Malia Christine Makanani's Birth Story

40 hours old and Shane and I still cannot wipe the smiles off of our faces. We are so in love with Miss Malia, and although we are still at the hospital (to be explained in the birth story) we are happy to have this time with her. This quiet, peaceful, take-it-all-in-because-things-are-about-to-get-crazy time. Although Thursday had NOTHING to do with the birth of Malia, I am going to start out there, because it had a lot to do with her labor.

The Flu
I woke up about 6am'ish on Thursday morning not feeling very hot. Shane went to work and I was left to my normal work day - taking care of my energetic almost 21 month old.  He was full of energy and I could just feel the flu coming on....about an hour later I was in the bathroom and it was all coming out.  And every subsequent 10-15 minutes, it was coming out with all it's rage. Finally, at about 9:30am I called Shane and begged him to come home, I could barely pick myself off of the bathroom floor. Shane came home and relieved me and I went straight to bed where I stayed ALL.DAY.LONG. Besides the 100 or so trips to the bathroom, I was in bed.  Finally, after a full day of the flu and feeling completely wiped out from dehydration and exhaustion, I started to feel like I was beating this flu thing - this was about 9pm. But I stayed in bed and tried to sleep, however, my hips started aching really bad - and I thought it must be the "aches" that come with the flu. I went downstairs to where Shane was sleeping and asked him to massage my hips (they really hurt). That's when he informed me that he had just thrown up and he was feeling the flu come on. Great.

Oh Sh*t, it's Time
At 12pm I was awoken by a pretty intense contraction. I had been having pretty consistent (but not time-able) Braxton Hicks contractions now for a few weeks, so I just figured it was that; but this one actually had "pain" attached do it.  Since I had to work the following day and Shane had a full day of meetings ahead, I tried to "ignore" the contraction....but then a few minutes later, along came another one......and then they were spaced out about every 10-15 minutes. By 12:30am I figured they had gone away and tried to go back to sleep.  By 12:45am, they were coming about every 5 minutes - can't ignore them anymore I thought, time to tell Shane. At 1am I went downstairs and said, "honey, I'm having contractions and I think we should time them". Shane, still feeling flu-like and just woken up after he had been woken up 2 hours prior to "massage my hips" was not happy - but popped up and started timing with me.  Consistently, the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and lasting 40-60 seconds.  We decided that for the sake of all of the people involved in Malia's birth, this BETTER be the real thing, so we timed them for about 45 minutes - at 1:45am we called the FMC (Evergreen's Family Maternity Center) to let them know our situation - they advised we come in.  Following that call was a call to Shane's mom & sister to come over and be with Jackson.  Soon after, we called my mom - my labor coach, and following her was Justine - our birth photographer. 

My original birth plan was to labor at home as long as possible (like I did with Jackson). However, that dream died when my doctor told me I tested positive for Group B Strep.  Basically, he advised that with my history of a short labor with Jackson, that I get to the hospital immediately following my water breaking or feeling my first contraction because I had to be given antibiotics intravenously 4 hours PRIOR to the birth of my child for her to not get the infection during childbirth.  So once we got the go ahead to come into the hospital - we got in the car and headed straight there- my pain level was probably at a 4.

Labor of Love
Upon arrival at the hospital at 2:15am, I did what I told myself I wouldn't do - I cried. I did this last time with Jackson and I can't describe what I was feeling. Unprepared?  Scared? Anxious? Terrified? Excitement? Nervousness? Pain? Yes to all of the above. Poor Shane was caught off guard, but just sat on the floor with me and held me as I cried these tears I couldn't explain. We checked in and were brought to our room where we were met by my mom and Justine.  At this point my pain was getting a little worse, but all of the nurses knew that my plan was to try and go natural with the birth. I love that all of the nurses thought it was so awesome (that wasn't the case with Jackson).  The nurses also knew that I tested positive for GBS, so that was first and foremost with getting me set up for delivering Malia.  They ordered the penicillin and started to get the IV going.....or tried rather.  After 3 tries and 2 different nurses, they had to call in anesthesiology to get the job done.  Since I was so dehydrated from the flu (I hadn't peed in over 24 hours), they couldn't find a vein.  I have to say, that was the most pain I have felt in a long time (besides natural childbirth), the pain of an IV needle.....4 times.  The anesthesiologist finally got the needle and antibiotics started at 3:15am. I was checked by the nurse and was told I was 4cm dilated. My pain level was probably at a 6.

During all of the attempts to find a good vein, I was bearing through each contraction - mom on one side, Shane on the other, the nurse getting everything set up and Justine taking photos.  My doctor arrived, checked out my chart and instantly told the nurse she wasn't going anywhere - which sounded to me like my labor was going to be pretty short. I have to say, in comparison to Jackson's labor - Malia's was pretty easy. Each contraction I felt coming on, my mom would tell me to relax every part of my body while talking me through every second and Shane would get me to breathe right and with each of his breaths. We had a good rhythm going and I felt pretty good that I was progressing the way I had hoped.  About 45 minutes later, my doctor (Dr. Russell) let me know that whenever felt the need to push, that I should....it was almost moments later I felt the pressure and my pain level went to about an 8. Dr. Russell checked me and I was 9cm dilated and my water had broken - but she said that it should be an overwhelming its-all-I-can-do-not-to-push kind of a feeling, which I wasn't at yet, but I could definitely feel pressure. So I think it was about one more contraction and I said I needed to push - so that's what I did.  And continued to do through the next SEVERAL contractions.

