So I finally got around to putting Molly's birth story down on paper. Here you go...
The Birth Story of Molly Claire Robinson
Born January 18, 2010, 9:54pm, 7 lbs 15 oz, 20.5 inches
Born at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA, Labor and Delivery Room 9
Doctor: Dr. Mary Crowther (Dr. Jane Piness was my OB but Dr. Crowther delivered the baby)
My due date was 01/10/10, and there was no sign of Baby Robinson even close to being ready to make his/her appearance into the world. I went to a play that night with my family in Crystal City and went out to dinner. I decided that we were going to go out to dinner as much as possible because we wouldn’t be able to do that for a long while. I worked at home that week and it was nice to be home and take it easy. I had time to clean and also watch lots of tv (we are currently obsessed with The Office).
Every night I’d hope that I would wake up with contractions but no such luck. My doctor had set an induction date at my appointment the week before for 1/18/10 at midnight (so early morning 1/19). I REALLY didn’t want to be induced but felt like it was probably inevitable as there was no sign of the baby dropping or any dilation. I had a doctor’s appointment on 1/13 and had a non-stress test. All looked good and at that appointment I was “almost” 1 cm dilated. The week before it was a “fingertip” dilated (which I think is the doctor’s way of saying ZERO dilation).
I continued to take Rosie on walks almost every day and on that Saturday our friend Kevin came over with his golden retriever Gracie (definitely Rosie’s best friend) and the dogs tired themselves out in the yard. We walked a good way around the lake and saw the two bald eagles that live in the trees there. I think Marty and I also did the same thing on Friday too.
I woke up at 1:30 am Sunday morning (1/17) and was definitely feeling something. It wasn’t that painful but just noticeable. I let Marty sleep cause I knew it might (and was right) be a long process. I started timing the small contractions (like your stomach tightening and hurting, unlike the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I’d been feeling for a month or more that weren’t painful). They were anywhere from 8-15 minutes apart, but I’d say the average was 8 minutes or so. Around 3am I got out of bed and decided to check email, surf the web and eat something (peanut butter and jelly toast) and was up when Marty got up around 7. I told him something was definitely happening now and we were both thrilled that it actually started on its own.
At 9am I decided (or maybe Marty forced me, that is more likely) to lie down. I kind of slept until 11am. The contractions had stopped at that point. We took Rosie on a walk around the neighborhood in the drizzling rain from 12:30 – 1:40pm. I wanted to walk up until the day I delivered and I was able to do it. The contractions started up around 6pm again. We were watching Jersey Shore (lovely) and about to watch the Golden Globes. My sister came over around 8pm and we started watching the Golden Globes. I was timing contractions again at that point and they were starting to get more painful. I was lying on the couch downstairs and by the end of the Golden Globes (around 11pm) they were averaging about 3-4 minutes apart. When my sister left before 1am I was still able to talk and was moving around pretty normally but had to stop when the contractions came on. One thing I should have done looking back on the day is I should have tried to sleep more. But how was I supposed to know that I’d be up for another day and a half after this?!
Marty fell asleep for about an hour (around 2am?). By the time he woke up I was in a lot of pain. I took 2 baths/showers and by around 3:30am we decided it might be time to head to the hospital. We called the hospital and talked to Dr. Crowther who was on call. She suggested that we make our way in to the hospital. Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington is about 25 minutes from our house (depending on traffic). We left our house at 3:55 am and got there at 4:15am. Marty had been joking me about why I had to pick a hospital in Arlington when Fairfax is 10 minutes away. Luckily, I picked the right time to be in labor and we had ZERO traffic on our drive to the hospital. It was also a holiday (MLK day) so even if it had been later there wouldn’t have been as much traffic as there usually is.
We checked into the hospital and were in Labor and Delivery Room 9, just outside the nurse’s station. The first nurse we had (Adrienne) checked me and I was 2 cm dilated. That was very frustrating because I was convinced that I had to be much further along with all the pain I was having and how long I had been in labor already. At first she said we had the option to go home and labor more there, but then looking at the baby’s heartbeat after contractions, there was a slight decrease in the heartbeat so they wanted me to stay in the hospital. We knew that we had a long way to go being only 2cm dilated.
