Eve Xochitl's birth story (the long version)

At last, it can be told!

I wanted to do a full write-up about Eve's birth the day she was born, but it didn't happen. There was a steady parade of nurses through our room, there were technology problems, there was the fact that we hadn't slept the night before and only eaten one meal all day, and then there was Eve herself, who was quite a distraction from doing much other than holding her or looking at her.

So, here's how it all happened, for posterity.

Juscha had been having mild contractions for days before her due date (Friday, Nov 13), but that came and went with no baby in sight. On Tuesday at 10 pm, we were lying in bed, watching the Colbert Report on the web, when she heard an audible "pop" and felt a twinge. That turned out to be her water breaking, although fluid didn't come out until she moved around. We first started timing contractions at 10:18, when they began to get stronger. We dozed in between them, waking up to note the time between. That didn't turn out to be a very effective way to keep track of things, but we did manage to tell they were 7-10 minutes apart. We called Hannah, the doula, who said to call back when Juscha had to walk through the contractions. We also called Juscha's OB, and Laurel, her acupuncturist, to give them the heads up that we might need them that night. Then we managed to sleep off and on until about 2 AM, with Juscha jumping up every 10 minutes or so to walk through contractions. We called Laurel again to let her know we'd need her soon. Then Juscha went downstairs to rest on the couch, still walking between contractions. I gathered up last-minute things to take to the hospital. Juscha's mom, Sandra, was awake, but didn't come out of her room until I told her what was happening. Then she came out to help, particularly when Juscha was throwing up. Laurel showed up around 4:00, and gave Juscha some ear points for nausea. By 5:00, contractions were close enough and taking enough work, we decided to head to the hospital, and to call Hannah and have her meet us there. Just as we were leaving the house, Hannah pulled up. She came in long enough to meet everyone, and then we all piled into cars and went to the hospital. Laurel went a little ahead, and picked up some things at her office. By the time we got to the hospital, she was there, waiting for us. As we walked in, Juscha threw up again, but she still refused the offer of a wheelchair to go the rest of the way to her room -- which was surprisingly far from the entrance to the hospital.

We were directed to our own triage room. The nurse had a lot of trouble with the computer, though, and it eventually crashed, shutting down completely. She gave up on it, and focused on Juscha. A resident came in to check on her, as well. He had talked with Dr. Vohmann, and seemed to be all caught up on Juscha's background information. That was the point where we gave them the birth plan. They put a monitor on Juscha to measure the baby's heartbeat and the contractions, both of which were good and strong. The resident offered to check Juscha, who looked to Hannah for advice. Hannah said she didn't have to hear the results. So, Juscha said she wanted to hear the results if she was dilated beyond four. When the resident gave us a roundabout answer, we knew we had a ways to go. Still, I knew from my work interpreting at births that things can change quickly.

After a reasonably short time, we were taken to our birth room. It was the same room we'd seen on the tour, a couple of months earlier. It was pleasant enough, as hospital rooms go, with a couch and other amenities. By that time, it was after six, and Juscha's contractions were getting stronger all the time. It was increasingly difficult for her to get comfortable in any position. She was on hands and knees on the bed for quite a while, alternating with standing and squatting. We tried walking at one point, but that didn't last long. She was also unable to answer questions beyond "yes" and "no," and at times, couldn't even say that much. She was hearing us, though, because she would move to different positions if we told her to.

We had several very nice nurses (including a student nurse there to observe), and Dr. Bull, who is the other OB we worked with, showed up in plenty of time. She reported that she had seen a rainbow on her way in, for the first time in four years, so it was a good day to have a baby. Also in the room was Juscha's mom, Laurel, Hannah, and me. That's a lot of people. More than once, I overheard the nurses commenting how well Juscha was handling the pain.

Laurel had placed points on Juscha's sacrum to intensify the contractions and help with dilation. As things progressed, Juscha's contractions continued to get stronger and stronger. Dr. Bull checked her, and couldn't tell whether she was fully dilated, or if her cervix was simply very high and not dilated at all. After a while, she determined that, in fact, she was entirely dilated, or very nearly so and was ready to push. Hannah suggested she lie on her side, because she'd been on her hands and knees so long her legs were falling asleep. She went through several strong contractions that way, and then we had her switch sides. As she described it later, at that point, she was really only responding to what I said, so I was repeating everything she needed to know. She was clearly having a lot of pain, but was still able to move, with help. She did the entire labor with no medications of any kind, which meant that there was actually a good amount of time between the really strong contractions -- considerably more time than between the moderately strong contractions. That allowed her to rest, and even sleep for a few minutes at a time. As a result, she was able to do a better job pushing, but it also left her spacey and disoriented.

As we got to the end, everyone (except Juscha) could see the baby's head beginning to crown. With each push, it would emerge a bit more, and then recede back in. Juscha was actually able to touch the baby's head at one point, and she was visibly startled by the experience. I told her on the next contraction that she could do it again, but she wanted to focus on pushing. There were several times we thought we were on the last contraction, and it didn't turn out to be. At one point, everyone gathered around was audibly excited about the baby arriving, and Juscha managed to say, "I'm glad you're all enjoying this" and got a good laugh from us. The second-to-last time, Eve's head came halfway out, stayed for several seconds, and then went back in. Finally, there was one last really strong contraction, and Juscha pushed super hard, and the baby came out at 9:54 a.m. She made her first little noises before she was all the way out. Dr. Bull laid her on the bed to do a quick visual check of her, and then put her on Juscha's chest. At several seconds old, Eve was able to start looking for Juscha's nipple, and even lift her head briefly to move in the right direction. The nurses were amazed. One commented she had heard about this instinct, but never actually witnessed it. Eve worked hard to get to the nipple, and eventually made it, but wasn't entirely sure what to do next. At that point, Juscha helped her out a bit. Meanwhile, she was also having more contractions, and the placenta came out. Dr. Bull made sure it was intact and that any bleeding was under control.

Juscha and I consulted about the name we had discussed. The baby was fussing slightly, so Juscha called to her by name and she quieted. We concluded that we would name her Eve Xochitl. We told Sandra soon after, and then called my parents back to tell them. We also called our respective siblings soon after, and I found my parents had already called my sister, Kate. Granddad (John) was in the clinic with a patient, but called back immediately to hear the news.

We let Eve stay skin to skin on Juscha's chest for quite a while -- probably close to 45 minutes. Nurses weighed and footprinted her, but left other tests and such for later, at our request. I held her for a long time, and people got several pictures of us. Then I let Sandra hold her. Not too much longer, since we had to move to our recovery room. Juscha sat in a wheelchair (on top of the Boppy pillow, because she had several stitches), and I pushed her. Everyone else carried all our stuff. Once we got to the room, we settled in, and the parade of nurses began. One came in to give Eve her bath. Another came in to do the heel prick, which checks for non-obvious conditions. Several more came in to orient us to the room, give us paperwork to fill out, explain the menu system, help Juscha to the bathroom, and so on.

Juscha's sister, Jean, saw one of the first pictures of Eve, and decided on the spot to drive the four hours to Madison. In the meantime, we passed her back and forth, and took lots of pictures. We ordered food for Juscha, and Sandra and I got subs from Subway, which is right in the hospital. Our friend Amy Mondloch was the first friend to show up to see Eve in person. Laurel came by the next morning, as did Leslie and Maple Schroeder. Both momma and baby were doing so well, we were all discharged the very next day and got home by 1 p.m.