The Birth Story

It's really not that exciting as far as birth stories go. The whole experience was really easy and everything went super well. I attribute this to all the people who were praying for us all day. Thank you so much--the day was just about perfect.

My water did indeed break on Wednesday morning. Right after I blogged about it I got a call from the doctors office saying I could go in right away. Dr. Zeh, the doctor who was on call and doing all the deliveries that day confirmed that the sac had ruptured and sent me over to the hospital. We arrived at about 11am.

I had my first round of penicillin through an i.v. and around 2:30pm we added Pitocin because my body wasn't starting contractions on its own. I was asked about pain management and told the nurses that I did want an epidural but that I would ask for it when I was ready because I wanted to stick it out for as long as possible--just so that the baby would be more encouraged to do his part in getting out.

I was able to breathe and relax through contractions until around 8pm. I was still only 6cm dilated and 80% effaced. I probably could have made it longer, but the contractions were starting to make me cry and I knew it would take a while for the anesthesiologist to actually get there and start the epidural. I probably suffered for only about an hour and Geary was an excellent coach, smoothing my hair back, applying counter pressure, and cheering me on. It went really, really well. The whole epidural procedure went smoothly and I felt relief almost immediately.

Since I no longer had any pain, Dr. Zeh suggested being more aggressive with the Pitocin. We really wanted to have this baby out of there by morning. It was great, I could see that the contractions were getting even bigger and longer, but I couldn't feel anything. I was able to sleep from about 9pm to 11:30pm.

When I woke up I felt a lot of pressure in my pelvis. I told the nurse and she checked me and said, "Yep, you're complete. Let's get the doctor and see if we can start pushing." When Dr. Zeh came in, she also checked me but noted that the baby was still really high up. I tried pushing a few times, but she said, "Yeah, lets let the contractions do their thing and push the baby down a little more before we start pushing."

So I tried to sleep a little more but the pressure just kept building. At 12:15 I told the nurse, "The pressure is turning into pain. It really, really hurts!" So she checked me again and said, "Oh my god! The baby is right there!" She rushed out of the room to get the doctor who rushed right in and started getting her gloves and mask on.

When another contraction came the nurse started to say, "Push!" but Dr. Zeh said, "Don't push! I don't want that baby to fall out--I'm still getting ready!" It was agonizing but I managed to grit my teeth through the pain and not bear down. Finally, at 12:30 I was allowed to push. This is how it went:

Nurse: Big breath, push push push!
Doctor: Good job, here's the head!
Nurse: Another one, big breath, push push push!
Doctor: We have shoulders!
Nurse: Okay, ready, breathe and push! Push!
Doctor: He's out! That's it!

At 12:37 am, Tobin Joseph Linhart was born. Seven minutes of pushing. That's it. Seven. S-E-V-E-N. I was shocked! All that pressure had been Tobin in the birth canal! Geary cut the umbilical cord and Dr. Zeh delivered the placenta while Tobin got wiped down and weighed. He looked so much like Noah and yet so much like himself. We were immediately in love!

I didn't have any tearing and didn't need any stitches so I had no pain. Once the epidural wore off and I had nursed the baby for the first time, I was able to eat and get up and take a shower. That shower felt amazing! I had been leaking and covered with sticky stuff all day, but it was so worth it. Over all, the whole experience was a blessing. All my nurses were amazing, Dr. Zeh was great, Noah was in good hands at Anita's house. It could not have been a better day. God provided for all our needs precisely, and I see once again how Tobin's name is perfect. God's goodness has been poured out on us by the bucket load.