Abigail
Bland Pierce
7lb,
2oz. 20.5 in long
7:39pm,
May 29, 2015
Short version: I had sweet Abigail Bland within
10 minutes of arriving at the hospital. Anna Wesley chose the name Abby,
and Bland is after my paternal grandmother, Bland Coffey. We will call her
Abigail or Abby. No double name this time. :)
DISCLAIMER: If you're into the nitty, gritty
details surrounding a birth, please continue. If words like amniotic fluid and
placenta weird you out, stop reading now. :)
Long version: I woke up at 4:45am Friday, May
29th with a strong feeling of pressure. Like "I gotta go, go right
now!" kind of feeling. I knew then it was the beginning. I started
the contraction timer app on my phone and fell back asleep. I had a few
more for about 15-25 seconds in duration, but was able to sleep in between
them. I actually overslept by almost an hour and contemplated calling in. But
it was my last day of work so I decided to press on and go.
While getting ready for work, contractions were
coming every 20-30 minutes apart and lasting 20-40 seconds. They were easy to
talk through. It felt like my body needed to go poo. I was having a stronger
then normal back ache with them, but nothing painful or even
uncomfortable.
I called my bestie on the way to work and she
was astounded that I was 1) going to work and 2) driving myself there. I knew I
needed distractions, and I do enjoy my work and coworkers!
The whole morning I had been talking with
Amanda, our doula, and keeping her in the loop. I was beginning to feel like we
would have a baby by Saturday. Even Jared commented that a 5/30/15 birth date
would be cool...all multiples of the number 5. We're nerds like that.
While at work, I sat on my yoga ball and timed
contractions while answering the phone and tying up loose ends. My awesome boss
said to take a late lunch and head home for the day. Mom treated me to lunch at
Jutama's (spicy Thai food!), and we ran to Fred's before heading home.
Contractions were coming every 10-20 minutes and 30-40 seconds in length. A bit
more intense, but just the pressure of needing to go poo.
We got home about 3pm and contractions were
coming anywhere from 5- 10 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds for the next
hour and a half. They needed to be a bit more consistent so
Amanda encouraged me to walk. Mom and I laced up and hit the road. Anna
Wesley joined us for a lap and a half. At one point she stopped completely, and
I picked her up and carried her home. She's been feeling change happening for
the past few weeks; I'm sure she was really feeling it then.
Once I started walking contracts were coming
every 1.5 - 3 minutes and lasting 30-60 seconds. We walked 3 laps, about a
mile, before contractions were too strong to walk and talk through. This was
late May in Mississippi so the humidity was intense as well. I did ponder going
somewhere inside to walk, but I haven't stepped foot in a Walmart since
November and the mall was too far. Besides, we live half a mile from the
hospital, I wanted to stay close.
After the second lap, I started squatting
during the contractions. I was doing a low, to the floor squat. While outside I
did lunges through the contractions, but squatting gave me the most relief
during them.
Meanwhile Jared was busy nesting for both of
us...he was determined to grill his pork chops and make bacon and cheese
potatoes for an early dinner. He did that while Dad entertained Anna
Wesley.
Amanda asked if the contractions were painful.
I was hesitant to say yes because I didn't know what was to come. I truly
believe, for me, this was a mind over matter issue. Stay positive. Stay focused
on the endgame, not the current condition. It was definitely uncomfortable.
Every contraction felt like I needed to go poo; they were just getting more
intense.
About 6:30pm Amanda asked if I was ready for her to join us. YES, YES, a thousand times YES! Jared started to pack his bag, and I was finishing mine up. I gave Jared our birth plan to give to the nurse once we arrived at the hospital.
At 7ish, Amanda arrived with her bag of tricks
and ready to help Jared and me achieve the birth we wanted. Once
Jared packed the car, I was really feeling rushed all of a sudden. I
turned to him and Amanda and questioned leaving for the hospital. She explained
that it was up to me to stay a little longer at home or head to the hospital.
Many times going on to the "birth space" really helps the mom focus
as opposed to being surrounded by a 2 year old, puppies, and parents. I decided
to head on to the hospital and get in the zone.
I had 3 contractions in the driveway before
heading to the hospital. At this point I started to moan through the
contractions as well. I've always found it odd that women moaned during
contractions, but I totally get it now. Amanda reminded me that moaning is good
and to keep it low like a whale (Dory, anyone?) and to not scream or go high.
