Unlike either of my other pregancies, I really didn't have a solid due date with Sena. I had been told December 1, 3, 5 and 8th! Now for most folks maybe this date isn't a big deal but with my first two pregnancies both girls had come on or close to these dates. I would find out that Sena had a mind of her own!
The first week of December came and went. I had it in my head that we would have a baby sometime that week and as we packed up for church that Sunday I was discouraged that there was absolutely NO signs of labor. I normally don't have any precursors to labor but I just felt big and no where closer to having a baby.
On Wednesday the 13th we went into the doctor's office for a check. I wasn't too excited about this as I don't normally agree to pre-labor checks. It's just a personal descision as I don't feel it's really representive of where I actually am in the whole labor process. I let him check (much to a complete lack of privacy-thank you Georgian culture) and found out I was at 4 cm and not quite effaced.
He did a quick ultrasound of Sena and deemed her "big" aka 8.5 lbs. Now frankly I found this hilarious as that is not quite the definition of big in the states but here I was having a monster of a baby. I laughed at him and said I don't care how big she was I was sure I could push her out. He encouraged us to walk and try whatever we needed to do to get her going by Friday.
Friday rolled around and still no baby. I had come to terms with letting him perform a stripping of my membranes to see if that would get her. I never had the procedure with the other two and frankly was kind of nervous about it. BUT that said I thought what were the odds we'd have a baby THAT day of the procedure so why not.
We left the older two with Lizi, our housekeeper, and headed into the hospital. We were able to get into the exam room about 11:30 and he performed the stripping. He told me I could stay or go and to come back when I felt something. Again I kind of giggled as I really didn't think we would see anything that day.
Josh and I headed off to lunch at a local Korean place and just enjoyed our afternoon alone! We window shopped and just got to be together as we waited for things to start. Surprisingly they did! My contractions started during lunch. Very mild but finally I was experiencing something. Throughout the day they slowly increased in frequency but never really got longer than 45 seconds.
At a point I was tired of walking so we headed home. It was about 3:30 pm and I just wanted to get off my feet. The contractions kept coming but were still so mild that I could talk, laugh and do other things throughout them. Not really "labor" contractions. About 4pm I headed upstairs to use the restroom when my water started leaking. That caught my attention! We'd have baby tonight!
I mobilized Josh and we got back in the car for the hospital. I was a tad nervous because with Maddy once my water broke she was there in 5 minutes. This was different as it was just leaking but I really didn't want to deliver in the car. Thankfully we avoided traffic and made it to the clinic in about 30 minutes.
Still the contractions were mild so I wasn't worried when they took their time getting me inprocessed. There was suposidly a c-section ahead of me that they were prepping for. My doctor was genuinely shocked to see me but ushered me in to finish breaking my water.
The tone of the room changed durastically for me once my water broke. He wanted me to lay on my back for at least 3 contractions. I cannot for the life of me figure out why and chuck this up to some kind of lost in translation thing. By far those 3 contractions were some of the worse and to make it even more difficult to manage Josh wasn't allowed in yet. Once I had three I demanded to stand and be put in a delivery room. This was 5:50 pm.
The nurses puttered around wanting to do a hep lock for antibiotics (I tested positive for group B). I finally let them do the lock and what a mess that was. Let's just say their nursing skills lacked and I ended up with blood down my gown and compression tights. Frustrated and in full on transition I started to get sassy.
Josh was with me at this point providing support. I found it comforting to have him lightly rub my back in between contractions to ease tension but the second they started I didn't want to be touched.
With each one I squatted feeling a ton of pressure. She was coming soon.
Worried my doctor was going to do that c-section I told Josh and somewhat magically the doctor appeared. At this point my contractions were coming every minute and I have no idea how long they were lasting. I was in the birth haze of moaning and squatting to deal with the pain.
Finally I knew I had to get on the bed. I was on all fours and feeling pretty comfortable with deliverying her that way. Of course the doctors had other ideas wanting me on my back. I have never felt so heavy in that I knew I just couldn't move. Again I feel like they literally manovered me into the position they wanted.
At this point she was crowning and with another push here! A quick time check would reveal that it was only 6:15 pm meaning from the time I walked into the delivery room to baby was just shy of 30 minutes.
Everything about her was perfect and the recovery on my end great! I needed no stiches and was able to get immeadiate skin on skin for over 3 hours with her (my absolute favorite thing about Georgian hospitals)
Was it my perfect birth? No, but I am so thankful for a few things....We avoided a mad dash to the hospital by having the membranes stripped. I didn't deliver her in the car. Mama and baby were great.
Sure we had our fair share of Georgian language and culture issues but that is a given when you birth abroad. In the end it makes for a great story! ;)
