June 4 - Saturday
After working our plant sale all day and then shooting a senior portrait that afternoon (Yes, I was working up until the day I went into labor), I started having mild contractions just after dinner, around 7pm and they lasted through the night. Although I could pretty much sleep through them, I knew they were present and my labor was beginning. I could feel Curtis kicking around and I was so excited. So excited that I called my mom first thing in the morning, around 5:30 am! She was already all packed and ready to drive out from Arizona, but I wasn't for sure about my labor actually progressing into the real birth. But she was so excited she decided to drive out anyway! :)
June 5 - Sunday
Oddly enough, I had no contractions, well maybe two or three randomly throughout the day. We waited for my mom to arrive and just stuck around the house, cleaning and getting things ready. I was so antsy that we went on a walk down to the beach and I walked up and down the beach access stairs twice to try to get things going again. Mom arrived around 5pm and we made an awesome dinner and then off to bed.
June 6 - Monday
The day began with early morning contractions, but only the same in intensity as Saturday night. So Eoin goes to work and Mom and I decided to go to Costco in the afternoon and walk around. My contractions started again after lunch, but mom and I decided to go to Costco anyway around 3pm. Mom and I covered the entire store and I could feel the contractions getting stronger the more we shopped. We call the midwives to let them know what was happening and they advised us to call again when they get closer together and more intense. Around 9pm I get into bed, but this time I could not sleep through the contractions. They were definitely in motion. This baby was coming and soon! So I had hoped …
June 7 -Tuesday - Notes of the day taken by my mom …
Cold morning in Carp
3:30am Eoin woke me up and said that Kristen was in labor big time. She was in the bathtub trying to get comfy...I think she needed another two feet of tub and a babe in her arms to make that happen.
5:45am - After a couple of calls to the midwife, we left for the birth center in Ventura. We verified that K had been in 4-1-1 labor (every 4 minutes, contractions 1 minute long, and for at least an hour). I'm sure she had already been in labor the entire night every 5 minutes. Waved good-bye to neighbor Mike (Uncle Oreo) as we drove off.
Met Dawn (midwife) at VBC (Ventura Birth Center) at 6am. K is already 5cm dilated. Bag of waters is bulging 2" out of her cervix. Curtis is hiccupping and doing fine.
Grandma Christy and Skip here to check on things. Christy feeling awful and they decided to go back home rather than spread germs. Good thing too - cuz K really doesn't want an audience or the feeling that people are waiting on her. They brought over breakfast and we all had some, even K.
9am - still at it...stronger and stronger contractions. K is breathing thru the contractions and Curtis ' heartbeat is super strong.
Dawn checked on her at 9am. She like sitting up on the edge of the bed - none of the laying down work for her - 6cm with big bag of water pushing down - baby's head is above the bag. Dawn is going to break her water to relieve some of the pressure.
9:10am - water broken....really gushed out....and really alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttt of it!
More contractions.....Kristen threw up at 9:45am - so much for breakfast
Then she had, in her words, 'the best chocolate milk ever'. Thanks Eoin for packing that.
Best position is sitting on the edge of the bed.
Tub time at 10am
1:30pm Propped up in the corner of the bed surrounded by pillows. Eoin - tired tired tired....both of them try to get a nap but the contractions keep coming. Naptime???? what's that????
3pm - Up and walking around outside. Mom went and got some Peanut Butter Smoothies
4pm - More tub time. Using the breast pump to bring on more contractions. Pushing pushing pushing with legs pulled up - then on her knees and elbows, then on her one side, then on another side.....good grief how many positions are there????
Pushing pushing pushing
Tub time 5:05pm Fully dilated
He's a BIG boy!!!
Kristen - envisioning the front cervix melting away......(comment from Mom: melting away my ass....this isn't working maybe K should think about that epidural)
More heavy pushing… contractions steady one on top of the other … sitting in the birthing stool …. Curtis will not budge
6pm - Sue (midwife) come to birth center for a prenatal with another couple, while K grunts through her contractions.
7pm - Davie (midwife) shows up to help K. Dawn, Sue and Davie keep a close eye on Curtis. K keeps asking, he should have been here by now?? What is going on? Why doesn’t he move?
More heavy pushing… K is exhausted, up now for 48 hours, no real food … I had to take a break and rest, my first born is going through so much, I have to pray.
