The Birth of Maev Lin
On Monday, July 16, 2007, at 11:00AM I had my first real contraction. For some reason, I just knew that this was labor starting. It wasn’t painful, just different from the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I’d had before. 11:00AM happened to be the exact time that Jon was leaving for very minor surgery to have a small sebaceous cyst removed from beneath his scalp. I remember putting Jon’s hand on my belly, and saying, “I think that’s a contraction.” Then we kissed goodbye because he had to go.
While he was gone, I cleaned the house, did laundry, and took care of all those little last minute things that I wanted to do before the baby arrived. I’m glad that I was home and that I was pretty sure this was it, as it gave me some time to prepare myself and our home. I told my friends on MDC that I thought I was in labor.
The contractions were still coming, but irregularly, about every 15-30 minutes. They still were not painful; just a tightening. I wanted to time them to see how long they lasted, but it was difficult to tell exactly when they began and ended. A couple of hours later while in the bathroom I noticed some pink-tinged mucous. This made me really excited! Every time I went to the bathroom after that, I had more and darker mucous.
I don’t remember exactly when Jon came home – I think maybe around 4PM. He was not feeling well. He had a headache, and he got faint and queasy every time he saw blood trickling from the stitches on his scalp. So I called my sister, Norrah, to ask her to come over after work to be with me. I was feeling fine, but wanted someone there to chat with and help just in case I needed it while Jon rested.
At 7:30PM I called my midwife, Lucinda, to let her know that I was in labor. She advised me to take a nap since I had not taken one yet that day. So I tried to lie down for a while, but I was too excited to sleep.
Norrah came over around this time, so I got up. She had brought a salad, and she cut up some fruit for me. We sat around and talked. I found a thing online that timed contractions. It was fun trying to figure out how close they were. They were starting to hurt a little by now, but I had had worse period cramps, so they were not bothering me.
Jon got up for a little while, but he still wasn’t feeling well. He was disappointed that he wasn’t able to enjoy things and help out more.
Norrah and I took a walk around our condominium complex. I was feeling really good at this point. We walked for almost an hour. It was dark outside and the temperature was perfect. I enjoyed the exercise. Every few minutes, I would stop talking while a contraction came, but I was still able to walk easily during them.
After the walk I decided to take a shower and get all cleaned up and pretty. I spent a long time in the shower washing my hair, shaving and just enjoying the warm water. Then I got out and blow-dried my hair straight and even put on some make up. I wanted to look nice. I put on the nightgown that I had bought especially for the birth. My sister took the last belly pictures.
I decided to sit on the birth ball for a while, knowing that the bouncing would probably help move things along. And boy did it! I got my first intense contractions soon after getting off of the ball. This was at about 1AM. The contractions were about 2-4 minutes apart now, and they lasted anywhere from 30-90 seconds each. The longer ones were usually less painful than the shorter ones. We decided to call our midwife to ask her to come.
Lucinda came at 1:30AM. She set up her equipment, and then used the Doppler to check the baby. The baby was doing great with a heart rate in the 130s. My sister left at about this time. I tried to get some sleep.
The next time I went to the bathroom, I lost the rest of the mucous plug and there was more blood. The contractions were getting stronger, but I was still handling them well. At 3AM, Lucinda decided to go home to rest some more, as I seemed to be doing well. She told us to call her back over whenever we wanted.
This is where things start to get a little fuzzy in my memory. I am using my midwife’s notes from the birth to get accurate times. I know I spent most of my time in bed trying to rest for about an hour or two. At 4:50AM, Jon called Lucinda to have her come back, as my contractions were getting very intense. She arrived a half an hour later. She checked the baby’s heart rate again and it was still in the 130s. My contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 60 seconds.
At 5:30AM, Lucinda called another midwife, Andrea, who was going to assist at the birth. She lives over an hour away, so she started making her way over to our house.
