Well, it finally happened! The birth of our second child... Our son Daniel ("Danny") Joseph Carretero IV.
I was having mild contractions for weeks before he was born. They were getting progressively stronger as time went by, but around week 40, there was a marked spike in how intense they were. I could still ignore most of them, but in the evenings and at night there were some that woke me up. At my week 40 appointment I was dilated to 2cm already! Which was very exciting but I knew it might still be some time, as that's how my body prepared with my first pregnancy too.
During my final week of pregnancy I went on a 4 mile walk, a 2 mile hike, worked, and rested plenty in between. Not to mention the gallons of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea since week 38! I would have started drinking that sooner but I didn't hear about it until then.
On Wednesday morning (August 24th, the day week 41 started) I woke up to some bad crampy contractions and a good amount of bloody show. It was fresh bright red blood, not an alarming amount but I called the midwife just be sure it was normal. She said it sounded totally fine but that we could move Thursday's appointment to that day if I wanted. Since it was my 41 week appointment, we would be doing a no stress test, monitoring baby's heart for 20-30 mins to make sure he was still doing well and then an ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid levels. I gladly said yes and after I dropped off the boys I nanny at school, Hailie and I went home and told Daniel maybe he shouldn't go to work. We went to my appointment and I was 4cm! That was around noon. Contractions were still coming at irregular intervals, though I'd have at least 2 an hr. They were largely ignore able still, but there was just something different about them. I could tell.
I'm pretty sure I was already in early labor but I asked my midwife to strip the membranes to get things going a little more and then we were outta there. We picked up our daughter Hailie from my mom's and then went to the bank on the way home. At the bank is when the first bad contraction hit. As we pulled up to the ATM I froze in the van for a minute... I could NOT get out during that contraction. That was around 1:30 PM. We went home and I had a quick lunch before I had to go back to work to pick up the boys from school. The contractions kept coming, irregular still, but around 20-30 minutes apart. Still totally manageable, I just kept focusing on relaxing my whole body during them, really letting them come, and just going with the flow.
By 5 PM I texted Daniel that this was the real deal and I knew I was in real early labor still, but that when I got home, I was calling the midwife and we were going to the birth center. I wasn't off until 6 and when my boss texted me that there was really bad traffic (she commutes from San Rafael to their home in Cotati... 45 minute drive without traffic), I got a little nervous, but knew I wasn't just an hour away from pushing, so it was ok. She got home at 6:15, then Hailie and I were out of there. We got home and ate some dinner, then I called and arrived at the birth center around 7:30. My sisters Julia and Isabella met us there. Bella was to be taking the video of the birth and Julia was my birth photographer of course :) http://juliamichellephotography.com/
My contractions had been coming at about 4-5 minutes apart for an hr+ before we left, but the excitement and adrenaline of getting in the van and heading to the birth center slowed them down to around 10-15 by the time we got there. Which I was actually thankful for because contractions in the car, -sitting down- were absolutely horrible. I only had one on the drive over. They checked me when we arrived and said I was the same as earlier that day... 4cm dilated. Elizabeth was the midwife on call (LOVE HER) and she asked if I wanted to stay and walk around a little and see if everything picks back up, or go home. We opted to stay at first, and we walked over to Yogurt Time and we all got frozen yogurt :)
I started timing contractions again as they seemed like they were coming more frequently again... and they were starting to get pretty bad. First they were 8 mins apart... then 7... then 6... then they started averaging 5 by the time we got back to the birth center. I was extremely sleepy and Elizabeth asked if I wanted to stay or go home and get a little sleep between contractions. I couldn't decide and she said stay and walk around a little more and we would wait for the real labor to declare itself.
I kept pacing back and fourth in the cool night air (by now it was about 9 PM) in the outdoor garden/courtyard at the Birth Center. The air felt amazing. The contractions were coming pretty consistently around 5 minutes apart. Then I sat down and that was the last slowdown of the night. I had an 8 minute gap while sitting to watch a video with my husband Daniel, of cats getting brain freezes (HILARIOUS, I highly recommend!) When Elizabeth heard me laughing she came out and said "Alright! There's my litmus test, go home and get some sleep! You will need it later. I guarantee you WILL be back tonight, might be in 20 minutes, might be a few hours but its only a matter of time!"
We headed home and I put Hailie to bed. Her last night as my only baby. Then I crawled into my gloriously cozy bed and drifted off to sleep between contractions. I have no idea how close together they were, but they were getting stronger as time went on. I was half dreaming, half awake but I remember visualizing alot of different things to help me stay relaxed and to help with the pain.
First it was running... running hard, uphill. The top in sight. Then at the worst part of a contraction, reaching that top... then the free feeling of running downhill.
