Jenna's Brith

Late in her pregnancy, Jeanne developed a condition called cholestasis, in which the flow of bile acids from the liver become blocked and spill over into the bloodstream. The effect on the mother is severe itching, and Jeanne sure had plenty of that, all over her body. For the baby, it can be much more serious, including stillbirth. not wanting to take any chances, the doctor decided the baby should be born as soon as possible. since jeanne was not dilated at the time, which was Monday, December 1, the doctor scheduled a C-section delivery for Wednesday, December 3.

Jeanne and I went about our business monday, which included finishing off the newly tiled kitchen floor (regrettably until 3 in the morning). tuesday morning, jeanne woke up at 5 AM to go pee, but after she stopped peeing, the pee didn't stop. although we thought it could be that her water broke, she didn't think it was. she even experienced some cramping, but they were mild, so she dismissed them as menstrual cramps, thinking contractions would be much more severe.

we went to the hospital, providence st. joseph's in burbank, to pre-check-in for the C-section the next morning. after that, we decided to swing by the OB's office, just down the street, just in case, to check on jeanne. sure enough, her water had broken! the cramping she had experienced were likely just mild contractons, which could signal the start of labor. when the amniotic sac breaks, it releases hormones that often can get labor started soon. but she wasn't yet in labor. the cramps she felt were few and far between, and still very mild. however, because the water had been broken, the baby is no longer protected from infection, so the doctor ordered us to the hospital to administer antibiotics. jeanne could rest there, and unless labor started, we would have the C-section as scheduled at 7:30 AM the next day.

we checked into the hospital around 4pm, and we placed into a very nice delivery room. monitors were placed on jeanne's abdomen that monitored the baby's heartrate and also tracked contractions. we soon found out that jeanne was in fact having regular contractions, about 5 minutes apart, but were so mild jeanne couldn't hardly feel them.

we hung out together in the room, relaxed, and watched a little tv (family guy). her parents and her sister megan arrived around 8pm, and visited for a while. at 9 PM, we all decided to head home so that jeanne could get some rest. i told her to call me if she started having real contractions.

i went home and had to pack. with her due date being december 15, we didn't have our bags packed (although the car seat was installed in the car on monday). we expected to have tuesday night to pack, but since her water broke, i had to do it myself. with list in hand, i gathered our things, packing enough for a stay until sunday, which was possible with a C-section. i finished up and hit the sack around 11:30 PM.

it was around 1 AM when i heard my phone ring... jeanne's contractions had stepped up a notch or two, and were starting to cause some pain... we debated whether i should go down to the hospital right away, or, since it would likely be a while before anything really happened, if i should get some more much-needed sleep. while on the phone, jeanne had a contraction, and after hearing, her, i grabbed our things and jumped in the car. jeanne was going into labor!

by the time i got to jeanne, (after walking all the way around the hospital with all of our bags to the after hours emergency room entrance, and going through security), it was about 2AM, and jeanne was having moderately painful contractions very regularly at 3 minutes apart. the contractions continued consistently at 3 minutes apart, with no let up. jeanne was very sleepy, and managed to get 2 minutes of sleep between each contraction, but no matter how much jeanne wanted just an extra few minutes of sleep, like clockwork, every 3 minutes, the pain would come, and jeanne would groan and writhe a little, and ride it out.

jeanne was amazing! i tried all of the things lamaze and my friends suggested to distract her from the pain. i tried talking about some of the nice days we've had together, like our trip to jamaica, or a simple day of bocce and ice cream bars down at the park. i tried talking about the wonderful days with our future baby, stepping through it learning to walk, talk, or its first birthday. jeanne didn't need any of that... in fact, after a bit, she told me it’s actually better if i just keep quiet! she used her experience with yoga to concentrate on her breathing, and focus on relaxing... i did my job of massaging her and providing physical support. although my nerves would often cause my to rub her too hard or too fast, jeanne would later say that i was a wonderful help for her...

the contractions went on like this for a couple of hours. around 4:30 AM, they started getting worse. so much so, that the pain was getting very intense, and jeanne was ready for some meds. i went out to the nurse to discuss our options. they said they could start with an analgesic (stadol), or go straight to the epidural if jeanne was far enough along. we had no idea how far along jeanne was because since her water had broken, they didn't want to check her until they had to (basically, when jeanne was ready for meds) to reduce the chance of infection. but in order to decide what we wanted to do, we needed to find out now. i requested they check her out, and they said they will be in soon.

while we were waiting for the nurse to come in, jeanne had 3 or 4 more powerful contractions. very painful, but the scary part: she now started to have the urge to push! i knew from class that this meant the baby is probably very close! the nurse came in and checked jeanne out: she was already 9 cm dilated! so much for the epidural, it was too late to have any meds, this baby was coming soon, the natural way!

