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Birth Stories

Abigail Huixin

Abigail Huixin B.
February 14, 2008 at 6:57 a.m.
7 lbs., 13 oz., 20 in.

It’s been a very full twelve weeks since Abigail was born, but I still find myself thinking back to her birth often. It was truly an amazing experience.

Abby was born on Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 6:57 a.m., but I started feeling the beginnings of labor on Tuesday afternoon. In fact, when I went in for my weekly checkup that day, the doctor told me I was already 3 cm dilated! That whole day at work, I found myself squirming in my office chair because of a strange back ache. I started having intermittent contractions that evening, but managed to get some sleep before I woke with regular contractions about 10 minutes apart at 1 a.m. I dozed until morning when my husband and I decided to call in sick to work and focus on having our baby. But soon after that my contractions became irregular and farther apart. I thought perhaps I had misread the signs of labor.

Regardless, we now had the day off, so we went out to breakfast and took it easy for the rest of the morning. It was cold and rainy outside, so I paced the floor of our long Fan apartment to try to keep things going. That got old after awhile, so we went out to Babies R’Us to pick up some last minute things. My labor started to get stronger in the car and while we were there. At one point, my husband found me hanging onto a display of crib sheets as I waited for a particularly strong contraction to pass. We headed home to continue labor there.

Labor steadily increased at home and I nested quite a bit – cleaning and packing our bags for the hospital. My parents came by for a few minutes since they were in the area, and as soon as they came in, my contractions started to slow down. So I told them they had to leave with a promise that we’d call to let them know when we were headed to the hospital.

Around 10 p.m.,we made our move to St. Mary’s. Upon arrival, they checked me and I was 7 cm dilated and 90% effaced. I remember thinking that I was amazingly lucky and this baby would surely be coming in the next few hours. Mary Jo met us there and we walked the maternity ward, stopping to peer in at the busy and crowded newborn nursery.

I labored through the night on the birth ball and leaning on the bed and was glad to get into the tub for some needed relief. My nurse, Mel, was great and let me stay in the tub for a long time before I had to get out and back on the monitors. My water didn't break until very late in the game, around 5 a.m. Taylor and Mary Jo were a huge help throughout, staying right there with me the whole time through every single contraction.

After some long hard labor, I was checked again and told that I was completely effaced and almost entirely dilated, except for a little lip of cervix. It seemed that Abigail's head was pressing down on the cervix in a way that didn't allow the last little bit to recede. So I had to lay on my right side through the most intense labor and _not push_. This was definitely the hardest part of labor as my contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting at least a minute each. I can't tell you how great Taylor was at this juncture. He got me through each contraction by locking eyes and breathing through the contractions with me to keep me from pushing.

After an hour of that, I was checked again and told that I could push! After 45 minutes of really satisfying pushing, Abigail was born with her left hand by her head, a full head of dark, curly hair and was 7 pounds, 13 ounces, 20 inches long. She scored 8s on her Apgars, but wouldn't cry, so they had to take her to the nursery to make sure they'd gotten all the fluid out her lungs, so I was only able to hold her for a few minutes.

But as it turned out, I had my own after birth complications to deal with. The doctor stitched up my 2nd degree tear while we waited for my placenta to deliver -- which it never did. At one point, it was suggested that I be given an epidural so that the doctor could go in manually to remove the placenta. I balked at that suggestion -- not after what I'd just gone through! I was given an IV anesthetic and taken to the OR so they could do a D and C.

Abigail and I were reunited a few hours after her birth and we've been doing great ever since! She's nursing well and growing well and is a sweet, laidback baby. She's been sleeping 5-6 hours a night since she was 8 weeks old and since I cut wheat gluten out of my diet, has been free of any colicky gas pains. I'm back at work full-time now and my husband is taking care of her for the summer -- they're having a great time.

We couldn't ask for a sweeter, more beautiful baby!

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