I'll pick up where Shannon left off...
From around 8am until 10am we played the waiting game and I started getting things ready and put in the car. Shannon's contractions were never more than 5 minutes apart and never less than 60 seconds long. Around 10am she was hungry, so I started to make her some toast and oatmeal in the kitchen. Before I could finish making second breakfast, her contractions started getting more intense, lasting 60-70 seconds and 2-3 minutes apart. During her pregnancy we had always said that our goal was to stay at home as long as possible, but it was at this point that we decided to head for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 11am, checked in, and since it was early in the day we were lucky enough to get a room with a window. Early on in Shannon's pregnancy we decided we wanted to try and have a natural, drug free, child birth. We had prepared diligently for this by taking Bradley Classes, practicing labor situations, and developing a birth plan. Needless to say, in today's world of labor and delivery on demand, a natural labor and delivery isn't exactly supported by most medical professionals. Our first nurse, while willing to go along with what we wanted to do, had probably never been a part of a natural child-birth.
Shannon was 4cm dilated when we checked into the hospital. Over the next two hours, she dilated to 5cm, but was already feeling the "urge to push" as most women do during labor. After initially laboring on the bed, we decided to change positions, so we moved to the couch, and then to the bathroom, where she labored over the sink. At this point, an angel of a nurse decided to start taking care of us. She was more of a doula that a nurse, and helped with some counter-point pressure techniques, position changes, and relaxation techniques. Although Shannon progressed slowly, her contractions were always intense and no more than 60-90 seconds apart for the majority of her labor. She was tough as nails, and though there were times where she said she didn't know if she could continue, we went on. By 8pm, around 16 hours into labor, Shannon was fully dilated and Rowan was at second station, so Shannon started pushing. After an hour or so of pushing, the nurse told us that the baby was "sunny side up" or face up. Besides making the labor more intense and painful because the baby is on his back, this also makes it more difficult for the baby to push his way out. She pushed for another hour, usually two or three strong pushes with each contraction. No matter how much Shannon pushed, Rowan didn't seem ready to come out. Around 10pm, the doctor came in, checked Shannon, and said that if things didn't start progressing, we might have to think of about a cesarean. Rowan's vital signs were fine, his heart rate was increasing slightly, but nothing out of the ordinary. The doctor said he would give us another hour.
It had been a long, long, day up to this point, and we were both emotionally and physically drained. During Bradley Classes we had talked about the complications and what ifs that might happen that would make you have to depart from a natural birth, but of course we didn't think it would happen to us. At this point, I looked at Shannon and told her that our baby would be here one way or the other, and that is all that mattered. I said lets give it everything we have left for this last hour. And we did, but Rowan wouldn't budge. He had basically lodged himself in the birth canal and given the circumstance of Shannon's water breaking so early and him being face up, it made things really difficult. So after 19 hours of unmedicated, natural child birth, we decided to have a cesarean. We were disappointed, of course, as all of our energy over the previous 39 weeks and the previous 19 hours of that day had gone into having a natural child birth. But all of that disappointment faded. Rowan was born at 11:24 on November 30, 2008. He was beautiful when he came out, even if a bit stubborn! We have no regrets, and would do it again if and when it happens. I can't explain how proud I was of Shannon on that day, and everyday since. She is amazing.
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