How It All Went Down--Claire's Birth Story

Finally! This post is way over-due and is pretty much a novel, but I want to remember the details. So pop a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy.


I never actually wrote Reese's birth story down, but for now I'll simply sum it up by just saying it was pure and utter hell! I was literally delirious during labor and just assumed my epidural was as good as it got. People would tell me that labor was like amnesia and that I would quickly forget it all. Not so much! So for several months before Claire's birth I was absolutely terrified of having to go through it all again. I'm pretty sure that was the main reason when people would ask me if I couldn't wait to be done being pregnant, I could honestly tell them I was in no rush!

But thankfully Claire's birth story was much much better. A little scary for me in parts, but overall I would call it great! It basically started Monday night, December 1st (my due date).

10:30 pm
I was having contractions about every 10-12 minutes. They really weren't all that painful (in comparison to how they really get) so I figured they would just go away like they had the night before. So I went to bed like normal around 11:45.

12:15 am
I couldn't fall asleep because they were getting a little more painful and seemed to be getting closer together. I decided to take a bath to see if it would help calm them down. At that point they were completely inconsistent. I would go 12 minutes in between one then suddenly as close as 7 minutes. Tom called the on-call doctor and she said we should come in just to get things checked out. I kept telling Tom that I felt stupid going in because they still weren't that bad and the time between them was all over the place. Tom was insistent that we go in just to make sure. I reluctantly got dressed while Tom put our suitcases in the car. We got Reese out of bed and took her over to our friend Penny's house. I apologized to Penny and told her that I was pretty sure they'd just send us home so we'd probably see her soon.

1:30ish am
Arrived at the hospital and was quickly hooked up to monitors to check how strong my contractions were.

2:00 am
The nurses said that I was not in "active labor" and that I probably would be going home, but they wanted to monitor me a little longer because they weren't getting a super good reading on the baby.

2:45 am
Dr. Long came in and told me she didn't like the way the baby looked and that I wasn't going to be going home because I needed to have my baby. They were going to have to break my water because they had to put internal monitors on her. I immediately started crying and asked if everything was okay. All the doctor said was, "We just need to monitor the baby closely because she's in distress." I went into the bathroom, called my mom and just bawled. My gut feeling was that everything was okay, but you really just don't know when you don't understand medical talk and are not given straight answers. The truth was that they really just didn't know what was going on at that point.

3:00 am
Dr. Long came back in, broke my water, then put in the internal monitors. Pleasant. My doctor switched at this point to Dr. Tucker (the one we originally talked to on the phone about coming in). The nurse hooked me right up to pitocin and also to oxygen to try and help the baby. My contractions sped up right away to about 3-4 minutes apart. That next hour was horrible. Every contraction Tom would ask, "Oh, are you getting another one?" I wanted to scream, "Shut-up!" but I managed to tame it down to something more like "Stop talking to me!" In between the pain and throwing up, I repeatedly told him, "We are only having 2 children!" And I was serious! I asked Tom multiple times to go out and ask when I could get my epidural. He very sweetly (probably more out of fear) went out each time I requested. The nurse came back in each time to tell me the doctor said not until they knew there was good progression. I was ticked! I guess I was used to my regular doctor who seemed to pass out epidurals like candy. Really though, Dr. Tucker was just looking out for the safety of the baby since her heart rate kept dipping.

Sometime during all of this they realized that Claire was swimming around in her meconium. (Reese did the same thing.) So they filled me with tons of fluid (sorry I don't know the proper names) to help wash it all out.

4:00
The nurse saw how much pain I was in so she decided to check me. I was dilated to a 4 and the baby's heart rate seemed to be getting better so the doctor okayed my epidural. A 4 may sound like nothing, but it hurt!

4:20ish
The anaesthesiologist came in. I cried with joy! I love her! Curling up into a ball over a huge belly while in the middle of contractions all the while being told to hold completely still seemed impossible, but it's amazing what control comes over you when you know complete relief is on the way. I kept telling her that she was my favorite person ever! I still love her.

From the epidural on, I was in complete heaven! It was seriously the most perfect epidural and nobody can ever convince me to go through labor without one.

