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Birth Stories
Reagan Chace
Reagan Chace was born 3 weeks early on March 31st. We knew he was going to come early because at my 36 week appointment I was already 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. My doctor asked me to rest so I could make it to 37 weeks (full term). Instead of resting, this news caused me to go into a crazy nesting tailspin! Despite this, we managed to make it to 37 weeks and 3 hours…
It was 3am on March 30th when I woke up to my water breaking. The good news was that we would have our little baby boy within 24 hours (knowing how concerned doctors are about infection after the water breaks). The bad news was that I wasn’t in labor. I was having mild contractions every 10 – 15 minutes. I really wanted to avoid any interventions, so when we got to the hospital my husband (and amazing Lamaze coach) and I immediately started walking the floors in hopes of inducing labor. At 8am my doctor arrived to examine me. Her first question was “do you feel as comfortable as you look?” I tried to convince her (and myself) that my contractions had gotten stronger, but my relaxed face and the monitors told otherwise. Despite our best efforts we hadn’t managed to start any “real” contractions and I was still around 3cm dilated. They ended up having to start the Pitocin drip at 10am. Thankfully, with only a small dose, I started having strong contractions every 1 – 2 minutes.
My doctor checked me at around 12:30pm and I was 5cm dilated and very relieved to be making progress. She told us that we would likely have the baby by 5pm if I progressed at a normal 1cm per hour. With this news our nurses decided to take a lunch break…and so did my husband. He ordered a sandwich and asked my mother to take over for him for a quick break. Before the sandwich arrived however my labor began to escalate. By 1:30pm I started feeling the urge to push and got some of the transition symptoms like shaking and more intense contractions. My husband asked a nurse to come check me and I was at 7cm. I knew things must be moving quickly when she started preparing the delivery table. By the time my nurse returned at 2pm I was at 9cm and they were calling the doctor. At this point my body had started to push involuntarily and I couldn’t stop it despite my best attempts at breathing the urge away. As soon as the doctor arrived I started to actively push. By the second contraction, I understood what was meant by the “ring of fire” as his head came out. And with the next contraction, our little boy arrived! Needless to say, my husband never got his sandwich!
What an amazing experience! It continues to awe me as I look at my sweet little baby boy!