Abigail's Birth Story

Saturday - May 29th
It was a pretty regular day. Melody & Bella had already been here for a few days. We decided to take a picnic lunch to the New Haven green and then go on a walking tour of the Yale campus. At this point walking brought on contractions so I had to stop several times throughout the day with contractions but nothing really noteworthy. That night I went to bed as usual.

Sunday - May 30th
I woke up at around 4 AM with contractions. I'd had middle of the night contractions previously so I wasn't convinced it was anything yet. After having several in a row I decided to start keeping track of them. Thankfully I had just downloaded an app for my iPhone to track them. After an hour of contractions coming every 5-10 minutes I decided it was probably the real thing and I woke Scott up. The contractions continued and continued to get more and more painful. At 7 AM we decided to call the midwife on call. She thought I was still in early labor on encouraged me to try to walk and to wait it out another hour or so. We both took showers and woke my sister up and told her we were going to walk outside. That plan never materialized and I decided I was just ready to go to the hospital. Lily wasn't up yet. I thought it might be easier for her if she didn't have to see us leave and if she didn't have to see me have a contraction. She's generally very sensitive to me experiencing any kind of pain. So we left around 8:30 without saying goodbye to her.

We got to the hospital in only 3 contractions and ran into Abby's and Lily's pediatrician leaving the hospital. I told her she might be back tomorrow to check out the new baby. We got checked into the hospital and up to Labor and Delivery by 9 AM. I got changed and hooked up to the monitors and the midwife, Pam, came in to check me. I was only 3 cm. I was a little deflated(OK, a lot) by that since I was in a lot of pain by that point, especially in my back. I told her I hadn't had any drugs with my previous delivery. She said I should stay on the monitors for 30 minutes and then I could walk around the hospital for an hour and get re-checked and go from there. If I was at least 4 cm she could break my water at that point and get things going. As Pam was leaving she mentioned that back labor generally took a long time. Since I was only at 3 cm, I pretty much decided then I wanted to get an epidural. I didn't think I could handle the contractions "for a long time". As soon as Pam and the triage nurse were done with me I turned back onto my left-hand side--a slightly more comfortable position than on my back. I think this caused the monitor to move off the baby's heart and start monitoring my heart (baby's heart rate was in the 130s and mine was in the 70s) but they couldn't be sure of that so they told me I couldn't leave to walk around the hospital. (If the baby's heart rate was dipping that low it could indicate a problem, like the cord being wrapped around her neck.)

So I had to stay on the monitors. I told the nurse I wanted an epidural too. She told me they'd get me moved into a labor and delivery room and order an epidural. Only one problem. They were out of labor and delivery nurses (at Yale one nurse is assigned to you and pretty much stays with you the whole time). So I had to wait for a nurse to come on. In the meantime the triage nurse said that she'd get my IV started so they could get the epidural started faster once I got into my room.

At around 11 AM I was getting moved into my labor and delivery room down the hall. I had to stop once on the short walk to brace myself for a contraction. I kept telling myself that maybe that was the last contraction I would have before I got the epidural. I felt like an elephant was standing on my back. I barely even noticed the contractions in my stomach (uterus) because they were so strong in my back. Finally the anesthesiologists came in to place the epidural. There were three of them and they asked me a lot of questions about my medical history, height, weight, etc and hooked me up to a lot of monitors. I had a few concerns about getting an epidural--that it would stall my labor and lead to more interventions (pitocin, vacuum/forceps, and an eventual c-section), that I would get an epidural headache after it was removed, or that I'd have some other poor reaction since I didn't have a good experience under general anesthesia for a previous surgery. The first is not uncommon, the other two are rarer. My nurse helped me get into the correct position and Scott left to go move the car out of the loading zone in front of the hospital since he couldn't do much while they were placing the catheter in my spine anyway. The nurse warned me that the first part when they gave me the numbing agent would be the worst. It did hurt, it felt like I was getting poked with a lot of little needles all at once. The doctors wanted constant updates about the sensations I was feeling. When the catheter went into my spine I felt a very strange sensation down the right side of my back--like a cramp or a Charley horse. It definitely hurt, but not like a contraction. I felt other strange sensations and I wasn't sure what was a contraction and what was a result of the medicine they were starting to put in me. My right side felt almost immediate relief after the medicine was started.

