It's the Saturday Contractions Again
Late in the morning of August 7th Cindy started having contractions. We kind of suspected that to happen, because the two Saturdays before Cindy also had contractions, but both those days the contractions stopped in the evening. This day, the contractions started earlier and were stronger. We were excited, because this could be the real thing... Again...Meggie and Debby were visiting that day. They figured that the delivery would be quick because this was Cindy's second child, so they were excited about the prospect of getting to meet the baby during their visit! But no pressure...
Cindy's contractions did get stronger throughout the day, to the point that by five o'clock we asked Cindy's parents to come down, because we felt this was going to be the real thing. However, the progression was not quite as quick as Meggie and Debby had hoped, and, unfortunately, they had to head back home without meeting the baby. After they left, we had a couple of nervous hours by ourselves, wondering whether Dan and Kathy would arrive before the baby would...
By seven Rob called to give the doctor a heads-up, and the doctor said it was time to start thinking about heading to the hospital. With the contractions mere minutes apart, we of course loved to and said we would go as soon as the reinforcements had arrived.
To the Hospital We Go
At eight o'clock, the contractions were about three minutes apart, and fortunately, as we found out from a quick phone call, Dan and Kathy were only 20 minutes, about 6 contractions, away. As soon as they arrived, we loaded up our stuff in the car, said goodnight to Alex and Dan, and Cindy, Kathy and Rob went to the hospital.
We got there at about 8:45 pm. It had been a quiet day at labor and
delivery, up until about 7 pm. Since then, about 10 moms-to-be had
arrived, and a few more arrived after us. A little while later a
somewhat lumpish yet friendly nurse checked on Cindy, and concluded
that she was in the early stages of labor...
In fact, soon after we arrived in the hospital, the contractions
slowed and seem to stop altogether. The new nurse, who started her
shift at 11 pm, started mentioning the possibility that we may be sent
home... We, and especially Cindy, were not thrilled about that
idea!
Nevertheless, the contractions did disappear... The nurse said she
would like us to stay a little longer, so she could do one more check
on Cindy by 2 am and decide what to do then. Discouraged, Cindy lay
down and turned on her side to try and get some sleep, and Kathy tried
to get some sleep on the couch. But soon after Cindy lay down, the
contraction suddenly began again, and much more strongly than
before!
Oddly, Cindy's contractions never became very regular during the
night. Sometimes she had a few in a row, sometimes she did not have
any for 10 minutes.
By the start of the morning Cindy's contractions got stronger, too
strong for Rob's pushing to make the pain bearable. Thus, by 6 am, the
time had arrived for an epidural. Unfortunately, there was only one
person on duty for the epidural, and (of course?) she was in an
operation, and we had to wait. It took quite a while, and in the mean
time the contractions kept coming and were still getting stronger. In
the end, fortunately, the hospital ended up calling in another
anesthesiologist.
When she arrived, Rob and Kathy were sent out of the room, and, on
doctor's orders, they went to have breakfast.
When Rob and Kathy came back, Cindy had gotten the epidural and her
bag of waters had been broken. Soon after, she started feeling
strange, and it got worse fast. Her ears started ringing, and her
vision was beginning to disappear, so Rob quickly got a nurse. What
was going on turned out to be fairly common: because of the epidural
Cindy's blood pressure dropped precipitously. The nurse turned her on
her side, and Cindy was feeling better in seconds!
At that time, with no obvious signs of the birth being imminent, Rob
decided to go home for a quick nap. But just when he was about to fall
asleep, Debby called to find out whether the baby had been born
yet...
Back home, Rob tried once more to fall asleep, but before he got a
chance to close his eyes, the phone rang again. This time it was
Kathy, letting him know that his daughter's delivery was imminent. Rob
got back in his car, greeting Dan and Alex who had returned from the
park on his way out, and hurried back to the hospital, mostly obeying
the speed limit, and arrived there well in time for the birth.
At the hospital, Rob found a cheerful and painfree Cindy. Soon after
Rob arrived, the nurse started setting things up for the birth. The
doctor also checked on Cindy, and said it was time to start
pushing. Because the nurse would be in charge of the first bit of pushing,
the doctor left again. The nurse asked Rob and Kathy to each old one
of Cindy's legs, while she was checking the progress. But after the nurse
said 'push' once, she said, 'eh, stop pushing' because the baby was
already well on her way!
The nurse quickly got the doctor. He too started saying 'push', but
quickly changed that too 'push gently' and 'push slowly', so that the
baby would not come out quickly and cause a tear. Slowly our baby was
making her way into the world. When her head started to appear, the
doctor noticed the full head of hair on our baby, and made curls in
her hair a couple of times while Cindy was pausing between
contractions. When the baby's head was completely out, the doctor
paused briefly, but then it was time for the final push, and ...
At 10:34 a.m., on Sunday, August 8, 2004, Irene Maaike Swaters was born!
The lunch brought an end to the stay in the delivery room, and the
nurse and Rob helped Cindy in a wheelchair, because the epidural had
not worn off yet, and we were moved to the maternity ward. After we
had set up in there, Irene Maaike was brought back, and the three of
us spent some time together, simply being happy.
When we came to the room, Rob let Alex open the door, and Alex hurried
in to see Mommy and the baby. With a little help, Alex sat on the bed
and looked at Irene Maaike. His first words to his baby sister were:
It's the Real Thing!
When the nurse came back, she confirmed that the contractions had
indeed returned, and, after conferring with the doctor, said she
wanted us to stay. The contractions in the mean time kept growing
stronger. Whenever Cindy had a contraction, Rob pushed really hard
with two fists against her lower back. For some reason, this helped
tremendously, making the contraction much less painful.Push?
In the mean time, Cindy had been put on an petocin drip to speed up
the delivery. This speeding up was surprisingly effective. Cindy fell
asleep for about 20 minutes. When she woke up the baby's heart rate
started slowing down. This concerned the doctor somewhat, but after he
checked on Cindy and the baby, he found out the reason: Cindy was
fully dilated and the baby's head was engaged! This had happened in
less than an hour.
Hey There, Little Bunny
She was quickly cleaned and wrapped in a blanket up. All bundled up,
she was given to Cindy, and Irene Maaike spent the first hour of her
life in Cindy's arms. After that, Rob and the nurse brought Irene to
the nursery, were Irene was weighed at 9 pounds 9.7 ounces (4360
grams), and measured at 21 inches (54 cm). While Irene was being
washed and checked, Rob returned to Cindy. Finally, it was time to
relax a little, and Rob and Cindy had lunch together.Alex meets Irene for the First Time
Later in the afternoon, Rob went back home to pick up Alex and take
him to meet his baby sister. Alex walked into the hospital holding
Rob's hand, and he got a