Around 7am the nurses change and we had Marnie who was our nurse for the day shift. I was never able to leave the room during the whole labor because I was hooked up to the fetal monitor. I wanted to walk around at first and they were going to let me as soon as I could get 20 minutes of monitoring down, but the stupid monitor would stop working for a minute or even just a few seconds and the 20 minute clock would have to start again. After a few hours though I was in so much pain I didn’t even fight the fact that I couldn’t get out and walk. Dr. Crowther checked me at 7am and she said I was 3 cm.
My sister Katie arrived at the hospital around 9am. We had planned for her to be there and to be Marty’s labor assistant. She brought donuts for the nurses who LOVED that (always good to get on the nurses’ good sides ) Dr. Martinez who works in my OB’s office but isn’t really her partner (not sure of that relationship) stood in for Dr. Piness who was in a meeting all morning. He came in at 10am and checked me again and said I was still at 3cm.
My mom came around 11am and brought more food for the front nurses’ desk. I sat in the rocking chair in the room a lot. That helped to make the contractions not as painful in my back. It really hurt to lie down or to sit in the bed. I also tried bending over the bed and had Marty rub my back but that hurt a lot too. The best for me seemed to be staying in the rocking chair. At this point the contractions were somewhat varied but I’d say 2-3 minutes apart and lasting for at least 30 seconds. I was sneaking snacks when I could because I was so hungry and exhausted throughout the day. I knew that once we got to the hospital I wouldn’t be allowed to eat but before we left for the hospital I really didn’t have an appetite or want to eat anything. So my last meal was around 7pm on Sunday night. The whole afternoon was pretty much me sitting in the rocking chair, and Marty grabbing my hand once a contraction would start. I would breathe through the contractions and try to remain calm with my eyes closed.
At 3:30pm Dr. Piness (my doctor) came in and I was still at 3cm. She gave me the option to break my water which I agreed to. That really made the contractions pick up and become more intense (which is supposed to happen when your water breaks). The water was nice and clear (which is important because you don’t want meconium in the water; if there is meconium, they have to be really careful not to let the baby breathe it in during delivery). During the more intense contractions, I started to freak out more because they were much more intense. I was nearly crying at this point, something I really didn’t want to do because mentally I wanted to remain strong and calm. I couldn’t relax at all though because the contractions were one right after the next (or at least it seemed that way being about 2 minutes apart).
At 5pm I decided that I needed an epidural. I have to say that no one in the hospital EVER pushed me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I had written out a birth plan with instructions for how I would like the birth to go and my doctor had signed off on it weeks in advance. I also gave it to the nurses upon my arrival. They were wonderful and never pushed me into anything. I was the one who decided I needed an epidural. It was originally one of the things I was strongly against so it was a hard decision but in the end I’m happy I did it. I was just in so much pain and wasn’t enjoying anything (not that you’re necessarily supposed to enjoy the pain but the fact that I was hurting so much that I wasn’t even excited about having the baby really bummed me out). I was very happy about possibly having some relief in sight (epidural). Right around this time I threw up (oops, maybe I shouldn’t have eaten all those crackers). Marty agreed that the epidural was what I needed to do. I had been in labor for 23 hours at that point, no sleep for much longer than that. Around the time I got the epidural my doctor checked and I was 6 cm dilated, so I was making progress. Dr. Crowther gave me a nice talk about why getting the epidural was ok for me (because she knew I was upset about getting it). She was very soothing and even though she wasn’t my doctor I’m glad she was there.
At 5:15pm the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. It hurt a little but was nothing compared to what I was feeling earlier so it was very easy for me to remain still while I was getting it. I had also seen it done about a thousand times on tv so I knew exactly what to expect. It just felt very cold in my back for a second and after that I was actually able to sleep for about 45 minutes. Marty, my sister and mom went to get some food in the cafeteria while I rested. I got IV fluid, a catheter and blood pressure all hooked up (all standard with an epidural) but I really didn’t care about being bed-bound at that point. I was just so happy to be able to breathe and relax. After eating, Marty came back and slept some too. We both slept on and off until about 9pm. All the monitors kept beeping and making noise so it was hard to sleep.
