Birth Story of Ruby June Lamb — erinlamb

We were running around all day on Saturday getting groceries and last minute things for the baby. One of those being antibiotics as I had group b strep and the midwife was planning on giving me my first dose while labouring at home. Turns out like no pharmacies in the city carry the antibiotics I was prescribed and we would have to order it to get by Monday or go to a specific pharmacy that would carry it, again not open until Monday. For some reason (now I know why ;)) I didn’t feel good about ordering the antibiotics and decided I would look for it myself on Monday. Throughout the day I thought I was having a few little contractions….but I didn’t really know if they were just Braxton hicks or what. That night we decided to have a date night in…popcorn + a movie trying to spend as much time together before our little girl joined our family. (of course a got a picture of the popcorn because we tried a new nacho seasoning that was amazing!) I was pretty uncomfortable during the movie + was trying to cuddle with Scott ….but it just wasn’t working with my tummy in the way and I just couldn’t get comfy. On top of that my back was getting really sore so we brought the laptop in the into the bathroom so I could have a bath while we finished the movie. (I have the best husband for being willing to sit on the toilet and watch a movie….not a very comfy spot) I took tons of baths during my pregnancy…like an average of 3 a week to help ease some of the discomfort but it didn’t seem to be helping as much this time. I started having some contractions again that seemed a bit closer together..but again I didn’t know if I was just getting my hopes up so I didn’t think too much of it. The bath was getting cold so I got out and as soon as I got out I noticed this sharp shooting pain in my lower right abdomen…it kind felt like I was getting stabbed. It was constant so I knew it wasn’t another contraction. I wondered if it was possibly my appendix…but after we googled it, it looked like when you are pregnant it is pushed higher up. So my next thought was just gas pains….I had had similar pain to this years ago and turns out I just needed to fart haha. SO I was trying to massage my stomach, rubbed peppermint oil on and do everything to relieve what I thought was just gas. At this point I was on the floor in so much pain and didn’t want to move. I was hesitant to call my midwife if all I had to do was just fart….but decided I should let her know. She said we could go to the hospital to do a non stress test on the baby to see if everything was okay, but I decided I would wait a bit longer to see if things would settle.

It was a long night…. I slept for 20 minutes here and there but was up most of the night pacing the apartment as it felt a bit better when I was walking around. When I would sit, the pressure on that lower right was brutal and didn’t subside. At one point I thought maybe it’s tight muscles so I was using a lacrosse ball to try to release some tension and stretching. Not much changed.

I got an email early Sunday morning from the midwife following up on the pain and wanting to send me to the lab to get tested for a UTI… but when I told her the lower right was still tender to the touch, the pain wasn’t any better, and I was starting to get the chills + a fever we decided we should meet at the hospital for an assessment.

Scott + I didn’t know what would happen so we packed the birthing pool + our hospital bags in the car just in case! It was crazy to think there was a chance we could come home from the hospital with a baby…but we thought it was more likely they would just send us home with a prescription. Scott dropped me off at the front door so he could go park and I met the midwife up in the assessment room. When she pressed on the area that was bothering me it was very tender and had a rebounding pain when she let go. I was feeling like garbage! She hooked me up to monitor the baby and her heart rate apparently was hanging around 200 bpm (normal is 160 bpm) – yikes! She didn’t tell me (or maybe I was too out of it to know) and remained very calm but told us that there was a chance that they would need to do a transfer of care to the OB depending on what happened but in the mean time she was going to consult with her and see what would be best. They put an IV in me to see if that would help baby and took my blood to send to the lab to rule out if I had a UTI. Scott had ran down to the car to get some snacks and in the meantime my midwife decided to check how dilated I was. (I had a sweep on Friday and I was 2cm that day.) Turns out I was 6 cm!! That is typically when you go to the hospital when working with a midwife….so it was meant to be that I was already there! The OB came in the room and said “okay you are having this baby! We are going to break your water to get things going then we will do an ultrasound of your appendix as it will be easier to see and find without the baby in there.” I started to tear up….I can’t even explain the emotions I felt. I was going to be able to hold my baby so soon! It was really happening, I was going to be a mom! They moved my over to a room in labour and delivery – it was 2pm at this time. The cool thing was, my sister who works on labour and delivery at the Royal Alex was starting her shift in an hour! We had planned on her being there for the birth initially. She just got lucky and was paid to help deliver my baby 🙂

The midwife broke my water and turns out there was meconium. I asked if I could still have a water birth but there were a few reasons I wasn’t able to – the infection, constant monitoring, and the meconium. I was sad, but not as disappointed as I thought I would have been. Maybe because things seemed to be going so fast. The contractions got REAL at this point. There were so much pressure in my hips so I had Scott squeeze them each time a contraction came. I changed positions often to try to easy the pressure. I started on the exercise ball, then on my hands and knees on the bed. I was getting tired after a while so she had me try my side with a peanut ball but when the contractions started to intensify I switched back to my hands and knees so Scott could rub across my stomach each time a contraction came. The counter pressure was very helpful. I would have loved to have diffused some oils but I forgot to pack them since it was a last minute trip to the hospital. I did have my hypnobirthing tracks and that was wonderful. I am SO glad that I used it as a tool to prepare for labour. It helped block out any noise, focus and reminded me of the peaceful and relaxing times when I would practice it at home (usually in the bath.) I could barely hear anything anyone was saying, and I guess when someone would talk to me I would yell “WHAT?” When I changed positions back onto my hands and knees I started using laughing gas. I wouldn’t say it really helped with the pain and pressure but took the edge off and really helped me focus on breathing. It was a strange feeling though because it made me light headed so I had to take breaks every once in a while.