9pm - K is pushing so hard she bursts blood vessels in her eyes … midwives gather to discuss next move … Sue tries to motivate K into pushing 4 big pushes with each contraction… PAIN!! Eoin sitting behind her holding her hair for her … K says she can’t do it anymore (only 5 hours of pushing!) … he’s not moving … midwives concur to let K know they’ve tried EVERYTHING and baby Curtis will not fit through her pelvis and that going to the hospital would be the safest thing for the baby and her. Sue calls ahead to the hospital to alert them K is coming … Eoin looks worried, but strong.
10pm - Going to hospital. Baby Curtis' head is just not coming down the birth canal - it isn't molding and is just staying up too high.
Kristen is exhausted - Eoin drives her over to the hospital (just across the street - hey wasn't that a selling point of the VBC?) and parked the car as Mom and K walked up a FLIGHT OF CONCRETE STAIRS IN FULL LABOR -----Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooo this woman is in PUSHING labor ----------- what's wrong with this picture? She had to register and sign about 10 forms - god only knows what she wrote for her name. Dawn was with her as they took her in to see the Dr. and he immediately ordered a C-section - and they took her in to prep her.
As they wheeled her past the waiting room, I hugged and kissed her - she had gotten a spinal block and couldn't feel anything....what a relief. Eoin was with her and Skip, Monica and I waited in the waiting room. About an hour later, as Monica was showing Skip where the restroom was, Eoin came out so thrilled and excited. He showed us Baby Curtis in the Transitional Nursery while Kristen went to Recovery. All is well - Praise God!
Curtis Randall Hammonds
11:12pm June 7, 2011
10 lbs 2.5 oz 22inches long
9.9 Apgar score
Watched as they foot-printed him, measured, weighed him....put the goop in his eyes...and watched him cry cry cry - he wanted mommy. Eoin was in and out of the nursery telling us about everything. Amazing.....
Skip and Monica left around midnight. Eoin and I stayed watching baby curtis. Around 1:30pm they brought Curtis out to go to Kristen's room. She's still in recovery but will be returning soon. The nurse checked Curtis in and we settled in to wait for K. I picked up Curtis and snuggled him and then handed him off to Eoin who just sat there staring at his new little boy. "Gosh, will you look at those eyelashes" was just one of the many comments Eoin said as he sat there mesmerized by this little miracle.
K came back to her room around 2am - talk about a high....she was so excited and didn't feel much pain at all from the surgery. She just wanted to hold Curtis. I left the hospital around 2:30am and Eoin stayed with his new family. Thank you Jesus for such a miracle of love.
My perspective:
As the day began at 6am I was so excited that Curtis was finally going to be here soon. I was 3 days past my due date, so we were ready. Everything progressed as expected, and I was looking forward to my natural birth with my midwives. When it got to around 12pm, I started to worry. I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong, and I felt so confused as to why Curtis would not descend. The contractions that I had been experiencing throughout the night and early in the morning were nothing compared to what was to come. Little did I know our birth plan was already out the window.
Around 4pm, Dawn told me if I wanted to push I could. However, I did not feel that sensation or urge to push. I did feel like my behind was on fire though, so Dawn encouraged me that that was what it was and that baby was coming soon, I was fully dilated. So with every contraction, which were every 2 minutes or so, I pushed, with every part of me. Eoin held me, rubbed my back, told me things like ‘you’re so beautiful’ and ‘you’re doing great’ and he never left my side. At least I never saw him leave. He never took a break, he told me later that if I was going through it, he had to too.*my love*
An hour later … Curtis was still at negative 1 station, just above my pelvis. He was moving around and trying to fit through, I could feel him doing it. Dawn said she could see his head coming through my cervix, but only a tiny bit. She was trying to move his head so that his chin was tucked down and try to figure out how he was positioned. But, still he would not descend.
Two hours later … no change.
Three, Four, Five hours later … nothing. At this point, I was feeling REALLY worried about why it was taking so long. Eoin and I had been up for over 48 hours and my belly burned with white-hot pain. I could barely keep my eyes open, but when I did, I saw Sue, Dawn and Davie standing over me, and I heard Sue’s words of hard-core encouragement. She told me to REALLY push hard, and I was thinking … what have I been doing all this time?? So I did, even harder, reaching down into the depths of my gut, my soul, my primal woman, and I pushed as hard as I could. Nothing. It was then that Dawn told me I had tried everything and it was time to go to the hospital.
