Lucy's Birth Story

This is the tale of how Lucy Kathryn Clover joined us earthside to make us a happy family of 4.  I’m sure some things are missing because even though it all happened just last week, it seems like a blur of hard work mixed with the purest magic.  

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 1:15 I was laying in bed.  Jeremy got up to go to the bathroom around 12:45 and since I happened to wake up, I decided to go as well.  I lay in bed trying to get back to sleep looking forward to the day ahead because Gwen had daycare and I didn’t have any clients scheduled – so it was going to be a play day of sorts.  Well, Lucy had different plans because at 1:15 I felt a gush of liquid on my leg…. “Jeremy, my water just broke.”  I popped out of bed, hoping to spare the sheets and mattress, and successfully made it to the bathroom before more gushing came.  I stood half-naked in the bathroom watching and waiting for more gushing, which came periodically. We continued to be surprised at just how much liquid was coming out of me.  Jeremy started going into planning mode….  We should call the doctor.  Who can we ask to watch Gwen?  I was a little bit in denial that anything needed to happen right away.  I wasn’t experiencing any contractions and I would rather labor at home as long as I could.  We called the answering service and then Dr. Small called us back, “Yes you need to go to the hospital. You don’t have to rush, but you need to make your way.”  I took this to mean I could shower, wash my hair, shave my legs, blow dry my hair, etc.  If I was going to have a baby, I was going to feel great doing it.  Jeremy secured the Vaughn’s house as Gwen’s destination for the rest of the night, and they would take her to daycare the next day.  We finished packing our bags and woke up little Gwen.  She sat on my lap in the front seat as we drove to the Vaughn’s.  I told her how much I loved her and that we were going to the Doctor to have the baby.  She cuddled right up to me and then seamlessly went to Tiffany’s arms when we got there.  I started noticing a contraction while I chatted with Tiffany under the loveliest clear starry night. We made our way to the hospital; the contractions were about 10 minutes apart and weren’t coming on very intensely.  We were on our way to have a baby!  Jeremy noticed and pointed out that it was his half birthday.  We got there at about 3:15, grabbed our paperwork from the ER desk and headed up to the third floor – Women’s and Children’s.

We got up there and they assigned us the corner room – number 67 with two windows overlooking the glorious mountains – and I changed into a gown.  The nurse checked me and I was at about 3-4.  I sat on the bed as we went through admission stuff, breathing through contractions as they came and went, feeling like we had a long way to go.  The nurse left and Jeremy and I just hung out in the room, I continued to breath through contractions.  Dr Small stopped by to check in on me around 4:00 am I would say and I was at about a 4-5 at that point.  I remember being bugged that Jeremy was watching ESPN stuff on his phone while I was having a contraction.  I was needing silence during my contractions so that I could focus on my breath, trusting my body, and not tensing up.  I also remember being so hungry and we didn’t bring any snacks.  Next time we will be better prepared.  I ordered breakfast as soon as it opened at 7:00 but it took a good hour for it to come and by that point I was too into laboring to stop and eat.  There was a shift change early in the morning at some point and we were so happy to see that Jackie was my nurse.  She was our LNA when Gwen was born and we just loved her.  She checked me and she said I was at about a 6-7.  Dr. Sampson arrived as the on-call Doctor at 8:00 and when she checked me she said I was at about an 8, she then headed over to the OB/GYN office across the parking lot.  From there things progressed relatively quickly compared to my delivery experience with Gwen - it took me 3.5 hours to get from an 8 to having Gwen in my arms.  I remember getting nauseous and throwing up 2-3 times, luckily I gave the nurses warning and they brought me some cool bags to throw up in.  Jackie said they love to see throwing up because it means I’m getting close – I think it can be a marker for transitioning… maybe not though.  I was also shaking a lot in between the contractions.  They were getting really intense at this point – also a bodily sign that the nurses love to see.  During the contraction I was able to completely focus on my breath and imagine it going through me and pushing my baby out.  In between contractions, I was shaking uncontrollably.  After some trial and error, I found that the only way I could manage to stop shaking was to engage my focus and muscles on pushing the baby out, even if it was early to actually push.  Some more time passed and I was experiencing rectal pressure.  Jackie and Deb - Deb was also present at Gwen’s delivery and was amazing!!  I really lucked out to have such wonderful, experienced support!  Anyways… Jackie and Deb told me to push hard while they did an exam to see how ready I really was to push.  While I was pushing hard, I totally peed all over Jackie’s gloved hand, and then they asked if I wanted to go to the bathroom to see I there was anything left.  On the toilet, I felt like the only thing I could do was push – a primal moan escaped me and Jackie and Deb immediately told me not to push on the toilet and helped me get back to the bed.  This is where things seemed to get really crazy.  Deb is on my right coaching me to NOT push, but just breathe through the contractions, Jeremy is on my left being wonderful, and Deb is telling Jackie to page the Dr – no response.  Text the Dr – no response.  “Call the office, call the doctor, tell her to run, we are crowning.” I was fully confident that Deb and Jackie would have done a lovely job delivering the baby and I was trying my best to breathe and not push as they directed.  Minutes later, Dr. Sampson comes running down the hall – she even took she stairs instead of waiting for elevator.  As she entered the room she laughs, “What is this? Now we go from 8 to crowning with no messages in between!”  We were all happy to see her, especially now that I’m allowed to do what my body is begging me to do - PUSH! Deb was on my right still, helping me relax, work with my body, and use my breathing effectively.  Jeremy’s on my left, telling me we are almost there and that I’m amazing.  About four contractions later the baby’s head pops into the world and then the rest of baby’s body slips out for a birth time of 9:03. Oh, the immediate relief and pure joy!  Dr. Sampson guides the baby to my arms and I see that she is a girl – just what we guessed.  Jeremy cuts the umbilical cord while I snuggle our new little girl.  At one point I exclaim, “We have a baby girl!  She’s here!  Woohoo!!”  I remember the room laughing and a nurse saying, “We usually don’t hear that type of screaming in here.”  I felt so empowered, so strong, and so so happy that I brought my new little girl into the world.  I was hopeful to complete the task without an epidural and was so happy that it all worked out so well.  Dr. Sampson stitched me up – just two little stitches required this time – and then I ask when the baby was born.  9:03 they say.  “Can we switch it to 9:04 so she is born at 9:04 on 9/04?” The Dr was all for it, but the nurses nixed the idea – SO by the book. Ha!  They probably had already recorded it in the system, etc, etc.  Dr. Sampson was on her way back to her office by 9:15 and we were left to breathe in our newest family member.