Millie's Birth Story

Since I have shared the boys birth stories, I figured we would round things out with one more.

We used the birth center again, and if you are curious about that then check out Levi's birth story part 1. I went into more detail about how it might differ from a hospital birth.

My due date was Monday August 1st, and the day came and went with no major developments. I went into labor with Levi the day after he was due, so I didn't have to wait too long. This time I went three days over. That in itself is not really a big deal...unless you're the pregnant one. I was so over being pregnant and wanted to be done, so every day that went by was almost torture. I was getting disappointed and my mind was starting to play out every dangerous scenario that could go wrong by being "overdue." I was starting to psych myself out. I think at one point I actually talked with Daniel about an induction date, because I was convinced that this baby was going to be different and my body would never go into labor. (The birth center would have let me go to 42 weeks, which would have been August 15th: Gunner's first day of school. I didn't want to be dealing with all that at once so I told Daniel that I would go in for an induction on August 12th) Luckily, on the morning of August 4th at 4:45 am, at 40.3 weeks, I felt the first contraction.

That morning I had gotten up at 3:45 to use the restroom, because my bladder was also totally over it and I think I spent more time peeing than I spent sleeping those last several weeks. I couldn't get back to sleep so I tossed and turned for an hour. Around 4:45, I had a contraction. It wasn't too bad but was slightly painful. Then a few minutes later there was another. After three contractions, I decided to get up and time them. I used an app on my phone to track them while I ate a protein bar. They were definitely real labor contractions, so I decided to time them for an hour to see how quickly (or slowly) things were moving. They were averaging out to be about 1 minute long and 5-6 minutes apart. At 6am I called my mom to let her know. She told me to call her and let her know when they started getting more intense. I got up to go wake Daniel up, and it kicked things up quite a bit. I told him he had better get ready and that I was going to finish gathering everything together. Moving around like that made them go crazy, so as soon as I was finished I told him that I had to lay down so they didn't get worse. I continued to time them, and Daniel called the birth center to inform them that we would be coming in that day.

My dad arrived so he could keep the boys for us, and I was completely taken over trying to get through every contraction. I totally forgot to call my mom to let her know they had gotten pretty intense. I kept asking Daniel to check on her location. (We have a family location app that allows us to see where someone is. Super helpful so we aren't calling someone who is driving.) Right as she was driving up, I decided to get up and lean over the bench in front of our bed, thinking it might help ease things. Turns out, that made it much worse and I was almost feeling the urge to push. She walked in at the end of that contraction and I said "We need to go!" So we loaded up in the car; Daniel, mom, and myself. The birth center is about 7 minutes from our house, but that ride was awful. I was so frustrated every time Daniel stopped at a light that I would yell "Go!!" and nearly cause him to jump into oncoming traffic. We arrived at 8:30am.

They quickly got us into a room and wanted to check the baby's heart rate and see how far along I was. That was AWFUL. I'm trying to get through intense contractions while the midwife is checking to see where we are in the labor process, meanwhile the nurse has to shove the Doppler into my lower abdomen trying to find the baby's heart beat. I remember the midwife apologizing telling me they were hurrying, and I think I apologized and said "You're just doing your job!" I went ahead and got into the birthing tub because (woo hoo!) I was already at 7cm and 90%! I think I cried from relief when she told me. With baby #1, I was only at a 3 when I got to the hospital, and with #2 I was at a 5 when we got to the birth center. I guess I was hitting transition in the car, which explains why I was so agitated.

The contractions were more and more intense, and I was fully taken over by each one just trying to get through it. This time it felt like it was harder for me to cope. Things were progressing very quickly and it felt overwhelming. I felt very frustrated and I think I took my frustrations out on Daniel a few times. He wasn't even really doing anything to bother me! He was super helpful and supportive. (Sorry, dear) The birth center had recently added the option of using nitrous oxide gas, and I took full advantage of that. It was set to be part gas, part oxygen and prevented you from getting more than a certain amount with each inhale. Not enough to make you completely loopy, but just enough to take the edge off and help you stay relaxed.

It felt like an eternity, but it didn't take too long before we were within minutes of meeting Millie. One of the worst contractions started up, and my water broke during that one. Once that happened, the midwife told me that it was time to start pushing. Daniel was behind me holding me more upright under my arms. It only took 7 minutes and then Millie was born at 10:05am!

This time, the baby did not start crying like I had hoped. It turns out that the cord was pretty tight around her neck when she was born. The midwife quickly put her in my arms but she was purple all over and not making a sound. I helped pat and rub her to try to get her to cry, but she laid there like a rag doll. It was pretty terrifying seeing her like that. The midwife was listening to her lungs and ensured us that she was breathing, but needed assistance and started suctioning her and trying to help her breathe better. She then said she needed to take her and quickly clamped and cut the cord. This all happened within 2-3 minutes. I also think I remember her letting out one cry right before she took her, which was a huge relief to hear. She started crying and perking up more and was fine, but those first few moments were scary.

She made up for the lack of crying after that and let us know how loud she could be! Everyone got to hold her, and I got to feed her too. We were able to head home around 2:30-3 to let her meet her big brothers.

It was a much more intense labor and delivery this time and I definitely knew that I did not want to do that again. I'm very much at peace with her being our last baby! She completes our family and we all love her so much already.