On this Labor Day, 2005, Arlo Linden Waisman is 3 weeks old. His entry into this world was on his terms, and we're thrilled with our timely gift!
Between about 33 and 35 weeks I was spending a fair amount of time at the library because the summer heat was so intense. I was having a strange, very painful, sensation low in my abdomen at very predictable times, usually after sitting down for a while. I'd stand up and have to clutch on to a bookshelf for several minutes until the pain passed (now that I've been through labor, I can say the pain felt the same as contractions of active labor).
When I went for my weekly visit at 36 ½ weeks, the midwife's jaw dropped as she felt the baby's head at 0 station, my cervix 90 % effaced and 3 cm dilated. She jestfully asked us to please wait 4 days until the GBS test results were back before we had the baby. All that "sensation" in the library was my early labor! Glad to get that out of the way!
For two and a half weeks, we thought "ANY DAY" and had plans for each potentiality. Many knitting and sewing projects, meal freezing and baby shopping trips later we spent a day doing more joyful baby preparations for ourselves. We took pregnant belly pictures, wrote blessings for our new baby, had a talk with babe to let him/ her know we were ready and not afraid, and we took a relaxing walk to Olbrich Gardens in the afternoon.
Monday morning I started out mellow, doing some knitting and reading and took a bath. Before anything significant happened, I knew I was going to birth on this day. At lunchtime I felt what I thought was my broken bag of waters leaking out. I finished lunch, started feeling some cramping and called David at work to let him know and checked in with our midwife. I was so grateful Aszani answered the phone when I called the birth center, this never had happened before, but this time it was perfect. She said labor would probably start soon and I should lie down for a nap, I'd probably be up all night. And she said she was excited. This simple statement meant a lot to me, of all the births she's attended and babies she's caught and held, it made me feel proud, special, and excited myself, to know that she happily anticipated the birth of our baby.
At 12:45 I laid down with a heating pad and a book, hoping (unrealistically) to snooze. I simultaneously opened my book and had an intense contraction. I kept trying to read but kept getting interrupted. Finally I got up to get a watch and realized I'd had four contractions in less than 20 minutes. Another phone call to Aszani, and she told us to come in whenever we felt ready.
David got home in record time (biking from his downtown office in 10 instead of the usual 20 minutes) and started bustling around the house organizing everything. When he saw how close the contractions were, he called Aszani and they quickly decided we should get on our way.
When I got to the birth center, I was 6 cm dilated and 95% effaced; it was shortly after 2 pm. The next hour and a half went so fast I don't know what happened. I spent a fair amount of the early part in the tub with David, moaning deeply, on hands and knees. Cold, wet cloths on my face felt good, and massaging my legs. While in the tub contractions became incredibly powerful and I kept saying "I can't do this" and I really believed I could not but at the same time, knew I had to. I knew I had to prove it to myself. I wanted to cry and complain and I did. Nothing I thought was going to be helpful seemed to be helping. Not the ball, not the rocking chair, dancing, rocking, and eventually not the tub. The pain of the contractions was undeniably overwhelming, but it was the frustration of not feeling like I was dealing well with it that really challenged me. That's about when I was told that I was in transition and nothing was going to be comfortable. I could not imagine I was truly in transition, I felt like I'd just arrived at the birth center! It was TOO FAST! But so relieving to hear. I knew if it was transition then I could do it because it couldn't get any harder. At some point I ended up folding a towel in half and putting it on the floor. Somehow the whole team knew just what to do and I knelt on the floor, leaned forward clutching my husband who sat on the floor in front of me. And I pushed.
I wasn't afraid; I don't even remember any pain, just pushing. As I pushed, I pulled David tightly into me and I was getting good feedback and could feel the pressure lowering in my body. The midwives, thankfully, remembered our desire to have David catch his baby and asked if we wanted to do that still. We quickly rearranged so David could catch and I clutched my friend and our birth assistant, Jody. I remember her kissing the top of my head and appreciating the subtle affection and security of knowing I was surrounded by wonderful and loving people that we had chosen to be present at this awesome event.
Pushing generally felt good, and although I was excited to meet the baby and knew it was close, I wanted labor to be over and I wanted the baby out. The next thing I recall is seeing my little bluish, vernix-covered baby in front of me and my husband, David at my side. The first few moments were a blur. I was in such awe of this little creature that I hardly noticed the tending of midwives and birth assistant happening around us, and I didn't even think to check the baby's gender. Not until there was a fountain of pee did I realize we had a son!
That night we could have gone home or stayed at the birth center. We chose to stay at the birth center and had a precious and relaxing evening and night sharing the bed as a new family. We all even got a little sleep.
When I went for my weekly visit at 36 ½ weeks, the midwife's jaw dropped as she felt the baby's head at 0 station, my cervix 90 % effaced and 3 cm dilated. She jestfully asked us to please wait 4 days until the GBS test results were back before we had the baby. All that "sensation" in the library was my early labor! Glad to get that out of the way!
At 12:45 I laid down with a heating pad and a book, hoping (unrealistically) to snooze. I simultaneously opened my book and had an intense contraction. I kept trying to read but kept getting interrupted. Finally I got up to get a watch and realized I'd had four contractions in less than 20 minutes. Another phone call to Aszani, and she told us to come in whenever we felt ready.
I wasn't afraid; I don't even remember any pain, just pushing. As I pushed, I pulled David tightly into me and I was getting good feedback and could feel the pressure lowering in my body. The midwives, thankfully, remembered our desire to have David catch his baby and asked if we wanted to do that still. We quickly rearranged so David could catch and I clutched my friend and our birth assistant, Jody. I remember her kissing the top of my head and appreciating the subtle affection and security of knowing I was surrounded by wonderful and loving people that we had chosen to be present at this awesome event.
