The Birth of Silas Casey

He's here! And here's the story of how he arrived.

My water broke on Friday at about 7pm and I had bloody show. We were surprised and excited. Woo! We were going to have baby any minute! Ha. Called the midwife and she agreed it sounded like it could have been my water and to hang in there and wait and see if it was.

Then came Saturday- and nothing was happening. Called the midwife and we discussed the possibility that it hadn’t been my water. So, although hoping it was, I tried to prepare myself for nothing happening. But the gushing continued and it became obvious eventually that it had been my water.

Sunday arrived. Still no real contractions, nothing happening. Now I was starting to get frustrated. What was going on here? Was I just peeing on myself ? Was I crazy? No, it had to be my water- no one could pee on themselves this much.

Was it terrible that my water was broken for so long? After talking to the midwives I felt OK with waiting longer. The midwives weren’t too concerned and had me come in for an NST (non-stress test) to make sure the baby was OK. He was.It was recommended that I might try castor oil to get things moving a bit if I wanted. I thought about it but decided to wait a bit and see if labor began as I’ve heard castor oil could be a bit harsh.

Monday. Went in to the midwives and had an NST and a fluid check. Everything looked fine. I was having the same non-painful tightening contractions I’d been having for days. They came and went. Sometimes 20-30 minutes apart- sometimes none for hours and hours.

When my midwife asked if I had tried the castor oil I said I was thinking about it. She told me to take 2oz. and then 2oz. a bit later if nothing was happening.

Now, castor oil works by stimulating the bowels (thereby sending you into the bathroom for a while) which then stimulates the uterus to maybe start contracting.

I thought about it and decided I was just desperate enough to give it a go. But I took only a small dose- a little less than 1oz. I figured it would maybe do something. That was at 3:10pm. Then I waited, but nothing happened. Nada. I decided not to take any more as it was sort of nausea-inducing. So I figured it was a bust.

But at around 7 I felt the weirdest sensation: a big “clunk,” a popping sensation in my abdomen. I said to Will That was weird and described what I felt. Then I had to go to the bathroom right away.

Sorry if y’all are feeling this is a bit graphic. But, hey, this is a post about birth. You’d better stop reading right now. I'm keepin' it clean, believe me.

So, in the bathroom, I thought I felt something like a contraction, except it was really strong. And I thought to myself that it had to be an intestinal cramp, not a labor contraction. Not this soon.

So I finish up and another contraction hits. Bad enough that all I can do is lie down on the bed and endure it. Then about 1 minute later it hits again- for 3 minutes. Then another 1 minute later. I’m thinking, Hm, these feel like transition contractions. Transition is when you’ve made it through to pushing. But there should be another stage! The one before transition. The one that actually lets you know you are in labor and gives you time to prepare.

At least that’s how Sadie’s labor worked.

I called Will into the room. I told him to call Patricia, the midwife on call. She heard me moaning over the phone and said to leave right away for the hospital.

Now, at this point my body had started pushing. I had nothing to do with it. This was weird to me because with Sadie I felt no urge to push at all, it was all work. I think Uh, oh, this baby is coming. Will hangs up with Patricia and this is our exchange:

Me: It feels like I'm pushing!

Will: Can you get in the car?

Me: Noooooooo. Ohhhhh, The baby’s coming!

Will: You can’t have the baby here!

Me: (Groaning)Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Will: What should I do?

Me: Call 911.

Will: WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?!

Me: CALL 911!

So Will calls 911 and I am trying hard not to push along with my body. Sadie’s crying and getting upset because she doesn’t even like when I stub a toe. So you can imagine her reaction to her crazy, moaning mother who was talking to her only 15 minutes or so ago.

So he’s trying to calm Sadie and talk to 911 and get ready to leave. I am having 2-3 minute contractions that are 1 minute apart. So I am a bit out of it.

The paramedics showed up and while they’re here they are timing the contractions. When they saw they really were 1 minute apart they picked me up in our quilt, using it like a hammock, and got me onto the gurney in the hall.

Then we got down the driveway and they put me into the ambulance. I see neighbors standing outside their house, watching me making a spectacle of myself. Oy. I hear the one paramedic telling another to haul ass and drive with the siren on the whole way without stopping. He calls the hospital and says we’ll be there in 10 minutes and we take off.

I could see just how much they did not want me to give birth in the ambulance. Not that I wanted to either. One of the paramedics checked to see if he was crowning and was overjoyed to find he wasn’t. It was actually kind of amusing. I tried really hard just to weather the contractions and tell my body not to push.

We got to the hospital and I was wheeled upstairs to my waiting midwife. They moved me onto the bed and I started pushing. I was hoping Will would make it there. He did. He and Sadie came rushing in, we weren’t planning for Sadie to see the birth as we thought it might be too much. But she was OK with it.

And now she has a great stuffed bear birth impersonation that she can do after watching me. It’s pretty funny.

Silas Casey was born at 8:19pm on 8-17-09. He was 8lbs. 8oz. and 21" long. My total labor from the very first contraction I felt until he was out was 1 hour and 9 minutes! And that includes an ambulance ride. I went from nothing to pushing in minutes. It was intense and crazy.

He was born with his hand up by his head, so I tore a bit. But much less than with Sadie. Silas and I spent the night in the hospital as going home 6 hours later would have been 2:30am and would have been a bit much. It was nice to have some time to snuggle just with him on our first night together too.

As for labor, I guess I just needed the mildest kick start and the castor oil was a huge kick in the butt. Wow.

Anyway, beautiful Silas is now here, nursing and snuffling and doing what babies do. Sadie is attempting to get used to having a brother, but is having a bit of a tough time today. We'll work it out.

By the way, Silas means Forest, or Of the Forest. Casey is after Will's gentle-hearted cousin who was taken from us far, far too soon by cancer.

Here are some pictures of the kids:

And now I never, ever have to be pregnant again!