Reece Avory Hall

The Birth Story

 Earlier in my pregnancy, I had experienced a lot of anxiety with the idea of going through labor and delivery (shout out to those who shared their horror stories with me). After a lot of prayer, my guess date approached, and I had a feeling like everything would work out perfectly. My guess date was Wednesday, March 12th. I felt very excited and also a little nervous that the time would be soon.

Starting Wednesday night (on my guess date: good job doctor!), around 7:00, I started feeling some pain in my back and lower abdomen -which I now know were contractions. They would last about 30 seconds and would be 10-12 minutes apart. I was confused about what I was feeling because I never felt the "tightening" in my stomach like women talk about or the movies show. But they hurt enough to keep me from falling asleep and I had to breathe through the pain. I felt as though I was being stabbed in my lower abdomen. I couldn't do anything to make the pain subside.

Because sleep wasn't an option, I came out to the living room in hopes that a movie would keep me distracted. I didn't want to experience this on my own so I woke up Malcolm and asked him to stay up with me. He willingly came out to the living room and we watched "Wreck it Ralph"! Well, I didn't really watch it but breathed through contractions and caught at least my favorite part of the movie: the laffy taffy scene (Sha, la, la la la la la). The pain was between 7 and 15 minutes apart and lasted for 45 seconds to 1 minute. I still never felt any "tightening" in my stomach. Just the stabbing in my abdomen and back. It seriously felt like someone was stabbing me with a dull butter knife in my lower abdomen every 10 minutes. I pray I never truly find out what that would feel like but I imagine it was similar to my experience. I wonder if someone's ever died that way? It's gotta be on the "100 worst ways to die" list.

Okay, back to my story...

Malcolm had to get some sleep before going to school so I allowed him to sleep a few hours and I also tried to. The time came for him to go to class and I spent the day at home. The pain continued at 10-15 minutes apart and 1 minute a piece for the entire day. I could not focus on homework. But lets be serious, even if I didn't have contractions, I probably wouldn't be doing homework on my guess date. I would have been too excited that the time was getting close.)  I was very excited that Reece could be coming soon but also confused on if what I was feeling was actually labor.

I remember getting an energy boost sometime in that day and getting up to clean the apartment. When the contraction came, I would kneel down and breathe through it. After it left, I would continue cleaning. The contractions were beginning to hurt more but I still never felt the "tightening". I anxiously looked forward to when Malcolm would get home so I didn't have to go through it alone. I felt as though I should ask him to skip his last class of the day and come home sooner instead.

When he got home, I felt like I could take a walk around the block. As we walked, I would have to stop when the pain came and lean on him. We walked around the blocks a few times and the contractions were about 6 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. Still no tightening. Was this really what labor felt like or was I fooling myself? After about an hour of this, we decided it wouldn't hurt to go to the hospital and get checked.

After changing into a lovely hospital gown, getting hooked up to monitors, and answering a million questions, they discovered I was at a four. A four?! Oh boy, did I have a long way to go still. But now I knew for sure that this was labor. They told us to walk around the hospital for an hour and come back to get checked. I continued to have the stabbing pain in my abdomen and back but no tightening in my stomach. I leaned on Malcolm for support when the pain came and then walked when it went away.

After returning to get checked, my contractions were closer together and I was at a 5. They admitted us. I had no idea what to expect. I had never done this before. I started to get pretty anxious. After calling Dr. Codd, he suggested that we break my water to get the process going faster. I did not have a "birth plan" so after discussing it with Malcolm, we decided that would be okay. I still did not feel like I HAD to get the epidural but they told me I would probably progress pretty quickly so I could get the epidural now to be prepared. I decided on the epidural.

The guy came in to administer the epidural. He was funny and witty. He explained to Malcolm everything he was doing and let Malcolm watch it all. At one point,when trying to put the needle in, he had to "wiggle it around" because my back was so tough. Malcolm started breathing with me. I thought he was trying to help me get through the contraction. But he was actually trying not to pass out from the epidural! The long needle being wiggled into my back really got to him! I remember the nurse asking if he was okay :) He started getting "the look" but never completely passed out.