It was about this time that Lucinda suggested a change in position like sitting on the toilet. I was scared to move, but I did it because I knew that some women really liked laboring on the toilet and being in an upright position would help bring the baby down. Also, I had to pee. The contractions on the toilet were scary. I don’t know if they were necessarily more painful or not. They were just so strong that I felt like I was going to fall off the toilet. I had to lean on Jon, who was sitting on a stool in front of me. I had lots of bloody show at this time. I am assuming I was in transition.
Lucinda asked me if I wanted to her check my dilation, but I refused. I was too afraid. I started to feel my breath catch during the peak of the contractions. I had read somewhere that this could mean I was ready to push. I told Lucinda how I felt, but I also remember saying that I really didn’t want to push if I wasn’t dilated all the way. She offered again to check me, and I refused.
Lucinda told me that if I felt like doing some gentle pushing I could. That was at 6:00AM. I tried some gentle pushing on the toilet for a couple of contractions and then decided to move back to the bed. Lucinda started checking the heart rate with the Doppler more often – it was always around 130.
I didn’t feel like I was making any progress. Lucinda suggested that I breathe through a few contractions before trying some more pushing. At 6:50AM, Andrea arrived. I tried some visualization through the next few contractions. I tried to relax my body as best I could, while moaning, “She’s moving down, down, down…” and picturing the baby moving down the birth canal. I feel like that helped me feel more in control and calmer.
At 7:30AM I moved to the toilet again, and stayed there for almost an hour. I don’t remember much of it. I do remember Lucinda suggesting that I feel myself to see if I could feel the baby’s head or the bag of waters. I checked and I could feel something – I’m assuming the bulging bag of water. That was pretty cool.
By 8:30AM I was back on the bed. My midwife’s notes say that I was definitely complete with a bulging bag of waters. I tried a few different positions – squatting, hands and knees, and semi-sitting - for pushing over the next hour and a half. None of them seemed to get me anywhere. I did not feel that huge, overwhelming urge to push that everyone talks about. I hardly felt an urge to push at all. I was tired and feeling helpless. I just wanted the baby out.
At 9:35AM, Andrea suggested lying flat on my back with my legs up. I hesitated because I knew that this was usually the least desirable position for a woman to give birth in. It was one of the reasons I wanted to give birth at home – to avoid being forced into this position. Lucinda said that sometimes it’s just what is needed to get the baby past that bone (don’t know which one) and out. So I agreed to try it. I had to push really hard – harder than what I thought one had to push (from all of the stories and information that I had read) – but I was finally making some progress. After an hour of really intense pushing in this position, Maev Lin was born at 10:30AM, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. She was born ‘in caul’ or in the sac of water. My midwife told us that some people consider that very special. After tearing the sac away from the baby, she laid her on my belly. The first thing I noticed was that she looked all purplish, but she was quickly turning a normal color. Then I noticed her big hands and stubby fingers and said, “Oh man, she has my hands.”
I started hemorrhaging right after the baby came out. The midwives were able to stop it with pressure. After the placenta came out, I started bleeding again. Apparently there was a huge clot behind the placenta. I was given some Pitocin and one dropperful of Shepherd’s Purse. I lost about 4 cups of blood in all. I immediately started feeling spacey and tired. I felt sad that I wasn’t that interested in being with the baby – I just wanted to sleep. I’m sure this was all due to the blood loss. Andrea fed me some fruit and yogurt, and I felt a little better. Lucinda said that I could sleep as soon as I peed. I was able to make it over to the toilet, but I couldn’t pee, and sitting up was making me feel very faint. So I lied down on the bathroom floor. I was feeling so weird. I told everyone that I wanted to hear some music, and that I wanted to talk to my parents. So someone put on some music and gave me the phone and I talked to my parents while lying on the bathroom floor. Jon was holding Maev and sitting on the floor near me. He looked exhausted and traumatized, but happy. Poor Maev was crying, but I just didn’t have the energy to do anything about it. I really did feel better after talking to my parents. I was finally able to pee!
