The Birth of Alex Joshua Scott
born 10/18/96
9 lbs. 8 oz., 22 1/4 inches long

This story (told from Lisa's perspective) is long, but so was the labor!

Thursday, October 17th 1996

3:00 AM Really mild contractions seemed to be coming at a definite interval so Matt & I started to time them. They were consistently 5 minutes apart. I also got up and walked around to make sure that the contractions didn't go away or were just Braxton Hicks contractions. They felt different from the BH ones. I was glad that labor began when Matt was home - no need to worry about how to get a hold of him, when to have him come home from work, etc.
5:00 AM By this time we were sure that these were real contractions and decided to wake up Mom (Matt's Mom) and Grandma (Matt's Grandma) to let them know what was going on and let them know that we were going to call the midwife. They had been here visiting/hoping this baby would be born on a timely schedule. They were supposed to fly back home that afternoon, but we changed that!
5:30 AM Talked with Lori who was the midwife on call. She said that we sounded like we were in early labor and that we needed to progress further before coming in. She suggested we take a walk or do nipple stimulation to speed up labor and keep her up to date with any changes.
7:45 AM My water broke - quite a strange feeling. It wasn't a huge flood, but a small gush that continued off and on.
8:00 AM Called Lori to let her know that my water had broken. The contractions were about the same (5 minutes apart, 30 - 45 seconds in duration) and I could easily tolerate them. Mom & Grandma were ready to rush off to the birth center (apparently you were rushed into the delivery room at this point in Mom's time), but we still had plenty of time to labor at home.
8:30 AM For the next several hours we went for a few short walks, showered, rested a bit, did some nipple stimulation, and even found time to play some dominos and eat an Oatmeal breakfast. Grandma placed a bet that the baby would born by noon, and Mom said 2:30 p.m. HA!!!
10:00 AM During our walks and domino playing I decided that it would be best that if we don't need to go in any earlier, we should at least keep our 12:30 midwife appointment that we had previously scheduled. So around now, we called Lori and gave her an update and verified that we should indeed come in for our 12:30 appointment.
11:45 AM Matt, Mom, Grandma, and I all headed for Pittsburgh for my 12:30 appointment.
12:35 PM We arrived at the Birth Place and went upstairs to see Lori; by this time the contractions had become slightly more intense, but were still following the same definite pattern. Lori talked with us and did a speculum exam that determined that I was about 1cm dilated and 70-90% effaced. I was surprised at this since this is where I was at my last weekly checkup, but Lori said that this kind of exam isnŐt as accurate since it's only by looking. She didn't feel to check since the water had broken. Lori also confirmed that the fluid was indeed amniotic fluid so yes, my water had definitely broken. Lori then suggested that we go take a nice long walk to pick up the pace and come back in a few hours to see how things were progressing.
2:00 PM We all then got into the car and drove up to Schenley park. We were looking for a nice place to walk that had good access to a bathroom. Luckily we found a nice track area that had a .6 mile and a .25 mile track, with a bathroom at one end. So for the next several hours Matt and I slowly walked around each the tracks. First the .6 mile track then a few laps around the .25 mile track. My walking pace was definitely getting slower, and when walking around the .25 mile track I had to stop when the contractions came. Good signs - contractions were increasing in intensity, but this is also when the back labor began.
4:00 PM We all went back to the Birth Place where Lori meet us in the foyer. The contractions had increased in intensity and were still on a regular cycle, however, they still didn't last long enough in duration to require us to stay there. Since we live 45 minutes away (with NO traffic) we decided to go to Katie's (Matt's sister) apartment (about 15 minutes away) with the instructions to try and get some rest and wait for the contractions to become longer in duration. In addition, we were given 2 containers of castor oil to take in a few hours if the contractions didn't pick up. This arrangement worked out great since Katie wasn't home and we didn't have to worry about a long drive in later.
4:30 PM Arrived at Katie's and tried to relax. The contractions were picking up in intensity and frequency (about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes apart), but the duration was still only 35-45 seconds, and Lori told us that we were looking for 60-90 sec durations. For the next several hours we tried to get some food in us and tried to get some rest. My back pain was becoming worse during the contractions and Mom and Matt took turns rubbing my sore back. What good back rubbers they were!! They were trained in no time on exactly where the rub and to press HARD.
5:30 PM I had started to have an increase in bloody show and so we wanted to call Lori again. Lori told us that these were all good signs, but we still needed to increase the duration of the contractions. Being on my hands and knees helped some for the back pain, but I still needed Matt to rub my back. I also really focused on totally relaxing in between the contractions, which seemed to help alot. I figured I would need all the energy possible for later.
7:30 PM The contractions were getting more and more intense and I had to really, really focus on each contraction. Okay, I absolutely couldn't do anything besides squat and breathe once the contraction began. The duration was still not consistently in the 60-90 second range (I started to wonder if it ever would be!), but we decided that we were going to call Lori and find out if we could come in, and if not, we thought that it was time to take the dreaded castor oil. This time Lori asked if we would be more comfortable at Katie's or at the Birth Place. We really wanted to get settled at the Birth Place, so Lori told us that in that case it was time to come in.
7:45 PM We all were making our way to the car as my contractions were really getting intense, including that one in the elevator. Everyone had to wait to get off the elevator since I was still there squatting, breathing, and trying to stay on top of a contraction. We drove back to the Birth Place to have our baby.
8:00 PM We arrive at the Birth Place and Lori and Matt help me from the car to the bathroom, while Mom and Grandma unloaded the gear from the car. Mom and Grandma went upstairs to hang out and wait in the waiting room. After talking with Lori for a few minutes we moved from the bathroom to the birthing room so that Lori could do a digital examination. During the exam Lori found that I still had some fore-water and was able to drain it. The exam showed that I was about 7cm dilated and 80-90% effaced. We also confirmed that baby was in the posterior position.
8:30 PM Once the remnants of water cushioning the baby's head were released the contractions immediately became more intense. Lori showed us how to use the birthing ball to sit and roll on to help the baby turn. This also saved my leg muscles since it was basically squatting (which I really liked) but with support. For the next two hours I used two different positions. The first was kneeling on the floor, leaning onto a pile of pillows on the bed. Matt pulled the rocking chair up behind me to perform the needed back massage. The second position that we moved to about half-way through was sitting on the birthing ball, in front of the bed, so I could still lean over the pile of pillows on the bed and Matt could still do the back massage. During this time period is when the contractions were the worst - some were quite difficult to get through. I kept focusing on the fact that my body was made to do this and knew what it was doing, and that each contraction brought us closer to meeting our baby. Matt was such an incredible support person and he never left me for a second. I was amazed at and apparently kept saying how incredibly good it felt in between the contractions.
10:00 PM Lori had already delivered a baby earlier and her 24hr on-call shift was over; she came in to perform another exam before she left. She wanted me to lie on my back, and I thought are you kidding??? I didn't want to lie down on my back and instead got onto my hands and knees so Lori could perform the exam. The exam showed not much change (thankfully I didn't hear this; Matt heard and was wise enough not to tell me), but Lori said that in that position, it was hard to tell. Lori suggested that I get into the Jacuzzi and that should help.
11:00 PM By this time Nancy, the next midwife on shift and the one who we saw the most during pregnancy =) , had come in and let us know that she would be delivering our baby. Nancy and Julie (such a wonderful nurse!) helped me get through some more contractions in the birth room and then led us down the hall to the Jacuzzi. After I climbed in, I decided that it felt great. By this time the back pains had gone away for the most part, but we were starting to get really exhausted. I labored in the Jacuzzi with Matt by my side for the next hour to hour and a half. During this time I was able to rest very well between the contractions. Okay, Matt playfully harasses me that I wasn't in a Jacuzzi, just a bath tub since I didn't let him turn on the jets. He asked twice if I wanted the jets on, but I said no. Basically, it felt so good as it was, so don't change it!
Friday, October 18th 1996

