Pictures and posts from Clan DeFwis’s happenings.
Cooper Griffin was born August 15, 2011 at 11:27 p.m. at the Birth Center in Tucson, Arizona. Mom got off ridiculously easy; after a remarkably stress-free pregnancy, my labor was only five hours long. This was following a full day, beginning with a dentist appointment and an eight-hour shift at the library. When I got home from work I contemplated working out, but since I was tired, ate dinner and decided we should go for a dog walk. A last trip to the bathroom was when I heard a popping noise as soon as I sat down, followed by a trickle. Unsure if my water had actually broken or it was just pee, and following a brief feeling of utter terror at the prospect of impending labor, I casually mentioned what had happened to Clay and we went to the neighbors’ house to inquire, since they have some experience in this area. Unfortunately, none of Sarah’s water never broke during any of her four labors. Fortunately, I started getting undeniably real contractions at 6:45.
We called the Birth Center to let them know what was going on. They told us to come in around 7, so in the meantime we started timing contractions. They were coming hard and fast, every two-and-a-half minutes and lasting a minute. On our five minute drive to the center, I felt pretty confident that I could maintain my calm with Clay’s support.
When we got to the center the midwife greeted us and stated that I looked much too happy to be in labor. She ushered us into the blue room and told us to sit tight as she was already assisting an active labor in the next room, another couple had already checked in, and two couples were at the hospital down the street. It was apparent that she didn’t think we’d be progressing too quickly, but I knew otherwise.
While we were waiting, I paced and continued to time the contractions and Clay made phone calls to our families. The contractions continued to come every two minutes or so, and were getting much more painful, requiring me to stop pacing and grip the wall when they would peak. At around 7:45 the RN finally got us to hook me up to an NST machine to monitor contractions for 20 minutes and make sure everything was going well. Although she forgot to put the paper into the machine, by the time she checked me physically I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced – just about ready to go!
So we went back to the blue room and I got to get into the big tub, which I’d been fantasizing about my entire pregnancy. Unfortunately, laboring in a giant tub is not as cool as it sounds. While the water helped take the weight off, it was very hot and there was nowhere for me to really grip onto when the contractions started forcing me to push. After about an hour in the tub our midwife suggested we move over to the bed so I could try laboring on my side. Dad held my left leg in the air and I hung onto the headboard with all my might. Finally, Cooper’s big noggin emerged, and the rest of him quickly followed, providing mom with instant relief. Dad cut the cord, the midwife took care of the placenta, and Cooper was laid on my chest. Our little baby boy was perfect.