It was 2 in the morning and Bethie’s contractions were suddenly much stronger than they had been. I sleepily grabbed my phone and opened the timer app I had downloaded. 8 minutes apart. 12 minutes apart. 4 minutes apart. They were sporadic so she wasn’t in labor yet, but it was definitely a good sign that things were starting. One more day and it would be William’s due date, so we were anxious about getting things going.
Things progressed the next day. We went on walks with Pistachio and tried to go about everything as usual. Multiple walks around the neighborhood, walks in Target for a change of scenery.
We slept between each contraction that night. Totaling less than 2 hours of sleep. We were exhausted and realized we needed to start sleeping during the day. At Bethie’s appointment she was 1.5cm dilated, so the contractions were working. She was in early labor. But we couldn’t keep up the routine with contractions every 5-20 minutes at night. It was a trying time to say the least.
3 days past his due date and we went in for a nonstress test to see how William was handling all those contractions. A tiny dip in his heart rate to 129 indicated we should go in. We left the test. Bethie was ready to be done with the contractions. We were both ready for William to be here. I had never been more anxious. We headed across the street to Ralph’s to get some lunch. I burst into tears in the car and cried on Bethie’s shoulder, I wasn’t sure what came over me— a wave of emotions. We were having a baby.
I wanted to go home. I wasn’t ready for what I knew would be the most anxiety-inducing event of my life. There was no turning back now though, really. We could go home, but we’d have another night of not sleeping and neither of us could handle it. I wasn’t sure I could handle staying in a hospital overnight. But we went in.
I wasn’t worried about Bethie or the labor and delivery, I just don’t like hospitals. Our room was very nice, at least. And I knew there would be a happy ending this time. We pushed through. Bethie was already 70% effaced, but they gave her Misoprostol, two little tiny pills she put in the gum line of her mouth to help ripen her cervix.
I applied counter-pressure on her back during every contraction for as long as I could. Eventually it was beginning to be too much and she wasn’t able to even handle the pain of cervical checks, so we talked it over and even though it wasn’t a part of our birth plan, she decided to get an epidural.
The pain relief was instant and gave us both a break so we could get some rest. To help her along, they started an IV of fluids and Pitocin. I thought I would have trouble sleeping, but even on my uncomfortable fold-out chair, I slept. And Bethie slept. It was the first good sleep we had in days. Every time I woke, I checked the monitors, she was having lots of regular contractions now and not even feeling them. And William’s heart was a good strong 145.
By morning, Bethie was 8cm dilated and 90% effaced. Most of active labor happened while we slept. I ordered some breakfast and peeled an orange for Bethie. Lots of sips of water from our big hospital cups they gave us. Two very kind nurses, Jill and Nathan, helped setup a peanut-shaped birthing ball to expand Bethie’s pelvis and get her fully dilated. They said maybe an hour of her laying on each side and it could be time to push.
We got into position and started pushing at 11:30am. William was already at minus 2 station. We first tried Bethie laying on her back while Nathan and I pushed her legs apart. After just a few pushes, we could already see William’s head! Such a strange feeling. I honestly believed this part of the process would be the most stressful and anxiety-inducing, but I felt surprisingly calm. And with the silence between contractions, it was almost a bit awkward. I got a cool towel to wipe Bethie’s forehead and turned on a little portable fan for her. I gave her sips of water and coached her on breathing. She was doing really well.
Jill took a closer look (and a feel) and realized that William’s head was turned in the wrong position, so we tried side-lying and then eventually on all fours with the peanut ball before moving back into reclining position. After an hour of pushing, his head was crowning finally. It was time to call the doctor. Suddenly there were about 14 people in the room and after just a few more pushes, at 1:22pm William was born in the same hospital as I was, 37 years later. He was crying instantly, an APGAR score of 8.
I cut the cord which squirted blood in my eye, then Bethie and I admired and touched him while the doctor stitched up an (almost) third degree tear. The placenta (don’t click if you’re squeamish) was birthed within minutes and all was well. APGAR score of 9, William was doing great. We just held him and looked at him while they cleaned up the room. A little while later I went with another nurse over to the Panda Warmer and he received his shots and Erythromycin and he was finally weighed. 8 pounds 0 ounces and 21 inches long.
William Michael Finch Duran. I don’t think either of us knew how much we could love someone.
We were moved into another room a couple floors up to spend the night where William and Bethie could be monitored. Our first night as parents. William passed all his tests (hearing, heart, and various others) and we all slept really well.
After one night, they said both mother and baby were doing fine so we could go home any time we wanted. I went and got the car and they wheeled Bethie and William out. Such a strange feeling leaving the hospital with a new human being. Our family was now bigger.
Happy Birthday William!