After what felt like an interminable wait,
Calista Diane Clarke
has finally joined our family!
Here's the story of Cali's birth. Disclaimer: if you'd like to remain blissfully unaware of the more unsavory parts of labor and birth, I suggest you just skim through this part - you've been warned!
At 12 days overdue I was scheduled for an induction at 8:30am on January 1. Just like her older sister, this baby clearly needed a nudge out the door. We arrived at St. Bernard's Hospital in Gibraltar at 8:30 after leaving Ceci in the very capable hands of Nan back at home (with Uncle Tom and Aunt Jane assisting - such a HUGE help). The ward was very busy - apparently there were something like 8 New Year's Eve babies, which is a A LOT of babies for Gibraltar. Our midwife, Nad, came to see us about 9 and got us settled in an antenatal suite. Thankfully it wasn't very busy so we had the room all to ourselves (when I was induced with Ceci all the antenatal rooms were full so we set up in a postnatal room!). She set me up on the monitor and left us be. When she checked me, I was not dilated at all, so it was decided that a prostaglandin pessary would be administered, just like with Ceci. By the time she returned, and the doctor had made it to the ward and had a chance to prescribe the pessary, it was 11:15am before the prostaglandin was administered. (Here in Gibraltar they do a very natural, gentle approach to induction - if the cervix isn't soft and short enough a hormone tablet is inserted to encourage it to start to 'ripen' and dilate. This is then given 6 hours to work and is repeated at least once before oxytocin is considered!). I was left on the monitor for 20-30min to ensure the baby was happy, which she was, and then encouraged to go for a walk and get some food. My next check would be at 5:15pm.
Jay and I headed out to Morrison's to get some breakfast. As it was a bank holiday very little was open (though McDonald's was an option again we decided to mix it up this time, haha). We had a lovely little breakfast and a short walk around the shop for Jay to get some snacks for himself - we had packed lots of snacks and drinks for me but none for Jay! Quickly though I was very uncomfortable and wanted to go back to our room to lie down.
I was very tired and feeling a lot of painful tightenings so when we were back in the room at about 1ish I laid down with my hypnobirthing CD on my headphones and zoned out for about 30-40min. Feeling much more refreshed after that, I took the birthing ball to enjoy the view out our window (and borrow the weak WiFi signal from the gym pool below us for distraction - and to check on Ceci with my mom - lol).
 |
| Birthing Ball Selfie! |
 |
| Not a bad view... |
At about 2pm I noticed the tightenings were getting more intense and feeling very regular. I started to time them and they were coming pretty much every 2 min and lasting for a minute, though occasionally they were a little further apart. I started reading a new book and continued to bounce on the birthing ball or kneel on the floor with my upper body on the ball.
By 3:30pm the tightenings were feeling like full blown contractions - starting in my back and wrapping around to the front like a corset. They were getting very intense and coming very regularly. Jay and I timed them again and they were coming every 2 minutes and lasting 1 minute. Jay went to get the midwife to see if we could move up the check. She came and had a chat with us but said that though she could see I was clearly having contractions, she would still wait until 5pm to move forward. Ugh. I was not terribly happy about that because I was hoping to move things along, but I didn't have much choice.
In order to pass the time Jay and I decided to watch a movie. I had downloaded a couple options to my tablet and we settled on Legends of the Fall (I'd never seen it and thought Brad Pitt would be a good distraction - free downloads through iPlayer and Xfinity were very limited, lol). It worked pretty well. I'd sit on the ball between contractions and then pace the room during contractions. Just before 5pm the catering staff came around and offered dinner (fish and chips) - I thought it couldn't hurt to have the option so accepted. As they brought it in, Nad arrived as well to hook me up to the monitor. Having learned with Ceci that I do not get on well when stuck in bed, she set me up on the monitor while sitting on the ball. She also encouraged me to eat, noting that the cervix is muscle so feeding it only helps. Oddly enough, with the food in front of me I was actually quite hungry. So after each contraction passed I rewarded myself with a french fry or two and a few bites of what I think was a (very tasty) carrot-potato soup. I even had a couple bites of fish. Jay took the opportunity to run over to McDonald's to get himself some dinner (having not eaten at all during Ceci's birth, he knew he should take the chance when it presented itself!). I needed to be on the monitor for at least 20min to make sure baby was happy. As my contractions were getting really intense at this point, Nad promised to be back to check right at 5:40 (she even set an alarm on her phone!) and told us to buzz her if she wasn't there.
