Birth story from Corey's perspective

We did it! We had our bundle of joy on Wednesday at 12:47AM. Aidan Christopher was born at 8 lbs 7 oz, 19.5". We're still not too sure of his hair color. When he gets himself all worked up and red-faced, his hair is a slightly dark color. When he's in the sunlight, it's got some reddish undertones and looks a little blonde-brown. He's got a VERY round face and cute chubby cheeks. He's perfect and perfectly cute! Here is a link for the hospital pictures.
I know I love hearing other people's birth stories, so I'm going to put mine up here! I've asked Matt to put his perspective on here too because I'm sure it was a little different for him.
Tuesday morning I begrudgingly woke up for work, but my water broke at 6AM. I'm not going to lie, I might have been a little relieved that I didn't have to go in! But besides that selfish little tidbit, I was disappointed that it broke before we were well into labor because Matt and I were hoping to do much of the laboring at home. However, I was still extremely excited to know for sure that our baby would be born within the next day or two. Since I had been having contractions for a few weeks, I had been going through a rollercoaster of hope that he would be born early. I told Matt that he wouldn't be going into work either, and I'm not sure he entirely believed me. I took a shower just to bide time and be sure, but the water was definitely not stopping. Matt believed me when I showed him. :-) We called the doctor's office around 7. I tested positive for Group B Strep (google it if you don't know what I'm talking about!) and knew that they'd tell me to get my butt in the hospital. First thing the doctor asked me when I told him my water broke was "are you sure?" Come on people. Pretty sure I know when I'm not just peeing my pants (because that happens SO often, right?). We piddled around and got all of our stuff together and got to the hospital about 8. They had to do a test to be sure my water broke...because they wouldn't believe the wet pants for whatever reason. :-) I got moved into a birthing room and got settled in. The birthing rooms at OSF are FABULOUS. They have a private shower, rocking chair, TV and DVD player, a LOT of room to walk around. The lights and heat/air are controllable and I'm pretty sure they're sound-proof. For good reason!
So three hours after my water broke, I still hadn't had a contraction yet. We walked the halls of labor and delivery trying to get something started. I kind of sort of had contractions then, but they weren't any different from the ones I'd had in the weeks before. My midwife Sherry came to see us and recommended that we use the breast pump (sorry for the faint of heart, but this IS a birth story). Nipple stimulation releases the hormone that triggers contractions of the uterus. We took her advice and got some contractions started, but they weren't that powerful nor were they consistent. We pumped for almost 8 hours without too much luck. Believe it or not, that time went fast!
Sherry had to go back to the office for patients' visits during the afternoon, but she came back around 6ish. My contractions at that point were starting to get uncomfortable, but I could still walk during them and they weren't much quicker than 6 or 7 minutes apart. Sherry recommended that we go on a little bit of pitocin to get things kick started. Pitocin is the artificial version of the hormone that causes contractions and is usually given to induce or speed up labor. When given enough, it can make the contractions a lot more powerful than what they are naturally and a lot closer together. It was in our birth plan to not use this drug because it can cause distress on the baby--not giving him enough of a break between contractions could potentially make his heartrate slow down leading to even more interventions blah blah blah. However, the amount that Sherry recommended we start with--2 mL/hour--was an order of magnitude less than what doctors "normally" start women off on. Matt and I decided to give our pumping another 30 minutes or so and talk about our options. We both trust Sherry and knew that she wouldn't recommend anything that would go against what we wanted for our labor unless it was necessary. So around 7:00 PM on Tuesday, I started the pitocin and my labor officially started.
The contractions after that were still a little far apart, but I could feel that they were a lot more productive. I had to practice my relaxing methods and concentrate through them. I found that the pain was concentrated in my back, and Sherry wasn't too happy about that. Back labor means that the baby is facing the front of me. Delivery with a baby in that position is harder because the angle is all off. She had me get in the yoga position Child's Pose and move my hips around to encourage him to get up off my cervix and move around. About 30-45 minutes of this and the pain was now concentrated in the front.
The fabulous thing about labor without an epidural is that you get to move around into positions that are more “comfortable.” As comfortable as one can be during that kind of pain.. I was on the birthing ball for a while, tried standing and a supported squat, side-lying in bed, even had a few contractions on the toilet (what?! it helps open your pelvis naturally!) Around 10:00 my contractions got to the point where they were really intense and I had to moan and really concentrate on relaxing to get through them. Matt was SUCH a good coach, helping me relax my whole body, moaning through them with me, whispering encouraging and loving words. He, Sherry, and my mom gave me soft back rubs and were wonderful at getting me through the really hard ones.
I’d say about 11:00 PM I hit the transition phase between active labor and pushing. The HARDEST part of the labor. The intensity got to the point where I kept thinking I was crazy that I actually wanted a labor without drugs, but I kept mentally convincing myself that it was good for the baby and me, and I was sticking to my guns. While thinking about/planning the birth, I figured I’d lose my mind and ask for an epidural, but I never did! I’m pretty sure I lost my mind at the peaks of those contractions, but I was too worried about how on earth to relax through them and moan my way out of them to ask for anything. My mantra while moaning was “DOWN!” “OPEN!” and “BABY GET OUT!” I’m sure I sounded pretty funny. Good thing for those sound-proofed walls. I was positive I’d hit transition because my body, especially my legs, started shaking uncontrollably. I was on the bed on my side so I didn’t have to worry about falling over or Matt having to support me. I also knew it was transition because just as I was saying “I think I’m going to get sick,” I threw up all over Matt. Poor guy! It wasn’t long after that that I started pushing. It’s really weird when it’s your body that starts the pushing and not you. I thought pushing would involve me holding my breath and bearing down…not so much the grunting and almost-yelling that I was doing! But I’ll tell you what, pushing was SO MUCH less painful than the contractions of transition. I was happy they were finally there! Mostly because it hurt so much less, but also because I knew it would be over soon and baby would be with us. While I was pushing and concentrating on what it felt like on the inside, I was sure that the baby would never fit through. After 45 minutes though, he did! He came out with his right hand over his eye, so it gave me a slight 2nd degree tear, but nothing too bad. I actually delivered him on my hands and knees on the bed because it was easier for me to push that way. Sherry and Matt helped pass the baby between my legs and flip me over so I could hold him. I couldn’t believe he was a boy! I thought for sure since everyone thought baby was going to be a boy that he’d come out a girl. I guess I was emitting serious boy vibes for a reason! He was purple and gooey (though not as gooey as I thought he’d be) and crying a little, and absolutely perfect.
Sherry and the nurse let me hold him while they got ready for the placenta to be delivered. Matt cut the cord after it stopped pulsating (so Aidan could get all those wonderful stem cells for himself!). Aidan started nursing about half an hour after he was delivered and was a natural at it.
So there you have it! The nurses were phenomenal (except one of the nurses on the day we left…she was a big meany-head but we won’t go into that), Sherry was a savior (in a non-blasphemous way!), my mom was a comfort and great help, and Matt was my hero. I couldn’t have done any of it and kept my head without them. I am SO thankful that I had each of them there on my birth team. Even though it was soooo hard and sooo painful, I wouldn’t do it any other way.

- Corey