Birth Story Part 1

When I first started my blog, I was thinking of what I would put on it and some of the things I thought about were writings from my past. Now, I haven't done that yet but I have definitly toyed with the idea of putting Jonah's Birth Story here. When I initially wrote it (started within a week after Jonah was born and finished about a month later) it was 11 pages long. But I am going to trim it down and edit it for content. Fair enough?
DISLAIMER!!! WARNING!!! PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU CONTINUE ANY FURTHER!!!!PLEASE don't read it if you are uncomfortable about this subject or are going to have nightmares!!! Just kidding, it was ALL worth it and I would do it over again in a second for the reward that I got. But I don't want to hear complaints about how could I write this and it's too much information...blah blah blah. Ok? So if you are sure about this.......carry on..............

It was a year ago this morning that my labor started and a year ago tomorrow that Jonah was born. So here, is Part 1 of Jonah's birth story.

5:00 am, Tuesday morning, August 31st
I wake up and lie in bed, quite tired after another long, pregnant night. I can’t seem to sleep for more than two hours straight before having to wake up to use the bathroom or get a drink of water. And the sleep I do get is not deep at all. At this point, I am generally dozing at night. Oh well, it will be over soon and then I will not get sleep because I will have a little human waking me up to feed or change or rock it. I’m not worried. I’ll adjust. And besides, I will be able to sleep on my stomach again. Very exciting. So there I am, lying in bed, trying to decide if the urge to pee is really worth heaving my huge body out of bed. I can’t sit straight up anymore and climb out that way so I kind of have to roll over and scootch as best I can. “Well,” I think, “I really do have to pee. And besides, what if it’s time for my water to break?” So I push myself out of bed and the moment I stand up…. GUSH. No need to go into gory details here but it was WEIRD and GROSS!!!!
My mind starts racing. I realize “Oh my G-d! This is the beginning. I’m going into labor. My water just broke and soon I will have the contractions and go to the hospital and be in pain and have a baby. I’m TERRIFIED! How did I get myself into this? Is there any way I can get out of it? I’m so scared. It’s starting. My life is about to be changed forever.” I start shaking and my mouth is drying out and I realize I have to get control of myself. “Yes Natalie, that was your water breaking – this is a good thing. This is what you have been waiting for for a month now. Yes, soon you will go into labor. Also, a good thing. And by tonight you will have a new little baby. Calm down and go wake your husband up.”
I waddle back to our bedroom, stand at the foot of the bed and whisper, “Shauli…..Shauli wake up.” He looks up confused and half asleep and I say, “I think my water just broke.” I have never seen him jump up so high and so quickly. He shoots out of bed, grabs some khaki pants from the floor, flies into them, throws on a belt, grabs a shirt and then I say, “Woah, slow down. I don’t think we have to do anything yet. We need to call the doctor and ask what to do but we probably won’t go to the hospital yet. I don’t think I am even feeling contractions.” Now he stops to breathe. I ask, “Do you think I should wake my mom?” He says yes, he thinks my mom would like to know what’s going on. After all, this is why she came. So I wake Mom up and we all go into the kitchen to call the doctor. I am sitting on a stool and shaking away, feeling very nervous, wondering if the shakes are from nerves or from labor. I’ve heard about people shaking in labor but that’s generally at the transition stage. I don’t think I am quite there yet. I get a hold of the answering service and they say that they will try to reach Dr. Debono. They put me through to her and I tell her what’s going on. I feel bad because I woke her up and she sounds SO tired. But I guess that’s part of her job. She tells me to stay home for now and eat and drink what I want, walk around, and rest up because there is a big day ahead of me. She says she will call me in about 5 hours and see where we are at. At this point, I have stopped shaking and feel a lot more in control (except for the dripping water). I feel more ready.
The morning is spent relaxing, watching TV (we watched the movie Executive Decision), chatting a little online (with Sho saying – are you crazy? Get to the hospital!!), snacking, and resting. Who can sleep? We’re going to have a baby!!
As crazy organized as I like to be, my hospital bag had sat at the foot of my bed, since about two weeks prior and the only things in it were a washcloth, some socks, and a nursing nightgown. I figured everything else I would need until that point. So I pack that up, not really having a clue about what I need.
Dr. Debono calls at about 11:30 and says we should think about heading over to the hospital because I should get checked. At that point my contractions are generally about 5 minutes apart but not getting stronger or closer together. They had been going on since 5:50 am. Since my water had already broken, the doctor prefers that I head to the birthing center to get checked as opposed to waiting it out at home.
So we have a bite to eat Shauli and I head out for an official last walk as just the two of us. Wow, our life is really about to change. We are both very excited and nervous and so curious about the next few hours. We walk along, holding hands and talking about the next few hours. Here goes a big step in our life. We reach the end of the block and turn around to head back and we see our neighbor pulling out of her driveway. So we flag her down and tell her what’s going on. She gets SOOOO excited and keeps saying wow, soon you will have a little baby!!
Then it’s back to the house, a final look around realizing when we come home, there will be a new baby with us. And it’s off to the hospital. We’re pretty calm but I can tell I am nervous and the closer the hospital comes, the more nervous I get. I don’t like being a patient. Shauli drops me and my mom off at the front door and goes to park and bring the bags. We head inside to register. I tell them I am here for the Alternative Birthing Center (ABC) and that someone from there already called them to let them know it’s ok for me to register now. The woman glances up and says, “Are you in labor?” I answer “yes” and she quickly says, “Oh, you can’t register here. We need to get you upstairs right now.” “But what about my husband?” I say. They tell me they will let him know where to go when he comes in. For some reason that makes me very anxious and I am scared he won’t find us. But they reassure me a number of times. They grab a wheelchair and we head up to the 3rd floor in the elevators.
Stay Tuned for The Alternative Birthing Center...........Jonah's Birth Story Part 2.