5:00 am
I was at a 5 and feeling completely nothing. Loved it. Since I hadn't slept at all that night you'd think the nurse would want me to get some sleep, but she kept talking, talking, talking. She was actually a great nurse, just extremely talkative. Looking at her picture makes me laugh now.

6:15
I was at a 6. I didn't know this at the time, but Dr. Tucker decided to head home because my regular doctor (Dr. Hennesy) was supposed to be there by 7:30/8:00. She figured he would be there in time to deliver my baby.

Tom also decided to rush out and quickly get some breakfast for himself at a Sonic up the road.

6:30
I started feeling pressure.

6:40
I decided to tell the nurse I was feeling pressure. She checked me and asked, why the heck I hadn't told her earlier because I was at a 10 and ready to go. My favorite quote from my sister from even before I had Reese is, "It's going to feel like you have to take the biggest poop of your life!" And it did!

They called Dr. Tucker and told her to turn around.

I called Tom and told him to hurry back or he might miss the birth of his child!!!

Tom got back very quickly and very sneakily tried to finish eating his breakfast burrito on the side. I totally saw him and I have to admit I was a little irritated that he was able to enjoy delicious food while I had to focus on doing everything in my power to keep a human head from popping out of me.

7:10ish
Dr. Tucker got back and went to change clothes while the nurses got everything else ready. She then came over and told me to push and that was basically it on my end. One push! Crazy. Of course I couldn't see anything going on other than the doctor and nurse's faces. Dr. Tucker's eyes got big for a second then she did something with her hands very quickly. They later told me that the cord was wrapped around Claire's neck 4 times. Yes, 4 times! Dr. Tucker almost didn't believe it herself and went over it in her head several times because she had never seen that before.

I didn't get to hold her right away because of her swallowing her meconium. They had to suction everything out with tubes first.

Tom cutting the umbilical cord. (We like to keep things modest around here.)

I'm sure a huge part of her coming out so easily was because she was only 6 lb 9 oz. Thank goodness for my little babies!

I felt the same surreal feeling when I first saw her as I did with Reese. Both times I remember thinking, "Why isn't this more celebrated than it is?" The whole process is pretty insane. It was so crazy and so sweet to feel that immediate love again now for this new nameless and beautiful little person in my life. Such a blessing.

I remember two other distinct thoughts/emotions I had:

1) Gratitude for her safety. Don't you think it's amazing all that can go wrong during a delivery, but how amazing doctors and nurses are? As the nurse finished wiping her down she looked at me and told me what a lucky little girl Claire was. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father watched over her. I really wouldn't have called or gone in that night if it weren't for Tom's persistence. I think Tom was a little more in tune than me. Also, the day before I had her I remember talking to my sister Ginger and telling her that I hadn't felt the baby move all day. I wasn't sure whether I was just busy and hadn't noticed or if she really hadn't been moving much. And whether or not any of that was related to the cord or meconium I really don't know. Maybe I sound a little dramatic and maybe everything would have been okay anyway, but I do feel strongly that things played out how they were supposed to with a lot of help from our Heavenly Father. I feel blessed.

2) Shock, but a happy shock. Tom and I seriously kept looking at each other after she was born and laughing because we couldn't believe how fast and easy it was. I know I said multiple times out loud, "That was it?!" It was seriously a piece of cake. Only 1 hard hour and the rest was a breeze. One push, and not a single tear nor did I have to have an episiotomy. This experience has reassured me that I can do it again. So good news, there will be more Bjorkman babies. :)

My first time holding her. There you have it folks...I did look like a big puffy make-up-less ball of death right after having her. It's amazing you don't explode with all the fluid they run through you.

The proud daddy!

All dressed and ready to go home. I know a few of you thought I put the bow on her head at the hospital, and while that is something I would do, the nurses actually did it. They must have known that Claire already liked to accessorize because they picked a perfect red one without knowing that it matched her take-home outfit. ;)

Claire is almost 8 weeks now and is such a sweetie. She really has been such a good baby. She's overall pretty chill and very smiley. We love her and are so happy she joined our little family!