Midnight I started having contractions where the urge to push was starting to get very overwhelming. Nancy came in and helped us get through a few of these last big contractions in the Jacuzzi, and then she had us move back to the birth room, to see if I was ready to push.
12:30 AM Nancy did an exam and said that the baby's head was no more than about an inch or so away from coming out. This was it - time to start pushing to bring our baby out. Pushing went well, but I was REALLY tired by this point and the incredible back pain kicked back in. Apparently the baby was dragging some little body part along my spine. At our 10 day postpartum check up Nancy said that I could have saved about 30 minutes of pushing time, but I had a calm, relaxed rhythm going and the baby's heart tones were perfect, so she just let me go at a slower pace.
1:22 AM Our baby was born and set on my chest. Too incredible to describe. Julie was cleaning the baby off as Matt tried to get a clear view to determine the gender of our new baby. After a few seconds, he caught a glimpse and WE HAVE A BOY! After we took a few good looks at our son, we named him Alex Joshua Scott.
1:40 AM While still on this emotional high and not quite believing we did it, I delivered the intact placenta to complete the birth of our son. I had no drugs whatsoever and no episiotomy (my absolute worst fear). I needed a few stitches, but not bad at all considering the length of this labor and the size of that little guy's head! The midwife and nurse commented that Matt and I were an excellent team and how calm and prepared we were considering this was our first birth, and that they could easily rent him out to be a support person for other births.
Once again, long story, but it was a long labor and THE most incredible experience of my life!
All pages are copyright © 1997-1998 Matt, Lisa & Alex Scott