SKYE’S BIRTH STORY

I’m so excited to finally share Skye’s birth story with all of you…also known as ‘that time I refused to believe I was in labour and wouldn’t let DC come to the hospital.‘ But we’ll get to that part.

Before we do, I have to give a quick disclaimer that some details may be slightly graphic and if you’re any bit as squeamish as I am, you’ll appreciate the warning. So let’s get into it and take it back to my 37 week OB appointment, where the whole story begins.

I went in for my check up and as routine procedure, I was tested for GBS. GBS is a type of bacteria naturally found in the body and can potentially be harmful to your baby if untreated before the baby is born. If you test positive for it, your doctor will likely want to give you antibiotics via IV before you deliver. (This is obviously a major oversimplification of the situation but you can look it up if you’re curious). I ended up testing positive for it and was told if my water breaks, or if I am showing any signs of labour, to come into the hospital immediately to start the antibiotics.

I didn’t think much of it because I was convinced that I wasn’t going to go into labour, that my water would never break and I would be overdue and need to be induced just like I was with Lily.

At my following 38 week appointment my doctor did an internal to check how far I was dilated. I was already 2-3 cm and she said she thought I could go into labour any day. But this was the exact same thing that happened with Lily – I had 3 internals/membrane sweeps with Lily and each time I progressed in dilation but still, at over 41 weeks and 4cm dilated, I never went into labour. So I did not get my hopes up that it would be soon.

That night I had some cramping but nothing too crazy. The next morning I went to the bathroom and lost a bit of my mucus plug. I went back to the doctor the next day (Wednesday) and she did another internal to see if I progressed. I was already at 4cm! She said she would be shocked if I made it to the weekend without going into labour but of course I didn’t believe her and again didn’t get my hopes up.

I left that appointment and drove to my friends house for a walk. At this point I was trying to walk every chance I got to see if I could bring on labour. I was still feeling some mild cramping but nothing that felt like real contractions.

Once I got home from the walk, I went to the bathroom and noticed my underwear was wet and the fluid had soaked through my pants a little too. It was completely clear liquid so I thought maybe it was my water breaking but there wasn’t that much liquid and nothing else was coming out. I looked it up it to see if it could be my waters and Dr. Google confirmed this could be it. I still wasn’t convinced so I called one of my closest friends who is a doctor and mom of two. She was certain it was my water breaking and explained it can come out in slow trickles over time, it’s not always like in the movies with a huge gush. Because she knew I was GBS positive, she told me to go to the hospital immediately. I started to get really excited but something was still telling me not to get my hopes up yet and that it could just be a false alarm.

Since we were delivering in the middle of Covid, the hospital has a no in and out policy, which meant that if we were going, we were going with all of our bags, our car seat, everything. I couldn’t fathom the idea of walking into the hospital with all of our luggage only to be sent back home. That vision seemed equally embarrassing and defeating. So I decided that DC was not allowed to come. He could stay home with all of our bags and if they did in fact confirm I was in labour, he would meet me there later.

I quickly showered, put on some comfy clean clothes and drove myself to the hospital.

Once I checked in, they confirmed my waters partially broke – it wasn’t a full rupture of the membranes – but I still had to get started on the antibiotics right away. I finally called DC and told him he was allowed to come and it was go time. He arrived literally as they were sticking the swab up my nose to test me for covid.

After a few hours in triage and receiving my first dose of antibiotics, they checked us into our birthing suite. By this point, several hours had passed and my water hadn’t broken further and I wasn’t having any contractions. Since they already started the antibiotics, they wanted me to deliver as soon as possible, which meant they needed to fully break my water and potentially give petocin to get the contractions going.

So from here on out, it was exactly like my situation with Lily – 4cm dilated about to have my water broken and basically get induced. Because I had already done this once before, I knew I wanted my epidural before they broke my water. With Lily I got to 10cm within a couple hours and I didn’t want to miss my chance of the epidural.

The anaesthesiologist came in and we did the epidural. After that, they fully broke my water and then, just like last time with Lily, we turned on Netflix to watch The Office and waited for the contractions to start.

This time, however, nothing was happening. I was hardly contracting and things weren’t really progressing. They stared to give me petocin and get things moving. With Lily, I had a good amount of the epidural that I felt the contractions enough to know when to push but it was manageable pain. I never had to push the epidural button to give myself more (until it completely wore off at the end but you can read my birth story there for more details).

My plan was to not push the button again. However, I had way more petocin administered this time around. For a while I was still not pushing the button and after an hour or so, I was screaming in pain. The nurses and DC both kept telling me to just push the button. They said the whole point of the epidural was to relax and let the contractions come and here I was in absolute agony making it harder on myself and my body. But I kept telling them I was afraid of not feeling my legs and not being able to push. They continued to assure me that I would be able to push no matter what. So I started to use the button and give myself more.

It eventually got to the point where I really couldn’t feel my legs. I was also having uncontrollable shakes and my body was so itchy. I started to cry telling DC how freaked out I was over all these symptoms but he kept telling me the exact same thing happened with Lily, I was just as scared the first time and it was all totally fine and normal. I guess you really do just forget.

Feeling so much more of the epidural this time really made me anxious and started to screw with my head. At one point I was crying to DC that I felt like I made a mistake by coming to the hospital so early and maybe we should have waited and I wouldn’t need all this petocin and in turn, all the drugs. I just started second guessing everything and feeling guilty that I forced this whole labour on and maybe my baby wasn’t ready to come.

But before I knew it, the petocin had done it’s job and I was 10cm. Once again, the fear and the tears started to come. With Lily, I pushed for 2 hours and it was brutal. I was so scared to go through it all again. But the nurses asked me to do one practice push and I could tell from their reactions that this baby was going to come fast and furious. They called the doctors in and told me it was time to meet my baby girl.

I can’t remember exactly how many, but maybe after 2-3 pushes the resident looked at me and said the scar tissue from my previous episiotomy was not going to stretch and that he would need to cut over it again. I was fine with that as I trusted they knew what they were doing and grateful I didn’t have to go through hours of pushing before having the procedure done. Once the episiotomy was complete, I pushed again and they told me to me I was so close. They said reach down and touch her head. Feeling her head before it came out was one of the craziest things ever. I knew I just had to push a few more times and she would be here.

So, with The Rolling Stones’ Loving Cup playing on our speaker (the song we used in our wedding video) I gave it one last push and we finally met our baby girl Skye. DC cut the umbilical chord and they immediately placed her on my chest. She was crying a lot and I kept thinking she looks exactly like her big sister.

I remember feeling like I wanted to cry but I couldn’t. I think it was a mix of shock and having all the drugs. I just kept thinking thank g-d she is here and she is okay. I was feeling more grateful than anything.

The next 24 hours were a big blur of cuddles, tests for Skye, hospital admin stuff and a little sleep. It was so nice to be in the hospital just the 3 of us but we couldn’t wait to get home and have our daughters meet each other – one of the greatest moments of my life.

I still can’t believe our sweet Skye Skye is here (even though its already been 4 weeks)! I am so thankful for our healthy daughters and grateful to the incredible nurses and doctors at Sunnybrook Hospital for her safe arrival. Childbirth, no matter how your baby comes into this world, is truly a magical and empowering experience and I can’t wait to share these stories with my girls one day.