Rachel's Labor and Delivery Story

So the other day I finally got inspired to chronicle our children's birth stories (sad I know...it took me 9 months to do Rachel's, and Caleb's isn't even done yet), so I thought I would post Rachel's to start. Not all of the family who follows this blog has heard this story in detail, so I thought it might be a fun read for anyone who is interested. It's super long though so be warned! :) Caleb's story will hopefully be posted soon!

Rachel Joy Drapeau was due on July 19^th, 2009. We had a scheduled induction with Caleb because he was a week overdue, and we anticipated that Rachel might be the same way. Apparently our babies like to stay in the womb! On July 24^th, 2009 (5 days overdue) we prepared to meet our little girl as we had a scheduled induction for 7:00am at the Salem Hospital “Birthplace” that day (and we figured labor wouldn’t last all day, considering Caleb’s labor and delivery was only a total of 9 hours). Grammy and Pops were already in town all set to take care of Caleb, and we called the hospital around 6:30am to see if there was room to take us. The head nurse wasn’t sure so she told us she would call us back. While waiting for the call, we decided that we would head out for some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts to relax a little bit and enjoy the morning together to kill time while we waited. We also figured this would be best since Caleb was not awake yet, and it would be less traumatic for him to have to say an official goodbye. After eating breakfast, and the time being 8:30am with no phone call still, Jason drove us out to Winter Island and we both read for a little while to calm our nerves (again something to do as to not upset Caleb). It was raining and there was a nice peace about that time for us to center ourselves, read and pray a little. I (Val) was brushing up on some labor techniques in What To Expect When You’re Expecting, and Jason was reading something seminary related. Around 9am, after waiting over 2 hours and not hearing anything from the hospital, we decided to call ourselves to check back in. The head nurses were switching shifts, so they told us they would have the new head nurse call back shortly, and she did. They told us that they would be ready to take us at 11:00am. Since I barely slept the night before (typical for me when big events are happening) we decided to head back to the house and take a nap, even with the possibility that it would make things harder on Caleb. When we got there Caleb was eating breakfast with Grammy and Pops and was in a good mood. We slept from 9:15 to 10:30am or so, and then got ready to head out to the hospital to officially check in. Saying goodbye to Caleb was probably tougher for us than it was for him, because we knew that we would not see him for a few days (he didn’t know that, but we had planned for him not to come to the hospital, but rather meet Rachel and see us again when we came home for the first time). We arrived at the hospital at 11am and checked in. They took us to a room and the process finally began with Dr. Justine Gelinas (the same doctor who delivered Caleb happened to be on at the time) checking my cervix around 11:20am. I was 3cm. dilated and 80% effaced at this point. Over the next 2 hours the nurses commenced the in-room check-in questions and set-up of the heart monitors and such, and waited for the doctor’s approval to officially start the induction. At 1:50pm, Pitocin was administered. After about ½ hour of contractions, I asked if I could move to a rocking chair (on recommendation from my Pastor’s wife Dawn who said it worked wonders) and they allowed me to do so because they were still able to find Rachel’s heart rate there. With Caleb I wasn’t allowed to be on a birthing ball or pretty much labor anywhere because they couldn’t find his heartbeat unless I was lying down in the bed, so I was excited. While rocking we watched TLC’s “A Baby Story” (ironic I know, watching women labor while in labor). The contractions continued to get more intense and I was feeling some pain in my lower back (I had serious back labor with Caleb, and this pain felt the same). At 3:15pm my water broke on it’s own (gushing just like with Caleb!) and I asked for an epidural because the pain was getting intense, especially with the concentration of it being in my lower back, in the same area my back surgery was. At 3:20pm, Dr. Gelinas checked my cervix again, and I was only 4 cm. dilated at this time. We were a little shocked that things hadn’t moved along that much. At this point, I had moved back to the bed because first of all, the rocking chair was gross after my water breaking, and also so I could have my cervix checked as I said. I stayed in bed, laboring on my left side, squeezing Jason’s hand during the contractions while still watching some TLC during the break in contractions. After 20 or 30 minutes going by with me asking why it was taking the anesthesiologist so long, I started experiencing even more intense pain (little did I know what was about to happen!), and I started to feel nauseous. The anesthesiologist finally arrived about 35 minutes after asking for the epidural, which was around 3:50pm. They sat me up on the edge of the bed to prep my back for the numbing shots before the main epidural needle and administered those between contractions. While they were preparing to put the epidural needle in, I told them I felt very nauseous and they waited a minute to let that pass (as to not put the needle in when I might throw up and possibly injure me). When there was a break in the contractions/nausea they told me they were going to try to put the epidural needle in, and they were just about to do so when I threw my hand behind my back to stop them and said, “I think the baby’s coming!” I was feeling intense pain and a lot of pressure, so I was thinking it was Rachel’s head. You can imagine that everybody in the room thought I was crazy because only 40 minutes before they checked me and I was only 4 cm. dilated. The assisting nurse checked then and there, and could feel Rachel’s head while I was sitting. They turned me on my right side while they were getting ready to check my cervix again and I felt the strong urge to push (frankly, I wasn’t even trying, it was happening on it’s own…stopping a baby delivering naturally is like trying to stop a freight train!). All the while I was screaming, “Somebody help me!” and totally freaking out from the pain. So after another huge contraction, they had me turn to go back on my back to check me, and I was 10 cm. dilated, fully effaced and Rachel’s head was visible. She was definitely coming that’s for sure! The epidural procedure was ceased. I was not mentally prepared at all to have Rachel naturally, as we were expecting to have time to get an epidural like we did with Caleb. Jason asked a nurse near him if there was anything they could give me. They just quietly shook their head no and kind of gave the “she has to do this” look to him. Dr. Gelinas encouraged me by saying something like, “Valerie, I don’t think we’re going to be able to give you anything, so you’re going to have to do this on your own.” All of a sudden they were preparing for me to push, and Jason was on my left side coaching me as I pushed (Jason was holding one leg, and I think one of the nurses was holding my other leg at this time), and they all said, “Push!” It’s funny to say, but in that moment I was in so much pain and so all over the place mentally with everything happening so fast, I wasn’t even thinking, “Ok, time to push now” so I’m glad they said that. So I pushed 2 more times and Rachel’s head came out, and with one final push she fully delivered at 4:11pm. Dr. Justine Gelinas delivered Rachel just as she had Caleb. It’s crazy to think I went from 4cm. to 10cm. in a matter of 40 minutes, there were only four total pushes (including the one before they turned me on my back), and only 2 hours and 21 minutes of labor from when they began the Pitocin to when Rachel officially arrived. She weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. (one ounce more than Caleb) and was 21 inches long (only ¼ of an inch shorter than Caleb…they were almost the exact same sized baby at birth). What a blessing she is to us!