Next the ocean helped... picturing walking the beach with a storm brewing overhead. The cool wind whipping my hair around. The sound of the gray waves crashing against the sand. Gulls overhead. The sharp, cold, wet sand under my feet. Then the feelings of waves crashing into me, laughing as a kid, trying to jump over them with Julia and Benjamin when we were little.
Then my sunflowers. I opened my eyes and could see them out my bedroom window. Their leaves, silver looking in the moonlight, moving with the night breeze. I pictured them in the sun, opening up, standing tall and proud for the neighbors to see. More contractions. They were getting worse. And then I noticed nausea creeping up with each one. Soon they were coming so close together that I couldn't fall back asleep. The nausea got stronger and I feared I would throw up in my bed. I stood up to go tell Daniel we needed to go back, but as I got to my feet, my legs were trembling. Then my whole body was shaking. I told him we needed to go and no sooner had I asked him to call the midwife and my sisters (at least I think I managed to say that much) to go back to the birth center, I stumbled into the bathroom and threw up all that frozen yogurt from earlier. We loaded up a few of the bags again and then he got slumbering Hailie in her carseat, and we were off again. The night air felt amazing. We live about 20 minutes from the Birth Center. I felt like I was in a dream of some sort. Half in this spiritual realm, but still half on earth. We zoomed up the freeway, and I looked up at the night sky. The patchy fog allowed me a view of the stars. The beautiful stars. I felt like I was flying with them. We drove along, all the lights of Santa Rosa zooming past in a blur. I was in so much pain, but between contractions, I breathed in every sight.
It was about 11:50 PM on Wednesday night when we arrived back at the Birth Center. I was in a daze by now. They have an extra bed and plenty of couches there, so someone, Bella I think, carried sleeping Hailie in. They checked me right away and I was 6cm. The next thing I remember after that, is getting into their nice big bathtub. Elizabeth had the shower going on my lower back and belly. Then Daniel took over that. I must have been laboring in the tub for awhile because then I remember him asking if I wanted to know what time it was. I had really been curious but hadn't been able to muster up the words to ask. "Yes" I said. "1:50". (I think) He responded, as he flashed his watch at me. "Wow!" I thought. "Time is going by so fast!" I had thought labor would feel like it was dragging on and on but I was so focused through every contraction, that I wasn't noticing the passage of time. Soon the water wasn't helping anymore. I felt like it was a million degrees and got out, sweating. Oh and I had thrown up a couple more times. Throwing up through a contraction is absolutely horrid.
I made my way to the bed. Moaning unashamed through the contractions, but knowing in the back of my mind I'd have a good laugh with my sisters or Daniel later over it.
For awhile, trying to sway side to side through them helped. Doing anything through them helped. Anything to even slightly distract oneself helped. And sometimes all at once it almost made things worse. What helped in one contraction was detested in the next.
There are large amounts of time that I have no memory of. The contractions I remember plenty, but most of the time, who was in and out of the room, where I was, how I got from one place and position to the next, are just a foggy blur.
I remember thinking about my sisters and Hailie in the other room. Its like a big living room with a fireplace and couches and everything. I think that's where they were anyways. I felt a little bad about being so loud and hoped I wasn't terrifying them hahaha and wondered why they weren't in the room with me. But those thoughts barely had time to form before a contraction whisked them away. I was most aware of Daniel. If he was near me, I could feel his presence usually. I couldn't see him though. The last time I remember seeing him was when he showed me his watch. That was the last glimpse of his face that I remember until after the baby was born. And there aren't any other faces from when I got to the birth center that second time, until after he was born. Elizabeth's words usually broke through my daze. A few times the nurse's did too. I remember seeing her (the nurse) there and having no idea who the heck she was. I forgot they said they always have an assistant with them. I vaguely remember her introducing herself, but I couldn't speak.
So somehow, I had ended up out of the bathrub and on the bed. I made myself a mountain of pillows to lay over. I remember someone behind me saying something about how it had been such a long time since I'd been able to lay on my stomach, but soon I'd be able to again. "True that." I thought.
Then someone offered me a small birthing ball to lay over, instead of the pillows because it was firmer. I gladly took it. Then I started having some kind of "pushy" contractions. The urge wasn't very strong but I thought I'd try it and see how it felt. It eased the pain so much to push even just that little. "Are you pushing, hun?" Elizabeth asked. I was annoyed at the question. I didn't want to explain that yes, I was, but not for real. Just a little to take the edge off the pain. Instead, all I could do was nod. "Pushing at 2:45!" She said to the nurse. Who I assume was taking notes. So it was 2:45 AM.
Soon she asked if I wanted them to check me again. I kind of did but if they checked and I was still at 6cm and had made no progress I would be so discouraged and it would make the pain feel worse, I thought. Of course I couldn't say all of this. I was just silent at first. Maybe I managed an "umm" in between contractions.
A few minutes later I decided I did actually want to know if I'd made much progress.
