Lucy's Birth Story

I am happy to announce that our baby girl is here! Lucy Esther Meiners arrived on Friday at 5:58 PM. She weighed 8 lbs. and 4.6 ozs. She is 20.25 inches long. We are truly overwhelmed with love for her. Having a newborn is a tiring whirlwind, but it is so wonderful to have her here.

Here is the story of how everything happened:

On Thursday night we had gone out to Chinese dinner as a family and had come home and gone to bed. Around midnight I woke up to go to the bathroom. I realized that I was experiencing painful menstrual-like cramps. I realized what was happening, that I was probably in labor, and tried to relax. I tried to sleep to get as much rest as possible, but every 10 minutes or so the cramps would come and it was too distracting to sleep.

Around 3 AM I got up to go to the bathroom again. This time, I realized that I had leaked a lot of clear fluid. My waters had broken! The only thing that was slightly disconcerting was that the fluid had some of a brownish-greenish tinge to it. On my instructions from my midwife, it says that if that is the case, I should go to the hospital. And yet, my labor was far from close to active. I was torn. I called the triage/admitting unit at the hospital and asked the nurse what I should do. She told me I had better come in. That was around 4 AM. In the meantime I tried to breathe through contractions and used a back massager to help the pain in my back. I ate some toast and jam to get some calories into me.

I woke Craig up and told him we should go. We got all our bags packed and I got ready and around 5:30 AM we were out the door.

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On the drive to the hospital I was nervous. Was our baby okay? The nurse asked me if I had felt her move since my waters had broken and I was sad to say that no, I hadn’t. This made me really nervous. My contractions weren’t that bad yet though and so pain-wise, the car ride was fine.

We checked into triage around 6 AM. They have you wait in a small room so they can assess where you’re at and then you wait to be transferred to a labor and delivery room. Well, let’s just say it was a very busy day at the hospital. There were many laboring mothers who were ahead of me in their labor who got to go to their delivery rooms first. I wasn’t transferred until around noon. I think around this time when they checked me (maybe it was a few hours later) I was dilated to about a 4.

They found out that there was meconium, or baby poop, in my water (hence the greenish/brownish color). That meant that right after Lucy was born they would have to take her aside and suck out any that had gotten into her nose or lungs. Her heart rate was normal and she seemed to be doing fine. My worries were relieved.

I spent my time in triage being monitored and managing my labor pain in the best way I could. I also snacked and drank lots of liquids. I got on all fours on the bed and breathed in deeply and out with a moan. This rhythm seemed to help me focus and not be overcome by the pains. As I got further along my moans became more intense. I got the idea from Penny Simkin’s stuff online (natural birthing lady). I also would stand up and lean against the wall with both hands. Craig would rub my lower back and do hip squeezes for me too. We also went on several walks around the 4th floor.

During this time I felt very happy with how I was managing my pain. The nurses complimented me on how well I was doing. One nurse even reassured me that I could totally do it naturally. This is not the kind of support I was expecting at the hospital. Nonetheless, I had this very strong realization that I did not want to find out how intense my pains would become once I went into active labor. The idea of doing a natural birth seemed romanticized to me. How could I have thought that I could do it? That may sound depressing, but I was being very real with myself as I had these thoughts. I could manage my pain okay now, but would these techniques continue to work for me? What if it wasn’t enough? The other factor that influenced me was how incredibly tired I was. I had been up all night. I already felt so fatigued. How could I carry on like this for who knows how many more hours until the baby was born? I simply didn’t want to find out. I didn’t have the energy to prepare myself for it or to bear it. Mentally and emotionally I did not feel fully prepared or that my coping strategies would see me through to the end. I also realized again that I had never been completely convinced at a philosophical level that a natural birth was inherently better or more exalting than one that was not, despite the reading and thought I put into it. I completely opened myself to receiving an epidural once I got to my delivery room. I did not feel bad at all and my nurse Jamie was very supportive and open. She said she was just like me when she had her baby—open to a natural birth, but open to pain relief as well, which is what she did too.

Before we were finally transferred to a labor and delivery room (around noon) we met my midwife. He was a man named Ira. I’m not sure if there is a name for a male midwife. I also noticed he was Jewish as he wore one of those​ cap​s​. He was very nice and easy going. I appreciated his sense of humor and the way he handled everything. A student midwife named Jane assisted him. I had met her at one of my doctor’s appointments.

Once I was in the labor and delivery room, I told Jamie I would like an epidural and so we got started on that. The anesthesiologist came in and did it. It didn’t hurt like I was expecting and slowly my intense pains started to subside. I was so grateful for modern medicine in that moment!

From noon to 5 PM I was either napping or talking to Craig for hours. We just enjoyed hanging out and discussing our daughter who was coming! I was not able to eat with my epidural and could only chew on ice chips, and towards the end I was very hungry. Jamie came in every once in a while to turn me over on my other side and sometimes gave me an oxygen mask if the monitors showed my baby might need it. Around 4 PM they checked me and I was dilated to a 6.5. I had expected to make more progress than that. They told me not to be discouraged; often times things progress very fast from this point on.

