Thursday night Rob and I were more than frustrated. I'd been having contractions for weeks, but they weren't progressing. It felt like everything in life was on hold until this baby came! I'd done just about everything I could think of to kick start labor, but there was one more thing I could try.

 

Apparently using a breast pump causes a pregnant woman's body to release oxytocin, which starts labor. (hospitals use the synthetic form, pitocin, to induce labor) I'd read that you should be careful not to pump too much, or you can over stimulate the uterus and cause problems. A week earlier I'd tried for 20 minutes to no avail. Time for round two.

 

Friday morning I hooked myself up to the pump for an hour - 9:20 to 10:20. I planned to go back each hour for another 15 minute session until something happened. By the time I was done with the initial pumping, I though the contractions I'd been having forever felt a little different. By 11:30 I was feeling strong contractions through my back, and thought that this time it might actually progress into labor. But I wasn't calling it labor yet, in case it stopped.

 

At 1:30 I called my midwife, Andrea, to tell her I was finally in labor. Contractions were strong, one minute long, and 5 minutes apart. She told me to call her back when I needed her. And when was that? "When you can't do it by yourself any more". I thought that was a pretty vague answer, but she told me I'd know when to call her back.

 

At 3:30 I called her back. Contractions were now two minutes long, with four minutes from the start of one to the start of the next one. I could still relax through them, with effort, but Samuel was getting upset. He heard me throw up, and knew something strange was going on. I figured it was time to get out of the house.

 

Rob and I got to the birth center at 4:00. I'd continued to have 2 minute long contractions in the car, and was feeling much less relaxed now. Andrea helped me in, and I said "I didn't really know when to call you - I feel like a wimp - just please, please don't tell me I've only dilated to 2 cm." She checked my blood pressure and temperature - and tried to help me relax again. Then she checked my cervix and said "Julie, you are such a wimp - you are at 8 1/2 cm! Let me know when you feel like pushing, and we'll have a baby before you know it."

 

At 36 weeks I'd tested positive for strep-B, which means I needed IV antibiotics during labor. I didn't want them unless I actually had risk factors, but the doctor overseeing the birth center required them. So, Andrea tried to give me the IV. She tried 3 times, and each time lost the vein. I begged her to stop trying - I didn't meet any of the risk factors - and let me sign a waiver. She did, which was such a relief...not only did she stop poking me, but I didn't have to have the medication I didn't want in the first place.

 

Andrea and Rob helped me into the tub, which felt like a little piece of heaven. I was there just a couple of minutes when I got that uncontrollable urge to push. My water hadn't broken yet, so I was pushing out the bag. Very weird. It finally broke, and then after a few more very agonizing pushes, complete with yelling, Abby's head was born. The cord was wrapped around her neck twice, but Andrea said it was one of the longest cords she'd ever seen, and it didn't cause any problems. After the cord was unwrapped, I pushed again, and then Andrea told me to reach down and get my baby. What an emotional high! I really can't describe it, but it had to be the most amazing moment of my life. It was 6:15.

 

We spent quite a while just hanging out in the tub, getting to know this little daughter. We were surprised she was a girl - the pregnancy had been so different from the first that we thought we were having a boy. When the cord stopped pulsing, Rob cut it, and then I delivered the placenta and went to rest in the bedroom.

 

Abby nursed voraciously from the beginning. (And she hasn't stopped since.) After a while the birth assistants took her to do all that newborn stuff, and Andrea worked on stitching me up - the horrible old episiotomy from Elissa's birth had popped open. Which was, in a way, a blessing - the doctor who sewed me me up in England had done a terrible job, and Andrea cared enough to spend 30+ minutes to repair it correctly.

 

Abby's stats were: 8.01 lbs, 19 inches long, and had a head circumference of 13.75 inches. (we think she was actually 20 inches long, though - at her doctor’s appointment three days later she was 20.5 inches)

 

After all of us were cleaned up, fed and relaxed, my mom brought Samuel and Elissa to pick us up. The kids loved meeting their little sister - Samuel's first words were that he had wanted a boy...but he got over it as soon as he saw her, and was soon crooning "Oh, you're so adorable."

 

At 10:15 we loaded up the kids and our family of 5 drove home to our own beds. I guess the pumping worked!