Griffin Miles arrived November 6, 2010 at 3:26am. He was 9lbs 1oz and 21.5 inches long. A big boy who took a long time to arrive!
The long story...
Labor started early on Thursday November 4
th...I called my mom that morning around 7 or 8am to tell her I thought I was having some contractions and that Jenn, our
doula, had requested I start writing them down and keeping track. I tried to for awhile but they were so sporadic and really only felt like
menstrual cramps...so I wasn't always sure when one started, ended or if I had even had one! This went on all day while I went to bible study and ran errands. In fact, I remember having one in Target that made me stop walking and just breath. Thursday night at about 9pm I took a bubble bath thinking that would help me get to sleep...as soon as I got out contractions started coming every 10 minutes or less and were much more noticeable. Around 10:00 I woke Ryan up and told him he wasn't going to school in the morning! At 10:30, we called the
doula and the midwife. Jenn came over to our house and helped us get through until about 2:30am. We tried lots of positions and even went for a walk in our neighborhood...not sure what the guy who drove past us was thinking when he saw me hugging Ryan and Jenn squeezing my hips!
At 2:30am (Friday) we called the midwife and she had us head on in to the Birthing Center. (I should mention that my memory from about 11pm on is kind of fuzzy:). I think I was about 4 or 5 cm when we got to the midwife. My mom and Grandma, my sister, Ryan's parents and our roommate Jessica all met us there. This is definitely where I lost all track of time and was so wrapped up in the pain that I couldn't tell you who was where when. Griffin was
posterior meaning I was having back labor and not really getting any breaks between contractions. It was hard for me to tell when one started and when one stopped...and other times, I was able to doze off in between them. I tried everything...the tub, lunges, laying down, the birthing ball, walking, squatting, kneeling, etc. My midwife and nurse were AMAZING along with everyone else. I always had someone taking care of me...rubbing my back, holding my hand, helping me cope. I would open my eyes and be surprised by who was there as compared to the last time I opened my eyes. I am SO thankful that I had that many support people (which was not the plan) since my labor was so hard and long. I also lost all track of time. Multiple times I was completely shocked to realize I had labored another 2-3 hours. My midwife ended up breaking my water after I had been stuck at 7cm for a couple hours...and I just kind of stayed there. I'm not sure at what point I started talking about transferring to the hospital and getting an epidural so I could take a break. I was just SO tired and in so much pain.
I think it was around 3pm that I finally decided I needed to transfer, I was STILL only 7cm. When the midwife told me that I pretty much lost it. Just sobbed and sobbed. After having what I remember to be a fairly honest and coherent conversation I made the choice that I just couldn't go on any more. From that point on things seemed to happen pretty quickly. Everything got loaded in my sister's car, including me and Ryan and we made the short (5 minute?) drive to Everett Providence's Women's
Pavilion. The really nice crowd of people waiting for an elevator let us cut...my groaning and panting may have helped with that:)! They whisked my through check-in and I only had to spend a little bit of time in triage...maybe 10 minutes, I think 2 contractions worth. I totally freaked some poor lady out when they wheeled me past her- she was sitting cross-legged on a bed, doing some really nice deep breathing while being
monitored. Her face was priceless when she saw me in the middle of a contraction loudly chanting "HA HA HA HA HA HA" (and not in a laughing manner!). It felt like they had my new best friend (the epidural guy) there and waiting for me...I think I only had to wait about 10 more minutes before I was able to take a sigh of relief!
Me after the epidural...a true miracle of modern science:)
*Mind you this is after 14 hours of early labor and about 18 hour of active labor*
Soon we met the OB on call, Dr.
Vold. He wasn't too optimistic that I would be able to avoid a c-section since I had been at 7cm for so long. They put a monitor inside to measure the
strength of my contractions and found them "inadequate". Which in hindsight, makes some sense. At the birthing center I was really only feeling them down low and not up higher in my uterus... meaning Griffin wasn't being pushed down as much as he was just
being squeezed. SO, they started me on
pitocin and 2 or 3 hours later when he checked my I was 9cm!! I was so happy to have pain relief and the hope that it would all be over soon...we were all able to start the process of taking cat-naps. But things stalled AGAIN! 2 hours later, I was still at 9cm, 1 hour after that, still at 9cm. Now we started talking about a c-section again...and I really, really, really wanted to avoid that recovery if possible. Dr.
Vold was fabulously patient with me and since Griffin wasn't showing signs of distress gave me a couple more hours to try changing my position to see if I could get myself to
dilate to 10cm. With the help of my AWESOME nurses and
doula and of course Ryan, we tried getting me on my hands and knees (not easy when you can't move your legs!) and time on each side. At 11pm, Dr.
Vold gave me one more hour to
dilate or it was c-section time. With prayer, a nap, and the encouragement of my nurses...we made it!! At about 12:30 am I got to start pushing!
Let me tell you, they don't call it LABOR for nothing! Poor Ryan was so tired he was napping in between pushes. At least at this point my contractions kind of slowed down so I could get 5 minutes or so rest in between. They turned my epidural down or off so that I could feel the pressure...this is just cruel because about the time you feel the most pain...the
meds are worn off! I don't have the words to describe the pain of pushing a child out of you...or the amazing moment where you forget it all when you see them for the first time! I remember seeing a very yellow/brown baby BOY in the doctor's arms and thinking..."its a boy. its a boy. that just came out of me? this can't be real. this is real. Oh my goodness." Griffin was whisked over to the
NICU team to be suctioned (standard procedures when
miconium is present) while I was stitched up (3rd degree tearing) and the placenta was delivered. I got to have Griffin placed on my chest as soon as the
NICU team was done with him. I held him while we waited and waited and the doctor kept working on me, trying to get my placenta delivered. We finally decided that a D and C was the best option after 45 minutes and nothing happening. So while I was taken to the OR for the procedure, Ryan got to introduce Griffin to the family...most of whom had been
on site for over 24 hours!
We're a family!
Griffin's conehead.
Daddy was so happy and tired!
The happy and sleepy family!
This is Jenn Chapman, the world's best doula. On the job for over 30 hours!
Just a few hours old...our pride and joy. Our little man. The 9lb 1oz package that has rocked our world and completely reset our priorities. Our love for each other has grown as we look into his face and imagine the future. What an awe-some responsibility and gift our son is!
Griffin is starting to stretch out more...so bittersweet watching him change so quickly.
Griffin's sad face makes us smile, sometimes giggle, and of course try everything we can think of to make him happy again.
Russ and Sherry Fairlamb
Chris and Michelle Killingstad
Mike and Lourea Garka
Great Aunt JoAnn (and Bailey).
