Wren's Birth Story

Why? I don't know, but I have been convinced for months that Wren would arrive in my 39th week of pregnancy. So imagine my excitement as my last week of pregnancy approached and my disappointment as I saw it starting to slip away. I was ready to meet our little girl. On Wednesday, I went to the OB and asked for a little help moving things along (stripping membranes), but she declined saying that she was not on call and because it normally works pretty well and pretty quickly, that as a courtesy to the doctors on call, they do not do that. Whom, whomp, whomp. She did allow me to reschedule for Friday.

My Mom arrived Wednesday to help with Nash and the waiting officially began. On Friday I went into the office, was warned that Seton SW Hospital was full and that we'd have to deliver at South Austin Hospital if I immediately went into labor, and then had my membranes stripped. KP held my hand for the lovely procedure and then Mom and I went to get pedicures and very, very spicy Thai food. The waiting continued.

On Saturday, feeling defeated, KP and I finished our Christmas shopping and then took Nash for a long, vigorous walk. I felt contractions begin and seem to escalate. All of a sudden my pain went from a 1 to a 5 in about 20 minutes. We decided to head to the hospital after we put Nash to sleep.

At the hospital, my contractions were about 7 minutes apart, then after walking, got to about 3-5 minutes apart, but they were not consistent or strong enough to admit us. We arrived home at about midnight. At 6 am I woke to realize that my contractions had all but stopped completely. I napped and moped some more, stating several times that Wren was never going to come out. As I stood at the kitchen sink, I suddenly felt fluid running down my leg. I ran to the bathroom, changed, and KP and I called the doc. She confirmed that she also thought my water broke. GO TIME!

At this point I had no contractions, but KP and I quickly put Nash down for nap and headed to the hospital. There we were again registered and taken to the labor and delivery wing. As we walked in, I saw a potential client I met at an open house a few months ago. She would be our nurse, Jenn! Jenn set KP and me up with a corner room with lots of space. She confirmed that my water broke and that I was dilated to a 5, 1 cm more than the night before. This was about 12:30pm.

After being checked, my contractions started to pick up and to further speed them, I labored in a rocking chair and on a birthing ball for about another hour and a half. I wanted to really let the labor pick up before getting an epidural as to not slow things back down. I had been down that road already. Jenn then hooked me back up to the monitors to listen to the baby and check the regularity of the contractions. Wren looked great on the monitor and my contractions were not 2-3 minutes apart, lasting about 90 seconds. I believe this was about 3:30 pm.

KP and I talked about the wait time for an epidural, which is about 45 minutes to get fluids in and for the doctors to arrive. We decided to make the call. It was perfect timing. The anesthesiologist arrived and started my epidural. My OB, Dr. Hart, then came in and checked me again. I was at a 6, in terms of dilation. Dr. Hart broke another bag of water and my contractions really picked up. I could still feel lots of pressure and some sharp pains, so the anesthesiologist came back in and gave me some additional medicine.

Up until this point, the mood in the room was fairly lighthearted and fun. Then, all of a sudden, nausea hit me hard. I do not like to vomit so I felt like I was fighting it. And to complicate things further, I starting shaking and convulsing. Awesome fun. I remembered this from labor with Nash and tried to go with it as much as possible. Dr. Hart suggested that my body was in transition and was working extremely hard, even if I couldn't feel it. She checked me again, and I was at a 7-8.

KP, Dr. Hart, and Jenn all stayed close for a few minutes, trying to help me relax some. I then asked what was next and I was reminded that when Wren was ready, I'd feel some serious pressure and it would feel "like I needed to poop." Their words. Well, that was pretty much spot on to what I was feeling. This was 10 minutes after I was checked at a 7-8. Jenn checked me again and said I was ready! I was at a 10 and +2 station, meaning Wren's head was already down some.

Dr. Hart came back in the room with her assistant and the nurse for Wren. They all suited up, took off part of my bed, and got into position. It was all very calm. Jenn and KP each took a side and we waited for my next contraction. I asked if I could push and they said sure! I pushed and was told that her head and body were out. I looked at KP for confirmation and he gave it. Jenn asked if I wanted to touch her head. I declined. I could tell from KP's look that something was up, but I wasn't sure if he was just amazed or if something else was going on. Then Dr. Hart told me to push again. She said it calmly, but I could tell she meant right then. So I pushed, and out she came. I later learned that the cord was wrapped around Wren's neck and they needed a little slack to get it off. I believe I pushed one more time and the next thing I knew, Wren was on my chest, crying.

KP and I both had tears in our eyes. Our little girl arrived so quickly in our world, after what seemed like the wait of our lives.

I was told I had no need for stitches. While I was cleaned up and my bed reassembled, Wren was cleaned and weighed.

Wren Debra Paczosa weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 oz and was 20 in long. She was officially born at 5:36 pm on December 18, 2011.

She is so loved.