Cecilia Kathleen Clarke has finally arrived in the world!
In this post I'm going to share the story of Cecilia's birth. I'll spare you the entire play-by-play and try to keep it to just the highlights but as this is also serving as my own little journal so I don't forget the details there may be a few over-shares - you've been warned!
I went to St. Bernard's Hospital in Gibraltar on Tuesday, April 22nd to be induced. We arrived at 8:30am but the ward was quite busy and no one seemed in much of a hurry so it took a while for us to be set up. The morning was a bit uneventful:
9:30am put on the monitor by my assigned midwife, Isabel Garcia, who is absolutely lovely. Baby is happy and I'm having some irregular contractionsTime starts to blur once we enter the labor room. My contractions became very intense, mainly as a feeling of overwhelming pressure in my lower back and abdomen. I start to doubt a natural birth and consider getting a shot of morphine but with Jay's encouragement decide to wait a little longer (though I do remember asking him why we had decided on a natural birth as I couldn't seem to think of any good reasons at the time!). We put the hypnobirthing CD and then music on which both also help a lot. I continue using the gas and air (I couldn't really tell if it was doing anything but I was too afraid it was helping to try giving it up!). On a trip to the bathroom I discover laboring sitting on the toilet is much more comfortable and decide to stay there for a bit.
10:00am first check, I'm only 1-2cm and my cervix still a bit long and thick; a hormone pessary is administered to encourage my cervix to 'ripen'; next check won't be until 4 pm and we're told that for most first-time moms at least one more 6 hour pessary cycle is needed before the next step - breaking the water
11:30am after being on the monitor for another hour, we're told to go for a walk to get things moving and head to the gorgeous park/playground along the water just down the street from the hospital
12:30pm we stop for lunch at McDonald's across the street
1:00pm my contractions really intensify so we decide to forget the walk and head back to bed in hospital; I try to distract myself with a movie and when that doesn't work I put on my hypnobirthing CD and zone out to the relaxation tracks
4:00pm I'm put back on the monitor - my contractions are stronger and more regular; the baby is still very happy
4:30pm Isabel check me again and I'm a full 2cm, cervix 80% effaced. She decides another pessary isn't needed and she's able to break my water - contractions immediately intensify; next check at 6:30.
5:30pm finally off the monitor, Isabel suggests a hot bath to try to get more comfortable. While in the bath I also start using gas and air (laughing gas). Both help take edge off the contractions which are now very regular - active labor has officially started.
6:30pm I get out of bath to move into labor room for the next check. I'm 5 cm dilated and the baby is still very happy.
I spend the next couple of hours (or so?) sitting on the toilet between contractions and standing up during them - no idea why, it was kind of involuntary movement. Jay was sitting next to me on the bidet (hilarious mental image, I know). Isabel alternated between doing paperwork in the labor room and sitting with us in the bathroom. I started feeling urges to push so the Isabel decided to check my progress - I was already at 8cm. She encouraged me to listen to my body and said she could see by looking at my stomach that I'm helping lower the baby down with whatever weird things I was doing. Still laboring on the toilet Isabel let me know that as I was at 8cm she could no longer offer any pain relief so I resolved myself to breathe through the pain - this actually made it easier somehow.
Around 8pm Isabel's shift was over and she was replaced by Lottie Walker who is just as lovely and wonderful as Isabel. (In hindsight I think my little one waited as long as she did to come out so that I could have these two midwives - they perfectly suited my personality and I felt so comfortable with them both.) As they transitioned from one to the other they both stayed with us in the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub, while Isabel got Lottie caught up - actually a pretty hilarious scene when you think about it.
When the urge to push intensified Lottie offered to check me. I was nearly 10cm but not all of the cervix was out of the way. Baby's head was really low and she was still very happy. Lottie told me to try not to push but breathe through the contractions instead so the cervix could fully clear, but like Isabel she told me to do whatever my body felt it needed to do. After a couple contractions though, at about 9pm, I just had to push and was getting a bit frantic about it. I finally left the bathroom and was set up kneeling on the bed leaning over the raised back. Lottie checked me and said she could clearly see the baby's head and it was indeed time to push.
