Meet Isaac Henry:
Tom was sleeping on the couch in the living room already because I tend to snore toward the end of pregnancy, and he’s a light sleeper. In the early morning hours of Isaac’s due date, about 2, Tom heard me opening and shutting drawers in our bathroom. Then I passed through the living room on the way to the kitchen, then back to the bedroom. He saw the light in our bedroom coming from under the bedroom door. He knew something was up and suspected it was time.
I woke him at 5:30 and said he needed to call his mom to come because my contractions had started and were about 6 minutes apart. Tom called his mom, took a shower, and woke Thomas up at 6:00. Thomas wanted to know why mom was already awake eating breakfast in bed. Why were there snacks packed on the kitchen counter? We didn’t want him to know what was going on because we worried he’d be anxious about it at school, so we changed the subject. Tom put him on the bus, then we finished packing bags, ate breakfast, called to see where his mom was because we were starting to get a little anxious due to traffic at that time of day and a 20-minute drive to the hospital (if no traffic). During this time I was using a contraction-tracking app on my phone and checking in with my doula, Susan, and let her know it was likely time.
My mother-in-law arrived shortly before 7 and we were out the door shortly thereafter. About that time my contractions seemed to stop. When they did come they were more spread out and weaker. I worried we had jumped the gun and wanted to turn back around for home. I called Susan for advice, who advised us to kill some time to see if the contractions picked up. So we went to our gym to get a smoothie, or rather we parked outside while I went back and forth deciding whether I actually wanted one. I didn’t want to go inside but needed to use the restroom, so we drove over to an outdoor shopping center (which would not be open for several hours) with the idea that we’d walk around for a little while and I could use the public restroom. After going to the restroom, things briefly picked up again and then we decided to head on to the hospital.
Arrived at the hospital, went through the protracted check-in procedure, finally made it to a room. The nurse came in to check me and found that I was 5 cm dilated. That was about 8:30 a.m. About 12:15 p.m. the nurse came back and checked again and I was 6 to 7 cm. We knew my regular doctor would likely miss the birth, and I had the privilege of meeting the doctor who would be on call at my last appointment. That eased my mind tremendously knowing that we were all on the same page as far as our birth wishes. The on-call doctor came in and recommended breaking the water because the baby’s head was not descended far enough to engage the cervix. His concern, he said, was that when the water did break the space could allow the cord to wrap around the baby’s neck, resulting in an emergency C-section. There was also some time pressure because the doctor was supposed to be in clinic at 1 pm and needed a decision before then if he was to break the water, and his shift ended at 5 pm if he was to deliver the baby. We asked for time to deliberate. During this time Susan suggested some different positions and using the peanut ball to try to open up the pelvis some. It worked. Tom, Susan, and I discussed and ultimately decided to go ahead with having the water broken.
My water was broken shortly before 1:00 pm. The contractions immediately picked up significantly in frequency and intensity. I began pushing a little after 2 pm and Isaac was born at 2:18 pm. The delivery went remarkably smooth. A few pushes and then his head emerged, followed very quickly by the rest of him. We had no name at that time and wouldn’t decide to call him Isaac Henry until around noon the next day. Soon after the delivery Isaac breastfed for about 45 minutes, and we spent lots of time skin-to-skin and relaxed until we were moved to another room on the main hospital floor.
Isaac’s birth makes the third successful natural delivery I’ve experienced. And I am so thankful for the support and encouragement of Susan, Tom, and the nurses to make this birth such a wonderful experience. We praise God for this baby and His goodness to us!
