Birth Story: Henry’s Here!

We’re still waiting on beautiful photos taken by the hospital photographer but here are some snaps we’re excited to share of Henry’s first few days in the world + our accounts of the birth.

Samantha Birth Story:
Saturday night I started feeling mild contractions. I hadn’t felt Braxton-Hicks contractions before, but I figured that was what I was feeling. Sunday morning, I was pretty sure I had gone into early labor. By the afternoon, the contractions were intense, so we started to track them. But they were also irregular–I’d get one big-long one followed by a shorter one. (It turns out my contractions were “coupling,” making the timing a bit tricky). Finally, after about 12 hours of early labor and attempted tracking, we picked up our doula Jen Buice around midnight in a car from Brooklyn to Lenox Hill Hospital. Upon our arrival, they examined me (I was in quite a bit of pain by this point): I was fully effaced but only 1 cm dilated.

I labored without pain meds from 1:30am to 2:30pm the next day. Progression was slow and steady with checks at 2 cm, 3-4 cm, 4-5 cm. Those “coupling” contractions were so intense they brought me to the floor and took my breath away. There was no time for rest and recovery. Every contraction was followed by what felt like an aftershock. Jen worked with me on breathing and trying to stay calm. Dave and Jen worked together massaging me and holding me as I contracted. The doctor and nurses were waiting for “regular,” “organized” contractions.

Finally, I was in active labor, 6cm dilated. However, the doctor was looking for contractions to become more regular and they weren’t. Also, my water hadn’t broken. I was so exhausted and in so much pain and would have had so many hours before delivery that I decided to get an epidural and Pitocin to help regulate things and move them along for fear I would need a C-section if I became too exhausted to push.

Even though I had wanted an unmedicated labor, the epidural was such a relief. After so many painful hours I got to rest and so did Jen and Dave. The contractions became more regular and I was 8cm dilated when the doc broke my water by 7pm. They say pushing usually takes 45 minutes to 2 hours. After 2 hours, the baby still did not appear. The doc threatened a C-section if I didn’t progress. Pushing was becoming exhausting. After all that work the thought of a C-section terrified me so much I pushed with renewed vigor and determination, and with considerable pain, especially in one hot spot on the right side that the epidural couldn’t seem to reach. Nurses and the doctor adjusted the Pitocin and epidural trying to balance pain relief with maintaining good contractions. After 4 hours of intense pushing Henry finally decided to join us. He was 7 lbs and 12.5 ozs. He got a near perfect Apgar score which is good because we will expect his future test scores to remain at that level. His birthday is October 26th at 10:28pm. The doctors were amazed by how healthy and resilient Henry was during a 34 hour labor–they called the two of us “troopers.”

The Lenox Hill nurses were incredible and so respectful of our birth plan. We were in labor so long we got to work with nurses Erica, Donna, Lisa, Ellie, Kristin, and Gabrielle. Jen Buice, our doula, was incredible and so supportive physically and emotionally to both me and Dave. We cannot say enough about her.

David’s Birth Story:
After six weeks of birthing classes, I felt slightly more prepared to witness Henry’s birth and support Sam through the process, but my head was still filled with questions: would the nurses be supportive of our birth preferences? would the doctors? how bad would the pain be for Sam? what if Sam has to have  a Cesarean? On and on. But deep down, I knew that my beautiful wife is made of pretty stern stuff–something like an alloy of titanium and whatever Wonder Woman’s bulletproof bracelets are made of. I knew that no matter what happened, she’d do whatever it took and come out smiling.

However high my expectations were, she exceeded them. As the pain of labor increased steadily, with irregular “coupled” contractions that didn’t give her a chance to rest, Sam just bulled her way through, hour after hour. Jen, our doula, was a great support, and spelled me several times so I could rest a bit here and there. Sam got no rest at all. Amazingly, hours and hours later, she still looked strong and fresh–everyone commented on it. She only gave in on the epidural when it was clear that she simply wouldn’t have the strength to push the baby out otherwise. Once that kicked in, things went more smoothly until the actual pushing stage, which was absolutely the most incredible feat of human endurance I’ve ever seen. Pure animal strength. Sam just wouldn’t give in, and when Dr. Schwab “threatened” her with a C-section after a few hours of pushing because things weren’t progressing quickly enough, she took it to an entirely new level of intensity.

With all her concern about the length of pushing, I could tell Dr. Schwab was amazed that after two hours of pushing Henry’s heart rate had only dipped once, and I’m pretty sure that was from a misplaced sensor. In fact, pushing took four hours in all and Henry’s heart kept chugging away at 155 beats a minute. I got the impression that most babies would begin to dip after an hour or two, requiring a C-section.

Finally, though, with the help of some super nurse coaching, Henry’s head was crowning. It looks like a hairy grapefruit. I’ll never forget standing over Sam with Jen, two nurses, and two doctors shouting “Poop! Poop! Poop at the ceiling!” at the top of my lungs. (I had quickly learned that “poop!” was a much more effective exhortation than “focus like a laser,” which didn’t do anything for her.)

We all felt incredible relief when Dr. Schwab told us there was no turning back, and that Henry was definitely coming out vaginally. Sam had done it! Still a lot of work to go, though. The whole team was very professional and supportive, and they got Henry out and onto Sam’s chest in one quick motion. I cut the umbilical cord, and poof, we had a baby. Sam looked like she’d jogged a mile or two. I looked like I’d run a marathon with a hangover. My wife is amazing.

Afterward, I stumbled out to the grandparents and Laurie, who all came in to take a look at the little champion, who scored two consecutive 9s on his Apgar tests. Next stop, the SATs.