Helen's Birth Story

**warning: this is long and detailed but I wanted to document her birth story somewhere!

I seriously can't believe a month has FLOWN by already! Sie & I are both still on cloud 9. Before I forget all the details of the big day - I wanted to jot down Helen's birth story. I meant to document right away - but have quickly learned any down time should be used for SLEEP ;) ha!

Let me back up to our 36 week appointment on Friday February 4th. Or maybe even a week before, to my 35 week appointment where the Dr. checked my cervix and said I was starting to "soften" and confirmed that I had been having contractions (I had been having back pain which I thought may be contractions, but wasn't completely sure), but reassured that all was normal. So at my 36 week appointment, I was excited but kind of scared to see what kind of progress I was already making. Anyone who talked to me during this pregnancy could confirm - I had a hunch all along that I would deliver early. My mom, Sie's mom, and pretty much everyone in my family has delivered early. I guessed I'd be 2 weeks early at the most.

So at my 36 week appointment when the dr. said "nah, we dont need to check you, we'll start that around week 37 or 38", I was kind of disappointed but figured- ok, he knows best. 

Friday night, we made "greek pizzas" at our friends Brian and Becca's new apartment and had a great time. We left kind of late and I knew we'd be tired because the next morning we had a Baby Care & Infant CPR class at the hospital. **I should note that this class was originally closed and we were signed up for the class February 19th (2 weeks before her due date). I randomly noted on our information sheet that'd we'd prefer an earlier date because I was scared I'd deliver early and they called me on THURSDAY prior to let me know we could come that Saturday instead!** Talk about timing!

So that morning we got up bright and early to go to class. I will gloss over this next detail- but let's say that a part of the pregnancy process happened that I found to be pretty gross and also totally confusing. click HERE if you're really interested haha. What did it mean? Some websites said I'd be going in labor within 48 hours, some said it could be days or weeks. I told my friend Lori who said- GO TO THE HOSPITAL immediately haha. She cracked me up, and we of course just went to class and decided not to panic. We both figured, ok, labor's coming within the next couple of weeks. which means I'd be a couple weeks early- which is what i expected. :)

So after our all day class (8 to 5!) - We headed home- both exhausted. Low key night like most when you're 8 months pregnant - I did some laundry, we made dinner, watched TV. When we finally laid down for bed- I got up and rushed to the bathroom. It felt like I had possibly wet my pants! Hmm... that's odd. I told Sie but neither of us thought much of it- it wasn't a lot like the gush I expected from water breaking. Well, it happened about 5 more times- actually every time I laid down. I started googling about water breaking on my phone as we lay there in bed and realized for many people - it's not a big gush but instead a trickle. But then I also read how for some women, the baby presses on their bladder towards the end and you literally DO pee your pants. I had no idea what the heck was going on, but had a gut feeling my water had broken. I woke up Sie, who pretty much thought I was being a worry wart/drama queen (I can admit- with good reason!)

Finally he said, call our Dr. - if they say to come in, we'll go to the hospital. So I did, pretty much expecting them to say- "it's nothing, you can come in next week if you're worried;" instead the Dr. said, "ya, it sounds like your water broke, come on in." WHAT!!! So I tell Sie, he begrudgingly wakes up (it's now about 3:00 am. I laid in bed debating on calling/googling for a good while!) Mind you- I am not in labor or having contractions whatsoever at this time. So we proceed to pack as if it's go time and decide, if nothing else- it's a good practice run. Luckily I had the most detailed packing list of all time (which mom later made fun of!) but it was nice because it required no thinking at that late hour. I also straightened my hair, we walked the dogs - pretty much took our time.

We headed to the hospital, got there at about 4:00 am. Sie's on board and supportive but I can still tell he thinks this is a test run and that I made him take me to the hospital at 4:00 am for no good reason. :) After all- we were a month out!! At labor and delivery- they check me and confirm... "yep, your water's definitely broken." AHHH!

So even though I had wanted to call my mom to tell her we were heading to the hospital, we figured it would be best to find out what was going on before we frightened her in the middle of the night. So the second they confirmed - Sie called her. She screamed. I had already looked at flights and knew the first one was at 8:30 in the morning the next day, direct flight to dc. She and I agreed: "we're not going to freak out if you can't make it in time" - but were hopeful that she could. We called Sie's parents, too,  who were very excited.

