Genevieve's (late and very long) birth story and birthday AW

[shevacc]

This is the birth story I posted on the Seattle board at TB before I found you lovely ladies and came here instead. It's very long, sorry!

Short version: Our daughter Genevieve Meredith was born on April 18th! At 8:20pm, weighing 8 lbs 1.1 oz, 20 in. long. I had a natural delivery with the midwives group in a hospital and a lot of help from DH and our doula, which was exactly what I had hoped for. 

Full (very long) story: Just after 8:30am on Tuesday, April 17th I was trying to avoid getting up and signing in to work from home when I felt a strange pop and small gush of I'd guess a cup or two of fluid. I caught DH just as he was heading out the door and called the midwives to describe what had happened. They said I should come in to be examined and bring my hospital bag. I took a shower, then we gathered our last minute stuff. We drove to the ferry terminal and made our way from Bainbridge Island to the hospital in Seattle, arriving just after noon. The on-call midwife, Maggie, met me in their office and tested for amniotic fluid but couldn't find any, argh!!! So she had to send us home. While we were there, she did my 40 week exam a day early and had me schedule a post dates appointment. She did give us some pH strips to test for amniotic fluid at home just in case. We left, disappointed to not be meeting our baby soon, then headed home to run a bunch of errands, finishing the evening with a 2+ mile walk (come out, baby! come out!).

Around 1am I awoke to the same sensation of a pop and some fluid. The pH strips said it was amniotic fluid. I quietly called the on-call midwife (still Maggie) who said head to the hospital but that it would be ok to wait for the first ferry at 4:45am and to get some sleep. Around 2am, contractions started, mildly, approximately 5 minutes apart so I relaxed in bed but couldn't sleep. I woke up DH at 3:20am to get ready -- luckily nearly everything was still in the car. We arrived at the hospital just before 6am and saw Maggie again. This time she confirmed that amniotic fluid was leaking and admitted me to have our baby!

At 7am, we met the student midwife, Therese (she was amazing!), and the new midwife after shift change, Fra Na. Therese checked me and said I was at 3cm, -2 station. Since I was having mostly regular contractions, they decided to see how I was progressing in a few hours. For the next several hours DH and I listened to music and looked at pictures of our trip to Yellowstone on his laptop, me breathing through contractions. We then walked the halls in the childbirth area which started to intensify things. Around 1pm we called our doula Jen to come join us and DH lay down for a power nap. At 2pm the midwives came back, DH woke up, and Therese checked me again, finding I was at 6 cm which was enough to avoid pitocin. Jen, our doula, arrived around 3pm and got me walking the halls again to pick things up even more. By this point, she or DH were applying back pressure with every contraction to help me breath through it. We then decided for me to labor in the tub for a while which provided nearly immediate relief for my back. A bit less than an hour later, I got out of the tub and the midwives returned to check me again. Therese found me at 8cm and fully effaced, but still -2 station. Fra Na double-checked and agreed that I was 8cm, but judged perhaps -1 station. They were just discussing how my water must not have fully broken when suddenly it did with a gush.

I immediately entered transition; contractions intensified almost instantly and started coming one right after the other. At this point it was all I could do to get through one contraction at a time. After about 40 minutes of this, I was running out of energy and starting to shake so DH and our doula helped me get on my side in bed. Just a few minutes later I suddenly felt the urge to push, which sent our nurse and the midwives scurrying to get everything ready. Therese quickly checked me and confirmed I was complete, then gave me the go ahead. Pushing felt like uncontrollable muscle spasms wracking my entire body, but at least it was a different kind of intensity than the contractions. Apparently I made fast progress because they soon were talking about being able to see her dark hair with each push. DH was watching using a mirror since I was holding tight to his hand. It was too intense for me to stop and admire anything, or even open my eyes. Finally the tightness I was feeling with each push didn't go away and two pushes later Genevieve was born. I felt immediately better as nearly all the tension left my body. According to DH, she came flying out and Therese really had to catch her, almost like a football. I had no idea of the passage of time, but evidently I only pushed for about 20 minutes and it was only about an hour from entering transition to meeting our baby.

As soon as she was born, they held her on my chest until the umbilical cord stopped pulsing, then DH cut it and they returned her to me. Birthing the placenta was almost an afterthought since I was distracted by our daughter. I had a 2nd degree tear so they stitched me up, then I was able to try to nurse her. About an hour and a half after her birth our nurse and DH gave her a bath and did the various other standard newborn procedures in our room. We left the hospital the following evening about 25 hours after Genevieve was born and got home around midnight.

1 hour old, being weighed:


12 hours old:


~6 weeks old:


6 months old:


9 months old:


1st birthday!


Birthday party outfit (best pic I have on my phone):


Post cake, though pre-sugar rush kicking in:

[ruby412]

She is so stinkin' cute!!

[katfco]

Look at that head of hair! She's so cute.

[bean47]

Pretty girl!

[katie]

Gorgeous baby!! Thanks for sharing your birth story!

[TrudyCampbell]

She is the most gorgeous child!

[lolaburns]

She is gorgeeeoussss!!! Happy Birthday G!!!

[Deleted]

What an amazing story! It all happened so fast! I haven't told you but I am so happy you came here. I always love what you have to say and everything you bring to the board. Happy birthday G!

[heyjojo]

She is my mini-me!! I swear! I'll be at my moms tomorrow and I will upload a picture of my child self. It's uncanny.
What a great birth story! I have a lot of similarities in mine, which I will write out next week when my baby turns 1. Wahh wahhhh!!! happy birthday little G!

[Faevantastic]

Glad you got the birth experience you wanted. G is absolutely gorgeous!

[eav2c]

She is seriously gorgeous with the most amazing hair that I am extremely jealous of!

[laurack]

Great birth story thanks for sharing!

She was /is gorgeous! So much hair! What a beauty.

Happy birthday Genevieve!

[shevacc]

Apr 25, 2013 21:44:41 GMT -5 jamaicam said:

She has been gorgeous from she was born!

What would have happened if you needed to go to hospital before the ferry started running?

Thanks everyone!

jamaicam, there's a bridge to the west, but it's a 2 hour drive to the hospital I picked that way. Our paramedics have delivered many babies before and occasionally they medivac a laboring woman via helicop. There's also a hospital 35 minutes west but it has a really high rate of c sections. I'm not sure what I'll do for a subsequent pregnancy -- I loved that hospital but I don't know if I'd make it if labor progresses quickly.

[shevacc]

Apr 25, 2013 20:07:30 GMT -5 @hopefuljen said:

What an amazing story! It all happened so fast! I haven't told you but I am so happy you came here. I always love what you have to say and everything you bring to the board. Happy birthday G!

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I love this community.

[shevacc]

Apr 25, 2013 20:09:25 GMT -5 heyjojo said:

She is my mini-me!! I swear! I'll be at my moms tomorrow and I will upload a picture of my child self. It's uncanny.
What a great birth story! I have a lot of similarities in mine, which I will write out next week when my baby turns 1. Wahh wahhhh!!! happy birthday little G!

I want to see! Don't forget I love birth stories and read them all but will make extra certain I keep my eye out for yours.

[charlielove]

Thanks for sharing! She had a ton of hair from the beginning! Such a cutie.

[carawestt]

She is such a gorgeous little girl!