Abby's birth story

For weeks leading up to the birth, I thought I was going to have a boy and at or before 37 weeks. I was so sure that we were going to have a boy that we didn't even have a girls' name picked out. I had Eleanor at 37 weeks and 3 days and heard repeated stories of how quick and early the second pregnancies were. So since being overweight and pregnant during the dead of summer wasn't much fun, I convinced myself that I was going to have this baby early.

37 weeks came and went...

38 weeks. TUESDAY. I went to my weekly midwife appointment and even though I didn't believe in intervention, I asked my midwife to stripe my membrane. She called it "massaging the cervix" but we all know what it is. A-man wasn't too thrilled about the fact that I had something "done" cuz he thought I was messing with nature but he also didn't have to carry or pop out a baby from his crotch!! So he really doesn't have a say.

SATURDAY. 5:25AM
I was partially up but wanted to sleep as much as I can before Elle woke up so I rolled onto my side. POP! I always thought that people hearing their water break was a myth but I guess it isn't. So I jumped out of bed and ran to the toilet and had completely soaked my underwear and shorts. I jumped so fast that I didn't get a drop on my bed and only a few drops along the way to the bathroom. I'm pretty proud of that feat:).
So I finished releasing my bag of water into the toilet and jumped into the bathtub to clean up before I had to go to the hospital and wait for the contractions to start. I left a message with the midwife on call and then called my mom to come over so she could watch Eleanor which was an excuse for her NOT to be at the hospital with me as she did when Elle was born. that's a whole 'nother story.


I received a call from my midwife shortly thereafter and she told me the regular drill, "call back when your contractions are less than 5 minutes apart for an hour". blah blah blah.. but she also said, "if you don't start your contractions by 12 hours from now(5PM) come in anyways so we could start induction".
The protocol in the states for water breaking is that the baby needs to be delivered 24 hours from the moment the water breaks. Other countries aren't too strict about it and let women go a few days without intervention.
But I was SURE (ha!)I was going to start contractions any moment so I got ready. My mom came over and took Eleanor to her place and A-man and I just waited and waited. Nothing was happening so at lunch time we went to our favorite Indian restaurant and thought that if my body wasn't going to do it naturally, surely the Dal Mahkani would do it. But nothing...

I did have several contractions throughout the day but nothing that were spaced really far apart and non too painful.

4PM Midwife calls and asks how I'm doing.
Since I was fine I asked her what she would do once I got there and she said they would first try some natural induction methods like nipple stimulation and that she would put me on a breast pump. So I took out my manual pump which I totally forgot how to use and forgot to add a crucial part to it and struggled to get a decent suction but managed somehow. I pumped each boob a few minutes and got up to get ready to go and guess what, I got a contraction! Voila, just like that! It actually worked!

6:30PM Checked into the hospital and was seen by midwife.
I was 6cm dilated and my midwife, Darcy, really went at it to get my cervix a little more "ready". Not fun at all.
I walked down the hallway once, sat on my bed, and since I had A-man, a doula (provided by the hospital) and a friend there, we just laughed it out except while my contractions hit, which were regular at about 3 minutes apart. I managed to get up and get into the whirlpool but by 9PM it was getting more and more difficult to relax. The thing that my bradley method teacher taught us that I remembered from Eleanor was that each contraction is short, served a purpose, and there's no residual pain. I kept thinking that for each contraction and as much as I wanted it to be over, I knew that it was getting me closer to my baby.

I managed to get back to the bed and on my hands and knees which took the pressure off my back but as soon as I got off my back, I wanted to push. I felt like I "wanted" to push more than "needed" to but I did it anyways. My midwife didn't check me to see if I was further along and she got the birthing "kit" ready which I thought was premature and weird but she knew way before I knew and sure enough when I started pushing, it was time. I pushed twice and although the third push felt like it lasted forever, it was the one. During that last third contraction, I pushed in little spurts, first the head, rest, rest, rest, then the shoulders which means the rest of the body. Like I said, it seemed like it was forever and but it was just one loooooooooooong push. Of course I wanted to just push with all my might and keep going but as hard as it was, my midwife reminded me to stop and start so I didn't tare. At the moment, I didn't care and just wanted her out but thank God I listened!!

10:05PM Pop goes the weasel!
Abigail came out completely covered with vernix, it was totally gross! I actually made a yuck face and didn't really want to hold her. But of course I did and when I did, I got over it real fast! Elle came out clean as a whistle so I wasn't expecting it but I guess it had to do with the water breaking early. She didn't cry much just like her sister and I could tell A-man was a little disappointed that it wasn't a boy but he also got over that really fast.

Our delivery team really respected my wishes on my birth plan and let me hold her for the first hour before they took her to weigh her and give her the eye ointment and stuff. I actually didn't even know how tall she was until discharge 24 hours later but since we were so busy trying to figure out a name for our surprise girl baby, we didn't have time to wonder about anything else.

She's now 7 weeks old and has been a dream. She sleeps mostly and when she's awake to nurse, she goes right back to sleep. As she's getting older, she's staying awake a little longer which I should love but I just feel so bad that I can't spend as much time with her as i did with Eleanor because of Eleanor! because I have to be with her older sister so she doesn't destroy something. I can tell already that Abigail will be the center of the family, the one that keeps us all together and calm. She looks at you and things just seem right in the world. Eleanor makes us laugh and entertains us and Abigail will keep us calm and content. I love my girls and am so happy that they will have each other in life long after A-man and I are gone. And since this will be our last baby, it really makes me sad that they are growing so fast. It's been 7 weeks already, I just can't believe it. But then again, it's been 27 months since Eleanor's birth and that also seems like just days ago.