water in and in a matter of minutes, the water was warm again. I tried a different position than I did in Malcolm's birth (I was sitting down with him), so I was on my hands and knees and I just didn't feel right, so I got back in the sitting position. If there's a next time, I'll try something else because sitting can compress the pelvis. I didn't notice that the place I chose to sit was in an awkward place for everyone else, but if they cared, they didn't do anything about it!

I was acutely more aware of the noises I was making this time. Not only because Elliot and I kind of laugh about it from last time because I was LOUD and I have a deep voice, but because I was pretty sure our windows were open and it was the middle of the night and our neighbors were probably freaking out about their new neighbors. So I did my best to suppress the noises, but still not hold my breath. Next time I'm just letting it go. Seriously, who cares? I breathe my babies out!

I wasn't aware of time, but it did seem like it was taking longer than I wanted. My body finally started to push, but I'm not sure how long that took either. It was different than last time and because of the amazing natural pushes my body did last time, I had decided not to interfere with what my body was already doing on it's own and just let it push. I had discussed this decision with Elliot and Alison before we started anything, so I knew they were both aware of my wishes. So I'm not sure how long my body was pushing when I heard Elliot say, "Whitney, you need to push!"

Did I hear him correctly? Silly guy, we had already discussed this. I'm not pushing.

Then I heard Alison say, "Whitney! You need to push!"

WAIT. WHAT? I had to bring myself back to the room and figure out why they were telling me to push. Apparently The Baby was a big one and his shoulders were a little bit stuck and he needed help getting out. So Elliot told me to push again and I gave it a super lame non-helpful push. Elliot said that I was falling asleep between the pushes, but really I was just in my zone. I finally gave it a good push and The BIG Baby came out!

That is the best feeling in the entire world. I tried to pull him up onto my chest by my face, but he wouldn't go that far. Apparently his placenta was at the top of my uterus and so the cord was stretched to capacity and that is as far as he'd go. That was alright though because I could see him better. What a sweet big baby I just had!

He had so much hair and was already so chubby! He gave us all a good cry and pinked up really fast as I cuddled him in the water. Elliot cut his umbilical cord after it was done pulsing (it took about 15 minutes) and I handed Elliot his new baby boy!