The epidural is a gift from heaven. I felt complete relief and was able to lay in the bed and watch Friends and at least relax a little. Because I was feeling so good, Malcolm decided to take a nap. At this point, it was around 10 pm and neither of us had slept much the night before so we were both really tired. The nurse had given me a barf bag since the epidural can make your blood pressure drop and cause nausea to set it. Around 11, I felt like I was going to throw up. Where did that barf bag go? I couldn't find it anywhere! I was going to throw up any second. Malcolm! Malcolm's asleep. I couldn't feel my legs to stand up! Nurse! I pushed the button for her to come. "What can I help you with?" Was the response to the button. "I need a barf bag!" She came running in right as it all came up. Luckily, I was able to hold it in my mouth until she got the bag there.  And she showed me where my barf bag had fell to the ground beside my bed. She thanked me for holding it in. Aren't you glad I shared this part with you?

I couldn't sleep, even with the epidural. I was so anxious to see our baby. I was also so concerned that Reece's heart beat was okay. I watched the monitors the whole time. Her heart beat was steady and was not affected by the epidural but I couldn't stop watching it to make sure. I could also see my contractions on the monitor. They had been getting stronger and closer together for the past hour but now, they were very small and far apart. Was I digressing? I had made so much progress and now my body didn't know what to do. I thought for sure they would have to give me petocin to help the process go faster or worst case scenario, I would need an C-section because my body didn't know how to do labor. I could see on the monitor that my contractions were very small.

The nurse came in to check on me. I commented that I noticed my contractions slowing down and being so far apart. "OH, the monitor just slipped off. And actually, you are fully dilated and ready to push!" I guess my body knew what to do after all. I went from a 5 to a 10 in 2 hours. And ready to push? I became very excited that it was almost time to see our baby! "But nurse? Can you wake up my husband?"

He jumped up right as she said I was ready to push. I began pushing with every contraction. Every few minutes a contraction would come and I would push for 8 seconds, 3 times a piece with each contraction. That's 24 seconds a contraction. And...8 constant minutes of pushing an hour. I pushed for three hours so that calls for 24 minutes of continual pushing. I kept getting in trouble for breathing instead of holding my breath when I pushed. I felt better when I breathed so did my own thing. I figured I needed oxygen up to this point in my life so why stop now? :) I understand the nurse was just trying to help though.

I was making slow progress and getting pretty tired. After 2 1/2 hours, they saw how tired I was and that Reece was not moving very much. They suggested that we use a vacuum or forceps to get her out. They wanted me to save the little energy I had left for using one of those means. I didn't want to do it. There was no way I wanted someone putting a vacuum on her head and pulling her out. Wasn't this experience already stressful enough for her? I asked if we try another position  instead. We tried. Still no progress. That was a very difficult decision to make. But I knew if we didn't do something, the process could end in a C-section.

As the doctor felt for her head, I saw his face drop. No wonder why Reece was taking so long, she was in the wrong position. She was coming face up! How had no one known this? Everyone was surprised. The doctor and nurse congratulated me on pushing Reece down as far as she was. "Not many people can get a face-up baby down this far- you're doing great!" I started to not feel so wimpy after hearing this.

We decided on the vacuum. I was very nervous about this. The doctor comforted me saying that the only risks would be some bruising that would go away within the first week. They would try to suction 3 times and if it "popped off"  each time, they wouldn't try anymore. In that case, it would most likely be a C-section. I pushed and the vacuum pulled. It popped off once.

I felt as though my epidural had worn off plenty. They had let it wear off so I could push better.  I could feel my legs almost completely.  The pain became unbearable. I could not think. I could not hear anyone around me. I was in a different realm. The pain had taken me somewhere else. But I was still supposed to push. I traveled to a part of my mind that I did not know was there and gave one last push.

My first thought/feeling was instant relief. Then, all my attention was on this baby girl. She was placed directly on my chest and I fell in love. I tried calming her with my voice. She seemed very frightened. She had a hard time catching her breath, was frantically looking around the room, and had a fearful cry. She did not calm down after a few minutes so they took her to make sure she was breathing okay. They brought her back and I was able to talk/hold her again.

My heart breaks when I think about how scared this little girl was when she first entered the world. It's no wonder why she slept for 2 days after she was born. I know the birth experience will be stressful for babies to some degree no matter how the birth goes but if I could change what happened, I would have let my body progress on it's own (instead of breaking my water) and let things happen more naturally. I think we rushed her too much and she went through more stress than what was necessary. 

Since then, I have fallen in love with her even more. I have felt such a special spirit as we have brought this little one into our home. She has already brought great joy into our lives with her happy attitude. I would go through labor a million times again to get my Reece baby.

This is just the beginning.