After they were done I laid back on my back and felt better almost immediately. I could still feel some tightening on my left side so my nurse rolled me onto my left side so the medicine could "settle" and hopefully take better effect. I was able to call my mom at this point and felt fantastic compared to how I had previously felt. I still hadn't been checked again since some time around 9 AM when I was 3 cm and it was now around noon. The anesthesiologists had remarked that there was no way I was still that low based on the contractions I was having. Finally Pam came in to check me again. I was at 9 cm and the baby was very low. She asked me if I felt like I needed to push but I didn't. She thought I was so near 10 cm that my cervix would just move out of the way of the baby if I started pushing. She said that since I was complaining of pain (!?!) that I probably wouldn't be able to push for a while since they were going to give me more medicine and I probably wouldn't be able to feel anything well enough to push. I told her I wasn't complaining, I was just telling the nurse I could still feel the contractions since she asked. I told her I would rather not get any more medicine and push this baby out sooner rather than later. She broke my water and the fluid was clear. Both the nurse and the midwife left at that point. Within the next couple of minutes I felt the baby descend a lot and felt like she might just come out on her own. Scott paged the nurses station and said I felt like I needed to push. Very shortly after that our nurse and midwife returned with all sorts of trays with equipment on them. It's amazing how quick they are when you tell them you're going to push. Pam checked me again and I was completely dilated and ready to go. Pam asked me to try a test push and when I did I shot urine across the bed and hit her a good 3-4 ft away. She said I was using the right muscles if I did that. We laughed. There wasn't any laughing during Lily's delivery.

So I continued pushing. I pushed for a long time. I remember looking at the clock and seeing that it was 12:53 and thinking I was going to push her out by 1 PM. They kept telling me she was so close and that she just needed to turn and get under my pelvic bone and she would be out. Pam asked me if I wanted to watch my progress in a mirror. I wasn't sure I did but I said I did. My nurse got a mirror. The mirror was a little discouraging because it didn't look like I was making any progress with my pushes at all. I missed the 1 PM deadline I set for myself and I updated my goal to 1:10 PM. Since I couldn't see any progress I was encouraged to push even harder and to push until I saw something happen. It was frustrating when I was pushing as hard as I could and it didn't look like anything was happening. Pam left at this point (which was also discouraging because clearly she didn't think the baby was coming any time soon). But she had also been texting on her Blackberry while she was standing there between my legs, so I didn't mind too much that she left.

I was in quite a bit of pain again at this point. I could almost feel the contractions at regular strength on my left side and I could feel a lot of pressure, especially where the baby was pushing against my pubic bone. I kept pushing as hard as I could. Scott later told me my face was turning purple (and people compare this to a bowel movement?). Finally I saw the baby turn. It was a strange thing but her head turned almost 360 degrees in just a few seconds. The nurse even commented that she didn't see babies turn like that very often. She called Pam back in since the baby was coming. Her head came out almost immediately after that. The nurse confirmed that the cord wasn't around her neck as Pam walked in the door to catch the rest of her body. And I pulled her up onto my chest.

This was the part I was most looking forward to and didn't get to experience with Lily (since she had meconium in her amniotic fluid and had to be taken by pediatricians immediately after delivery). I got to pull her up onto my chest and hold her as soon as she came out. Her face was purple but she was crying as soon as she came out (even before her whole body was out). The nurse immediately started me on pitocin (which Yale uses post-delivery on everyone to minimize the chances of hemorrhaging) and Pam was working on delivering the placenta. It was just Scott and I there to bond with our new baby. She looked perfect. They put a blanket over her and we just looked at her. It took a while to deliver the placenta so I got to spend quite a bit of time with her. We breastfed and she took to it right away. Eventually they took her across the room to get washed off a little bit and wrapped in a blanket. And then Scott got to hold her.

After a little while we were ready to get moved to a recovery room. I moved into a wheelchair and they took us to our room.

The last day Abigail was on the inside. 40 weeks and 1 day

The epidural was placed & I even made a phone call to my mom (wow, I look large)

Abigail moments after birth

Cuddle time.

Meeting daddy.


Ahhhh, finally...

Baby Abigail Cora is here!

Abigail Core Pope is finally here!

She arrived Sunday, May 30th at 1:17 PM in the afternoon. She weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 3.5 oz and was 21.5 inches long. She's had an absolutely perfect bill of health since delivery and is pretty much a super star in every way.

Aunt Kellie won the pool! Next in line were Papa Jerry, Great Aunt Roberta, Aunt Melody, Grandma Sue, Bauby Debi, etc. Mommy didn't do so well. Thankfully because I really didn't want to be pregnant that many more days. I was close on the weight and length though.

The short version of her arrival starts early Sunday morning at 4 AM when I woke up with contractions coming every 5-9 minutes that lasted a minute and were painful. We were in triage in Labor & Delivery at 9 AM and I received an epidural around noon, started pushing within 15 minutes of that and Abigail arrived at 1:17 PM.