I was really scared when I was examined by the hospital Dr and when he told me surgery was THE safest choice to deliver our baby. The other option, if I still wanted a vaginal delivery, would be to get out the vacuum and risk breaking his shoulders or worse, him getting stuck somewhere. Throughout my pregnancy, I was so against anything hospital that my heart sank when I learned the news, but I was too focused on Curtis to be concerned with my original birth plan. "Go for it" I said. And with that, the drugs came and everything changed ... honestly I was relieved to not feel another contraction. Now I had 10 people around me that I did not know, who weren’t our midwives in a very cold, very bright, sterile environment, lying on a hard table with my arms strapped down and Eoin in the waiting area. They had to begin the operation before they could let him in, so I was alone with Curtis - it was just us among all these strangers that I put my faith into. I do have to say the Doctor was awesome. He introduced me to everyone in the surgery room, and my anesthesiologist was really sweet adn talked to me the whole time they prepped me. It was a whirlwind! I remember just talking to Curtis, letting him know that it would be ok, that this is the way God wants him to come out and that mommy and daddy are waiting for him. The anesthesiologist went to get Eoina nd we were finally together. Eoin's eyes were so wide and alert, focussing on me, he kept kissing me and telling me I was doing great, that we'd have Curtis soon. Getting him out took all of 20 minutes and Curtis was here, pink and crying and perfect. It was funny, the staff was taking bets as to how much he would weigh, and when we heard the news, we were shocked! I was thinking 9 pounds, maybe 9 and a half. But 10 lbs 2.5 oz!!! I laughed with Eoin as we said, no wonder! Considering Eoin was 7 lbs 9oz and I was 8 lbs 14 oz, and that I did not have gestational diabetes, who knows how this baby got so big! He was so beautiful the second he came out. He was brought over to the warmer and Eoin was asked to cut the umbilical cord, which was a moment he says he’ll never forget. Curtis was crying so hard, I told Eoin to touch him, talk to him, touch him, touch him, touch him! Then the nurse let Eoin bring him over to me, and when he did Curtis and I touched cheeks, I kissed his forehead and he instantly stopped crying. I told him I was here and that I’ll be with him soon, then they took him to the nursery with Eoin and I had to wait another 2 hours to see my baby. I had to go to recovery until I could move my legs and lift up my torso, so I willed my legs to move and for the drugs to exit my body. I talked very heartily with the recovery nurses, laughing and showing them that my spirits were good and kept asking to be released sooner. Finally, the nurse understood how frantic I was to see Curtis, and I could move my legs, so she called up to let them know I was coming up. They wheeled me into our room and I saw Eoin standing there holding our son and I saw relief on my mom’s face and when I finally got to hold my baby in my arms, I kissed him so much, he smelled so good, he never cried once and found my breast right away.
Final thoughts:
After everything, I’m just so thankful that Curtis is here now and that he is healthy and strong and I am ok too. The whole experience was really traumatic and the more I think back on it the more I am truly thankful for modern technology. I have found a new respect for the medical industry, even though I still think the procedure end of it could use a little warm up. I only wish I cold have held Curtis longer after he was born and that they let me be with me and begin breastfeeding right away while in recovery. I am still healing from the Cesarean. I had heavy, painful cramping the weeks after and my whole abdomen hurt so much that Eoin had to pull me up out of bed to feed Curtis for the first week after we got home from the hospital. During the next 2 weeks, it literally took me about 3 minutes to get up from a sitting position, but I only stayed on pain meds for one week. Not only was I healing from the Cesarean, my abdomen had basically done 1001 sit-ups and I was recovering from serious muscle damage as well. I’m trying to get back to work editing, but it’s going to take a lot longer until I’m 100%, which is hard for me to accept, but I have no choice.
I never in my farthest imagination did I think that I would have to go through something like that. Here I am planning my natural birth with no drugs, no hospital intervention and the exact opposite ended up happening. I like to think that Curtis has two birth stories, completely opposite of each other, much like his Gemini birth sign, but that’s the hippie in me coming out. :) Eoin and I look at Curtis every day and are in amazement. We’re constantly saying to each other, ‘Wow! We’re parents!’ and things like ‘He’s so perfect! He’s so beautiful! He’s King of our castle!’ Thank you God, seriously thank you.
