Life & Times of S & D: Baby Leo

On Friday 4 May at 1335 we welcomed our son into this world. He stayed in the womb for 41 weeks and 5 days, happy as a clam on the inside. Leo's birth story wasn't one that I was expecting, but it wasn't a surprise either after we hit 41 weeks. He just kept growing and growing and I started to wonder how exactly I was going to get this giant baby out of me. One of the things that I've learned from other friends' birth stories, the birthing class, and books is to expect the unexpected. Things don't always go as you plan so don't be disappointed when Plan A turns into Plan B or C. or Z.

Here is Leo's birth story as I remember it. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about his birth. If you don't want all the nitty-gritty, skip the text and scroll down to the photos. We had two providers that took care of us throughout my pregnancy, Dr. Lawrason and his mid-wife Alexandria. From the beginning, we opted for a hospital birth for many reasons: mainly my 'advanced' age, and access to modern medicine in case I needed it. Getting pregnant wasn't easy for us and I anticipated that pregnancy, labor and delivery wasn't going to be smooth sailing either. Fortunately, my pregnancy was text book and for the most part enjoyable. I loved being pregnant, feeling this little being grow and flourish inside of me. It was the last 6 weeks that were incredibly uncomfortable.

At 41 weeks my cervix still wasn't dilated or effaced. To quote our mid-wife, it had dilated 'a pinhole'. She suggested that we consider induction. That we start with misoprostol to help soften and dilate my cervix. We went to the hospital that day to have a non-stress test done on baby, to make sure he was still happy on the inside. He was, so the next evening we went back to the hospital and I had my first dose administered. The next morning I started having contractions every 6-7 min but they still weren't very strong. We went back to the hospital that afternoon and I was 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced, and I got a 2nd dose of miso which didn't kick in until we got home later that evening. The next morning (Thr 3 May), I woke up ~ 630A to strong cramping and contractions, went to the bathroom and noticed blood in the toilet. I put a pad in, went back to bed for a little longer, got up to pee again and noticed that my pad was soaked with blood and fluid and that's when I freaked out. I woke Dave up and went to the Dr. to see if my water had broke. It hadn't, Dr. could still feel the amniotic sac. My cervix was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced and baby had dropped pretty low. My contractions were starting to get stronger, lasting about 1 min and between 5-10 min apart. We had an ultrasound done later that afternoon to check fluid levels and baby's size. Ultrasound tech estimated him to be 9 lb 2 oz!! Egad!! Fluid levels were fine. We saw his hair waving in the fluid. We went straight the hospital and checked in for the long haul. Dr. Lawrason came by early that evening, my cervix was still only dilated to 2 cm. He broke my water - the sensation was amazing. It was worse than peeing my pants. You could hear it gushing out - a waterfall coming out of my vagina. And I kept leaking for a while. My contractions started to increase in intensity, but they were still only 5-6 min apart and I started feeling intense pressure in my rectum and pelvis. We did laps in the maternity ward, climbed stairs, stopping to let me breathe through the contractions. Our doula helped me labor in several different positions to try to relieve some of the pressure on my back side. Unfortunately, I was a little constipated and I was sure that was part of my problem. So I asked for an enema. Who would actually ASK for an enema? The nurses said that was a first. It did help clear out my system a little but not completely. For 21 hours I labored unmedicated, and there was little progress - I think I was only ~ 4 cm dilated after all that time. At about 330A on Friday 4 May, I started thinking ahead: if it's taken me 21 hours to get to 4 cm, how much longer will it take to get to 10 cm? And that's when I decided that I was going to need help, i.e., medication.