Lily visited us in the hospital (with her cousin Bella and Aunt Melody) later that day. She was beyond thrilled to see her baby sister. She was smiles from ear to ear when she walked in the door. She spent her whole visit sitting in the hospital bed with her new sister and mommy. She was a little confused about mommy still having a belly but not quite as big of one, and baby sister not being in that belly any more. She brought her sister a gift that she gave her (a little lamb) and always wants to give her sister the lamb. She was apparently a little sad about mommy and daddy not being home for a while. We had left for the hospital before she woke up on Sunday so she was confused when we weren't there. Scott picked everyone up after they got up from their afternoon naps and took them home and helped put Lily to sleep before he came back.


We were able to leave after only one night in the hospital which has been really nice. I think we're all more comfortable at home and without getting interrupted by nurses every hour for vitals checks. And for me the food and "help" isn't that helpful. I'd rather Abby sleep with me than in the nursery even if they bring her back to be fed. My recovery has been quicker than with Lily and Lily's wasn't particularly difficult. I haven't weighed myself yet but almost 10 lbs of the weight was just baby so I imagine I've already lost a significant portion of the weight I gained. But I definitely don't fit into my regular clothes yet. Hopefully that will come soon.

Overall we are all doing really well. It's helpful to have my sister here to do things like dishes and help make dinners. And make runs to the grocery store when needed. And of course to stay with Lily while we were at the hospital.

The story of Lily Renee's birth

She's finally here! And we're finally home. We made it home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. We had wanted to leave Tuesday but the pediatricians wanted to watch Lily for one more day.

Lily's birth was intense. I started having regular contractions on Sunday afternoon but nothing was painful. It wasn't until Monday afternoon at 3 PM that the contractions were regular and painful. At 4 PM I told Scott to call the midwife. The longer we waited the more traffic there would be and I didn't want to spend any more time than necessary in the car. She told us to come in. When we got to Labor and Delivery I was only 2 cm dilated but 100% effaced. Our midwife was with another mom who was pushing so we saw a Resident and her sidekick medical student. She spoke with our midwife and they agreed that I should leave for 2 hours and come back and see how I was doing. They gave us a few suggestions including walking around Westwood or just going home. I thought I wanted to walk but on the walk from Labor & Delivery to the car I realized I wasn't really in a state to walk around. The contractions were painful and I felt really conspicuous during them. We went home.

I tried taking a bath. The bath felt really good but it still hurt a lot during the contractions. I staying in for about 30 minutes or so and then decided to lay on my side on the bed. Scott quickly ate something during this time but I wasn't able to eat anything. I laid on the bed for the next hour or so while Scott rubbed my back and tried to provide emotional support. Things progressed to feeling worse and worse for me. I know I told Scott I thought I was dying. I told him I needed an epidural. He kept reminding me that I could do it and we would just see what happened. As it approached 8:00 PM (which would have been our 2-hour mark to return to the hospital) we started to get ready to go. This was a slow process because the contractions were so close together. I had to stop for each one and really focus. I told Scott I didn't know how I would make it back to the hospital. In my mind I was imagining what would happen if we had to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital.

But we were able to get on our way. We stopped several times on the way down two flights of stairs and out to the car. The ride to the hospital was not fun at all. Thankfully there wasn't any traffic so we made it there quickly but each contraction was very hard to deal with sitting in the seat with a seatbelt on. We parked in the emergency room parking lot which is supposed to be a 15 minute loading zone. We decided to walk up to Labor and Delivery instead of being checked in through the Emergency Room again. We thought it might be faster and I didn't want to go through there again, probably a little out of embarrassment. When we got out of the car I told Scott I was getting the epidural. We took the elevators up to the 2nd floor to L&D and the floor was being waxed. We only had to walk over a couple of feet of wet floor but the workers wouldn't let me walk over it, meanwhile I'm in serious pain but they are worried about me slipping. We took the elevators down one floor and took a different set of elevators up.

We walked into L&D and found someone to get a nurse for us. We were standing in the hall waiting when two nurses came walking down the hall to greet us. I remember being incredibly frustrated that they were walking and not running down the hall. I got changed and laid on the exam table in triage. They asked me some questions. They asked me something about how much pain I was in and I said I wanted the epidural. At this point the only way I could get through a contraction was to wrap my arms around Scott's neck, lay my head on his shoulder and sway back and forth with him, and moan.

Our midwife, Ann, came in to check me. She said I was at 6 cms. She said I did really good work while we were gone. They weren't expecting me to be that far along at all. They checked me into a Delivery room, into a gown, and into the delivery bed. The nurses started setting me up with a heplock (basically an IV line that isn't connected to anything) and Ann came in to talk to me. She examined me again. She told me I was at 9 cms with a bulging bag of waters. I had progressed 3 cms in about a half hour. She said she knew I had been asking about an epidural. She said at this point she could order the epidural or she could break my bag of waters and we could continue naturally. At this point I was between contractions so I was feeling relatively OK. Scott encouraged me to have my water broken. I considered the epidural but also thought about how it would take a few minutes to get started and how difficult it would be to be still while it was placed. I decided to have my water broken.

