Solomon has arrived! On July 24, at 9:02 AM Solomon Lawrence Wheeler was born at Marin General Hospital. At 8 lbs. 1 oz., 21 inches long, we are feeling so blessed with the healthy addition to our family.
Now this is a happy beginning to a new life, but it sure didn’t go the way we expected. Many of you know that we had been planning to have a home birth, conditions allowing. Our “due date” of July 12 came and went with nary a stir and we began the longest waiting period either of us have ever experienced. On Thursday July 23rd Rachel went into Marin General for a non-stress test and AFI, routine for past due expecting mothers. Although the test showed very little amniotic fluid left and a distinctly aging placenta, baby Sol was doing fine. The doctor recommended being induced immediately. Having very low amniotic fluid “risked” us out of having a home birth because of the increased risk of cord compression. So our midwife became our dula and we were checked-in to the hospital that afternoon.
At 8 PM Rachel was given Cervidil, a “gentle cervix ripener” and we were settled in to stay the night at the hospital.
Between 11pm and 12am Rachel started having very mild contractions (like strong menstrual cramps) but we were able to eat our dinner, a whole pint of ice cream, and watch a movie on the laptop. Mike commented that it felt like “some weird hotel” that we were in. But by 3 AM, the contractions had grown increasingly intense. We took walks around the floor, getting 15 steps before the next contraction came, only 2 minutes apart. Strong and frequent, Rachel gasped “what happened to my 8 minute break in between?” She was also feeling cheated out of her oxytocin rushes in between, because there just wasn’t any time in between each contraction. Her body had apparently skipped that part. At 5:45 we called our Midwife and she arrived at the hospital just before 6am when the Cervidil was removed.
By 6 AM we were offered a birthing room and told that we could set up our rented birth tub there, something that Rachel was quite ready for given the intensity of the contractions. Mike rushed to set it up (including a 7AM run to the hardware store for a new garden hose to fill it with) and began filling . Rachel arrived in the birthing room a little after 7am and got in the shower to wait until the tub was filled. By this point her contractions were coming almost one on top of the other and she commented to the midwife that she didn’t feel like she was going to be able to do it and started asking about an epidural. Our midwife suggested that she get checked first since she had yet to be checked and then make a decision. She was 7 centimeters dilated and the nurses told us it was hospital policy that while she could labor in the tub, she could not push. Half filled, Mike turned off the water and we got ready for the main event with no epidural. About 15 minutes later Rachel said she felt like pushing, and the nurses said go ahead and push.
Between 7:30 and 9:00 AM Rachel pushed in a number of different positions.
She actually found the pushing to feel so much better than the contractions. This is interesting because before the birth she thought that the contractions would be easier and she was somewhat frightened by the pushing part. Solomon’s head was visible after only about 1 hour of pushing. At 9:02AM Solomon arrived, sucking on his hand. Mike caught Sol and brought him up to Rachel’s chest, excited, exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, but finally complete.
All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better birth experience despite the fact that it was at the hospital instead of at home. Rachel feels that maintaining a “don’t know mind” throughout her pregnancy and trying not to have any expectations allowed her to accept the fact that we needed to deliver in the hospital. Ultimately, her only criteria for her birth plan - to be allowed to try and have a normal physiological birth - was met. We all feel blessed by our experience and amazed by the little being that has already brought so much joy into our lives. Every day we still say to each other; “Can you believe he is ours?”
In the first week with us, Sol has demonstrated a propensity for suckling, learning to latch fairly early but also giving Rachel hickeys on her neck and chest. He seems to have a “hyper” rooting reflex and will suck on anything that comes close to his mouth. Although this presented some early breastfeeding challenges, he and Rachel have now figured it out. His nicknames however have remained- “Baby Leach” and “ Little Barracuda”
It was helping Rachel becoming an accomplished breastfeeder that was the biggest challenge of the week. I had no idea that nature had created a system that looks great on paper (and glossy photos) but is so complicated in real life - more so than even diaper changing. It was the wails of hunger combined with Rachel's wincing as he latched that led me to investigate a product known as the "nipple shield". The nipple shield truly saved us. A silicone relief of a nipple, the nipple shield acts as the layer of first defense against the mighty suction of a hungry baby.
