Luciana's Birth
Luciana Ruth Fratena was born on Tuesday, 3-29-11 at 12:28pm. This was a bit of a surprise considering she was not due until April 10, Bob’s birthday! I had actually tried to organize a surprise 30th birthday party for Bob that was to happen that Sat (Apr 2) since we wouldn’t really be able to celebrate on his exact birthday. However, it appears that little Luci wanted her own birth month!
Up until this point, my third trimester had gone very well. I was having more energy than the second trimester and had a nice workout regimen established. The week before Luci was born, I did feel a stronger desire to “get things done” around the house and in preparation for her arrival. Looking back now, I think this was the nesting people were talking about; however, at the time I did not think so. We had even watched the movie Father of the Bride Part 2, where the ladies were nesting and denied it. Bob reminded me of this, but I still did not believe I was nesting. However, we were slightly more nervous when we found out that one of Bob’s client’s wife just delivered twins and our realtor’s wife just delivered, both having due dates of April 6/9 respectively.
Bob, on the other hand, felt an intense urge to get as much done that coming week as possible. At one point over the weekend, Bob remembered “hearing”…”This week” while in prayer and mediation. Saturday was spent working on as much of the Business Plan for Every-1-Fitness as possible. Sunday was “Car Seat Day”, installing the Car Seat and Monday was used to tie up as many loose ends as possible at work (AGMC-Wellness Center). Several meetings were scheduled for later in the week with potential clients and partners to make the upcoming 2-weeks off as smooth as possible.
That Sunday (March 27), I did my yoga in the morning and then Bob convinced me to go for a walk with him later that afternoon. This was nothing unusual workout-wise and we didn’t even go very far on the walk. However, the next day, Monday, I felt a little different. My lower abdomen was sore, which I attributed to one of the workouts the day before. People at work mentioned that I looked more like I was waddling for the first time. On the drive home from work I talked with my mom on the phone and jokingly said this could be labor. I did decide to skip my workout that day and relax. However, all went well in the evening and I went to bed.
At 2:15am, I felt something funny and thought I had peed the bed! I went to the bathroom to discover a huge puddle of water in my underwear that did not smell like urine! My water had broken! My heart began to race and I thought, wait this is too soon! But quickly I came around to the realization that Luci would be born that day. I went back to the bedroom and woke Bob up. I told him that my water had broken and he did not believe me at first. Finally, he realized it was true! We both got up and I called my midwife, Jessica, who told me that contractions could start soon or it could take many hours. She recommended for me to go back to bed and rest since I had not felt any contractions yet. First, I had to finish packing my “go bag” since I had not gotten around to that yet! I also texted my doula, Amanda, to let her know that it was time. After packing the bag and taking a shower, I went back to bed to try to rest. At around 4am, I started having mild contractions. I laid in bed timing them unofficially to discover they were about 10 minutes apart. I couldn’t rest anymore and got up around 5am and watched some TV. At about 6am, I had breakfast and the contractions were getting closer to about 5-6 minutes apart so I called Jessica back to give her a head’s up.
At about 7am I decided that I wanted to try our Jacuzzi tub, so we started to fill it up. Unfortunately, it takes awhile to fill it up and in the meantime Bob was still timing my contractions. After a few contractions, he nervously said that they were between 2-3 minutes apart. I still wanted to wait longer, but Bob insisted we head to the hospital. Nervous dad! We loaded up and drove the 7 minutes to Dunlap, checked in, and made our birthing requests and birth plan known. We had decided on a fully natural birth with no interventions, but hospital policy was to have a heplock IV. However, Jessica had already notified them that she had a patient who would be refusing it, so they just had me sign a paper and let me refuse it, whew! By this time it was about 8am. They said I couldn’t get the birthing tub until I was 4-5 cm dilated and I was slightly disappointed; however, when they checked me the nurse first said that the baby had hair and then said she couldn’t believe that I was already about 4-5cm dilated! So, I got changed in to my tub attire and they brought in the tub.
