The Piperno Family: Teresa, Rob, Ryann and Ethan
On the way home from a long evening out, I began to feel pretty regular contractions once again, about 10 minutes apart. My friends thought that perhaps they should take a detour to the nearest hospital, but I just laughed. This had been happening every night for the past several nights, but they always petered out. It was no different this time.
The next morning, however, I awoke to a feeling I was familiar with and had been expecting for quite some time now - the feeling of my bag of waters breaking. That’s when I knew: Today was going to be The Day! Today we would meet our newest little miracle. Today we would find out if Ryann was going to have a baby brother or baby sister.Having been through this once before, it wasn’t nearly as daunting the second time around, but it was still every bit as exciting.
Since it was barely 5am, we decided to get some more rest before calling The Birth Center. We crawled back in bed, enjoying what we knew would likely be the last of our private snuggle time for quite a while.
Mild contractions started about a half hour later. At about 6am we decided to get up and get the day started. Ryann was still sleeping.
We called the midwife on call, who happened to be Betsy, the same midwife that delivered Ryann. Betsy joked with us that it looked as if things were happening the same way and maybe we could call it a trend now – in reference to a remark she made at a previous appointment that just because it happens one way the first time does not make it a trend. She told us that she was off duty at 8am and that Peggy was on then. I was to call Peggy around noon to report what progress had been made and discuss what our plans would be from there.
After speaking with Betsy, Rob’s car pool buddy arrived as usual to pick Rob up for work. She knew as soon as he walked out in jeans and a baseball cap that he wouldn’t be going to work today. She came in for a minute, chatted and wished us luck. I think she was as excited as we were!
Our next call was to my sister,Marty, who would be staying with Ryann while we were at The Birth Center. She immediately picked up the phone with “Is it time????” and I explained that no, it wasn’t time, but it was The Day. She sounded so excited on the phone, you might have thought she was the one in labor! With the details out of the way, we hung up.
Ryann woke up shortly after we got off the phone with Marty. Both Rob and I were pretty excited now and I think Ryann caught on. We explained to her that she was going to become a big sister today, that today was the day the new baby was going to be coming out of mommy’s belly. She was immediately excited, and said she couldn’t wait to hug and kiss the new baby.
We decided to hang out for a while before taking Ryann to school to spend a little bit more time with our first baby. I remember Ryann and I sharing a bowl of Life cereal while watching the some cartoons. When that was over, we got her dressed and ready for school, and I wanted to take some last pictures of my little girl before she would forever be my big girl. We got a few nice shots of Ryann and me together and then took a few of her hands alone. A friend once told me to do this to remind me of just how small she really is, despite looking huge next to the baby. What a great idea.
Meanwhile, my contractions were still about 10 minutes apart and pretty mild; probably lasting only 30 seconds or so and not requiring any of my attention. This is the point in labor when you think, "Well, it's not so bad! I can do this easily!" Ha! Just you wait...
Rob and I took Ryann to daycare and let everyone know that my sister was going to pick her up because today was The Day. I think some women were quite taken aback by the fact that I was there and in good spirits rather than running off to the hospital. We both gave Ryann big hugs and kisses and it was almost bittersweet to me as we left, knowing how different she would appear to me the next time I saw her. My sweet little baby…
The rest of our day was spent puttering around the house, packing our bags for TBC, and attempting to get the house ready for the onslaught of visitors we knew we’d have in the coming days. We checked in with Peggy at TBC just to let her know our progress so far. Oh, and I tried to rest a bit, too. Much work was ahead of me!
Surprisingly, I was able to rest for over an hour until some very strong contractions forced me to get up. This time, I really had to concentrate on relaxing myself and letting my body do the work of bringing this baby into the world. Realizing that we were probably going to be heading off to TBC soon, I showered and finished packing our bags.
Once again, we called Peggy and after some discussion we were headed off to TBC. By this point, my contractions were about 6 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long. While not very long, they were quite intense and required my full attention to get through them. Often, I was having double-peaking contractions that would last more than a minute with little rest between peaks. I had to remind myself to relax and allow nature to do its job. In between contractions, however, I was doing great and I really felt like I could have labored at home a bit longer. But we wanted to avoid being stuck in rush-hour traffic while in active labor, so off we went!
My contractions really picked up in intensity on the ride to TBC. It was very difficult to find a comfortable position in the car, though the heated seats did help some.
We pulled in to the parking lot around 3:45pm and I was in the middle of a doozy of a contraction. I recall some of the construction workers (they were building the new Birth Center building) looking at me with concern as I struggled through the contraction, half-in and half-out of the car.
Peggy helped me out of the car when it was through while Rob grabbed all of our bags. We headed inside; we were the only couple in labor at the moment, so we were fortunate to be able to pick our birth room. The peach room of course, with the beautifully hand-painted bed – where we birthed Ryann.
Once we got settled, Peggy wanted to examine me. It was part of my birth plan to be checked upon arrival and only again once I felt like I was ready to push. With Ryann' labor, I got "stuck" for a while and it really demoralized me, so I felt like this time I didn’t want to know at all where I was. We agreed on that and proceeded with the exam.
Of course as soon as Peggy began, my forewaters broke with a gush. Unfortunately, they had slight meconium and blood in there. Peggy was so reassuring and told us it was nothing to be troubled about, but it did freak me out just a bit. I was fully expecting clear waters, as I had had with Ryann.
I was told that I was a “good 5 cm dilated” and fully effaced, so we had made really good progress at home. I was pretty happy about that and felt confident that we’d be having a baby well before midnight!
Peggy prepped the Jacuzzi while I labored quietly for a while. I was a bit surprised at how good I felt still. By this point in my labor with Ryann, I felt I was letting the contractions get away from me and really had difficulty relaxing. This time I felt like I was in total control and handling things really well. With every contraction, I envisioned my cervix dilating and the baby descending. I used yogic breathing to help me relax. I concentrated on relaxing my face, neck and shoulders and letting the rest of my body follow. We had stopped timing the contractions, but they were definitely longer and stronger than they had been.
Once the Jacuzzi was ready, I got in and felt instantly more relaxed. It was much easier to deal with the contractions while I was in the water. It just seemed to surround me and cushion me and completely relax me. However, after a short time, I noticed that they were slowing down a bit and becoming less intense. Not wanting things to slow down too much, I decided to get out after about 20 minutes. Walking around made the contractions more intense, but I also felt like they were doing a bit more work, too, which is what I wanted.
Just like with Ryann, as I got out of the Jacuzzi, I got the shakes really badly. Rob had to help me stand and dress, and help me get back into the bedroom. I was really hoping this was the first inkling of transition upon me. It was about 5pm.
At this point, contractions were about a minute long and scarcely 5 minutes apart, many of them double-peaking. Surprisingly, I was able to maintain good conversation with Peggy and Rob the entire time. I know I commented several times that I really felt like I should be working harder than this, but Peggy assured me that I was doing great and harder work would come. She was, of course, right.
Around 6:30pm, I really began to feel consumed by the contractions, and could only moan through them. I began to lose focus a bit, but Peggy was so encouraging and Rob was so supportive, that I felt sure we were close to transition and soon we’d meet our baby.
By this point, Patty, the nurse had arrived and was encouraging me to vocalize through each contraction. I gladly obliged – loudly! - and soon felt some definite urges to push. Coupled with my nausea and the return of the shakes, it was a good bet that I was in transition and close to complete.
I got on all fours on the bed (to this point I had mostly been standing and using either the bed or Rob for support), and used the birthing ball as support. Peggy encouraged me to bear down on the contractions if it felt good, and I did this for the next several contractions. I was feeling so anxious to get the baby out that I wanted to do whatever it took at this point.
Really feeling a strong urge to push now, Peggy checked me to find that I was 8 cm dilated and completely effaced. During the next couple contractions, I bore down and Peggy worked to get that last bit of cervix to dilate. This was undoubtedly the most uncomfortable part of the labor so far, but it proved to be productive. By 7pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push for real.
We tried a few contractions in a semi-squatting position on the bed, but Peggy suggested that I get slightly on my left side to allow more room for the baby’s head to pass under my pubic bone. Rob was at the ready with a cool, damp washcloth, which again proved to be invaluable. I was having real difficulty breathing during each contraction, and soon began to feel quite light-headed and dizzy as each peaked. All during the labor, the baby had actually been pushing against each contraction, thrusting feet up under my ribs each time, and in my mind I felt this was causing my difficulty. Now I really had to concentrate on getting a good deep breath in between contractions just to make it through each push.
There was a shift change in nursing during this time, and Irene was our nurse now. Patty had stayed as long as she could, anxious to see how things turned out for us, but by about 7:30pm, she had left.
Soon I could really feel the baby’s head descending and making its way down the birth canal. Shortly before the baby crowned, I called out several times, “Peggy, it’s coming! The head is coming!”, as if she could not see this for herself .
This is a moment of the birth that I’ll never forget. I felt so powerful – my body was bringing this baby into the world and I could feel every second of it, every movement, every sensation. Rather than being daunted by the pain, it exhilarated me and I really began to feel excited to push with all my strength.
It’s amazing the renewed energy that comes with knowing your baby is almost here. I consciously redoubled my efforts at pushing, and barely three pushes later, I was reaching down to feel my baby’s head as it emerged into the world! What a tremendous feeling of love, joy and pride.
Peggy quickly suctioned the baby before the first breath was taken, since there had been light meconium in the forewaters. What a sweet sound, those first cries! As a precaution, I was given a shot of Pitocin at this point, since I had post-partum hemorrhaging with Ryann. With the next two pushes and some help from Peggy, the shoulders emerged and I reached down to lift my baby from my womb to my chest. Suddenly, I was looking into the beautiful blue eyes of my baby! It was 7:58pm.
I looked to Rob to tell me the gender – I was so caught up in soaking up every inch of the face that I dared not take my eyes away. After a quick inspection, Rob proudly announced that we had a son! A son! Ryann had a baby brother! Ethan Robert was here.
As I held my little boy in my arms, Peggy handed me the scissors and I cut the cord, the connection between Ethan and me that had sustained him for the last 38 weeks and 4 days. They wrapped us both in blankets fresh from the dryer and we snuggled in together while everyone else set to the business of cleaning up. Within minutes, Ethan was at my breast, and while nursing didn’t come easy at first, eventually we got it together and he nursed successfully for some time.
Both Rob and I were a bit stunned that we now had a son. For some reason, I think we both secretly anticipated having another girl. Upon seeing him, however, I don’t think either of us could have imagined anything different, or more perfect than our little dude, Ethan.