Around 9pm, the night nurse Daphne came in to check on me and asked if I felt any pressure. I really wasn’t feeling anything. I was numb but could move my legs around (actually my left leg was really numbed up and was hard to move at first maybe because I was lying on it while sleeping). My mom came in to look in on me and said the room was freezing which I hardly even noticed. She told me that my godmother, Sharon, was out there waiting with them. Daphne decided to check how dilated I was and she said I was at TEN CENTIMETERS (the magic number) and could start pushing! I was in shock because I slept through the hardest part of labor, getting to 10 cm. I felt slight pressure but nothing bad at all.
Around 9:15pm is when I started pushing. My sister was in the room, texting my mom to come in. She eventually ran down the hall to get her. Marty and Daphne held my legs while I pushed. The lights were very dim and it actually didn’t feel like a hospital room at all. I wasn’t in pain at all. At first it took me a bit to try to figure out WHERE to be pushing because I was pretty numb. The nurse brought in a mirror so I could see the progress and see when I pushed what was effective. Luckily the baby’s head was right there when I started pushing so it was pretty easy. I pushed for about 35 minutes (maybe 12 sets of pushing, 3 times for a count of ten for each contraction). At that point the head was right there and the nurse paged the doctor. My mom had just come into the room a few minutes before. At that point I knew that it was probably only one push left and I was right.
After 40 minutes of pushing, Molly Claire Robinson arrived in the world at 9:54pm. She was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long. She wasn’t too messy or dirty (in my opinion), maybe because she had been in there for so long (an extra 8 days…). They put her on my chest right away and Marty and I both exclaimed at the same time, “It’s a girl!”. My dad got there right as she came out (Katie said he timed it perfectly because he wasn’t there for 13 hours like she was). Marty got to cut the cord and I held Molly for probably about 5 minutes (although it felt a lot longer) before the nurse took her over to the warmer to clean her up and do the Apgar tests. She got a 9/9 on the Apgar which is pretty much perfect (I read somewhere babies almost never get a 10). I had to get a few stitches so the doctor attended to that but I was in such heaven I didn’t even really notice. About 30 minutes after she was born I breastfed her there in the room for the first time and she was a natural. My family stayed until about 11:45pm. The nurse then had me get up to go to the bathroom and even though I was still a little numb, I was able to walk pretty easily. We were transferred to the postpartum room (room 369) down the hall around 12:30am. I breastfed several times that night. Molly was taken to the nursery for about an hour to get her first bath and to get thoroughly checked out. I slept from about 5-7am that night.
Both Marty and I were very impressed with all the hospital staff and how we were treated during our 2.5 days there. I had a birth plan that I didn’t fully stick to but the staff was very good about not pushing or trying to talk you into anything you didn’t want to do. I never felt rushed or pushed into anything. It was a very positive experience for all of us and I wouldn’t change a thing (well, except for a shorter labor; 28 hours is a little much!)
We were at Virginia Hospital Center for two days and took Molly home for the first time on January 20, 2010 around 1:30pm. The next day we went to our first pediatrician appointment where we learned that Molly had a fever of 103.7 (she was perfectly healthy when we checked out of the hospital) so we rushed to INOVA Fairfax Hospital where we lived for the next week while they tried to figure out what was wrong. Molly was on three different IV medications around the clock while we were there and had a ton of tests performed (including a spinal tap when she was three days old, poor baby) but we never found out what it was. Probably some kind of bacterial infection or bad virus but they take major precaution with newborns.
Molly is home now and doing great. She was born during the worst winter in DC history! We have had so much snow than any other winter and so we’ve been stuck in the house now for what feels like forever. But I expected it to be like this having a baby in January. I am really enjoying being a mom and learning more about her everyday. I cannot wait until the day when we can go outside for a walk with her in the stroller! Maybe April?
