How to Deliver a Baby in Nine Hours (*results may vary)

In case you're interested (this blog will be nothing if not thorough), here's how the day of Elliot's birth unfolded:

First of all, we weren't planning on having Elliot on Wednesday, April 30th. Of course we were prepared in theory, as April 19 was the due date. Still, when we went in to the hospital at 7:45 am for a post-term ultrasound and nonstress test (to see how Elliot's environment was holding up as of 41 weeks and 4 days) we expected to begin our day as usual afterwards. Alas, at 10am we were informed that the amniotic fluid levels were low and that we should really 'stick around and have the baby today.'

Okay then! We were concerned at first at the prospect of pitocin being used to induce labor, as we had spent the last few months learning about the slippery slope of medical interventions, and had been taking every conceivable class to support an all natural birth. However, the fact that our midwife was making the recommendation put us at ease somewhat. We were allowed to go home, make ourselves a big breakfast, pack up the few remaining things that weren't already in the car, and spend a few minutes with Cleo, then checked back in at Providence Portland Medical Center at 11:40am.

12:00 Hour

Here's Sharon settling into the delivery room, which was pretty nice, not that we had too many rooms to compare this one to, but still.

Self portrait with Fetal Heartrate Monitor.

If you'd like to follow along, Sharon was 2cm dilated at this point.

This was interesting: many typical low risk deliveries are now performed "online" rather than having medical staff on site. This was "Patti" our midwife. She delivered Elliot from a Hotel Marriot near the Cleveland Convention Center. She was really nice.

1:00 Hour

Sharon in the middle of having a heparin lock inserted (it took three attempts for nursing staff to find a suitable vein. This was the only hitch in our git-along though, insofar as Providence went).

The view from where Stuart was sitting.

The recently completed hospital expansion across the courtyard from the maternity wing provided plenty of patterns for us to practice our non-focused awareness exercises from the birthing classes. Here are some window details.

Patti monitoring the pitocin. She was very deliberate in administering the lowest possible dose and only for three twenty minute sessions total.

2:00 Hour

Sharon was already exhausted at this point because she had to wake up so early to prepare for morning ultrasound. There were very few opportunities to nap though. This attempt, probably the longest, lasted for maybe ten minutes.

Then the larger contractions started coming...

3:00 Hour

Labor is fun! Everyone's happy! The smiles are still genuine at this point.

Incidentally, I may have lied about the virtual midwifery. That's Patti on the right. She was wonderful.

American Gothic.

This was about the time that the contractions really started piling up and everything went black and white.

4:00 Hour

It was in this hour that Sharon entered active labor. Aside from the tub, which came later, standing up was the most comfortable position to be in.

5:00 Hour

Okay, Sharon's definitely in labor now. Fewer photos were taken; fewer comments made. I believe Sharon was at around 4cm dilated at this point.

6:00 Hour

We phoned Sharon's mom at 10:15am and she was ready to catch a 2:30 pm flight from Los Angeles to Portland. Talk about prepared! Susie got to the hospital in time to braid Sharon's hair, which at that moment was worth a hundred of my very best affirmations.

7:00 pm

The tub that I mentioned earlier: the most wonderful thing about our room by a mile. We credit this tub, along with our midwife and the Providence nursing staff, with Elliot's arrival going as smoothly as it did.

8:00 pm

Of course "smooth" is a relative term here, and by no means suggests "easy." Sharon later asked me how many times she said "I don't think I can do this." I only counted four times, but apparently it was ricocheting around in her brain once a minute. Things got really intense a few moments after I took this photo. Sharon returned to the tub and proceeded to dilate from 5 cm to 9 in under an hour. Everything hit warp speed at that point.

9:00 hour

We had kind of assumed that Elliot would be born at some point in the morning of May 1. I don't know what the average duration of labor is for a first time birth, but it's a lot longer than 9 hours. Still, Sharon was only pushing for maybe fifteen minutes when...

...And with that we can finally begin pummeling you with our boatload of Elliot photos! Coming soon...