Here is how it all went down.
I woke up early Sunday morning (August 18 - which was our due date) and laid in bed with some weird cramping. At about 6:30 am I woke Jeff up to say I wasn't sure but I thought maybe I was starting to have some mild contractions. I went to have a bath thinking they might be Braxton Hicks and that bathing might relieve them. After the bath they started to get a little stronger and more consistent so I was pretty sure this was the start of the real thing but did not want to get my hopes up. Jeff and I ate some breakfast and just hung out as they started to get stronger and closer. He was going to go work on our gate and I was going to go sit outside in the sun so he could keep an eye on me. Then the contractions started to get really hard and fast so around 10:30 we started getting everything ready to go to the hospital.
We left the house shortly after 11 and, since it was the weekend, I was admitted through emergency. Saw one of our Carmichael regulars there as we were coming in and said hi. We went up to Labour and Delivery and got into a triage room where they assessed me. I was there for probably an hour and a half and then they determined that I was in active labour. By this time the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and VERY strong. I was proud of myself for using my breathing to get through them.
My nurse came in then and asked me if I wanted an epidural because if so we needed to get into a delivery room and get an IV in right away since the anesthesiologist was getting called into a C-section and I would have to wait at least an hour and a half more if I didn't get it right then. So she wheeled my wheelchair as fast as she could and got the IV hooked up. The doctor came in, I got my epidural and in about 15 minutes felt MUCH more comfortable. I do not regret that decision at all! We spent the time listening to CBC, music, doing Jumble puzzles, reading magazines. It was quite mellow. We let everyone know I was in labour after the epidural was in and I was settled. Mom and Dad started their trek from Saskatoon to Regina. I was happy to be able to use the exercise ball for a while - it felt great.
After a while they checked my progress and I had kind of stalled so they made the decision to rupture my membranes or break my water. Unfortunately there was some meconium in the water so they informed me that the respiratory team would be present at the birth and that they would no longer be able to do delayed cord clamping or put the baby skin to skin right away because they would have to take baby to make sure it was breathing ok. That was a bit disappointing to hear but a healthy baby is the most important consideration. The other thing that was disappointing is that now I had to be hooked up to continuous monitoring so could no longer be on the exercise ball and had to stay in bed. I did progress a lot more quickly after that however. At about 10:30 I was fully dilated and really felt like I wanted to push. Only problem was that the on-call OB was called into a C-section and so they told me I could not push for at least another hour.
By the time I was allowed to start pushing I had already been in that hard late stage of labour for an hour. I had asked to use the squatting bar but the nurse we had was not really sure how to use it so she ended up just putting a sheet for me to pull myself up with on it. I ended up pushing on my back with my feet up - again, not at all my plan. But oh well. I do not think it was efficient at all as I worked and worked for over two hours of really hard pushing. To his credit, Jeff was a wonderful and encouraging coach as was the nurse. In the end I was so exhausted that I was no longer pushing effectively and the OB asked if it was ok for her to use the vacuum. At that point I did not think I could get the baby delivered on my own. I was so close but could not quite get the head out.
With the vacuum it only took about another five minutes of excruciating pain. I will admit that at this point I lost control. I screamed and said that I couldn't do it. Jeff got very firm at this point and told me to breathe and concentrate. I did and eventually the pain stopped. My eyes were clamped shut at this point and Jeff called out "Open your eyes! We were right! It's a girl!" I opened my eyes just in time to see them take our new baby girl over to the waiting respiratory team. They had her for what seemed like an eternity. I kept asking if she was ok and they reassured me she was. then I heard her cry and that was the most wonderful sound I'd ever heard! Eventually they brought her over and I held her for the first time. I thought she was so beautiful! I really could not believe she was ours and that less than an hour ago she had still been inside of me. She cried a little bit and stuck out her lip in a pouty way - I thought it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I nursed her for the first time and she took to it instantly - a big relief.
Jeff went to go get our parents who had been waiting at the hospital for hours. Poor Janelle had been waiting too but only parents are allowed into the delivery room so instead she got to see the first pictures and know it was a girl and what her name was before the others. They came in to meet her and we announced her name by playing a song that I had been playing in my car for months hoping that it would lead up to that moment. Anyone who knows me knows how important music is in my life and how I associate moments with particular songs. This is what we played: Mairi's Wedding by Van Morrison and The Chieftains. It took a minute for my mom to get it but when she did, she burst out crying and said that her name was Mairi. It was such a beautiful moment.
Everyone took turns welcoming her to the world. It was so nice to have our parents meet her only 45 minutes or so after she was born. We called my brother Dan and his partner Devon to tell them they had a new niece and that was wonderful. Then everyone went home for the night and we eventually got taken to the Mother Baby Unit to learn how to bath her and try and get a bit of sleep.
All in all it was nearly 20 hours of labour, 2 hours of very hard pushing. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. at birth and was a tall 22 inches. She is healthy as a horse even though she is little! We tried real hard to have her born on her due date so she could share a birthday with Auntie Heather but she decided that she needed her own birthday in between that one and her Grandpa Mark's on August 20. And that is how little Mairi Simone Harrison came into the world!
A few pictures of our little Mairi Mouse:
