Asher Makes Three: The Birth Story

I woke up this last Thursday morning around 4am feeling hungry and crampy, so I went downstairs to snack. Around 4:15am I noticed the cramps were coming in waves- starting in my lower back and moving around front. They were coming about every 5 minutes, but I didn't wanna get my hopes up! (I had been dilated 2-3cm and 80% effaced for the last two weeks and was feeling like our baby was content to occupy my belly forever.)

I went back upstairs to lay down but that seemed to make the cramping worse. I woke Nate up 4:30am and told him what was going on...he had been preparing for this moment for months! He grabbed a stopwatch, I hopped in the shower (it just sounded nice), and we began timing...I was getting progressively miserable. I was throwing up in between contractions. We decided to wake my mom up at 5:15am (she had JUST flown in from Colorado Wednesday afternoon) and get ready to go to the hospital.

 By 5:45 am we were on the road, throw-up bowl in hand. We were so grateful to be heading to the hospital at this hour- construction/ rush hour traffic was minimal. On the way there, my contractions started coming every 3 minutes...I was doing my best to relax and breathe through them, just like Nate and I had practiced.

At 6:10am I was on the Labor & Delivery floor- a nurse checked me and said I was still 2-3cm dilated and 100% effaced...they weren't sure whether to admit me. I was a little discouraged because I was so expecting to be further dilated! They suggested Nate and I walk around for an hour to see if I would progress. We started walking at 6:45am. I was stopping every few feet, having to squat down in pain with contractions that were now coming closer together. By 7am I just couldn't walk anymore- I was in too much pain. We went back to the bed and all of the sudden I heard a "pop", felt a gush, and my water had broken! There was no turning back now! This was it!! When the nurse came in to check me, I was told I was dilated 8cm!

7:30am found us in the birthing suite...the next little bit is a bit blurred to me. All I can remember is that I was in lots of pain...the only positions that weren't absolutely awful were being on all fours, rocking backwards and forwards (but then my arms and wrists became exhausted), squatting (but my tailbone was killing me), and finally, semi-reclined on my left side, clinging to the side of the bed and Nate. I had NO break in my contractions. No rest in between...they were one on top of the other. I just remember moaning, crying, saying lots of prayers ("please let me just have a break". "please take the pain away just for a minute"). I also remember looking up at Nate (and my mom) and tearfully begging for an epidural. They were wonderful though- I had made them both promise me beforehand that no matter what I said or did, they wouldn't give in to my requests for pain medication. I can only imagine how hard that must have been on them both- to see me so miserable and yet not yield to my requests. I was definitely in transition...experiencing the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. My mom was fanning me with a magazine, Nate was holding me and kept saying "just give me 20 more minutes". At one point I made him stop saying that- each minute felt like an eternity!

We decided to have my wonderfully sweet nurse Sheri Lyn come in and check me- I was still 8cm dilated at 8:30am. That was also very discouraging news, because I wasn't sure how much more of it I could handle! By 8:50am my body started pushing with the contractions. Nate kept telling me not too since it isn't good to push when you aren't fully dilated. I couldn't help it though...it was nearly involuntary.

The nurse checked me at this time and told me I was now dilated 9cm. This was actually great for me to hear, because I knew it was too late for an epidural. Mentally, I now was resolved. I surrendered to my body.

My mom went and grabbed Sheri Lyn at 9:00am to check me again because I was now feeling like I HAD to push. She was able to check me during a contraction and we discovered I was now at 10cm! YEA!!! At one point, my mom said to me, "Corty look! They have Asher's little bed wheeled in! Dr. Erickson's tray is all set up! You are so close!" At 9:15am, Sheri Lyn leaves to call for Dr. Erickson and turns on the warming lights over Asher's bed. Dr. Erickson arrived at 9:25am and the pushing began! I loved pushing. It was still painful and burned, but it felt so good! I could feel the progress. As his head was coming out, Dr. Erickson told us that he was face up- I had been in back labor the entire time! From what everyone has told me. back labor (where baby is posterior) is the absolute worst.















Asher Scott Clegg was finally born at 9:45am, weighing 6 lbs 8 oz and measuring 20 inches long. (Mind you, he both pooped and peed before they actually weighed him.) Nate got to cut the cord, and in case anyone is wondering, I only tore a little. He was absolutely perfect & scored a 9 on his Apgar. I know I am a bit biased, but he is the most beautiful baby I had ever seen! He has TONS of blonde hair, deep blue eyes, chubby cheeks, funny little ears (like his mom's!)...We love him to death!