Elizabeth said I was at 8cm and asked if I wanted her to break my water. She explained there was a bubble of fluid on his head and that if she broke it, things would go much faster. Instead of trying to push out a big blobby bubble, it would go faster to push out a hard, sleek baby. I knew everything would start to hurt more if she broke my water, but I asked anyways if this would happen. "Is it... going to make the pain worse?" "Yes." She said bluntly. "It will be more intense, in different ways." "Oohhhhhh..." I moaned sadly. "But its pain you will already have to go through at some point. Breaking your water now will make it happen quicker and faster. It will be over with sooner."
I thought about it for a few minutes and then said "okay, after this next..." then another contraction hit. I hated contractions. Contractions were the devil. Even the word was annoying. "Contractions" ugh.
It passed and then I said "hurry!"
I felt a trickle as she broke my water and in just seconds, a massive contraction came roaring through me like a freight train. As well as a tremendous urge to push. Like nothing you can imagine unless you've felt it. I was scared for a second to push. Hadn't I JUST been checked, and I was 8cm? What if I pushed too soon and made my cervix swell up and, and, and...
"Listen to your body" I remember hearing inside of me. Then Elizabeth echoed it on the outside. "Listen to your body, if you feel the urge to push, then PUSH!"
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. That first post water-breaking contraction had me scrambling in an attempt to get on my knees but I only made it to my side like a beached whale and pushed hard. I couldn't help it. Its like my body made me do it, and I could help assist. That was the first one I screamed with, I think. More like roared. I was laughing about it later but in the moment I couldn't help it. As soon as it passed, I scrambled up to my knees, holding onto the headrails of the bed for dear life. "Relax!!" I told myself. "Keep the face relaxed. Relax the hands. Breathe. Let it happen. Let it take over. Let your body do what it needs to do. Let the baby come down." I kept trying to collect myself and regroup but I barely had enough time to think before another contraction crashed through me.
"NO!!! THIS IS BAD! THIS IS SO BAD, NO!!!" I yelled. "Let it happen, its good, let it come!" Said Elizabeth. "Jesus, God, please help me!!!!" I yelled as the pain ripped through me like a tablesaw on a 2X4. This second contraction since my water breaking had me pushing HARD again. I could feel him coming down, fast. Seemed like inches at a time. It had only been 2 pushes and I could feel he was about to start crowning.
Then a cramp bit into my left hamstring. I sat back onto it, on my knees and it started to go away but I managed to stutter out what was happening and then Elizabeth said to lay down so they could stretch it out. "I CAN'T." I said. "Yes you can!" She said back. "No, I can't!"
They didn't realize Danny was so close to being born. The cramp faded just in time for a third post-waterbreak contraction. I pushed hard again and could feel his head crowning. I felt a hand feel his head and then Elizabeth yelled to the other room "IF WE WANT VIDEO, NOW IS THE TIME! HURRY!" the next contraction I used all my will power not to push... to just breathe through it. "Let the body open up. Let it stretch!" I told myself. I remember feeling like my entire rear end was going to blow out. I knew I needed to pause a few moments since he was coming so fast. I literally had like 10 second breaks between these contractions. The next one started and I pushed a little softer this time. "There's his head! Do you want to feel it?" Asked Elizabeth. I couldn't respond out loud but in my head I was like "No! I just want to push him out of me so I don't have to be in pain anymore! And, I'm on all fours, shivering like I'm in the arctic, I'm not about to spare an anchoring arm for much of anything!" Its a good thing I couldn't speak cause I was being a bit rude in my head.
Apparently at this point, Danny shot an arm out, hand in a fist above his head like this power fist thing like "HERE I AM, WORLD!" Hahahaha :)
SLAM. Another crippling contraction and all the force in my body pushed out his shoulders. The rest of his burning body slithered out right after and there he was! The relief was instantaneous. I felt AMAZING. All the pain vanished in an instant. Daniel caught him and then I heard his first cries.
The start of real active labor was maybe around 9:30 when we got home from the first birth center trip. That was when there were no more long breaks between contractions and they were bringing me to my knees when they hit. So if you count from then, I was in real labor for about 6 hrs. And it only took 5 real pushes to birth that sweet boy.
His cord was short, so he laid on my now empty belly for the first few minutes while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing. Then he pooped all over himself and I!! Elizabeth and the nurse cleaned us up and then the cord was ready to be cut. Daniel cut it of course and then it was snuggle time for Danny and I.
I was shaking so badly by now! Which Elizabeth said was normal, just the shifting hormones. Then the nurse threw a big hot blanket over us, fresh out of the dryer. I was all smiles and laughing and talking to Danny as he looked up at me, blinking. Best moment of my life so far. So this was the little guy who I had just carried for 41 weeks and a day. Time of birth was 3:24am. They didn't weigh him or measure him or anything for a few hours. "Those things won't change yet anyways, best to let you two bond!" Elizabeth said. Just the way I wanted it to be. Danny's temp was a little low for the first few hrs and after a bit, we discovered he had pooped again! I somehow hadn't felt it, but it was wet and sticky and it was keeping his temp down. So they cleaned him up and weighed and measured him at that time. He was 8 lbs 3 oz!!!! I didn't think he would have been so big! His length was 20.5 inches. After that, they gave him back to me for lots of cuddles to warm him up.