Jessica arrived, but still no word from Amanda. Contractions were getting increasingly stronger as labored in the tub while Bob turned on our relaxation music. Shortly after, Amanda came running into the room apologizing profusely. She had turned her phone off during the night to charge it saying “of all the nights!” She thought I looked so good and was doing so well there was no way Luci would be coming this early! It was okay though because she arrived just in time!
Contractions continued to get stronger, but were manageable with the deep breathing, relaxation, and warm water. Amanda continued to say that she couldn’t believe how well I was handling each contraction and how “centered” I was. Jessica left to go to the clinic just down the road to see her critical patients before I delivered. I had a strange feeling that she wouldn’t make it back for the delivery and even asked if she would be able to make it back in time. She said of course so. This was at 10:20am.
Shortly after Jessica left, I wanted out of the tub. I thought about walking, but really wanted to get in bed. The nurse checked and I was at about 5-6cm dilated, but I felt that the contractions were getting very strong and I had a strong desire to push. I tried changing positions many times, but nothing helped. I started to become very loud in my labor because the pain was pretty intense. Amanda, Bob, and the nurses assisted me in relaxation and encouraging words that I could do this and my body was meant for this, which helped, but the intensity continued. The nurse checked me again and I was almost fully dilated! Still no Jessica and I was getting nervous, but couldn’t really think much past the contractions and the strong desire I had to push. The nurses told me that I could go ahead and start pushing. I did start to push, but was somewhat nervous about not seeing Jessica yet. However, Jessica soon came rushing in. The nurses asked if she had gotten their first call at 10:50 and she said no, that the office staff had written it down in a note and put in on her desk rather than telling her so she never got it! I heard her say she was going to talk to her staff about this!
It was about 11:30am. Bob texted the grandparents and told them it was “go time!” I tried pushing on my hands and knees for a while, but this was pretty painful and did not seem to be working for me. They suggested that I lay down at an incline, pull up my legs and push that way. I did this and it felt much better to push that way. I felt like things were happening. Each contraction I would push 3 times for 10 seconds each (or as many seconds as I could stand!). I used visualization of Luci crowning and coming out. Jessica and Amanda talked me through relaxing after each contraction and Amanda said that Luci’s heart rate was stable because I was so relaxed in between. It was 12:10p and Amanda said she bet Luci would be born before 12:30p. Jessica said she wasn’t gong to predict! Bob assisted in holding one of my legs and the nurses and Amanda alternated the other. Pretty soon, Jessica got gowned up and I could hear everyone encouraging me and saying this was it, the baby was coming now! I got very excited and decided that in the next few pushes Luci was coming out! With continued visualization I could feel her coming out more and more with each push. The next push I felt a huge release and Luci was out at 12:28p! They brought her immediately to my chest skin to skin. She was so beautiful and I was a little taken back by the moment! Honoring my birth plan, no one disturbed Luci, Bob, and I in the first hour so that we could bond. Bob touched Luci’s head and skin and I kept stroking her and talking with her, telling her I was so glad she was here and how beautiful she was. The placenta was delivered and after the cord stopped pulsing, Bob cut the cord.
Jessica told me that I actually had a 3rd degree laceration and she would need to call in the doctor/surgeon she worked with to repair it because she had never repaired one so complex. Dr. Cain arrived shortly after and repaired the laceration while we continued to bond with Luci. Luci began to breastfeed, but the position I was in for repair made the latch difficult. But, she did successfully breastfeed for a bit!
The laceration was so severe because Luci was in the posterior position, rather than anterior. Jessica said if she had been anterior, she would have been out in 2-3 pushes and probably no tearing. Oh well! Jessica kept saying that she could not believe how well the labor and delivery went considering the position Luci was in. She said it was amazing for a first time mom and attributed it to my dedicated workouts while pregnant. She said I made a believer out of her on the benefits of exercise! The nurses were also very impressed with how I handled my birth plan. Our primary nurse Suzie said that they don’t like birth plans a lot because mothers can be so rigid, but after how well my birth plan and delivery went, she said they would have to change their outlook!
