Note: This post is so I can look back and remember the details, but also I thought our girls might want to know how labor was for me when they are expecting their first baby someday.
Kaleah's birth was very different than Maylee's. With Maylee my water broke at 6:30 PM and she was born at 11:30 PM so from start to finish it was only five hours. All three of the doctors in my clinic said that the second one is usually faster and thought that would be the case with Kaleah as well. So, we prepared an emergency roadside delivery kit just in case since we don't live close to the hospital.
On Wednesday, Nov. 7th, I started having a few stronger contractions while I was teaching that afternoon. Nothing close enough to time, but got us thinking that she is preparing to come. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for awhile, but these contractions were much stronger and different. They continued at random times on Thursday and Friday. I woke up in the middle of Friday night very nauseous and then I had no contractions for the following four days. At our Tuesday appointment, our doctor did an ultrasound and confirmed that the nausea was when Kaleah flipped breech. I was devastated because I really wanted to have another natural birth with no drugs like I did with Maylee, and here we were faced with most likely a c-section. The doctor sent me home for bed rest so I wouldn't do anything to increase the chance of going into labor with her breech. We had a few days to try to get her to flip back around. We tried breech tilt exercises and moxibustion (Chinese therapy of burning a herb stick near certain body points). We also used cold packs, a flashlight, and music to try to get her to move away cold towards heat, light and sound. Nothing worked. On Friday the 16th, we went to the hospital for our scheduled external cephalic version procedure, a procedure that only has a success rate of 58%. There are a lot of risks with the procedure such as the placenta rupturing, spinal damage to the baby, or possibly breaking baby's arm or leg. Our doctor couldn't start until the cesarean operating room was ready just in case. I was so nervous and emotional with all the risks, but they were very hopeful it would work because my fluid levels were high and she was in an "oblique" position (not fully breech - straight up and down). The doctor's hand on my belly to turn her only took about 30 seconds and it was painful, but it was successful! I cried afterwards to feel relief of her being in correct position. They monitored the baby and I for awhile and then sent us home. Most of the time doctors induce right after to prevent babies from flipping back, but our doctor was willing to let us go home and see if labor would start again. So Friday evening and Saturday I rested.
Contractions started again on Saturday evening around 9:00 in the evening. They were not close together so I didn't get excited. However, I started timing them once they got closer together and they continued through the night. Kevin got in the shower once they got about seven minutes apart. Our plan was to drive to the hospital once they got to four or five minutes apart. Around 5 AM, they got to six minutes apart, but then they went back to being randomly spaced (6-20 minutes apart). I couldn't sleep between contractions so I read when I wasn't walking up and down our stairs...and ended up reading three books! After all day of this, I started to worry that maybe she flipped back and that is why contractions were random and not progressing. At 4:00, we called the hospital and the nurses all knew who I was because they don't see very many successful version patients. They said to come in and get checked to make sure baby is still head down. Thankfully she was and I was dilated to a two. The nurse suggested for us to stay because they were not busy that night. I wanted to go back home to labor in the comforts of home, but Kevin was worried my water would break in our new car so we stayed. Our doula arrived and started pressure points and massages on me while Kevin took a nap. When I finally reached a six (around 10 PM), our doula said I could get in the Jacuzzi tub. (She says labor often slows if you get in before you are dilated to a six). The tub sped things up. At 1:00 AM, I got out because I was dilated to a 9.5 and then our doula woke Kevin up. At 1:12, the doctor came in and broke my water. He started to leave the room, when the doula yelled for him to get back because she could see the head. Kaleah was born at 1:19...two pushes and seven minutes after my water was broken.
I still can't believe how different my labors were...
Maylee - water broke, then contractions started
Kaleah - contractions started, water had to be broken
Maylee - got to a 10, pushed for 30 minutes to deliver
Kaleah - got to a 10, pushed twice to deliver
Maylee's labor - 5 hours
Kaleah's labor - 28 hours