I found pushing much easier than laboring and actually kind of enjoyed it. Doing something with the contractions made them much more bearable and as I had 1-2min breaks in between each contraction I was able to get some solid rest to prepare for the next one. Lottie was great at instructing me how to push (holding my breath rather than blowing out during each push and explaining why a couple long pushes were better than several short ones) and I caught on quick. Lottie kept encouraging me and complimenting me, often asking if I was sure this was my first baby, which made me laugh. Within 45 minutes the baby's head was crowning. My legs started to feel shaky and weak so since gravity had already done its job I turned around and sat upright with my knees bent. Lottie had Jay press the call button so that a second midwife could join us. Nancy, a hilarious midwife who I came to know later on in my hospital stay, came in to be the baby's midwife.
Another push or two later and the baby's head was halfway out - I could see the back of her very hairy head perfectly. At this point my contractions stalled for a few minutes and the baby was moving and trying to breathe - a very weird sensation to say the least! Lottie, Nancy and I were all chatting and having a bit of a laugh at how inopportune a moment my body had chosen to give me a long break. The next push brought my little girl, Cecilia Kathleen Clarke, quickly shooting into the world at 10:07pm. She immediately pooed all over the bed - not terribly lady-like. She was very white and had her eyes wide open like a deer in headlights. The cord was around her neck so they quickly removed it, had Jay cut it and whisked her to the warming bed to give her oxygen. I was really anxious about her (ok, I was freaking out) but the midwives and Jay reassured me that she was fine. Within a couple minutes she had pinked up and started to cry and cough which made me feel much better.
At this point I noticed I was suddenly bleeding quite heavily. I told the midwives who both immediately left Cecilia and rushed to tend to me. My uterus wasn't contracting and they couldn't get the placenta out. I had wanted a natural delivery of the placenta, but given the circumstances I of course gave them permission to give me the injection to encourage my uterus to contract. They massaged my uterus into contraction manually but for a while I kept bleeding off and on and try as they might they still couldn't get the placenta out. Thankfully I suddenly felt the urge to push and as soon as I did the placenta came right out - it was much bigger than I thought but definitely easier to birth than a baby! During all this Jay had picked up Cecilia and held her skin-to-skin, something we had thankfully talked about in case there was any reason she couldn't be delivered directly to my chest. Once things were settled I asked to hold her which was amazing. With her in my arms, Lottie stitched and cleaned me up and Jay made phone calls to our immediate families to spread the happy news.
Once both Cecilia and I were stable, and knowing my parents were only in town one more day, Lottie told us they were welcome to come and see us in the labor room before they transferred us to our antenatal room. So Jay called them up at about 11pm and offered to come and pick them up for a visit - they were of course more than happy to oblige!
The happy grandparents, Gramps and Nan:
Cecilia, Jay and I got to spend about an hour and a half with my parents which was amazing. I was feeling great, and everyone was just so excited to meet little Ceci. They weighed and measured her and she was a shocking 8 pounds 7 ounces - much bigger than I anticipated! She was 21.25 inches long and her head was 13.4 inches around. I still can't believe she fit inside my bump! Jay and my mom also got her dressed and took turns holding her and taking lots of photos.
Afterwards, Lottie asked if I wanted to take a shower before I headed to the antenatal ward. Jay was heading home with my parents (husbands aren't allowed to stay overnight in the ward and are generally asked to leave from 10pm to 10am after the baby is born) so they headed out to the waiting room while Jay helped me gather our stuff from the labor room and get my things for a quick shower. As soon as Lottie helped me to stand up I felt really weak and dizzy. I told Lottie I was going to pass out. No sooner did she get me sitting down on the bed I went unconscious. Next thing I knew there were 4 midwives standing above me - one taking blood, one putting in an IV, one giving me oxygen and the last taking my blood pressure. I remember being really confused about where they all had materialized from so quickly. Jay was holding Ceci and looking really concerned - he told me later that all the color had completely drained out of my face. I was still cracking jokes through my oxygen mask while laying on the bed, so his concern was thankfully alleviated enough that he felt safe leaving me in Lottie's hands so he could bring my parents home and get some sleep. He settled Ceci in her cot and headed out.
