Kai's birth story

Finally! Here's the story of Kai's birth!

First of all, I have to say that I'm very happy that I DID NOT have a birth plan and just decided to take things as they come from the very start. I can only recommend this because, as is obvious in our case, things can go quite differently than ever imagined.

Our story...

May 31st:
I was alone (Günni was at a birthday party) and had just gone to bed when my water broke around 11:45 pm. I called Günni to come home and then called the hospital to see which midwife was on duty. I called the midwife to see what we should do. I have to mention that I had absolutely no contractions or any other signs of labor at this point. She said that we can either come to the hospital or try to sleep for a few more hours. Since it was shortly after midnight and I was totally calm (and sleepy), I opted for sleep at home - thinking in the back of my mind that we might not get much sleep anyway.

June 1st:
Well, I was wrong. We slept peacefully until around 8:00 am. Still nothing happening. I knew that a midwife would be at the hospital at 10:00 anyway, so Günni and I had breakfast, and then we made our way to the hospital shortly before 10:00.

When we arrived, we found the midwife (not the one I had spoken to on the phone), and she was quite surprised when I told her my water had broken about 10 hours ago! We went into an examination room where she checked out the situation. Since she found that, indeed, my water had broken, I was not allowed to go home and she checked me into a room. After that, all we could do was wait, wait, wait. I was told that if the contractions didn't start on their own, I would be induced in the morning.

Günni and I spent the day killing time. We drank coffee and ate cake in the cafeteria, walked around a bit, hung out in the room, etc. Around 10:30 pm, there was still no activity, so I told Günni to go home and that I would call him if anything should change.

I got ready for bed and had maybe closed my eyes for about 15 minutes when the contractions started on their own. Almost 24 hours after my water had broken! I decided to write down how far apart they were before I took any action. I did this for one hour. The contractions were immediately pretty regular and consistent at around every 5 minutes, so I told the night nurse what was going on. She later hooked me up to the CTG.

June 2nd:
Around 3:00 am, the contractions were still regular, so the nurse called the midwife and I called Günni. Both arrived around 3:30 am.

Labor continued pretty uneventfully. Every few hours, I was hooked up to the CTG to check the contractions and baby's heartbeat. The contractions were strong and regular - as they should be. The pain was bearable. At the beginning, I had a nice hot water bottle in bed, which felt good. A few hours later, I took a warm bath. I honestly expected more from the bath. The contractions were not as frequent, but just as strong in the warm water. Hours passed, the contractions got stronger, but I wasn't dilating very fast. The midwife told me that the doctor was going to come and check on our progress. By the time he arrived, I was at the point where I was willing to get something for the pain. He checked the progress and came to the conclusion that we had made no progress. We were basically "stuck" at 6 cm. He told me that we could continue trying, but he wasn't optimistic that we would get any further, so he suggested a C-section. When that had been decided and the doctor and midwife were making first preparations, I had a little emotional breakdown. I think it was a combination of pain, lack of sleep (I lost a full night of sleep and had been up almost 30 hours!), general emotions, and the fact that my worst fear (C-Section) was coming true. I wasn't so much afraid of the actual operation, but rather that I would black-out during. This fear was not ungrounded because I've even blacked out at the dentist after simply having a tooth pulled - even though I didn't feel anything.

A HUGE comfort was knowing that Günni was going to be allowed in the operating room with me. I was wheeled down and prepped for surgery. First, I had to drink something nasty. I didn't even ask what it was for, but I asked an anesthesiologist a few weeks later, and she said that it's usually something to calm the stomach so the patients don't throw up. Since my operation was unplanned, I was allowed to eat all day (although I didn't), so that was a precaution. Looking back, I wonder if it also had a different calming effect. I know that I was awake and I remember everything about the whole process, but I was also very at ease and slightly sleepy. I received the epidural, and it took effect very fast. It felt like a warm liquid running through my legs. They quickly had me on the table and made the last preparations. At one point, I remember Günni suddenly being behind me and rubbing my shoulders.

It wasn't until then that I remembered that we had actually not committed to a name for our baby - at least not 100%. We had already chosen Kai Nikolas, but had actually wanted to go through a book at the hospital for other ideas. We never got around to it, so we stuck with the name - which I'm really happy with now.

I could hear everything going on around me, Günni constantly rubbed my shoulders, and I was waiting for some kind of "play-by-play" of the operation. You know, "Now, you might feel some pressure, just a few more minutes, etc." Instead, all of a sudden the doctor said, "It's a boy", and we heard Kai's first wailing. Through MY bawling after that, I also heard the doctor say, "Yes, he's a BIG boy". He was whisked away, but I could see black on his head, and I remember hoping that it was a lot of hair. After a few moments/minutes, they brought him over all wrapped up so I could see him. I'll never forget looking into his face for the very first time! :)

Günni was able to escort the midwife upstairs with Kai to clean, weigh, and measure him while I was being "put back together", which took about 30 minutes. I think at that point, I asked somebody what time it was. I had lost ALL sense of time! I was then taken to a recovery room. I was hooked up to a bag of fluid, oxygen monitor, etc. After about 10 minutes, Günni came in with Kai. I was able to hold him for the first time then. The midwife took a picture, and we just spent the next 3 1/2 hours together.

The feeling in my lower body came back fairly quickly, and the nurse kept asking me how the pain was. She gave me pain relief, but that didn't help. She gave me more, but that didn't help either. After a while, she came back and gave me something else, explaining that the liquid I was receiving the whole time was actually meant to CAUSE contractions so that my uterus would shrink back down. Ah ha! Now everything made sense! I was basically still having contractions - on purpose! I was receiving counter-intuitive medication; one to cause contractions and one for the pain. No wonder they more or less just balanced each other out. :)

After several hours in the recovery room, we were able to go back to our normal room. Once settled in, we were also FINALLY able to call people with the good news!!! I know that many people were a little worried after not hearing from us for several hours. I don't remember too many details of our first evening/night, but it involved a lot of cuddling and getting to know our little miracle. Günni was able to spend the night, which was wonderful. He was a big help since I wasn't able to move very much. All 3 of us slept pretty well - given all of the excitement.

It was a loooong process:
24 hours of nothing happening after my water broke
14 hours of active labor
Then C-Section
NO sleep for over 36 hours

However, the outcome is all that matters.
And the outcome is absolutely perfect! :)

Our very first family portrait:

Many pictures to follow soon!