I got back into bed and we tried nursing. Then the midwives did the formal newborn exam. They left at 2PM, and Jon, Maev and I took a long nap in our bed. Finally some rest! I felt much better when we woke up. I couldn’t believe I had such a beautiful baby. Jon and I just sat there in bed staring at her until our parents arrived for their first visit.
While he was gone, I cleaned the house, did laundry, and took care of all those little last minute things that I wanted to do before the baby arrived. I’m glad that I was home and that I was pretty sure this was it, as it gave me some time to prepare myself and our home. I told my friends on MDC that I thought I was in labor.
The contractions were still coming, but irregularly, about every 15-30 minutes. They still were not painful; just a tightening. I wanted to time them to see how long they lasted, but it was difficult to tell exactly when they began and ended. A couple of hours later while in the bathroom I noticed some pink-tinged mucous. This made me really excited! Every time I went to the bathroom after that, I had more and darker mucous.
I don’t remember exactly when Jon came home – I think maybe around 4PM. He was not feeling well. He had a headache, and he got faint and queasy every time he saw blood trickling from the stitches on his scalp. So I called my sister, Norrah, to ask her to come over after work to be with me. I was feeling fine, but wanted someone there to chat with and help just in case I needed it while Jon rested.
At 7:30PM I called my midwife, Lucinda, to let her know that I was in labor. She advised me to take a nap since I had not taken one yet that day. So I tried to lie down for a while, but I was too excited to sleep.
Norrah came over around this time, so I got up. She had brought a salad, and she cut up some fruit for me. We sat around and talked. I found a thing online that timed contractions. It was fun trying to figure out how close they were. They were starting to hurt a little by now, but I had had worse period cramps, so they were not bothering me.
Jon got up for a little while, but he still wasn’t feeling well. He was disappointed that he wasn’t able to enjoy things and help out more.
Norrah and I took a walk around our condominium complex. I was feeling really good at this point. We walked for almost an hour. It was dark outside and the temperature was perfect. I enjoyed the exercise. Every few minutes, I would stop talking while a contraction came, but I was still able to walk easily during them.
After the walk I decided to take a shower and get all cleaned up and pretty. I spent a long time in the shower washing my hair, shaving and just enjoying the warm water. Then I got out and blow-dried my hair straight and even put on some make up. I wanted to look nice. I put on the nightgown that I had bought especially for the birth. My sister took the last belly pictures.
I decided to sit on the birth ball for a while, knowing that the bouncing would probably help move things along. And boy did it! I got my first intense contractions soon after getting off of the ball. This was at about 1AM. The contractions were about 2-4 minutes apart now, and they lasted anywhere from 30-90 seconds each. The longer ones were usually less painful than the shorter ones. We decided to call our midwife to ask her to come.
Lucinda came at 1:30AM. She set up her equipment, and then used the Doppler to check the baby. The baby was doing great with a heart rate in the 130s. My sister left at about this time. I tried to get some sleep.
The next time I went to the bathroom, I lost the rest of the mucous plug and there was more blood. The contractions were getting stronger, but I was still handling them well. At 3AM, Lucinda decided to go home to rest some more, as I seemed to be doing well. She told us to call her back over whenever we wanted.
This is where things start to get a little fuzzy in my memory. I am using my midwife’s notes from the birth to get accurate times. I know I spent most of my time in bed trying to rest for about an hour or two. At 4:50AM, Jon called Lucinda to have her come back, as my contractions were getting very intense. She arrived a half an hour later. She checked the baby’s heart rate again and it was still in the 130s. My contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 60 seconds.
At 5:30AM, Lucinda called another midwife, Andrea, who was going to assist at the birth. She lives over an hour away, so she started making her way over to our house.
It was about this time that Lucinda suggested a change in position like sitting on the toilet. I was scared to move, but I did it because I knew that some women really liked laboring on the toilet and being in an upright position would help bring the baby down. Also, I had to pee. The contractions on the toilet were scary. I don’t know if they were necessarily more painful or not. They were just so strong that I felt like I was going to fall off the toilet. I had to lean on Jon, who was sitting on a stool in front of me. I had lots of bloody show at this time. I am assuming I was in transition.