The laceration took about an hour to repair and in the meanwhile, no one had notified the grandparents of what was happening. We later found out that both my mom and Holly were extremely worried, thinking something was wrong because they hadn’t heard back from us. At about 2pm, Bob went down and got my mom in the waiting room and brought her back. She fell in love with Luci right away! Bob took Luci while the nurses came over to help me get cleaned up. After I came out of the bathroom, the nurses started to make my bed, but I felt dizzy. I sat down on the bed and thought the dizziness passed so I stood up and the nurses continue to make my bed. I felt slightly dizzy again so I rested my head on my mom’s shoulder. The next thing I knew, I heard people calling my name. I had no idea where I was, but I opened my eyes to find myself on the floor! Bob, holding Luci, had a look of panic and no color on his face and I came to find out that I had passed out! I slowly got up and they helped me back to bed. I attributed this to my hypoglycemia, considering that it was 2:30p and I had not eaten since around 6am (and had just had the hardest workout of my life without a post-workout meal!). I quickly was given my PowerAide drink and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. They got blood work just in case, which later came back normal. I think everyone was extra nervous because I had no heplock IV in. Bob later told me that when he had been praying earlier he knew that a wrench of some kind would be thrown into our birth plan, but he figured it was the severe laceration! He said that is why he looked terrified when I passed out!
After this, they began to weigh, measure, and bathe Luci. She weighed 6lbs, 6oz and was 19in long. Bob assisted with this and made the final cord cut. Luci was given back to me and the three of us continued to bond. Shortly after, we were moved to another room because of the large number of deliveries that day. The nurse said 6 of us had delivered and there was another woman waiting in the waiting room for a bed! So we were moved to a plain ante partum room, still on the OB floor though. It was suggested that the “Super Moon” which appeared on Saturday March 19, 2011 had somehow affected the birth timing of soon-to-be mothers. A “Super Moon” is when a full moon is the nearest to Earth as it will possible get. The last time this happened was back in March of 1993.
We bonded with Luci through the night, continuously holding her and never setting her in the newborn carrier box unless the nurses or doctor needed to examine her. We were discharged by Jessica at about 8:30am the next day, but it took until about 4pm for the nurses to get us discharged, again due to the large number of other patients who were there as well.
And now we begin our lives together as a new family: Luci, Bob, and me!
Up until this point, my third trimester had gone very well. I was having more energy than the second trimester and had a nice workout regimen established. The week before Luci was born, I did feel a stronger desire to “get things done” around the house and in preparation for her arrival. Looking back now, I think this was the nesting people were talking about; however, at the time I did not think so. We had even watched the movie Father of the Bride Part 2, where the ladies were nesting and denied it. Bob reminded me of this, but I still did not believe I was nesting. However, we were slightly more nervous when we found out that one of Bob’s client’s wife just delivered twins and our realtor’s wife just delivered, both having due dates of April 6/9 respectively.
Bob, on the other hand, felt an intense urge to get as much done that coming week as possible. At one point over the weekend, Bob remembered “hearing”…”This week” while in prayer and mediation. Saturday was spent working on as much of the Business Plan for Every-1-Fitness as possible. Sunday was “Car Seat Day”, installing the Car Seat and Monday was used to tie up as many loose ends as possible at work (AGMC-Wellness Center). Several meetings were scheduled for later in the week with potential clients and partners to make the upcoming 2-weeks off as smooth as possible.
That Sunday (March 27), I did my yoga in the morning and then Bob convinced me to go for a walk with him later that afternoon. This was nothing unusual workout-wise and we didn’t even go very far on the walk. However, the next day, Monday, I felt a little different. My lower abdomen was sore, which I attributed to one of the workouts the day before. People at work mentioned that I looked more like I was waddling for the first time. On the drive home from work I talked with my mom on the phone and jokingly said this could be labor. I did decide to skip my workout that day and relax. However, all went well in the evening and I went to bed.
