Gideon's Birth Story

For days I had been having crazy contractions. For two days, I had contractions that lasted 14 hours. They ended when I finally laid in the bathtub for awhile. I didn't think they were labor because they were not intense enough and they never ended. It was solid contraction.

On Tuesday, May 22, I had an appointment with my Hebamme (midwife). She checked my cervix and said I was 3-4 cm dilated. She told me if I thought I was in labor to get in the bathtub. If it wasn't true labor then the contractions would stop.

That night Claron and I walked (partially in the rain) to the Garchinger See and back. It was about 2 miles. By the end I was having pretty strong contractions. We walked every night and this was pretty much par for the course. However, the walk this night was longer than our normal. We arrived home around 7 p.m. Normally, I would have contractions until about 2 a.m. and then they would just turn off. I decided to take my Hebamme's advice and get in the bathtub. At around 10 p.m. the contractions were about 8 minutes apart and began to regulate. I read a Georgette Heyer novel (again!) and timed my contractions.

By midnight the contracts were 6 minutes apart and I think my water had broken. At about 2 a.m. they were 5 minutes apart and then all of a sudden 3 minutes apart. I woke every one up, got Eliza ready and called my friend Tamsyn to ask if I could drop her off.

The drive to Tamsyn's was interesting. My mom drove and I had to give directions but also deal with contractions. As the contractions were really regular, I would know when they were coming so sometimes the directions were condensed i.e. "Take the next exit, go to the end of the ramp and make a right. Then go straight for awhile" all in one breath.

We dropped Eliza off and drove downtown to the hospital. Of course, as it was now almost 3 a.m. there was no traffic. We arrived at the hospital and I rang the bell. The lady told me in German to come in and take the elevator to the next floor. There I met Hebamme Oda. She took me in a room and put a external fetal monitor on the baby. The heartbeat was strong. My contractions were regular.

We filled out paperwork and she checked me. She said I was only about 4 cm!?! I was a bit distressed by this news. She said we would finish the papers then a doctor would check me and start my IV for antibiotics (I was Strep B positive).

The doctor came in and looked at me, started the IV and said we would wait a few minutes to check me. Mom and I took a field trip to the bathroom. By now, the contractions were HARD. Everyone was telling me to "breathe." Really? Obviously, I was breathing. The doctor came in and checked me. She said I was 7 cm, but the baby was not descending. She suggested an epidural. At first I was hesitant; however, by the time the anesthesiologist came in my contractions were about 1 minute apart and strong. It was really difficult to stay completely still while they put the epidural in.

The epidural was magic! Oda also gave me an herb to keep my contractions steady. It worked well. They checked me about an hour after the epidural and I was 9 cm. Half an hour later, they called my doctor because I was ready to go.

My doctor arrived around 6:45 a.m. and got dressed. We started pushing around 7 a.m. Four real pushes later and Gideon was here! He was born at 7:11 a.m. with a full head of dark hair. His apgar scores were all 10's! The bad news is that I tore. The doctor said it was a second degree tear inside and out. She sewed for about 45 minutes. Most of the time, she just used acupuncture but later administered a local.

After she was done sewing, I was sent to recovery across the hall. At that point, I heard my friend, Jen (also an American Mormon from Garching) come in. They gave her the room that I had just come out of. The nurses declared it, "American day." Jen later told me that it was lucky that I had just had Gideon because otherwise, she was so far progressed that our doctor wouldn't have been able to get there and Samuel (her baby) would have either been delivered by a Hebamme or whoever could get there fastest.

A few days later, they doctors also realized that my pelvis separated during the birth. However, I'd still say that natural birth is way easier than a c-section.

Here is Gideon's 1st picture. This was in the recovery room.

The lady with Gideon is my mom.
Stats
Name: Gideon Clark
Birthplace: Munich, Germany
Weight: 3690 g (8 lbs 2 oz)
Length: 52 cm (20.5")
Apgar: 10/10/10