The Doula's Version

Ah, birth story part deux? Yes, I know overkill right? Our doula dropped by for the post partum visit and dropped the birth story off. Compare the two and see how close my reality was to what really happened!

"Christina scheduled her labor to be induced on Friday morning, August 1, 2008. In the shower that morning, she lost her mucus plug, which was a great sign that Miss Pancake was about ready to be born. Christina and K went to the hospital early in the morning and got settled, and they called me about 9:20 am to tell me that Liz, the midwife, was coming at 10:30 am to break Christina's water and get things going. Liz and I both arrived at 10:30. Christina and K had taken a walk to the cafeteria, so Liz and I chatted until they got back. Liz broke Christina's water at about 10:50 am. Her cervix was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced, and Miss Pancake was at -2 station. K was holding Christina's hand and eating Doritos, and we thought we heard a "pop" when Liz broke the water, but it might have been K's chewing.

Liz left, and the three of us watched the end of Glory Road and ate Swedish Fish, Later in the afternoon we played rummy and Crazy 8s. All afternoon, Christina alternated between sitting in the bed, bouncing on the ball, and walking in the halls and outside. She had stronger contractions when walking, but they didn't stay consistent and weren't getting strong enough to really be called labor. By 6:00 pm she was starting to get frustrated, and we discussed various options. Christina decided to try castor oil. K went out to get some (he called it beaver oil)! Christina rested for awhile while she built of the courage to take the castor oil. She finally took the castor oil just after 9:00pm. She said it tasted like drinking lipstick. We watched Monk while waiting for the castor oil to take effect, and K and I order pizza. At 10:30p the pizza and the labor arrived! K and I took turns eating and sitting with Christina. Miss Pancake got the hiccups, which Christina said happened every night at about 10:30pm.

BY 11:20pm, Christina was having powerfully strong contractions. She got in the shower for awhile and leaned on K during contractions. He stayed right by her giving her verbal encouragement the entire time. She tried sitting on the toilet after her shower, but it was very uncomfortable during contractions. She got back in bed a little after midnight. She was beginning to feel a slight urge to push and when Liz checked her cervix, she was eight centimeters dilated. Half an hour later she was completely dilated and pushing hard.

Miss Pancake head was born at 1:12am and her body at 1:13am. She had some facial bruising that made her look blue, but her breathing was fine. By 1:45a she was rooting and sucking on her hands, and trying to latch for breastfeeding. At 2:15a she got a good latch and nursed for over a half an hour. The nurse did the vitamin K shot and eye ointment while Miss Pancake was nursing and Marisa didn't even flinch. She then switched to the other breast and nursed there for half an hour as well. Way to go Miss Pancake!

Christina got up at 3:45a to take a shower and the nurse weighed Miss Pancake - 8 pounds 11 ounces - and the nurse got her cleaned up and bundled. At 4:10a Miss Pancake was back with Christina and everyone looked ready for a nap. I left at 4:30am."

Doula Molly

I ran into our doula, Molly, on my way out of Bloomingfoods on Saturday. It is always fabulous to see Molly because she reminds me of Matthew and all that is good about April 19th (Matthew's birth day!) Molly is always so funny - obviously when you allow someone into your birth room, it changes your relationship with them. She said something to me that stuck in my craw - that actually intrigued me enough to write about her. She said when mothers take classes at BABS (B-town Area Birth Services - the hippie dippy regime here in B-town that offers information on all things baby - it rocks but man do they take a pretty hard line on babies over all...) she sees people around town and they will stop her and say hi. She always has to think hard about who is who because she always sees women when they are REALLY pregnant. They look different and to her - she said they actually look emaciated after birth.

Doula Molly's little flip comment struck me because I have been doing a lot of "mental" prep for next year. I want to plan and prepare for this next pregnancy the way I never had a chance to with Matthew. It is interesting how we perceive ourselves while pregnant. We believe we look horrible and even when someone delivers a compliment to us we doubt it because 'Great Scot, I look like the bloody Good Year Blimp and how can you miss that?!' But truly we look normal. We look the way we are supposed to as pregnant women. We look FULL of life.

I gained weight during my first pregnancy. I found myself 172.5-173 during the last six-eight weeks of a pregnancy. I mostly ate what I wanted within reason - let me note: I do not eat fast foods and I am not a big fan of junk food per say. When I say I ate what I wanted I mostly enjoyed all the fresh cheeses, high fat yogurts, breads, and frozen dessert treats I wanted. Things I only allowed myself pre-pregnancy on very special occasions. I ate larger portions then I did pre -pregnancy but I listened to my body and it was asking for that - seriously. I would eat a normal portion and I would be dizzy, cranky and irritable if I did not eat more. My body needed more! I gained weight because my body needed to - I was underweight when I started my pregnancy and I never looked back. I worked out VERY moderately and generally tried not to fret about weight gain during and even after. Basically, until I stopped breast feeding essentially which was at around the time Matthew was 20-21 months old.

The interesting thing is that while I gained close to 58 pounds during the 1st pregnancy - it was quickly removed afterward. Not only that but I looked good. I looked great in fact! I did not see it at the time but I had a round happy glowing look (okay some of that was the glow of acne which I suffered with from the moment I conceived...) I also lost 20 lbs about 12.5 seconds after Matthew was born and within weeks of birth I was down to 140. Sure I gained weight but I also gained what I needed to and then I STOPPED gaining weight. I topped out at 173 and never went over. It was actually quite amazing to watch the scale during pregnancy. I thought there was no end to the weight gain but there was.

When Molly said post pregnancy women look emaciated after birth, they do. They are no longer supporting life within them. Their bodies are beginning the slow road to recovery from supporting that life. More to the point, it is a beautiful amazing thing to carry a baby in your body and we do not look "fat", we look amazing.

As we are heading toward fall, I am getting more excited for 2008. I am looking forward to beginning this next phase of our lives. The expansion of our family. There is so much to look forward to in 2008... hopefully a new baby, a new car, updates to our house, my job and life with 2 versus 1.

I was not fully sure about having 2 for a very long time but after seeing Molly... after thinking hard about all that is wonderful about having a baby... That pensive worry in the pit of my stomach is slowly easing up. We have a plan and we are working our plan. I am thrilled and excited for the coming year... and hopefully Molly will be there again to share that joy!