At 2:15am, I felt something funny and thought I had peed the bed! I went to the bathroom to discover a huge puddle of water in my underwear that did not smell like urine! My water had broken! My heart began to race and I thought, wait this is too soon! But quickly I came around to the realization that Luci would be born that day. I went back to the bedroom and woke Bob up. I told him that my water had broken and he did not believe me at first. Finally, he realized it was true! We both got up and I called my midwife, Jessica, who told me that contractions could start soon or it could take many hours. She recommended for me to go back to bed and rest since I had not felt any contractions yet. First, I had to finish packing my “go bag” since I had not gotten around to that yet! I also texted my doula, Amanda, to let her know that it was time. After packing the bag and taking a shower, I went back to bed to try to rest. At around 4am, I started having mild contractions. I laid in bed timing them unofficially to discover they were about 10 minutes apart. I couldn’t rest anymore and got up around 5am and watched some TV. At about 6am, I had breakfast and the contractions were getting closer to about 5-6 minutes apart so I called Jessica back to give her a head’s up.
At about 7am I decided that I wanted to try our Jacuzzi tub, so we started to fill it up. Unfortunately, it takes awhile to fill it up and in the meantime Bob was still timing my contractions. After a few contractions, he nervously said that they were between 2-3 minutes apart. I still wanted to wait longer, but Bob insisted we head to the hospital. Nervous dad! We loaded up and drove the 7 minutes to Dunlap, checked in, and made our birthing requests and birth plan known. We had decided on a fully natural birth with no interventions, but hospital policy was to have a heplock IV. However, Jessica had already notified them that she had a patient who would be refusing it, so they just had me sign a paper and let me refuse it, whew! By this time it was about 8am. They said I couldn’t get the birthing tub until I was 4-5 cm dilated and I was slightly disappointed; however, when they checked me the nurse first said that the baby had hair and then said she couldn’t believe that I was already about 4-5cm dilated! So, I got changed in to my tub attire and they brought in the tub.
Jessica arrived, but still no word from Amanda. Contractions were getting increasingly stronger as labored in the tub while Bob turned on our relaxation music. Shortly after, Amanda came running into the room apologizing profusely. She had turned her phone off during the night to charge it saying “of all the nights!” She thought I looked so good and was doing so well there was no way Luci would be coming this early! It was okay though because she arrived just in time!
Contractions continued to get stronger, but were manageable with the deep breathing, relaxation, and warm water. Amanda continued to say that she couldn’t believe how well I was handling each contraction and how “centered” I was. Jessica left to go to the clinic just down the road to see her critical patients before I delivered. I had a strange feeling that she wouldn’t make it back for the delivery and even asked if she would be able to make it back in time. She said of course so. This was at 10:20am.
Shortly after Jessica left, I wanted out of the tub. I thought about walking, but really wanted to get in bed. The nurse checked and I was at about 5-6cm dilated, but I felt that the contractions were getting very strong and I had a strong desire to push. I tried changing positions many times, but nothing helped. I started to become very loud in my labor because the pain was pretty intense. Amanda, Bob, and the nurses assisted me in relaxation and encouraging words that I could do this and my body was meant for this, which helped, but the intensity continued. The nurse checked me again and I was almost fully dilated! Still no Jessica and I was getting nervous, but couldn’t really think much past the contractions and the strong desire I had to push. The nurses told me that I could go ahead and start pushing. I did start to push, but was somewhat nervous about not seeing Jessica yet. However, Jessica soon came rushing in. The nurses asked if she had gotten their first call at 10:50 and she said no, that the office staff had written it down in a note and put in on her desk rather than telling her so she never got it! I heard her say she was going to talk to her staff about this!