It took Lottie and I quite a while to finally make it to my bed in the antenatal room. She didn't want to move too quickly and risk me passing out again. So after a lot of oxygen and IV fluids and slowly moving to a more and more upright seated position, we finally got me dressed in some PJs and into my bed via wheelchair. By this time I think it was nearly 2am. Lottie wanted me to get some rest so she told me they would take care of Cecilia for me while I slept, promising to bring her straight to me if she was hungry. Before she left with her, though, she kindly agreed to sit with me until I fell asleep because I was feeling a little overwhelmed about being alone after all of the excitement - they really took great care of me at the hospital! Ceci was very cooperative and slept straight through until 7:30am the next morning (I think she was exhausted as I was!), allowing me a solid 5 hours of sleep.
And that's the story of Cecilia's arrival in to the world! We ended up needing to spend 4 nights in the hospital, having a 2-unit blood transfusion on the third night to battle the blood loss and resulting anemia I had (they estimated I lost 1000ml of blood making it a major primary postpartum haemorrhage but later said they think even that estimate had been too low). Before the blood transfusion I was extremely weak and even a trip to the bathroom a few feet from my bed left me dizzy and out of breath. The good news is that the amount of rest this forced me to have helped my body to heal from the delivery quite quickly. And after the transfusion I did feel much better, though my blood levels are still well below normal. I'm told my recovery is now measured in weeks, not days, so I'm doing my best to take it easy and enjoy relaxing in bed and on the couch with my darling little girl.
Thanks so much to everyone who sent prayers, good vibes, happy thoughts and encouraging messages and congratulations our way. It was so hard not being able to communicate with you all while I was in the hospital, but Jay kept me updated as best he could and I so enjoyed coming home to so much love!
More updates on Ceci's first week coming soon!
When the urge to push intensified Lottie offered to check me. I was nearly 10cm but not all of the cervix was out of the way. Baby's head was really low and she was still very happy. Lottie told me to try not to push but breathe through the contractions instead so the cervix could fully clear, but like Isabel she told me to do whatever my body felt it needed to do. After a couple contractions though, at about 9pm, I just had to push and was getting a bit frantic about it. I finally left the bathroom and was set up kneeling on the bed leaning over the raised back. Lottie checked me and said she could clearly see the baby's head and it was indeed time to push.
I found pushing much easier than laboring and actually kind of enjoyed it. Doing something with the contractions made them much more bearable and as I had 1-2min breaks in between each contraction I was able to get some solid rest to prepare for the next one. Lottie was great at instructing me how to push (holding my breath rather than blowing out during each push and explaining why a couple long pushes were better than several short ones) and I caught on quick. Lottie kept encouraging me and complimenting me, often asking if I was sure this was my first baby, which made me laugh. Within 45 minutes the baby's head was crowning. My legs started to feel shaky and weak so since gravity had already done its job I turned around and sat upright with my knees bent. Lottie had Jay press the call button so that a second midwife could join us. Nancy, a hilarious midwife who I came to know later on in my hospital stay, came in to be the baby's midwife.
Another push or two later and the baby's head was halfway out - I could see the back of her very hairy head perfectly. At this point my contractions stalled for a few minutes and the baby was moving and trying to breathe - a very weird sensation to say the least! Lottie, Nancy and I were all chatting and having a bit of a laugh at how inopportune a moment my body had chosen to give me a long break. The next push brought my little girl, Cecilia Kathleen Clarke, quickly shooting into the world at 10:07pm. She immediately pooed all over the bed - not terribly lady-like. She was very white and had her eyes wide open like a deer in headlights. The cord was around her neck so they quickly removed it, had Jay cut it and whisked her to the warming bed to give her oxygen. I was really anxious about her (ok, I was freaking out) but the midwives and Jay reassured me that she was fine. Within a couple minutes she had pinked up and started to cry and cough which made me feel much better.
At this point I noticed I was suddenly bleeding quite heavily. I told the midwives who both immediately left Cecilia and rushed to tend to me. My uterus wasn't contracting and they couldn't get the placenta out. I had wanted a natural delivery of the placenta, but given the circumstances I of course gave them permission to give me the injection to encourage my uterus to contract. They massaged my uterus into contraction manually but for a while I kept bleeding off and on and try as they might they still couldn't get the placenta out. Thankfully I suddenly felt the urge to push and as soon as I did the placenta came right out - it was much bigger than I thought but definitely easier to birth than a baby! During all this Jay had picked up Cecilia and held her skin-to-skin, something we had thankfully talked about in case there was any reason she couldn't be delivered directly to my chest. Once things were settled I asked to hold her which was amazing. With her in my arms, Lottie stitched and cleaned me up and Jay made phone calls to our immediate families to spread the happy news.
