Birth Story -- Welcome Baby Ophelia

On September 13th, around 3:30pm or so, I started having contractions that were between 5 and 15 minutes apart. They weren't really uncomfortable or anything...I could talk through them and be pretty active for the most part. I had spent the majority of the afternoon cleaning, so I just figured that my cleaning spree had started the contractions. I figured that they would fizzle out after a couple hours.

Things went on normally for the next couple hours. We made dinner and ate, put Reilly to bed, I took a shower, and we got into bed. I was trying to time my contractions, but they were still erratic...lasting anywhere from 30-45 seconds and coming every 2-5 minutes or so. Around 12:15 am, I decided that we should probably start getting ready to head to Justin's house to drop Reilly off to stay the night. I didn't see any need to rush, but we couldn't really diddle around for very long since we had quite the drive. We got Reilly up and loaded into the car. My contractions by this point were still pretty erratic. I wasn't at all worried, I just wanted to make sure we got to the hospital in time.

We dropped Reilly off at Justin's house around 1am or so and promptly drove to Tripler. By the time we got to Tripler and up to Labor and Delivery, it was almost 1:30am. We had to stop multiple times on the way up to the L&D floor because I was having contractions. Thankfully there was no one in the hospital walking around since it was so early in the morning. I got there and they got me into triage so that I could get checked and see what I was at. I told the OB how far apart my contractions were and everything. She didn't really seem to think that I was in labor, but I think that was mostly just me. I got into triage, only to find out that I was dilated to 5cm. It seemed like I was doing a lot more work than apparently my body thought I was. They monitored my contractions, and like I had been feeling, they were pretty erratic. The OB (the midwives didn't arrive to L&D until 6am) said that I had a couple options...I could be admitted or I could go walk around for a little bit. I didn't think I could go for a little stroll, but I didn't want to get admitted because that would mean I would have to be put on constant fetal monitoring, which I didn't want. The nurse said I could stay there for a little bit and think it over, so I stayed in triage to think it over.



By this point I was having a really hard time coping with the pain, and told Brad that I wanted an epidural and pitocin because I just wanted to get this done and over with. I was so tired and the contractions hurt so bad that I couldn't get a handle on them. Everything that I could try to use for coping wasn't working. I was getting really frustrated with myself and the pain and all I wanted to do was stop it. Right around the time I made this decision, my water broke (officially at 2:40am). The nurse came back in to verify that my water had broken and that there was no meconium in there. The OB came back in to check and see how far I was dilated. No meconium in my water (yay!) and in the hour or so since I had initially been checked, I went from 5 cm to 8 cm. I told the OB that I had decided that I wanted to get pain meds. She brought in paper work for me to sign. I kept having contractions that seemed to be getting closer together by the second. They brought me a wheelchair to get me to a delivery room, but the contractions got so bad and suddenly, I felt this really intense urge to push. And let me tell ya, it feels EXACTLY like you have to take the biggest crap you've ever had to take in your entire life. True story. I told the nurse that I felt like I had to push. She quickly checked me and after that it was such a blur. I was still in triage, and there were people rushing in left and right with birthing utensils . I didn't have the chance to get an IV (I didn't want one per my birth plan) and they barely had a chance to get the fetal monitor on my stomach. I started pushing with my instincts for the most part. They coached for a few of them but for the most part, I pushed all by myself. When she started crowning, they notice that she had meconium in her hair, so I had to give super big pushes at the end so they could get her out fast.



Ophelia Caedyn Harlowe Oberklaus was born at 2:54am on September 14, 2010. They put her directly on my chest, and cleaned her up from there. I had two small labial tears, neither required stitches. After they cleaned all of us up, they moved us all from triage to an actual labor and delivery room so they could take her vitals and I could get cleaned up more before they transferred me to the mother/baby ward. She weighed 7lbs 15.8oz and was 20" long, with a head full of red hair and blue eyes.



Aside from the normal pain that comes along with childbirth, I feel fantastic! I felt so much better this time than after having an epidural with Reilly. And as much pain as I was in, I'm really glad it happened fast enough that I didn't really have a choice in what happened. Ophelia has a little bit of bruising under her eyes and some little spots on her forehead from coming out so fast.




The whole thing was absolutely amazing. Brad was an amazing support person. He was behind me 100%, even when I felt like giving up, he had total faith in me. What surprised us the most was how fast she was born! I got talked to by many doctors and nurses about giving birth really fast, and in triage...AND NATURALLY....none of which happens very often! I was literally the talk of labor and delivery. :D



We're both doing amazing. She's doing really well at breastfeeding...and she hates sneezing. She's such an amazing little thing. I'm so glad I have two little ladies to call my own. <3<3