the nurse said we'll wait 15 minutes until she was fully dilated (10 cm) and then we'll start the pushing process. it took just one more contraction, and it was time. they called the doctor (who was at home), and got jeanne into an upright sitting position. with the nurse grabbing one leg and i the other, and jeanne started to push.

the intention was to get the baby low enough that it is ready to be delivered by the doctor, but not actually deliver the baby, since that would likely cause a tear, and jeanne had decided she would have an episiotomy. only the doctor could do that, so we had to wait until he arrived before we delivered, which of course, we preferred anyway. after only about 2 contractions with pushing, the baby was more or less ready to come out. at this point, jeanne had to try NOT to push with each contraction. This proved to the most trying part of the whole ordeal. the contractions were stronger than ever, and with every gut-wrenching body-writhing contraction, it took every thing in jeanne's power not to push. jeanne would throw her arms around my waist, bury her head in my lap, and cry out in pain… it was trying for both of us, but i’m sure my helplessness paled in comparison to her pain… but she powered through it. i was so impressed with her!

after 30 minutes, and about 10 of these contractions, the doctor strolled in, as if without a care in the world. we got jeanne up in the stirrups, and it was on! the baby was on its way! i thought i would simply hang out by jeanne's head and offer my support, but instead the nurse asked me to grab a hold of one of her legs like i was doing when she was pushing earlier. from that position, i had a front-row seat for all of the proceedings!

after one push, i could see hair... after another, i could see the head. after another, i could see the crown of the head. at that point, the doctor started the episiotomy. now, i knew the process of birth can be gross to watch, but there has never been anything i wanted to "un-see" more than that episiotomy. future fathers, i highly recommend you look away for this one... :)

but with that done, jeanne was ready for birth… she gave another push, and the baby came very close to coming out, but not quite. just one more push would do it. so we waited for the next contraction to come... and waited... and waited... i have no idea how long it actually took, but it seemed like forever! the nurse started telling the doctor about the volunteer work she did for obama's campaign in virgina, and the doctor commented on how nice it must have been to there in virginia where obama's campaign needed support and his victory in the state wasn't a forgone conclusion. i'm trying to encourage jeanne, and for the first time all night, the contraction couldn't come soon enough!

but eventually it did, and one big push later, the baby came out. the doctor promptly placed the baby on jeanne's torso, and jeanne looked at it in bewilderment, not knowing what to do with it! the doctor handed me scissors and i cut the cord (with two, not-so-graceful strokes). we looked at each other, and wondered, what's the sex? the respiratory technician said, "i think it's a girl". they whisked her away to the warming table and cleaned her off, and confirmed:

IT's A GIRL!!! our little jenna cristina.

jeanne and i were estatic, just beaming with joy. of course, jeanne's job wasn't done, but i had forgotten all about her! i couldn't stop staring at my new baby... how wondrous to see her staring back at me in clear amazement. as the RT would wipe her, she would yell out crying... but when i touched her hand, she would stop. truly fantastic, she seemed to already know who i was, and was comforted by my touch!

when cleaned and swaddled, jeanne and i got to hold our baby. the nurse and doctor soon left us alone, and jeanne tried feeding her, with unknown success. it was a magical time for us, the start of a new family, our family, my family. the word "family" took on a whole new meaning, as did every aspect of my life.

she is so beautiful! a slight conehead, but not much disfiguration from birth. most of the people around here have been saying she looks like my, but i see much of Jeanne in her, especially in her nose and the shape of her face. she has really long fingers and toes, and the cutest dark brown-blue-black eyes…

after an hour, they took her to the nursery for cleaning and measuring. 6 lbs, 13 oz, 20 inches long. jeanne got some much needed rest, and i went off to spread the news...

so jenna came on her own time, and i expect she’ll probably do everything on her own time… she came less than two hours before the scheduled C-section, almost two weeks before her due date. it’s almost like she knew her mother had cholestasis, and decided, forget it, it’s not safe in here, i’m getting out of here! it all happened so fast, and like it or not, Jeanne ended up delivering the baby the all-natural way. i’m so proud of her, and i do believe the baby is better off, as is Jeanne. the baby entered the world alert and active. Jeanne, just hours later, was able to move and walk around on her own.

Jeanne and i are so excited about jenna, and a myriad of emotions constantly fill our souls. we are so appreciative for all of the support and advice we have received from our family and friends, and we want to thank all of you. we are excited to share our new bundle of joy with all of you, but for now, enjoy the pics.