Just before 5:40, as Jay and I were finishing our dinner, at the peak of a contraction, I had a shooting pain. It felt like I was sitting on a knife and the contraction refused to let go. I immediately screamed and started to cry and the longer is lasted the more hysterical I got. Jay hit the buzzer and moments later Nad arrived. She was shocked to see me in that state, as I'd been handling the contractions well up to that point. As she helped me breathe and calm down the pain subsided and she quickly noticed the monitor was no longer registering the baby's heartbeat. She readjusted the monitor to find it and was shocked to find it has moved a good 4-5 inches lower - it appeared the baby's head had dropped into the birth canal in one motion! Upon checking me, she said she couldn't tell how dilated I was because my water sac was bulging out but she said it seemed like the baby was ready. She suggested we move to the labor room before breaking my water because she believed as soon as she did the baby would be on its way! She also decided to set up an IV line as a precaution just in case I needed blood or fluids in a rush after delivery since I'd had a major bleed with Ceci. Once we were in the labor room Jay asked at what point I could start some gas & air (after the intense pain earlier I was a little panicky and my fear of needles didn't help either) and they told us I could have it immediately. So as I got on the bed a second midwife who had arrived to be the baby's midwife handed me the gas & air mouthpiece. They put the cannula in my hand (at first they tried my arm but there was some sort of issue that cause it to feel like they were continually digging at me with the needle even after they'd finished!) and the gas & air definitely helped me to calm my nerves a bit.
Nad broke my waters at 6:18pm and as I stood up so they could clean off the bed I started getting the urge to push. Nad checked me quickly as a stood next the bed and said "this baby is coming now"! She encouraged me to push when I felt the urge but I told her I couldn't do it standing up and I wanted to kneel on the bed. They got me set up on the bed, kneeling up and bracing myself against the raised head of the bed as I did with Ceci, and I started pushing. I immediately could feel like the baby moving down and out. It was incredible and so, so intense. There was a huge rush of emotion and I was getting panicky - Nad did well talking to me to keep me as calm as possible, but I was teary and a bit worked up, I think because it was all happening so fast! The gas & air helped me to calm as well so I kept breathing that in at the start of each contraction. After just a few pushes, at 6:34pm, Calista shot out into the world - with her hand against her face! Just like her sister, she pooed all over the bed. Her color was great and she started coughing and sputtering immediately so they handed her to me and kept the cord attached. With some help, I maneuvered myself around to sitting in the bed while holding my new little girl. The midwife toweled her off (which she was not a fan of - she quickly showed off her impressive set of lungs with the volume and intensity of her crying!) and then she latched on to feed. Once the cord stopped pulsing, they clamped it and had Jay cut it and they gave me the injection to encourage the placenta to detach. Thankfully this time, the placenta was delivered quickly and easily with no extra bleeding. Hooray!
 |
| Shes' here!! |
 |
| Brand new!! |
 |
| A little milk monster - just like her sister |
 |
| Deep thoughts on entering the world... |
 |
| Proud Daddy! |
 |
| Me and my main midwife, Nad |
As everything settled, and while I continued to feed Cali, Jay got on the phone to update our families. When he called my mom she put Ceci on the phone and she was SO EXCITED to hear my voice - she just kept saying 'It's momma! It's momma!'. It was too cute. Unfortunately, she was very upset when we had to say good-bye and from that point had no desire to continue with bath time or getting ready for bed. My mom did a great job keeping her calm and happy and we decided to make things easier for everyone Jay would head home and put Ceci to bed and then come back, hopefully with my mom in tow.
They weighed and measured Cali and she came in at 9lbs 3oz, 22 inches long and with a head circumference of 14.2in! That's 12oz heavier, an inch longer and an inch larger head than Ceci!
Jay got Cali dressed and then went home. While Jay was gone, the midwives stitched me up (I had a tear very similar to what I had with Ceci - though the midwife said it was likely only because of Cali keeping her hand by her face on her way out!). I was generally in good shape though I kept getting chills and shaking, which Nad assured me was very normally especially given how quick the delivery was. Cali was also great, nestling into my arms and feeding off and on. At one point she also demonstrated her fiery personality when I apparently changed her position into one she didn't like - she turned BRIGHT red and screamed as I fumbled around, shocked, trying to soothe her. That was my first clue how different this little girl would be from my first!
Not too much later, Jay and my mom arrived (it took a little while but Jay was able to get Ceci down to sleep without too much trouble and my Aunt Jane kindly agreed to stay at the house with Ceci). Jay helped me shower and get dressed while my mom held Cali.
 |
| Proud and happy Nan! |
After some cuddle time, and a few pictures, my mom helped us move into our postnatal room. Cali and I got settled in our beds and my mom and Jay headed home to get some sleep. What a day!
An update on Cali's first week and Cali & Ceci meeting for the first time will be up soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment