Alleke's Birth Story (Part I of II)

Today is Alleke's first birthday, and as promised, we have a guest contributor here to help us celebrate. April (Alleke's mom) is going to tell Alleke's birth story.

As a writer, I love a good story, and I couldn't think of a better gift for my little girl than her mom telling the story of how she was born in her own words. So, without further adieu, here's April...

On October 2, we had our regular prenatal classes that evening. After doing our normal stretches and meditation, Carmen, the midwife told me and the other woman who was at 38 weeks that it was time to practice pushing. Knowing that our baby girl was due in two days, I figured it was a good idea. After class, we talked with Carmen rehearsing all the things we needed to do if I went into labour. She mentioned to Kelly that she was going to be on-duty in the hospital on Tuesday night and Thursday morning, so if we wanted her to be there, try to plan accordingly.

For the past few nights, we had been taking long walks, which was our habit during the pregnancy. That night we decided to take an extra long walk, knowing that it could help induce labor. We left the classes and walked about 15 minutes to a bookstore to get a baby book for Alleke. Then we walked out from Plaza Fadrell to the edge of town, past the concert hall, nearly to the basilica, and then back again, down the tree-lined boulevard. Once we got home, we had been walking for nearly two hours. Since it was a little past midnight, we decided to go to bed.

Around 2 am or so, I woke up with a lot of pain in my hip sockets. I kept shifting around, trying to fall back asleep, or trying to stretch what felt like really tight muscles. I slept off and on, getting up to go to the bathroom, or just feeling like I was in pain. For awhile I laid there trying to time how far apart the pain was. Now and again the last few weeks I had restless nights thinking I was in labour when I obviously hadn't been, so I thought this might be the same. About 7 am I finally woke up Kelly (whether intentionally or from being so restless I don't know) and explained what had been going on. He asked if I was in labour, and I honestly couldn't tell him, but said we probably should be ready, because I was consistently having pain in my hips.

After eating some breakfast, I made some heating packs out of old socks and rice and popped them in the microwave. When I laid these on my hips, it helped the pain go away and I could sleep more. I took a nap and Kelly worked in the office for the morning. We had decided a few days before that before the baby was born, we really wanted to go to one of our favorite restaurants for a last menú del día. When I woke up from my nap, the pain in my hips had subsided some, so I decided we should go to the restaurant. We headed out and walked past the four or five restaurants in our neighborhood that we liked. Either we didn't like what was on the menu or the restaurant was full, so after getting really frustrated, we eventually returned home. We sat at home for a little while trying to decide what to do and I finally said "I can't just stay here and concentrate on how I'm feeling. It'll be better if we just go." So around 4 we headed out again and went to the closest restaurant which had space at that point because it was later.

Once the food came, including a heavy paella, I realized that this probably was not such a good idea. I was still getting the pain in my hips off and on, and when it was strong, there was nothing I could do but shift in my chair and grit my teeth. Getting to the comfort of my own home seemed like a much better idea. Besides, I wasn't much of a conversation partner.

On our way home, even though we were only a block away, I had to stop and push against a light pole during a contractions (which I had finally started to label the stretching pain in my hips). While we were stopped, Kim called to talk to Kelly, and he told her the baby would probably be coming any day, but didn't say that I was actually in labor. We got home around 5.30. I finished packing what I could of our hospital bag and changed into my pajamas. I went to sit on the couch, with my heating pads, and read Chronicles of Narnia for awhile. The whole day Kelly kept asking me what I wanted him to do and finally I said that I just wanted him near me, even though I didn't need any help yet. So he sat on the other couch working on a web design. While I was reading, stretching, breathing, imagining my cervix opening, etc. I tried to time the contractions. They weren't coming consistently, but did seem to be about every 7 to 10 minutes. I eventually decided to try to take another nap with the rice socks helping for the pain.

I woke up a little before 7. I was still groggy, but I remember Kelly saying something about a plug-in he had found for the new website he was working on. That's when I screamed, heard a loud pop, stood up, and ran to the bathroom. Kelly followed yelling, "What happened, what happened." I sat on the toilet saying, "I don't know, I don't know, I think my water broke." It wasn't as much water as I was expecting, though, and I felt like my entire insides were emptying out and the pain had jumped off the scale.

The rest of our time at home is still a blur to me now, but I know that at some point Kelly called our landlords, Damien and Encarna. They were the ones who were supposed to take us to the hospital and Kelly had called them earlier to let them know that today would probably be the day. He told them they didn't have to come yet, but would probably need to soon. Kelly ran to get the stopwatch while I stayed on the toilet. He came back to time the contractions, but the stopwatch didn't work. Eventually we realized that the contractions were on top of each other, and we should just get to the hospital as soon as possible. Kelly called Damien and Encarna back, and they said they were already on their way, only five minutes from our apartment. Kelly told me to try to change my clothes while he ran around like a madman trying to get all the last minute things packed. During a few contractions during this time I had him push my hips together according to a hold I had looked up online a few days earlier thinking that my contractions would probably be in my hips. I walked slowly to the bedroom and sat on the bed trying to pull clothes on over my pajamas and deal with the painful contractions through fast breathing, because the pain was past the slow breathing part. Finally Kelly came in and said we were ready. We needed to take the elevator down to the street. Suddenly, the thought of walking across the square in front of our apartment building in labor seemed really embarrassing, and I was very glad we had not decided to get a taxi to the hospital instead.

Damien and Encarna helped me into the front seat of their car, and I probably had at least two contractions on the way to the hospital, doing all the fast breathing through my mouth and nose that I had never been able to accomplish during prenatal classes, but suddenly found very useful. I do know that having contractions in the leather BMW of your landlord is not a terribly comfortable place to be. Damien realized how close I was, so he put on his flashers, proceeded to drive like James Bond through red lights, and pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital. I remember having this really surreal clarity. Although I was totally focused on breathing, pain control, and imagining the baby coming, I also found it slightly humorous and somewhat alarming the way Damien was driving, I may have talked with him in Spanish, and I remember listening to the song that was on the radio.

That momentary calm broke the moment we arrived at the hospital. Encarna raced in to get a wheelchair and started barking instructions to the staff. A male nurse came out and helped me into a wheelchair and rolled me up to the third floor hospital room with Kelly by my side and Encarna close behind as Damien explained what was going on and moved his car. Once in the hospital room, the nurses tried to calm Encarna down and get information from me and have me change into a gown while Kelly was briefly stopped to fill out forms. Remember that during this whole time I was basically doing all I could to deal with the contractions that were now coming about thirty seconds apart, and all I wanted was to have Kelly push on my hips again to help me. During each contraction I would sit Indian style and push down on my knees while I was breathing rapidly through my mouth and nose. The nurses left us alone for awhile (I don't remember how long), and Kelly could help me again. Soon they came back and we could still hear Encarna in the hall telling them to get the doctor and midwife here now! One of the nurses told me she was going to check how dilated I was. When she finished, she walked over to the phone, picked it up, and yelled, "We need to get down to the delivery room - she's a 10!"

Continue reading the rest of the story...will April get the natural birth in Spain she was hoping for?