At around 5 PM, I started noticing intense pain again. Did my epidural stop working? I had the nurse come in and she said the midwife would come in and check me first before we upped my dosage. I had actually already tried to up my dosage with the hand held device they gave me, but that wasn’t working. Ira and Jane checked me and ​it turns out I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing at 5:30 PM. I couldn’t believe it! How could I have already reached this point? I couldn’t believe we were almost there. I didn’t really know how to push, what with not feeling anything in my legs, so they simply instructed me to push like I was on the toilet. I tried, not knowing if it was doing anything, and they said it was working. Progress was happening. They coached me throughout and gave me a lot of encouragement. They would have me push as long as I could before I had to stop and take a breath. During this time I had an oxygen mask again to give me some extra help. Craig held up one of my legs and Jamie held up the other. At one point, I was able to reach down and feel Lucy’s head! I couldn’t believe this was real.

At 5:58 PM, I felt Lucy’s body leave my body. Even though I couldn’t feel the pain of the movement, I could certainly feel the pressure and it was miraculous and amazing to me. As they had warned me, they immediately took her aside for a few minutes to get the meconium out of her. I quickly saw her head of dark hair and heard her cry! I couldn’t believe this baby that was once inside of me was now out. Her cry sounded so emotional to me, even though she is just an infant. It still does.

Craig cut the cord and took pictures of her. After they had done their business, they quickly handed her back to me so I could have that skin-to-skin contact. I nestled her up against me and talked to her and looked at her in awe for about a half hour while Ira and Jane stitched me up. I had torn a little, as is normal. I wasn’t even aware of them though. I was just too amazed with our brand new baby girl!

The stitching up took longer than expected for some reason, but once they were finally done, I wanted my family to come in since they were already at the hospital. The new nurse that I had discouraged that. She said I should nurse before they came in so that I wouldn’t be distracted. I think she was very right and so that’s what I did. She did a ton of clean up work and monitoring of the baby. I was able to nurse Lucy a little bit of colostrum during that time. I think if I remember correctly, she only successfully nursed from one of my breasts at that time. By the timeverything was cleaned up and my family was able to come in it was almost 8 PM and I was starving.

My family was so thrilled! They each took a turn holding her. My nurse brought me a delicious fruit juice combo that satiated me for the time being. She also helped me go to the bathroom, which was a big operation since my legs were still numb. My family left to go bring Craig and I some dinner (the hospital cafeteria had closed) and my nurse transferred us to another room for recovery. My family brought us Subway sandwiches, which tasted wonderful! They took tons of pictures. By the time they left it was about 10 PM. My nurse got me all situated with the bassinet next to me with Lucy in it. At this hospital, the baby stays with you constantly, which I don’t mind. They never leave your room.

That night went pretty well. I fed her a few times, not really sure of how much she was getting. I think that’s normal. I let her bite me a little because I was so desperate for her to eat and so my nipples did not thank me the next day. A different nurse came in every few hours to check on me. I was frustrated that my bed did not reach the height of the bassinet so it was hard to get her out and put her back in. My legs were still very numb, mostly my right one.

The next day we stayed in the hospital for me to more fully recover and for more of her newborn tests to be done. Lucy had the heel prick or PKU/Metabolic disorder test, a hearing test, a bath, and several check ups by a different midwife. We relaxed with her all day. A lactation consultant came in at one point to help me with nursing. She helped me to get my whole nipple in her mouth. She also encouraged me to get in a more comfortable position before starting. She said that one of my nipples was flat and it might be a good idea for me to start nursing with nipple shields. That way, my nipple will become more drawn out and eventually I can nurse without it. I remembered that Elisa had done this as well without any problems​, and so I was fine with it. Nursing with a nipple shield has been great! I’m pretty sure it has saved me from a lot of pain and frustration of trying to get her latched on. I can tell my nipples are becoming stronger too.

We were discharged from the hospital at about 5 PM and came home. It was pretty surreal driving home with our baby! I just kept reflecting on how miraculous Lucy’s birth was. Our bodies truly are amazing. I had been worried that getting an epidural might numb my experience; that it would make me less aware of what was going on. I was pleased to find that I still felt euphoric and in awe after her birth, rather than groggy like I had feared. I feel that I made the right decision ​for me ​

and ​am pleased with the results.

Craig and I of course stayed home from church the next day and just slept and relaxed with our baby. It was wonderful. My family has been such a great help. It was wonderful that my grandmother Delta could be here too. That night Craig and I were talking while the rest of my family went on a Sunday walk. We talked about how overwhelming it was to have this new baby and our fears about doing it right. He said he was just scared sometimes that something could happen to her, but that he knew he could have faith that God would help us raise her.

​Things have been going well since then! Nursing is now in full swing, sleeping is getting a little more regular (she wakes up about 3 times a night and goes down pretty easily after feeding), and I feel like my body is recovering pretty fast. Sometimes I am frustrated with how often she needs to eat but I know that this is just how it is with newborns. I'm trying to just fully embrace my new role and not let things overwhelm me! 

We are smitten and in love with our Lucy!