Eliza's Entrance!

Hi ladies-

At long last, I finally had a chance to write down my birth story... Leah, if I'm forgetting anything important, please remind me!

Thanks to both of you for all your help that made this amazing day possible.

alex

Preface: The end of my pregnancy was somewhat intense. I had started to dilate fairly when I had about a month left to go and I also had been having a bunch of contractions on a regular basis. So my doctors thought there was a good chance Eliza would come early. Then, as I got into about week 37 I had a scare with pre-eclampsia and was told if my blood pressure got much higher, they’d have to induce. I really wanted a natural childbirth and was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle the painful contractions that often come with inductions. Luckily, with the doctor’s orders to stop work and rest (accompanied by a horrific two-week cold which FORCED me take it down a notch), I got the blood pressure under control. But then I found out I had low amniotic fluid and again the threat of induction loomed large. “Come on baby! Time to get this party started before they evict you!” was a thought that ran through my mind constantly.

About a week before the big day, I had a couple evenings of intense contractions where I was sure the baby was on her way (strangely enough one of these was during THOR 3D at the Arclight – go figure!)

But nope, no baby… and I was beginning to get really impatient, tremendously bored and very frustrated with myself.

On May 11th, I did just about everything I could think of to get things started. I took a big hike in Griffith Park and had labor-inducing electro-acupuncture. My parents took me out to lunch at the Studio City restaurant renowned for their “labor-inducing” salad. And then I capped it off with a trip to Cedars Sinai to hold my friend Stephanie’s newborn who had been born about 14 hours prior (my favorite part of the day – thanks gorgeous Julia!!!)

I went to sleep hoping and praying that I would wake up in the middle of the night with broken water… no luck.

May 12, 2011

7:30 am

Woke up to another pregnant day. Drank an assortment of Chinese herbal teas to help boost my amniotic fluidS. On my way to take our dog Sadie for a walk, I ran into our next door neighbor Kurt. He said he was bummed out because he was about to leave for Seattle for the weekend and was afraid he’d miss our baby’s birth. I told him with my luck, she wouldn’t come until days after his return…

9:00 am

The Chinese herbs seemed to have done the trick! After a non-stress test and an ultrasound, my doctor gave me the good news that I didn’t need to be induced just yet. She told me I had gotten to 3 cm dilation, which I was glad to hear. “It’s like you are at the top of a mountain,” she said, “you just need a little push to get you going.” To try and help with that little push, she stripped my membranes, which was not incredibly pleasant.

I went home relieved but crampy. But I mustered up the energy to go to pre-natal yoga at Silverlake Yoga…

11:00 am

There I saw my awesome instructor Juliette who had been gone earlier in the week to deliver Stephanie’s baby. We caught up briefly before class and I told her how ready I felt to have this baby. As we got into our first pose, I felt a whopper of a contraction came on and started doing deep breathing to cope with it. I guess I was pretty loud about it because the women in the class (most of them first time moms) started asking if I was okay. Juliette knew what was going on right away and said, “Alex’s going into labor.”

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

I was about as surprised as everyone in the class was. This wasn’t the first time I had a few doozy contractions so I thought perhaps it was a case of false labor. But about a half hour into it, something just clicked and I knew it was the real deal. Moving through the poses really helped with the discomfort, but there were some moments where I could do nothing more than just breathe really intensely and rock back and forth. Juliette was a big help offering counter pressure and words of comfort.

As the women in the class began to offer my support and ask if I was okay, the emotional aspect of what was going on hit. I began to cry a little bit and I fear I freaked my classmates out that I was in pain. But more than anything I was just so excited that the big day was finally here and that I got to start it in such a supportive way – surrounded by a bunch of other moms-to-be. The emotions hit me like a tsunami.

12:30 pm

After class was done, I called my husband at work. “Guess what?” I said, “Your Dad gets his wish!” Yup, May 12th, 2011 was also my father-in-law’s 75th birthday and he had put in a special request for us to deliver Eliza on his birthday when he first found out I was pregnant.

“Should I come home?” Rich asked. Part of me was still worried that I was having false labor, so I hedged. “Maybe soon,” I said, “No need to rush.” But that wasn’t exactly true…

12:45

After calling my amazing doulah Leah and letting her know what was going on, I decided to brave the drive home from yoga in between contractions. As I walked through the door at home, I felt a huge gush down below. Sure enough, my water broke the second I had arrived. They say most moments in a birth process are nothing like the stereotypes you see in TV and film. But I must say, that felt like it was a made for Hollywood scenario.

Sadie was anxious to see me and I thought a walk might do us both good, so we took a stroll around the block. I had to stop a few times to breathe through some intense contractions. As I was about eight houses away from home, I heard someone yell “Hey lady, aren’t you supposed to be having a baby?” Sure enough it was Rich and I was very thankful to see him.