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| Settled down after all the excitement. |
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| So happy to finally have her in my arms. |
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| After getting over the shock of being born, Cecilia was quite hungry and ate for nearly 2 hours. |
Once both Cecilia and I were stable, and knowing my parents were only in town one more day, Lottie told us they were welcome to come and see us in the labor room before they transferred us to our antenatal room. So Jay called them up at about 11pm and offered to come and pick them up for a visit - they were of course more than happy to oblige!
The happy grandparents, Gramps and Nan:
My mom was a bit emotional - we were warned the induction could take up to 3 days (they use a slow, more natural approach to induction here) so she was over the moon that Cecilia was born so quickly and that she was able to see her right away.
Cecilia, Jay and I got to spend about an hour and a half with my parents which was amazing. I was feeling great, and everyone was just so excited to meet little Ceci. They weighed and measured her and she was a shocking 8 pounds 7 ounces - much bigger than I anticipated! She was 21.25 inches long and her head was 13.4 inches around. I still can't believe she fit inside my bump! Jay and my mom also got her dressed and took turns holding her and taking lots of photos.
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Being weighed (fyi - the scale is in grams) |
Afterwards, Lottie asked if I wanted to take a shower before I headed to the antenatal ward. Jay was heading home with my parents (husbands aren't allowed to stay overnight in the ward and are generally asked to leave from 10pm to 10am after the baby is born) so they headed out to the waiting room while Jay helped me gather our stuff from the labor room and get my things for a quick shower. As soon as Lottie helped me to stand up I felt really weak and dizzy. I told Lottie I was going to pass out. No sooner did she get me sitting down on the bed I went unconscious. Next thing I knew there were 4 midwives standing above me - one taking blood, one putting in an IV, one giving me oxygen and the last taking my blood pressure. I remember being really confused about where they all had materialized from so quickly. Jay was holding Ceci and looking really concerned - he told me later that all the color had completely drained out of my face. I was still cracking jokes through my oxygen mask while laying on the bed, so his concern was thankfully alleviated enough that he felt safe leaving me in Lottie's hands so he could bring my parents home and get some sleep. He settled Ceci in her cot and headed out.
It took Lottie and I quite a while to finally make it to my bed in the antenatal room. She didn't want to move too quickly and risk me passing out again. So after a lot of oxygen and IV fluids and slowly moving to a more and more upright seated position, we finally got me dressed in some PJs and into my bed via wheelchair. By this time I think it was nearly 2am. Lottie wanted me to get some rest so she told me they would take care of Cecilia for me while I slept, promising to bring her straight to me if she was hungry. Before she left with her, though, she kindly agreed to sit with me until I fell asleep because I was feeling a little overwhelmed about being alone after all of the excitement - they really took great care of me at the hospital! Ceci was very cooperative and slept straight through until 7:30am the next morning (I think she was exhausted as I was!), allowing me a solid 5 hours of sleep.
And that's the story of Cecilia's arrival in to the world! We ended up needing to spend 4 nights in the hospital, having a 2-unit blood transfusion on the third night to battle the blood loss and resulting anemia I had (they estimated I lost 1000ml of blood making it a major primary postpartum haemorrhage but later said they think even that estimate had been too low). Before the blood transfusion I was extremely weak and even a trip to the bathroom a few feet from my bed left me dizzy and out of breath. The good news is that the amount of rest this forced me to have helped my body to heal from the delivery quite quickly. And after the transfusion I did feel much better, though my blood levels are still well below normal. I'm told my recovery is now measured in weeks, not days, so I'm doing my best to take it easy and enjoy relaxing in bed and on the couch with my darling little girl.
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| Isabel and me the day I left the hospital. |
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| Lottie and me in the delivery room just after Ceci was born. |
More updates on Ceci's first week coming soon!
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