He hardly cried and he was eating really well already! And sleeping! Hailie was the opposite. Every little click of the door, or whisper would wake her up. And she was hard to console. It got worse the older she got. By the time she was 7 days old, she had her first screaming session where nothing would calm her down FOR HOURS. That would happen most nights of the week until she was around 6 months old. She would scream for hours on end. I timed it most of the time and it would be 6 hours or so of crying. One time it was 8 hours and she wouldn't nurse in that time. She usually would end it with a bunch of farts (sorry Hai!) And in retrospect, I'm wondering if the antibiotics they had put me on in the hospital, had to do with any of it. I had been Group B Strep positive with her so they had antibiotics in my IV with the pitocin. That would have wiped out all my vaginal flora though, not just the strep. Making her miss out on all the essential bacteria newborns need to colonize their digestive tract. Then they had tried to pull out her placenta by the cord and it broke so they had to go in and fish it out, putting me on more antibiotics after that happened. It might have all made her have some tummy issues that had her screaming. I'm no doctor so I could be totally off but with Danny, I had been taking really good probiotics while pregnant, eating lots of garlic and apple cider vinegar, drinking kefir and kombucha and I was just all around way healthier. Then I was GBS negative so no antibiotics for me! (I would have declined them anyway if I had been positive... as there's only a 0.5 chance of transferring the strep to the newborn during delivery. And even then, it is treatable.)
So far, Danny is nothing like her, in that respect. I can still count on my fingers, the number of times that he has full-on cried and he is 12 days old today! And he NAPS! Hours at a time! I was lucky to get 45 minutes out of Hailie for months and months, that's how it was. And he eats so much! Just when I think I'm gonna be engorged, he does a cluster feed and then I'm runnin on empty just as he goes down for the night.
Its amazing. This boy... he's so sweet and peaceful. Which is exactly the vision I had of who he would be, while I was still pregnant. I wrote all of this down, sort of in a letter for him to read someday, but on my way to one of my appointments, eastbound on Hwy 12 with Mt Hood in the distance, I got this vision of my son someday... I saw him up there, where Daniel and I have hiked to (gunsight, for anyone who's been up there before) standing tall, white tshirt and dark brown hair moving gently in the breeze, his huge brown eyes taking in the view, unphased by all the worries of the world below him. My peaceful son. The bringer of the calm after a storm. He was absolutely breathtaking. I knew then that he was going to be an easy baby. So I had to write it all down so I'd have proof that I knew it! I love this kid so much.
Hailie's birth was amazing too of course, but I was drugged. It wasn't a natural birth. I was on pitocin and then an epidural. I didn't experience everything the same. I would say Danny's birth was much more spiritual and impacting on my life and soul. I was able to feel everything, experience everything. Pain is hard. But sometimes pain is good. Out of that fire, new life was birthed. It is somethin' else, man.
So when people ask "How was labor?!" And I say "AMAZING!" I'm talking about that part of it. Not so much the actual contractions but the experience of everything combined. They look at me like I'm crazy, but wow.
Oh and recovery! I was up and walking around like nothin! When I had the epidural, they had to remove the catheter, make sure I could pee, make sure I walked every so often so I didn't get blood clots, and it was really difficult to move my legs at first. I was confined to a bed, on my back, all hooked up to monitors... woken up every shift change of the nurses...
The Birth Center was way different and for me, it was WAY better. I was free. Free to have the birth I wanted. Free to listen to my body, move around, allowed more time to bond with my baby, I wasn't pressured to do any tests or procedures that I wasn't interested in, heck I even had Hailie there with me! She was in another room sleeping, but still! I had my other baby near me and that was awesome. Oh and Daniel got to "catch" his son! He got to be the first human to hold him. What an intense, powerful experience.
I was more emotionally open this time 'round too. I was emotionally numb and jaded when Hailie was born. Her birth snapped me out of it, and has now allowed me to enjoy and experience Danny's birth on a deeper level but at the time Hailie was born, all I could do was stare at her in my arms... I didn't let the love soak in at first. She felt so foreign... like she wasn't mine. I almost felt like I needed to ask her permission to hold her. Or ask God's permission. That faded fast and she is forever my sweetyheart and we are the best of buddies. We have been through so much together. But with Danny, I instantly cuddled him. He was instantly written in my heart and soul. I love you my son. My little boy. And I cannot wait to see the amazing, beautiful man you grow up to be <3