Staying low keeps things open, while going high closes things up. During this
contraction I also reminded Jared that we wanted to do delayed cord clamping
and that he would be the one to remind the doctor about that.
I informed Jared he needed to crank the car and
be ready to fly because I wanted to avoid having a contraction in the car. I
think he was quite excited about having permission to use his
"professional emergency driving skills" to get us to the hospital.
Even though we live half a mile from the hospital, I was not successful in
arriving before another contraction hit. That one was hard to get through since
I could not squat.
After we arrived I had one more contraction
before walking in. I squatted down at a concrete post at the entrance; I think
we were discussing Amanda's third birth...she had her baby within 20 minutes of
arriving at the hospital and within an hour of arriving with her 4th
baby.
We headed straight to Labor & Delivery. I
signed a few consent papers, had a contraction, and headed to our room to do a
urinalysis. We were in Room #6, the same room I gave birth to Anna Wesley in
2.5 years earlier.
I had another contraction while trying to pee
in a cup. I just went before I left the house so I needed something to
drink. Amanda stepped out to get ice chips, but there was no way I could
pee in a cup with the contractions being so intense. Again, it felt like I
needed to poo, not pee! As soon as I stood up from the toilet, my water broke
with two big gushes and I felt pressure like none other. I sat back down on the
toilet and grunted. Amanda immediately told me to begin moving to the bed. We
were not going to have a baby on the toilet. I fell to my knees and tried to
squat to relieve the pressure, but it was INTENSE. I yelled, "What the
hell?!," which made Jared chuckle because I am not one to curse. I told
Jared he was going to have to carry me because there was no way I could walk 10
feet to the bed.
I somehow made it successfully to the bed and remember seeing the large, digital clock saying 7:33. Nurse Megan came in to check me. She was cool, calm, and collected. Jared asked how far along I was. She said calmly, but with a sense of urgency, "We're delivering! Everyone in here now!"
WHAT THE WHAT?!
I asked Jared for a wet washcloth because it
was getting hot. He put it on my forehead, but I moved it over my eyes. I
needed to focus on my body and pushing as opposed to the hustle and bustle of
nursery workers and OR techs getting things ready.
I don't know how to describe the intensity of
the pressure I was feeling. It was like no other feeling I've ever experienced.
Amanda was on my left side, holding my hand and had my foot in her shoulder.
Jared did the same on my right side. Amanda reminded me to bear down and grunt.
In my head it's not like pushing a cart around, but more like pressing down and
out.
I remember asking random things that made
people laugh. Like, "Who's my doctor?" Amanda took the washcloth off
my eyes and said, "It's Dr. Moore. He's right there." I felt the need
to introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Lydia." And I was super sad when I told
Jared we didn't have our bags, which meant we didn't have the camera. They all
laughed because that's what I was concerned with while I was pushing a human
out of my body with no pain medications.
I pushed about 6 times, and within 6 minutes
had a beautiful baby girl. Dr. Moore was absolutely fantastic. He honored our
requests to delay clamping the cord for 3 minutes and have immediate
skin-to-skin contact. I felt pressure as well when I delivered the placenta.
Dr. Moore even showed it to me when I asked! Again, I'm a nerd. I also
requested to take the placenta to have it encapsulated. He was good to go with
that request too.
After Abby's arrival, I was a-ok with being
given 2 shots of Lidocaine before Dr. Moore stitched me up. I tore to the 2nd
degree and had a laceration as well. Surprisingly I did not feel the tearing
during delivery. I was sure that I would! Dr. Moore also gave me a shot of pitocin
and later cytotek in order to help my uterus clamp down and stop bleeding. With
Anna Wesley's birth, my BP dropped due to excessive bleeding so we knew to take
measures to prevent that this time.
With this pregnancy there were specific things we prayed for surrounding the time of her arrival...
-that she would arrive early or late, but not
on time. Mom and Dad had to work until May 27th and they were going to be the
ones to keep AW once Bambina arrived.
-that I would labor at home for as long as possible
in order to avoid an epidural. {Let me say this, drugs for pain are fabulous! I
had an epidural with AW and don't regret that decision one bit. With this
pregnancy I wanted to see how far I could go and staying at home for as long as
possible would help me not give in and yell, "GIVE ME ALL THE
DRUGS!"}
Abigail Bland's labor and delivery were truly
miraculous and an answer to our prayers. It was like a movie...all I needed was
background music. :)
