On Monday August 26th I had my 39 week check. I had only dilated to .5 cm and I was feeling great. I remember saying to the Dr. "I'm sure I won't be going into labor this week because I feel TOO good." Truly, I wasn't ready for the baby to come quite yet. My mom had tickets to come on Sept. 1st only a week away. I was pretty confident that I would make it until my due date.
Tuesday the boys were excited because our "slow boat from China... I mean Fast" shipment came- containing their scooters. When Andrew came home that night we went for a family scooter ride. I wasn't planning on going, but thought it might help my body progress. After I fell off the scooter things did indeed start to progress. (I fell off the scooter going downhill and luckily I only went down on my hands and knees.) It was probably really stupid of me to go in the first place and I thought I was being careful enough...
I woke in the night having contractions in my back 30-45 minutes apart. Wednesday the contractions continued staying at about 20 minutes apart and again was woken up in the night from hard contractions. On Thursday morning I was scheduled to have my pre-registration meeting at the hospital. At this point the contractions were coming every 7-10 minutes.
At 10 we went into the registration department in the labor and delivery wing of the hospital. It was interesting because the registration nurse didn't speak English and we obviously don't speak German. I am VERY thankful for smart phones and translation apps. We were able to communicate our information and get the point across that I was possibly in labor. I was then hooked up to a monitor and waited for 10 minutes. I had three contractions while hooked up to the monitor, but the monitor didn't show any activity. When I expressed concern to the nurse she said "It doesn't matter what the machine says- only what your body feels." I think that one line sums up my birthing experience in Germany. She then adjusted the monitor and my contractions were indeed coming every 5 minutes. A doctor came in and verified that labor was progressing and I was dilated to a 4. (Tangent: Modesty is different among Germans and Americans. For example, when the doctor came in to check my progress I was expected to undress then and there with my entire family and nurses in the room. Oh, and they don't give you an apron or blanket or anything.)
We then left the hospital, drove back to the hotel, packed our bags, and dropped our kids off at our dear new friends, the Blakemans, for the night. We arrived back at the hospital at 2 and were put into a room. My contractions were painful, but bearable so I decided to try for a natural birth.
My hospital room was similar to ones in the States. A few differences; they don't give you blankets or break your water, but there were different contraptions to help facilitate natural birth. There was a giant purple hammock looking thing hanging from the ceiling that I guess you could pull/ hang on and they appointed a midwife student to be in the room with me almost the entire time.
The pain started to get more severe around 3:00. I had back labor. Enough said.
In the past, my labors sped up after my water broke. I remember feeling really annoyed at the nurses because they wouldn't break my water. They kept rolling their eyes when I told them it had been broken by my Dr. in the States. I guess that is part of their more natural approach to birth? Finally, at a 9 my water decided to break. From 3:45-4:29 I hated life. That pretty much sums it up.
At 4:29 our sweet Zachary Maeser Baron came into the world at 6.5 pounds and 18.9 inches.
Tuesday the boys were excited because our "slow boat from China... I mean Fast" shipment came- containing their scooters. When Andrew came home that night we went for a family scooter ride. I wasn't planning on going, but thought it might help my body progress. After I fell off the scooter things did indeed start to progress. (I fell off the scooter going downhill and luckily I only went down on my hands and knees.) It was probably really stupid of me to go in the first place and I thought I was being careful enough...
I woke in the night having contractions in my back 30-45 minutes apart. Wednesday the contractions continued staying at about 20 minutes apart and again was woken up in the night from hard contractions. On Thursday morning I was scheduled to have my pre-registration meeting at the hospital. At this point the contractions were coming every 7-10 minutes.
At 10 we went into the registration department in the labor and delivery wing of the hospital. It was interesting because the registration nurse didn't speak English and we obviously don't speak German. I am VERY thankful for smart phones and translation apps. We were able to communicate our information and get the point across that I was possibly in labor. I was then hooked up to a monitor and waited for 10 minutes. I had three contractions while hooked up to the monitor, but the monitor didn't show any activity. When I expressed concern to the nurse she said "It doesn't matter what the machine says- only what your body feels." I think that one line sums up my birthing experience in Germany. She then adjusted the monitor and my contractions were indeed coming every 5 minutes. A doctor came in and verified that labor was progressing and I was dilated to a 4. (Tangent: Modesty is different among Germans and Americans. For example, when the doctor came in to check my progress I was expected to undress then and there with my entire family and nurses in the room. Oh, and they don't give you an apron or blanket or anything.)
We then left the hospital, drove back to the hotel, packed our bags, and dropped our kids off at our dear new friends, the Blakemans, for the night. We arrived back at the hospital at 2 and were put into a room. My contractions were painful, but bearable so I decided to try for a natural birth.
My hospital room was similar to ones in the States. A few differences; they don't give you blankets or break your water, but there were different contraptions to help facilitate natural birth. There was a giant purple hammock looking thing hanging from the ceiling that I guess you could pull/ hang on and they appointed a midwife student to be in the room with me almost the entire time.
The pain started to get more severe around 3:00. I had back labor. Enough said.
In the past, my labors sped up after my water broke. I remember feeling really annoyed at the nurses because they wouldn't break my water. They kept rolling their eyes when I told them it had been broken by my Dr. in the States. I guess that is part of their more natural approach to birth? Finally, at a 9 my water decided to break. From 3:45-4:29 I hated life. That pretty much sums it up.
At 4:29 our sweet Zachary Maeser Baron came into the world at 6.5 pounds and 18.9 inches.
We were surprised at how Small Zach was. I had an ultrasound about an hour before he was born and they predicted he was about 6 and a half pounds. We laughed and told them that our other 2 kids had been over 8 pounds that there must be some mistake.
After the delivery of the After birth we found out why he was so small.
There were two knots in the umbilical cord. The delivery nurse said she had never seen two before and stressed how lucky we were to have a healthy baby. One knot can block the nutrients to the baby and be life threatening. We know we have been very blessed to have a healthy baby boy!
1 comment:
Wow! Amazing story! He's such a cutie! Congrats!
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