As I walked up to the house, Kurt had come out and Rich shared the good news. Kurt started pumping his fists and hooting and hollering as if the Giants won the World Series again. And just then Leah pulled up. I suddenly felt like I was surrounded by an awesome group of folks who were as excited as I was about this being the big day and it just made me feel fantastic.

But that good feeling didn’t last too long… Suddenly contractions started coming fast and hard. Leah did an amazing job of helping me through – instructing me to lean forward against a wall or against Rich as I worked my way through them.

As the first few waves of pain passed, I suddenly realized I hadn’t eaten or drank much. And a grape popsicle was sounding like it would hit the spot. But I could only get through a bit at a time before more big waves of pain would swell over me.

It’s so odd to describe the contractions other than something that just completely takes over your body and your mental focus. So I worked hard to find something good to concentrate on instead of the pain. At one point, I looked down at my toes, which had recently had a great pedicure thanks to my friend Alissa. As I looked at them, I realized that all this suffering meant that I would get to see the toes of a person that I had created with the person I love most in this world. That made me so excited that I was able to get through it much better.

We tried all sorts of things to comfort me – massage, walking around, a hot shower. At one point, Leah told me that I needed to let go vocally and channel the pain. Well, as a former theater geek, I had no problem doing that. As I started moaning more and louder, it felt better and better (though completely freaked out Rich, not to mention the construction guys working on our house). At one point Leah suggested we walk up to the local coffee shop with Sadie. We got about 5 houses down before I realized that I could make it no further and let out some mighty primal wallops. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the neighbors called the cops….

3:30 pm

Back home we went… and not long after I started worrying about whether I could cope with the pain. The thought of being in a car during a contraction frightened me something fierce. I suggested we go to the hospital… and then I pretty much demanded it. We scrambled to get everything together. Leah was kind enough to take Sadie to the kennel. Seeing Sadie riding in the front seat of Leah’s car was an image I’ll never forget. It cracked me up at a time I needed a smile so very badly.

As we headed over to Good Sam hospital, traffic was getting gnarly. A quick glance at the freeway filled with cars terrorized me. The front seat felt way too small suddenly. I realized I needed to push. It seemed to me impossible that I’d be at that late stage of the game… but I was.

4 pm

Getting out of the car felt great, but only for a brief moment. Then another whopper of a contraction hit and all I could do was moan like a gutted pig there in the valet parking station. I felt terrible making so much commotion – especially in front of Rich who was scrambling to find a way to get us and our hospital bags to the 8th floor.

They finally told us to leave our bags up front and just head up which we did. It was a very difficult elevator ride for me. When we got to the 8th floor another contraction hit and walking the few steps to get out of the elevator car seemed nearly impossible to me.

We approached the front desk and I told them I was having my baby and needed to start pushing ASAP. They got me into the labor and delivery room where an amazingly calm nurse named Gina tended to me. On the car ride over, I told Rich that I had damn well better be 8 centimeters dilated by this point or we were gonna have problems. Well sure enough, a quick check revealed that I was TEN CENTIMETERS!!! Fully dilated! I realized now that I had achieved my goal of getting through childbirth without an epidural. I was so elated. But that happiness was fleeting quickly as the need to push came on fast and strong.

Soon enough, Leah was there and telling me it was time for a new approach. No longer was it time for loud moaning – this was the time for intense quiet concentration and holding my breath. At first this direction really pissed me off – I was finally getting some relief with the moaning and trying to hold my breath seemed damn near impossible.

But I did what I could and sure enough, it did facilitate pushing. I had trouble moving my legs and getting positioned right as the nurses struggled to get an IV in me between pushes. They started having problems finding the baby’s heartbeat and that had everyone worried. Finally, Gina gave me “the talk.” She told me that I needed to really try pushing harder.

I felt like there was no way I could do any more than I could… but with Leah’s help, I got my legs positioned on the birthing bar and tried a little bit harder. A few moments later, a very stunned OB/GYN named Dr. Hill showed up. She had just seen me in the elevator that morning at my regular check up and was absolutely shocked that I was having the baby so soon afterwards.

After a few more pushes, she did something with her hands that made me want to hurl some very foul language her way, but suddenly I felt movement. I was starting to crown and the realization that we were in the homestretch gave me a new boost of energy. But dear God did it hurt. I totally get why they call this stage the ring of fire now. At this point, Rich started stroking my hair and whispering motivation in my ear. When he told me the head was coming I gave an extra hard push. Suddenly the room grew very quiet and I no longer had distraction from the pain. “Everybody – keep talking!!!” I yelled.

They did and soon after, Eliza arrived!!! They put her on my chest and nothing will ever match the rush of endorphins I had in that moment. It was so exciting to see my little girl after all this time of not knowing what she looks like.

As they cleaned her up, I realized she had blonde hair, blue eyes and looks so much like her dad it’s crazy. As for personality, there she may be a bit more like me… Right after she came out, she started playing with her hands like crazy. She finally rested one of them by the side of her head. The tiny fingers were curled with just one finger fully extended – the middle one. Yup, my kid was barely ten minutes old and she was already flipping the bird.