I was 2 cm dilated, about 98% effaced, and the baby was in about -3 position, but not having active contractions. Since my water had broken about 6 hours prior (and they don't like the time between water breaking and baby birth to be more than 24 hours), they started me on pitocin (to speed up and strengthen contractions) around 8 am Sunday morning.

Mom got on the 8:30 flight and was on her way, set to arrive just after noon in DC. She got here in plenty of time- so happy! My contractions were starting to get pretty intense, so they decided to go ahead with my epidural, even though I was only 3 cm dilated and I had sworn I would wait till 5! I guess because of the pitocin, they knew things could start moving quickly. Now I wonder, why on earth did I want to wait! The epidural was amazing (i was pretty terrified of that part). Worked well, could still move my feet and legs a bit, but felt very little of my contractions, except of course for pressure.

At around 5:00 or so that evening, they came to check me again after probably 6 hours since the last check. I was sure I had progressed to maybe a 6 or 7. Nope. 3. THREE. I could not believe- no changes, all those contractions and no changes? I committed myself mentally not to get down, although it was a little disheartening. Mostly because I knew of the concerns around 24-hour timeline... c-section creeped into my head, which was fine but I had my heart set on doin it the old fashioned away.

So after hearing I was at 3, yes 3, and 100% effaced, I decided to try a technique we learned in Childbirth Education class. They told us to envision your cervix dilating, or opening, and said it was actually so effective, that we shouldn't do it before our due date because it could bring on labor early. I was skeptical, but I do believe in the power of the mind over the body and really what else did I have going on!

Having no idea what my cervix looked like, I literally googled cervix dilation on my iphone and once I got a good mental picture started, closed my eyes and started envisioning. Not to be graphic (or is it too late for that?), I envisioned my cervix opening, and baby coming down the birth canal and being placed on my chest. I envisioned this over and over and over again. I meditated. "Open cervix. OPEN." I used my hands and opened them, telling my body to do the same. They left us (me, Sie & my mom) for quite some time. The nurse came by every once and a while to check vitals/etc but the dr. was MIA for a good while because the lady next door was in labor (i think it turned into a c-section midway from what I could gather). My mom and Sie entertained themselves, the superbowl was on and they ate meals, made phone calls, etc., as I lay envisioning for quite some time. The Dr. had told me that after you get to 5 cm dilated, you can expect to have roughly 6 hours left- an hour per cm and an hour pushing. But it had taken me well over 6 hours so far to get to 3? so needless to say-  all of us were expecting to be there a good while.

Finally, the superbowl was over, and the resident comes in (Georgetown is a teaching hospital) to check my progress at 11:00 pm. They were going to see how I progressed and figure out the path forward since it's now been roughly 24 hours since my water broke. She starts to check, and her face goes red, as she smiles and says "oh my gosh. you're not going to believe this." what? WHAT? "you're at a 10, and about +2" and she proceeded to show Sie and my mom the top of Helen's head. She wasn't just ready - she was right there! She told me "don't push" we need to get the dr. in here. push? omg, it was really happening. We all are absolutely beaming at this point. It's go time. my mom & Sie texted my dad, his parents, etc to say we are having a baby tonight!

They get the Dr. and resident and students in, and it was time to push. I pushed for probably 20 minutes total in maybe 4 bursts of contractions. Sie was an amazing coach. then suddenly... SHE WAS HERE. She did have the cord wrapped around her neck at the very last minute, so Sie didn't get to cut the cord. I had no idea any of that was going on - thank you God. but they quickly whisked her to the little side room where the NICU team was on point to check her out since she was a 36-weeker (we heard that term a lot) and to make sure all was well. Sure enough, after some suctioning of her lungs - she was healthy and crying and they soon brought her over to lay on my chest and have skin to skin time. The moment I saw her, I couldn't believe how beautiful she was (and is). She was the tiniest little nugget with tiny, beautiful features. and she was all ours!

God answered our prayers. Helen Olivia Soheili was born at 11:30 pm on February 6th, 6 pounds 5 ounces, and is healthy, happy and perfect in every way. We couldn't love her more.

Here are some pics of the big day:

Next I'm going to post all about Helen at one month. :)