Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Birth Story
Here's Mom's perspective on the birth story of Annie Evelyn:

Early on a Friday morning (5-ish), I was wakened by some discomfort, which at this stage of the pregnancy, could be anything from simply being in the wrong position to the baby moving – or actual labour. So I did not think the first twinge was anything until it happened again and then I went: “uh huh – okay, I know this feeling.” Knowing I would not sleep any further, I got up, made some breakfast and spend an exceedingly pleasant hour sitting outside in our new Muskoka chairs eating, looking at my garden, and reading the Sunday New York Times magazine. I decided not to tell Keith about the minor labour pains I was having at this point because I knew it would be many hours before anything happened. In fact I didn’t tell anyone until late in the morning when I realized I had better tell Vicky not to go to work so she could look after Vanessa.

I got Vanessa up, dressed her and got her out the door like I normally do, and came back to the house to do some final preparations; like getting Vanessa’s present from the baby wrapped the strategically hidden in my closet. Keith was working from home so I had to be careful to conceal the contractions, which were getting a little stronger, but weren’t very close together.

I went to pick up Vanessa to take her to Grandma’s for lunch. I was now no longer able to fully conceal the contractions if I was sitting still, so after lunch I took Vanessa and Yonder (Jennifer’s long-haired teckle), down to the beach and over to the park. Vanessa had a great time walking Yonder, playing on the swing and swimming in the wading pool; and it was a great distraction for me while the process of labour was taking it’s own sweet time. Jennifer met us on the way back. It seems that someone – Jean says it was David – was getting worried about me being away so long on my own. It was just as well, as I was getting pretty tired. It was about three in the afternoon when I got back to Jean’s place. I was hot, tired and getting impatient. Thankfully, Susan and her daughter Naomi came by and Vanessa spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with them…good for Vanessa and Vicky I say.

Jean drove me back to the house, where we broke the news to Keith that I had started labour, which he took fairly well, and proceeded to follow orders of filling the bath tub and stetting up the bed with a vinyl cover and old sheets. We called the midwife to let her know that things were starting but that my contractions were still twenty minutes apart and about 45 seconds in length. She suggested that I take a bath and a Gravol, so that I might rest while the contractions were still relatively mild and far apart. It felt great to be in the bath with the bubbles going so I stayed there for about an hour. I got out and lay on the bed, while Keith read to me from the novel I was reading and helped massage my tummy when the contractions came. I did not sleep, but I did rest a little. Pretty soon, I felt the need to get up again as the contractions where getting stronger and closer (5min. 45sec.).

I went out to the garden where I found my mother puttering, and joined in the putter…between contractions. It was so pleasant to be home in my garden just enjoying it, talking about plans for next year’s garden, and distracting myself with dead heading and rearranging. However, it was soon time to get back in the bath to alleviate some of the pressure on my back and around my belly. It was at this point that I was considering whether or not to go to the hospital as the contractions were quite strong , 3 to 5 minutes apart and my water had still not broken. I did not want to go through hours of this sort of torture without pain medication. So we called the midwife at about 7 o’clock, and she said she would come in an hour or so to check my cervix to see if I was dilated enough to break my water. I decided that if I was not far enough along, we would be going to the hospital; so Jean started packing a bag, while Keith stayed with me to time contractions. I think it was about this time that I sent Keith away, as he was living up to the nervous Dad stereotype, and I could not cope with that at the time. The time between contractions stayed the same, but their intensity increased.

I was going to stay in the bath, but it turned out to be lucky that I had to get out to pee. I was shaking with the pain as Jean got me dry and put lotion on…isn’t Moms great! We made our way to the bed where the contraptions got closer and longer. I thought I might want to go back into the bath, so Jean left to start the water, when the mother of all contractions came, and my water broke with a great gush at about 8:15pm. It was so intense that I was physically ill after. I had the same reaction to pain with Vanessa, so I had expected it and had even had a bucket ready. Funnily enough, I had just taken two Gravol…so much for that. Jean left the room to clean out the bucket and stop the water in the tub, when I screamed to Jean: “MOM! I HAVE TO PUSH!!!” She came running back saying “No you can’t push. You pant!” She did not want to deliver the baby, and boy if I had pushed then like I wanted to she would have! Jean hurriedly paged the midwife, while coaching me to pant and relax. It was wild. Luckily the midwife Jennifer M. lives only a few blocks away, and was on her way home when she got the page. She had her boyfriend drop her off while he went to get her equipment. She ran up the stairs, and the baby’s head was already partly out. Keith had heard the noise and had re-emerged – which was a good thing, because things were happening very quickly at this point.

A few small pushes and Annie was out at 8:43. She looked so beautiful. She came so fast that she did not have the usual deformed head or blotchy skin, and had a wonderful pink rosy colouring instead. What a pleasure to have the baby at home! Vicky brought Vanessa home soon after and was thrilled to see her new sister. Annie and I took a bath together and Vanessa read us stories and played us music on her new cassette player, her “gift from the baby”.

It was a most beautiful and magical experience.

The only thing I'll add to this is that I'd swear the time of birth was actually 8:33pm, as I looked at my watch just after the time of birth, while I was dashing around the house getting things the midwife needed. Am pretty sure nobody even looked at a clock for sometime afterwards, and the ones on our bed-side tables are fast. All that this really means is that the actual labour was even shorter than it was depicted here.

The other detail I'm sure Erika was not aware of was just how hot the bedroom (and the whole of the second floor) was during the birthing process and afterwards. Erika had been in warm (body-temperature) baths since about 5pm, and the humidity and heat had permeated the whole of the floor, so everybody was swealtering -- even with the ceiling fan on.

After everybody left (about 10pm) I put Vanessa to bed. She was still excited but obviously tired, and it didn't take long to put her down for the night. I was still so thrilled about everything that I didn't even think about putting my head to pillow until around midnight. I busied myself primarily with cleaning up. Annie was a bit techy the first night, and couldn't fall comfortably asleep until about 3am, lying on mommie's chest.

As for today, I thought it would be nice to give Erika and Annie a rest, so I took Vanessa out to the R.O.M.. It was perfect, because everybody seemed to be at Caribana -- or just outside -- today, meaning that we enjoyed many exhibits, including Vanessa's favourite dinosaurs, almost to ourselves. Annie and Erika rested for much of the day, and just spent some time getting to know each other.