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birth stories | birth announcements
Birth Stories
Benjamin Lee
Born July 17, 2008
Well, I was not in yoga last Thursday either as I had the baby early that morning! Everyone is healthy and happy, though a little sleepy. Please share my birth story with everyone in class - I could not be happier with how everything went and of course with the end product, our beautiful baby boy Benjamin Lee C II.
I was resting in bed around 4:45pm on Wednesday afternoon July 16th (the day before my due date) when I suddenly felt wet as though I had urinated. I thought it was a little odd, but when it happened again just a few seconds later, I began to suspect this was my water breaking. I got up and went to the bathroom and, sure enough, there was more clear fluid leaking out. At this point I was sure, my water had broken! I excitedly and anxiously called my husband at work to tell him the news and we decided we should go ahead and call the doctor. At that point I was beginning to feel some mild contractions in my lower abdomen and back which felt similar to menstrual cramps, nothing taking my breath away. I began to hurry around getting bags together and packing up some last minute details. About 20 minutes later I got a call back from the OB on call with a confirmation that, yes, it sounded like I was in labor, but with the disappointing news that unfortunately my hospital of choice, St. Mary’s, was on diversion. She explained that these things happen and that they would instead send me to Henrico Doctor’s Forest. I was somewhat disappointed by the change of plans, but determined not to let it get to me. I asked her, "Are you sure they aren’t on diversion?" and she said that it was very unlikely and that she had not heard anything indicating they would be. We hung up and not 5 minutes later I received a phone call back from the doctor, stating that unbelievably and regrettably Henrico Doctor’s was ALSO on diversion as of a few minutes ago. I couldn’t believe my ears. Where was I going to have this baby? At this point it had been about 1.5 hours since my water had broken and my contractions were starting to intensify. She advised us to go to Memorial Regional in Hanover where their group also practices. We didn’t even know where the hospital was - but thank goodness for GPS we jumped in the car and found our way there 25 minutes later.
It was now 7pm when we arrived and I was a little shaken and disappointed by the change in plans, but my increasingly stronger contractions lasting 45 seconds to a minute and 3-4 minutes apart made it difficult to focus on anything else for long. I had been 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced the week before in the doctor’s office, and when they checked me at the hospital I was 2cm dilated and completely effaced. The baby's head was at +1 station.
Over the next 5 hours I labored in every way I could think of - using the birth ball primarily as I was having fairly intense back labor. My husband was an amazing support, rubbing my low back virtually the entire time with every contraction. I was able to get in the tub as well which helped. By midnight however, I was starting to doubt my ability to continue lamazing without any medication, imagining that I had many more hours to go. The nurse checked me and amazingly I was 8cm! I couldn’t believe it. She informed me it was too late for Stadol, so I accepted the good news of my progress as a sign I could continue on my own. The following 2 hours were difficult, but I lamazed my way through them with my husband supporting me the entire way, especially when I would lose focus through a particularly difficult contraction.
Finally around 1:45 am I was complete and ready to push. The urge to push was so strong I couldn’t help myself. I pushed most of the time using the squat bar which really helped. At the last minute, the doctor asked my husband if HE would like to catch the baby, which he quickly agreed to, despite his prior insistence that he would "stay north" during the delivery. After less than 45 minutes of pushing, and into my husbands open arms, our baby boy Benjamin Lee II arrived at 2:28am ON his due date Thursday July 17th at 7lbs 1.2oz and 20 inches long.
We could not be happier or more humbled by his birth and are settling into a new life as we know it.
I wish everyone in the class the best of luck and thank you all for everything.
Sincerely,
Julia