I had an appointment with my midwife on Friday morning, I was 2.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced, -2 station. I went ahead and had my midwife "strip my membranes" (stretch my cervix out and down a little). With Calise, she was born the day after I had her do that, and we were so anxious to have Wakely that we decided to do it again and sure enough, it worked! I went into labor around the usual time for me-- 2:00am. Unfortunately, Calise had been throwing up through the first part of the night, poor little thing. We had been in to her room 3 times already to clean her up and settle her down and I had just gotten to bed around midnight.
My contractions were about 5 minutes apart from the beginning. Around 5:00am I moved to the couch in our bedroom for a change in position and David woke up and asked if I was okay, and I got to tell him, "We're having a baby today!" He was really excited! He tried to sleep a little longer, but shortly got up and started getting things ready.
Some time between 5:00 and 6:00 I texted my midwife. I also called and left a message. Apparently, she doesn't have good reception where she lives because she didn't get either message! Since my last two labors had been around 13 hours, I totally planned on that same time frame. I was surprised when my contractions got to be about 3 minutes apart by 6:00am. I had made an agreement with my mom that we would call them around 6:00am if my labor seemed to be following the same course of previous labors, and they would come pick up the girls so I could labor the rest of the day without having to worry about them. I made it to 5:55am and decided I better call mom up! She said she would head over.
McKindrey woke up and came to hang out with David and I. She tried to be very helpful-- helping me listen to my headphones, etc. and took it all in stride. I started trying to pack up my last few things but found it very difficult since my contractions were so close together. I was going to get dressed in pants and a cute shirt, but ended up just staying in my frumpy old "BYU Physical Education" gym shirt and the gray skirt I had worn to bed that night. Turned out to be a blessing I was in a skirt...
I started getting a little nauseated and panicky and thinking "I should be at the hospital!" But then I would tell myself I was just overreacting and I needed to stay calm. Looking back, I am pretty sure I was in transition at that point. My water hadn't broken, and my "plan" was to head to the hospital when my water broke, just like we had with Calise's birth. So I still had this nagging idea that I wasn't as far along as my body was telling me.
I got a text from my mom just before 6:30am that they were leaving their house. I couldn't believe it! It takes about 25 minutes for them to get to our house from theirs. I thought, "Holy cow, I don't think I can wait that long!" I made it another 15 minutes before calling them up and asking, "Where are you?" Just then I had an intense contraction and starting groaning/yelling into the phone. David managed to wrangle the phone out of my claw and told them he was getting me in the car and we were leaving. I vividly remember that being one of the first contractions that I felt like I really needed to push!
David had put on a movie for McKindrey and told her to stay where she was and watch the movie, that grandma and grandpa would be right there. He reclined the front seat of our little Hyundai Accent and I managed to hobble into the seat. I immediately put my left leg up on the dash, and when David got in, he grabbed my left hand and we rested them on my leg. It was a great birthing position, not having to hold up my own leg and having his hand to grip!
We took off and much to my relief, we passed my parents just a few minutes away from our home. I couldn't see anything since I was so reclined, and felt like I was just rolling/bumping around as David flew down the road. With each contraction I needed to push, and I told David, "Uh oh, I really need to push with my contractions." Thank goodness I have a brave husband who said, "That's okay, just do it." Almost to the top of the truck route I thought about us pulling over and suggested it to David who said we were just 5 minutes away from the hospital. I agreed we could keep driving and reminded him NOT to stop for red lights. Luckily, early on a Saturday morning we didn't hit any!
We pulled up to the ER drive through and David ran in to get help. I was alone for a moment in the car and realized I might be birthing my baby alone... I should've been really panicked. Fortunately, I had this really peaceful moment when I thought, I've done this twice before, and I'm a nurse. I can handle this. I was however, panicking about getting my underwear off in time! Luckily, David came back quickly and helped me manage that little detail. He asked about picking me up and carrying me in, but I told him not to move me! I told him to grab a blanket! David caught the head and said the sac hadn't broken. I told him, "It's fine! That's no problem!" (funny tidbit-- I learned about en caul births from watching "Call the Midwife") Then there was a nurse there who said she was a labor and delivery nurse. I was really happy to see her! She helped birth the the rest of the body. The sac broke just as the very end of baby came out... all over our car, of course!
I hurriedly pulled open my jacket and pushed up my shirt so Wakely could cuddle up on my tummy. I remember the nurse awkwardly calling the time of birth by looking at the clock on the dashboard-- 7:02am. Jennifer (the L&D nurse) was really great, reassuring all of the ER staff that the baby was totally fine, and getting lots of blankets for us. After a few minutes, they had me hold Wakely and hobble onto a stretcher. I was shocked at how many people were outside our car-- probably the whole ER! They all escorted us to the elevator and I remember saying "Good morning!" brightly to everyone. I was on cloud nine. I couldn't believe how easy the birth had been. I knew I hadn't torn and it was relatively painless, possibly because he was born in his smooth, slippery amniotic sac.
Once on the labor and delivery wing, I learned that the nurse who had helped deliver Wakely had actually been driving off in her truck when we arrived and pulled over to help. They had just finished shift change. The other nurses lamented that they had missed all the excitement. My midwife showed up after a while and delivered the placenta. It had been long enough that the placenta had come loose completely on its own and she was able to gently slide it out! It was great!
Wakely was wonderfully healthy and calm. We only had to stay in the hospital for one night! We loved having the strand of white twinkle lights David had brought to keep our room dimly lit through the night. I felt great, too.
Wakely is a very calm baby who doesn't get fussy much. He sleeps a lot, but we don't plan on that lasting much longer. Here are his birth stats:
Date of birth: 2/13/16
Duration of labor: 5 hours
Weight: 7 lb 11 oz
Height: 20 3/4 in
Full name: Wakely Carl Parkinson
I learned that babies born "en caul" are supposed to have good luck and be very spiritual. They are also supposed to have an affinity for water! Wakely, a name we chose long ago, means "wet." It was meant to be!