Pushing Through the Pain
It was about 4:00am the pushing began. Once a contraction started, the cycle of pushes began - and I pushed about 3x for 10 seconds long each contraction.  It felt like every push, I was going backwards - and it was all I could do NOT to pass out. By the 4th or 5th contraction - I felt defeated, I didn't have any energy left to push - that's when my doctor got down in the mix and noticed that part of my cervix was "in the way" so she had to move it with her finger during the next contraction, during my next push.  So I pushed on with my pain level being off the charts, still feeling like I wasn't making any headway, and getting weaker and weaker with each push I put my all into. Then, Dr. Russell discovered that there was still a partial bag of water left inside of me - so she broke it. That helped with the next few contractions - I felt like I was making a smidge more progress.  At one point another nurse joined the room and it felt like I had an entire audience watching this show that I wasn't performing my best at - all were cheering me on and telling me I could do it, and I just needed to keep pushing. But the words were almost useless considering how weak I was.  But I kept my eyes and ears on Shane - he was my focus point, he was my center. 

I could feel every move Malia was making on her way through my body, I could see when her head was moving down and when her legs were getting lower, and although I knew I was progressing, the pain was unbearable and that's when the "I can't do this anymore" set in. I must've said that phrase about 20 times - I'm sure everyone in the room was sick of hearing it.  But I pushed on. At about 4:30am I was finally able to feel Malia's head reach the crowning position and reached down to touch her head - it was amazing and I knew it was almost "over". However, I needed to try a different position with getting her out - so it was suggested that I grab my legs (along with Shane and my mom grabbing a leg each) and pull myself. This helped with getting her out, but then the leg cramps (caused from the dehydration) began. So with each push, came a leg cramp that my mom had to massage while holding my leg up and counting out each push.  Shane was on the other side holding my other leg, getting me to breath correctly and holding up my sweaty neck - they definitely had their work cut out for them. Dr. Russell kept saying, "Push so hard she comes out hitting me in the face". It was a good visual and definitely made everyone in the room laugh - but it was still so difficult, I had NO energy.  So between the next 3 more of the hardest contractions of my life, of to which I said, "It feels like I am pushing a bowling ball out my butthole" Dr. Russell encouraged me to rest, close my eyes and go to my happy place - so I did. At the height of the 3rd contraction Malia's head popped out - turning 180 degrees from sunny side up to facing down - AHA! The culprit in the matter. One more push and at 4:43am she came falling out of my body and blood and other bodily fluids came shooting out, hitting all involved. Dr. Russell said that her being sunny side up was the reason it took her so long to get her out, which made me feel a lot better.

The Reason for Being Alive
Immediately after delivering Malia she was put right on my chest, her eyes wide open and staring right at her mama. In that moment, I knew that everything I just did, every moment of doubt, every contraction, every leg cramp, 4 IV pricks and every ounce of pain had let me to this moment - becoming a mother to this sweet little baby girl.  So innocent, perfect and wanting and NEEDING to be loved by me. Then I got dizzy and started hearing a buzzing noise....I was hyperventilating. A few minutes of oxygen and I was back to good and back to focusing on my baby girl.  The moment couldn't have been more perfect and although I knew Shane and mom wanted to hold her - they allowed me to have that moment that I worked so hard for.

After a bit, the nurses asked if I wanted her stats and of course I did. Shane followed the nurse and were told she weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. They swaddled her all up and were bringing her back to me when I asked that Shane have her. It was the moment I had been waiting to witness since the day we found out we were having a girl - the moment Shane gets to hold his baby girl. It was all that I could have asked for and more. No words were spoken, but the look he gave her and she gave him was something I will never forget - it was what he was made to do to - have a baby girl.


And the Rest is History
Since I had a difficult time nursing Jackson, that part of having a newborn made me so anxious, but I was willing to take it on. When Malia was ready to eat, I took a deep breath and gave it a shot - instant latch! It's like she has been doing it forever and she was teaching ME how to do it right.  We were meant for each other.
Also, since I didn't have 4 hours of antibiotics to treat my GBS, we have to stay an additional 24 hours in the hospital to monitor Malia - just to make sure she didn't get the infection during childbirth. We are now on hour 40 and there are no signs (fingers crossed) so we should be discharged tomorrow.  The nurses, doctors and staff have been beyond awesome here at the hospital. Super accommodating, so nice and offer the help and advice we need and more. We will definitely deliver here again......in MANY years! For now, we are just going to enjoy our 2 healthy, happy, amazing children.....wow, I just said "children" as in plural.  Get ready for some interesting posts to come. Our adventure of 2 under 2 has begun, and there is no looking back.