Lucinda asked me if I wanted to her check my dilation, but I refused. I was too afraid. I started to feel my breath catch during the peak of the contractions. I had read somewhere that this could mean I was ready to push. I told Lucinda how I felt, but I also remember saying that I really didn’t want to push if I wasn’t dilated all the way. She offered again to check me, and I refused.
Lucinda told me that if I felt like doing some gentle pushing I could. That was at 6:00AM. I tried some gentle pushing on the toilet for a couple of contractions and then decided to move back to the bed. Lucinda started checking the heart rate with the Doppler more often – it was always around 130.
I didn’t feel like I was making any progress. Lucinda suggested that I breathe through a few contractions before trying some more pushing. At 6:50AM, Andrea arrived. I tried some visualization through the next few contractions. I tried to relax my body as best I could, while moaning, “She’s moving down, down, down…” and picturing the baby moving down the birth canal. I feel like that helped me feel more in control and calmer.
At 7:30AM I moved to the toilet again, and stayed there for almost an hour. I don’t remember much of it. I do remember Lucinda suggesting that I feel myself to see if I could feel the baby’s head or the bag of waters. I checked and I could feel something – I’m assuming the bulging bag of water. That was pretty cool.
By 8:30AM I was back on the bed. My midwife’s notes say that I was definitely complete with a bulging bag of waters. I tried a few different positions – squatting, hands and knees, and semi-sitting - for pushing over the next hour and a half. None of them seemed to get me anywhere. I did not feel that huge, overwhelming urge to push that everyone talks about. I hardly felt an urge to push at all. I was tired and feeling helpless. I just wanted the baby out.
At 9:35AM, Andrea suggested lying flat on my back with my legs up. I hesitated because I knew that this was usually the least desirable position for a woman to give birth in. It was one of the reasons I wanted to give birth at home – to avoid being forced into this position. Lucinda said that sometimes it’s just what is needed to get the baby past that bone (don’t know which one) and out. So I agreed to try it. I had to push really hard – harder than what I thought one had to push (from all of the stories and information that I had read) – but I was finally making some progress. After an hour of really intense pushing in this position, Maev Lin was born at 10:30AM, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. She was born ‘in caul’ or in the sac of water. My midwife told us that some people consider that very special. After tearing the sac away from the baby, she laid her on my belly. The first thing I noticed was that she looked all purplish, but she was quickly turning a normal color. Then I noticed her big hands and stubby fingers and said, “Oh man, she has my hands.”
I started hemorrhaging right after the baby came out. The midwives were able to stop it with pressure. After the placenta came out, I started bleeding again. Apparently there was a huge clot behind the placenta. I was given some Pitocin and one dropperful of Shepherd’s Purse. I lost about 4 cups of blood in all. I immediately started feeling spacey and tired. I felt sad that I wasn’t that interested in being with the baby – I just wanted to sleep. I’m sure this was all due to the blood loss. Andrea fed me some fruit and yogurt, and I felt a little better. Lucinda said that I could sleep as soon as I peed. I was able to make it over to the toilet, but I couldn’t pee, and sitting up was making me feel very faint. So I lied down on the bathroom floor. I was feeling so weird. I told everyone that I wanted to hear some music, and that I wanted to talk to my parents. So someone put on some music and gave me the phone and I talked to my parents while lying on the bathroom floor. Jon was holding Maev and sitting on the floor near me. He looked exhausted and traumatized, but happy. Poor Maev was crying, but I just didn’t have the energy to do anything about it. I really did feel better after talking to my parents. I was finally able to pee!
I got back into bed and we tried nursing. Then the midwives did the formal newborn exam. They left at 2PM, and Jon, Maev and I took a long nap in our bed. Finally some rest! I felt much better when we woke up. I couldn’t believe I had such a beautiful baby. Jon and I just sat there in bed staring at her until our parents arrived for their first visit.