It was about 11:30am. Bob texted the grandparents and told them it was “go time!” I tried pushing on my hands and knees for a while, but this was pretty painful and did not seem to be working for me. They suggested that I lay down at an incline, pull up my legs and push that way. I did this and it felt much better to push that way. I felt like things were happening. Each contraction I would push 3 times for 10 seconds each (or as many seconds as I could stand!). I used visualization of Luci crowning and coming out. Jessica and Amanda talked me through relaxing after each contraction and Amanda said that Luci’s heart rate was stable because I was so relaxed in between. It was 12:10p and Amanda said she bet Luci would be born before 12:30p. Jessica said she wasn’t gong to predict! Bob assisted in holding one of my legs and the nurses and Amanda alternated the other. Pretty soon, Jessica got gowned up and I could hear everyone encouraging me and saying this was it, the baby was coming now! I got very excited and decided that in the next few pushes Luci was coming out! With continued visualization I could feel her coming out more and more with each push. The next push I felt a huge release and Luci was out at 12:28p! They brought her immediately to my chest skin to skin. She was so beautiful and I was a little taken back by the moment! Honoring my birth plan, no one disturbed Luci, Bob, and I in the first hour so that we could bond. Bob touched Luci’s head and skin and I kept stroking her and talking with her, telling her I was so glad she was here and how beautiful she was. The placenta was delivered and after the cord stopped pulsing, Bob cut the cord.
Jessica told me that I actually had a 3rd degree laceration and she would need to call in the doctor/surgeon she worked with to repair it because she had never repaired one so complex. Dr. Cain arrived shortly after and repaired the laceration while we continued to bond with Luci. Luci began to breastfeed, but the position I was in for repair made the latch difficult. But, she did successfully breastfeed for a bit!
The laceration was so severe because Luci was in the posterior position, rather than anterior. Jessica said if she had been anterior, she would have been out in 2-3 pushes and probably no tearing. Oh well! Jessica kept saying that she could not believe how well the labor and delivery went considering the position Luci was in. She said it was amazing for a first time mom and attributed it to my dedicated workouts while pregnant. She said I made a believer out of her on the benefits of exercise! The nurses were also very impressed with how I handled my birth plan. Our primary nurse Suzie said that they don’t like birth plans a lot because mothers can be so rigid, but after how well my birth plan and delivery went, she said they would have to change their outlook!
The laceration took about an hour to repair and in the meanwhile, no one had notified the grandparents of what was happening. We later found out that both my mom and Holly were extremely worried, thinking something was wrong because they hadn’t heard back from us. At about 2pm, Bob went down and got my mom in the waiting room and brought her back. She fell in love with Luci right away! Bob took Luci while the nurses came over to help me get cleaned up. After I came out of the bathroom, the nurses started to make my bed, but I felt dizzy. I sat down on the bed and thought the dizziness passed so I stood up and the nurses continue to make my bed. I felt slightly dizzy again so I rested my head on my mom’s shoulder. The next thing I knew, I heard people calling my name. I had no idea where I was, but I opened my eyes to find myself on the floor! Bob, holding Luci, had a look of panic and no color on his face and I came to find out that I had passed out! I slowly got up and they helped me back to bed. I attributed this to my hypoglycemia, considering that it was 2:30p and I had not eaten since around 6am (and had just had the hardest workout of my life without a post-workout meal!). I quickly was given my PowerAide drink and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. They got blood work just in case, which later came back normal. I think everyone was extra nervous because I had no heplock IV in. Bob later told me that when he had been praying earlier he knew that a wrench of some kind would be thrown into our birth plan, but he figured it was the severe laceration! He said that is why he looked terrified when I passed out!
After this, they began to weigh, measure, and bathe Luci. She weighed 6lbs, 6oz and was 19in long. Bob assisted with this and made the final cord cut. Luci was given back to me and the three of us continued to bond. Shortly after, we were moved to another room because of the large number of deliveries that day. The nurse said 6 of us had delivered and there was another woman waiting in the waiting room for a bed! So we were moved to a plain ante partum room, still on the OB floor though. It was suggested that the “Super Moon” which appeared on Saturday March 19, 2011 had somehow affected the birth timing of soon-to-be mothers. A “Super Moon” is when a full moon is the nearest to Earth as it will possible get. The last time this happened was back in March of 1993.
We bonded with Luci through the night, continuously holding her and never setting her in the newborn carrier box unless the nurses or doctor needed to examine her. We were discharged by Jessica at about 8:30am the next day, but it took until about 4pm for the nurses to get us discharged, again due to the large number of other patients who were there as well.
And now we begin our lives together as a new family: Luci, Bob, and me!