It's April 30 and I have been trying to write Hannah Elisabeth's birth story since she arrived ... needless to say, poopy diapers, bfing, cuddling, lack of sleep, etc. have all played a role in our delinquency. To make up for our tardiness and to record our experience for our own birth book, you are getting the REALLY long version of our birth story. If you want just the hospital portion, scroll down to the *******!

On Monday morning, 4/13, went in for a fetal monitoring test and u/s because our due date had come and gone on Saturday, 4/11. Everything looked great, which was a real relief. That evening I began to have contractions. Hadn't really had a lot of BH, so I was sure this was it. Called Dr. who said congrats, you'll have baby in a couple of days. Hmmm.

By 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 4/14, the cx were five minutes apart, lasting about 30-45 seconds. This sounded like it was time to go. I had time to shower, do hair, put on makeup, and generally look presentable. Big mistake. Went to hospital and found out I was still 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Suggested we walk the halls. Within an hour had gone to 3 cm, so they admitted me to the Family Birthing Center. Well, that was it ALL day. We walked, we nipple stimulated, we tried showers ... to no avail. Stuck at 3 cm dilated, 80% effaced. The woman who performed the fetal monitoring test on Monday kept saying "elizabeth, you look too good, girl, for this to be labor. Go home" The resident offered to break the bag of water and induce. That sounded like a nightmare after 24 hours with no sleep. Have to say she had no bedside manner and I did not like her one bit. By dinner time, we admitted defeat and left for home. Totally depressed, miserable, thrilled to eat solid foods (birthing plan allowed for liquid type foods only), but still very little sleep.

By 5:00 a.m. Wednesday, 4/15, the contractions were stronger. I was using the bathtub to give some sense of buoyancy with the contractions. Not wanting to embarrass myself a second time, I just kept my head under water and tried to bear the pain. By 10:30 a.m., I noticed the contractions were about 1 min in length and 3 mins apart. This was not good. I was screaming "owie owie owie", or "*#@, @#!, %@#" depending on my mood. DH brought car around and I threw on the clothes I had on yesterday. Managed to brush my teeth, but no combing hair, no makeup, no shower ... a beautiful picture I was not.

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DH dropped me off at hospital around 11:15 a.m. and and I had to suffer up the elevator with regular people while he parked the car. A nightmare. I got to waiting room and told the woman to get me into triage NOW, that there would be no family birthing center for me now because I was going to have a walking epidural NOW, and to be quick about it. I saw a woman at the elevator staring at me in shock. Thought she was a resident or intern. Found out later she was the pediatrician! I still had my admit tags on from the previous day and the admissions lady took me in within 30 seconds.

DH worked with me in the car on breathing techniques, so I was now pretty efficient at the in-out methods. we went through 3 sets of cx before I was able to get my clothes off and get on the table. (P.S. for those still waiting, I found standing through cx MUCH better than trying to lay down) The NP examined me and pronounced me 7 cm dilated and fully effaced. Yippee ... this is it.

You notice the queerest things when you're in pain. The NP had the nicest hands and nails and I told her so. Also found out she had gone to U Penn for grad school as had I and had lived in DC like I had.

We walked me to my birthing room, or should I say crab-walked. Had several sets of cx and noticed different folks staring at me in horror, especially those "walking the halls." Once we got into the room, had a heparin lock put in (type of IV), then a really good-looking ( :-) ) resident from Poland came to give me the walking epidural. What a relief. Good thing we got him quickly, b/c I was now at 8 cm dilated.

Now it's noon and I am in complete relief. Joy. DH sets up CD player and our honeymoon pictures (where Hannah was conceived). We turn the lights down low to relax. We decide to take a break while my doctor gets here. I eat lunch and by 1:00 I'm 10 cm dilated. Doctor arrives and says to rest for another hour or so since I've had no sleep. We listened to Tony Bennett, kd lang, and gospel music to pass the time. I was so elated yet calm for some reason.

At 2:30 we decide we're good to go. We feel so blessed because there is a birthing crisis (we find out later that there were 23 births in 30 hours in a teaching hospital that averages 6 births a day) so we have no residents, interns, or other folks watching us do our business. It's just me, DH, and my doctor and labor nurse (who left more than half the time to help out some of the crises).

Between contractions, we would sit and talk with the doctor about her Samoyed, her plans to buy a house, to have a child when her DH grew up (she's younger than I am), etc. She likes our choice of music and the dim lights, so we turn up the tunes and dim the lights even more. Because of the walking epidural, I could tell when contractions were starting and I'd have to prod Doc and DH to get going and stop chatting. It was the most amazing, relaxed event I could have ever imagined.

It took almost two hours (I kind of pooped out in the middle), but all of the sudden, there was Hannah's head at 4:18 p.m. Two seconds later, all of her popped out. As soon as she arrived, a bunch of folks waltzed in -- pediatrician, ped resident, intern, nurses, ob/gyn resident, intern, etc. DH cut the cord, then Hannah was moved over to the side of the room to be examined, suctioned, etc. because she had meconium problems. DH went with her and I was able to see her about six feet away while I delivered the placenta and then they sewed me up. That was weird, I have to say -- the resident sewing me up while my OB watched and would say, no, not there, do it this way ... Ugh in retrospect, just kind of a haze at the time.

The labor and delivery nurse then put Hannah on my chest and we attempted our first nursing experience. Well, it didn't go that great, but we sure bonded. (we're still working on the bf-ing skills).

I remember saying that this wasn't so bad and that I could really have another kid soon and to sew me up good because I still wanted a sex life. This was before the epidural wore off and I realized I had hemmorhoids in addition to lots of stitches. OW!

The remainder is pretty basic. Hannah left for about two hours to be bathed and have temperature checked out. Dh stayed with her and took lots of good pictures. We roomed-in, all three of us, for two nights and left on Friday for home.

I just have to say it was a very moving experience, actually I found it to be quite spiritual. We truly were blessed with an uncomplicated delivery.

Good luck to all those who are waiting to deliver their precious babies. Hannah Elisabeth and I can't wait to share in your joy and happiness.

Elizabeth