I broke down and requested an epidural. I was slightly disappointed because I had hoped that I wouldn't need medication but I hadn't planned on laboring for that long, and I reminded myself, this was exactly why we were at the hospital - to have access to medication if I needed it. I got some stadol while waiting for the epidural which helped me relax between contractions and the anesthesiologist finally arrived, but he stuck me 3 times before getting the needle in, 'Please stay still, curve your back around your (giant) baby (while you're having intense contractions)'. OK. I have to say, the epidural was amazing. I could still feel the contractions but they didn't hurt any more. What I didn't like about it was I still had some sensation in my lower half. And the catheter. I hate catheters. We managed to get some rest for several hours, Dave finally got some sleep. Dr. Lawrason came by that morning and checked my cervix: only 5-6 cm dilated and contractions were not getting closer together. Pitocin was administered and my contractions started to intensify quickly. It felt like forever, but my cervix finally dilated to 10 cm. But Dr. was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get baby's head through my pelvis but said we could try pushing for an hour. Before I started pushing, the nurses tried opening up my pelvis and getting baby's head to slide down further by getting me to lie on my side with a peanut ball between legs for 2 hours. Then I started pushing. We used the squat bar, I held onto a towel wrapped around the top of the bar and then propped my legs up on the side. Our doula held one of my legs while Dave held the other. I could feel the contractions so when I felt one coming on, I took a deep breath and pushed and did this 3 times for each contraction. It felt really good to finally push with the contractions instead of breathing through them. The nurses kept saying curve your tail bone upward and if you poop, then you're doing it right. After an hour, Dr. checked baby's position and it hadn't made much progress. He said our options were to either keep pushing for several more hours but we could risk fetal distress, and/or infection or move forward with a C-section.

We decided to go with the C-section. It wasn't what I expected. I could feel pressure, pulling, pushing. Baby came out screaming! We were both crying when he was pulled out. All I could think was, I can't believe we made this little being and he's finally here! Dave said all he could think was, that is the cutest baby I've ever seen. After they wiped baby down and Dave cut his umbilical cord, they brought him to me and laid him on my chest as they stitched me up. Dave went with baby to the nursery and I went into recovery to wait for them. Dave brought baby back to me and he latched on right away for 30 min and then we all went back to our room.

I spent the first 24 hours post-birth hooked up to an IV, catheter etc. I didn't have much time beforehand to ask for details about recovery from the C-section and had skimmed over that section in the pregnancy books hoping that I wouldn't need one. I've also needed some reminders that I just had major abdominal surgery and I need to to take it easy. I'm going to have to be patient with myself while my body is healing.

Overall, we are happy with how it all went. My Dr. let us call the shots, allowing me to labor naturally for as long as I wanted, requesting medication when I wanted it, and finally making the decision to move forward with the C-section. We tried everything that we could and I'm thankful for that. This is Leo's birth story from my point of view. It think it was hard for Dave to watch but I'm glad he was there, I couldn't have done it without him. And we are really glad we had a doula there. Angela's presence, support and experience was invaluable. Anyone looking for a doula in the Fairbanks area should check her out: http://familydoulaservices.webs.com/

At 2 weeks, Leo is almost 10 lbs. We are still in awe that we made such a big baby. He's a voracious milk drinker. He's sleeping between 2-4 hours at a time and still pretty fussy in the evening, he gets really angry when he has gas. In general, he seems to be a pretty happy baby and we think he's super cute, the cutest baby we've ever seen but we're biased, of course.

It took us a couple days to name him. Dave's grandfather's name was Leonard and his middle name is Allan, Dave's Dad's middle name. Leo is also fitting, considering he came out screaming, roaring like a lion. And A-ma (Grandma in Chinese) says Leo sounds similar to the word for dragon in Taiwanese, which is also fitting - year of the dragon, our little dragon baby.

Welcome to the world Leo! We're so happy that you've finally decided to join us.

Brand new

Meeting Leo for the first time

HI Mom!

HI Dad!

Meeting Grandma (A-ma)

One of my favorites

Skypeing with Auntie Kristina and Ryan from the hospital

Our good friends Lincoln and Julie were due 2 days after us. As fate would have it, we were at the hospital at the same time and they had their baby boy a day after Leo was born. Really special to be able to walk across the hall and meet Baby Espen!

Proud Papas

Espen & Leo

Auntie Brook


Time to go home! It's amazing how swollen I was after the c-section. It took a week before my body started to get rid of all the IV fluids I received.