Ann proceeded immediately. I'm pretty sure she was trying to do it before my next contraction and before I could change my mind. She told me I would feel warm liquid gushing out. It was not painful at all, there was enough pain elsewhere that I barely noticed she had done it. Unfortunately there was meconium in the fluid. This is baby's first bowel movement and if Lily were to swallow it during her delivery it can cause problems. Ann notified the pediatricians of this and they would have to examine Lily immediately after she was born to make sure she didn't inhale any of it. I was disappointed by this because I've always imagined holding her immediately after she came out.

I did notice more pressure at this point but I don't think really more pain. Ann told me to tell her when I felt I needed to push. I told her I didn't know what that would feel like and she told me that I would. After a couple more contractions I told Ann I was pushing. It was a strange feeling that came over my whole body and there was no way I could have stopped myself from doing it--my whole body pushed. This overwhelming push only happened one more time during the rest of the labor process. I had been looking forward to this point a lot because I had heard that it's usually more enjoyable since you actually get to do something and the end is in sight. At first I struggled with it. I was getting through each contraction making noise and it took me a while to figure out that if I was making noise I wasn't holding my breath and I needed to hold my breath to push effectively. I think I only realized that in the last few minutes of pushing. I told Ann and Scott I was a terrible pusher and I didn't know what I was doing, they tried to guide me and Ann was trying to figure out why I was holding back. I'm still not sure why I was either. I think I may have been preparing myself for a long pushing stage--which luckily never happened. I also had no idea what point I was at. I think people were telling me but I wasn't processing it. I felt her crowning but I wasn't sure what it was. Scott finally told me that her head was out and with another push she came out the rest of the way.

She was immediately passed off to a group of pediatricians that had rushed in at the last second. They were working around here. I saw a little oxygen tube placed by her nose and they were thumping her chest to get the fluid out. It was hard for me to grasp what I had just done. Scott was standing in between the bed where I was laying and the nook where they were attending to Lily. I think he was as shocked as I was. Lily was perfect. She didn't breath in the meconium and her 1 and 5 minute APGARs were 9 and 9 (out of 10). 10 fingers and 10 toes, no birthmarks and no conehead.

Then I had to deliver the placenta. The resident was still assisting Ann. They gave a slight tug on the placenta to see if it was ready to come out and it was not. That was an uncomfortable feeling. A minute or so later they told me to push and I pushed it out. That was probably the most gratifying part of the whole birthing process. My whole body felt relief after it was out, it was like a huge sigh through my whole body. Later I asked to see the placenta. The resident showed it to me and showed me all of the parts, the sack that held Lily, the part that was attached to my uterus and the part that attached to Lily. It was really amazing.

After the placenta was out Ann had to massage my uterus to get it to start contracting. She massaged my stomach which wasn't the most comfortable feeling but it didn't really hurt. Then I got my baby. The pediatricians passed her off to Scott and asked what her name was. Scott let me announce it to the room. Everyone was giving us their congratulations and I got to hold her. She was beautiful of course. I couldn't believe I was finally meeting her. A few minutes later we started breastfeeding. I think this was around 10:45 PM or so. She did a great job.

At that point Scott had to go move the car. Since everything happened so fast our car was still parked in the patient drop off spaces in the emergency room lot. We didn't even have our camera or the rest of our things. When Scott returned he started taking our first pictures of Lily. We had to spend 2 hours in the Delivery room so that the nurses could monitor me and make sure I wasn't hemorrhaging. They were watching my blood pressure because it was getting pretty high. I still felt out of sorts with myself but I didn't really feel bad. The nurses gave Lily a bath and showed Scott how it was done. They also gave her a Vitamin K shot and put antibiotic ointment in her eyes. Ann ordered some blood work on me to make sure I was OK or if my body was just recovering from childbirth and my blood pressure would go down again.

Then it was time to move on to the recovery room. The nurses helped me into the bathroom to clean up. I tried to go to urinate but couldn't and they helped me to get the blood cleaned off me. I got into a wheelchair with Lily and we made our way to our room. Unfortunately we had a roommate. The nurses showed us around the room and said Scott could stay until our night nurse came and checked in with me before he left since visiting hours were long over. He was reluctant to leave but extremely exhausted as well. The nurse came in later and helped me to the bathroom. While she was there she helped Scott change his first and Lily's first poopy diaper.

And our day was finally over at about 1 AM. And Lily and I were on our own for our first night together.