As I have said before, we are very lucky to have the neighbors we do. One neighbor was planned and one was a very pleasant surprise. At one of their wonderful son's birthday party the other night, I wanted to make sure that I specifically thanked our neighbors mother for some advice she gave me the day before Colin was born at a gathering we both attended. As a trained Doula, it was only natural that we started talking about childbirth and labour, considering the fact that I was due the next day as was her own daughter in only a few weeks. She gave me some amazing advice regarding getting through the contractions and I have shared it with every pregnant friend I have had since. Her advice helped me focus, gave Jason a task that I still appreciate him taking on, and made the whole experience that much better and easier. Now I am sure you understand why I felt it necessary to thank her! After I explained how grateful I was to her, and to the fact that I met her, only hours before giving birth, she of course asked me about my labour and how the whole thing went. After telling her she told me that if there is one thing you will never forget, it is your story...the story of how to gave birth and all the details along the way. She herself has given birth to 5 children and remembers each story clearly. She also mentioned that some advice she always gives to the father is to never argue with the way the woman and mother remember it. Even if over the years the details getting muddy, just go along with it. How they remember it each time it is told is how it happened.
Knowing that I am extremely forgetful and also knowing how often Jason and I disagree about details, I thought I better use this outlet to tell the story of the day we met Colin.
Over the course of the month of August, we were extremely busy. I traveled to Halifax for a friends wedding, volunteered a week at a basketball tournament and spent every single day driving around picking up supplies for the house. Jason was working 16 hour days trying to complete as much as possible before the baby and before summer ended and we were also preparing to move again, from the apartment we had rented all year. There were many days over the course of the month that I felt that I might go into labor, however, never did. On my due date, September 1st, I had never felt less pregnant. We had moved into the house a few days prior and spent the day unpacking and visiting with friends who had come to see the house so far. Around 5:30 pm I felt a cramp, very low in my stomach but it didn't last very long and wasn't overly intense so I didn't even mention it to Jason. About 10 minutes later, I felt the same thing, this time slightly more intense and for a slightly longer period of time. Around this time, Larissa pulled up our driveway, ready to come and make dinner for us, something we had planned a few days prior. When she drove up, Jason was outside installing the car seat in the truck and mentioned to her that he thought I might be in labor. I still wasn't convinced. I always expected my contractions to be much more spread out and had envisioned having a shower and maybe even straightening my hair before leaving for the hospital. Once Larissa came inside, I decided to start timing and tracking the length and frequency of the contractions. About an hour and 2 taco's later, I was convinced...this was it. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart and they were getting intense enough that I couldn't talk through them. It was time to go.
At this point, it was starting to rain outside and was about 7:00 pm. Larissa stayed at the house to clean up supper and agreed to take Jake to my parents. I called my Mom when we left to tell her the plan as well. Once we got onto Henderson, Jason asked me if I wanted him to drive fast and at that point, I still didn't think there was any rush. By the time we got to the perimeter, I quickly changed my mind and told him to step on it. Each contraction was getting more intense and I was finding less and less of a break in between. While going over Disraeli bridge there was a billboard that really annoyed me but because I was in the middle of a contraction, couldn't express my dislike for it to Jason at the time. :)
Once we got to the hospital and parked, we waited until one contraction subsided before attempting to walk into the hospital. We checked in at triage and after painfully going through the paperwork and admittance we finally got seen by a nurse. My contractions at this point were every 2-3 minutes and were not relapsing. It was basically one constant contraction with a 45 second period of extra intensity every couple minutes. After checking me and determining that I was 7 cm dilated, the nurse decided to get us right into a room for delivery. We walked (shuffled) down the hall into our private room which we were so lucky to get and met our nurse. About 2 minutes after getting into the room, my water broke all over some fresh socks that Jason had just put on my feet. About 10 minutes after my water broke, I felt the need to push and the nurse had me lie down so she could check me again. It was time, I was 10 cm and she went to get the doctor. After he came in and introduced himself, he explained that he would be back when it was time to deliver and the nurse told me that I could try to push during my next contraction. Jason was so great the whole time. Really relaxed and encouraging - just what I needed. After one big push, the babies head half emerged and since the doctor had left only seconds earlier, the nurse ran to retrieve him once again. At this point, there were quite a few people in the room between us, a few nurses and the doctor. I knew at that point that this baby was coming very soon and wanted to push more, however had to wait for everything to get set up as well as wait for a doctor who needed a specific stool and to answer a couple calls on his cell phone first :). Not pushing when your body wants nothing more than to push with all its might was and still is the toughest thing I have ever had to do in my life. After what felt like hours but was only a minute or two in actuality, everybody was ready and it was time to get the baby out. I gave it 2 big pushes, in which I almost feel like I lost slight consciousness. I remember asking the nurse if I should push again to which she replied "LOOK DOWN!". There he was. It was a boy and he was perfect. I think I was just so focused and so blinded by the pain that I didn't even realize that I had already done it, that it was over and that he was here.
He was placed on my chest and at that moment our lives changed forever. Everything I thought was important in the past took an instant back seat. Life would never be the same. Love would never be the same. Sleep would never be the same.
I can honestly say that the 4 or so hours it took to birth our baby boy, were some of the most powerful hours of my life. In my OBGYN's office there was a poster promoting some sort of pre-natal classes which read "Your body is amazing. Believe in its power, trust in its strength." I read and re-read this saying countless times over the course of the many, many appointments I had during of my pregnancy. As time went on and I got closer to the inevitable and unavoidable pain I knew was coming my way, I really absorbed and began to take comfort in those words. And when the time came and the pain started, they did not fail me. I have never felt so powerful, so full of life and so strong as a woman than I did that night. It was by far my biggest accomplishment to date. My story will be with me always. It was my finest hours and I am so hopeful that I will be able to do it again. Pain and discomfort aside, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
That is my story.