"My water broke"At a little after 1pm, I got a call at work from Kerri - she told me not to rush home, but that her water had broken. Many of you know already that Kerri and I had been attending Bradley Method classes. The Bradley Method stresses the role of the husband in keeping the mother calm and helping to progress labor, so I knew I should get home soon. About three minutes later I arrived home and called our coach, Lauren Pool. Lauren told me to get Kerri up and walking (it helps to stimulate contractions) to avoid forced intervention later on.
Time for hard work
After about 3 hours of medium contractions and lots of walking, Kerri really got down to business. Her contractions got closer and more intense, and lasted for longer periods of time. Her attitude never changed from the excited Kerri we all know and love, although she was a bit more serious.
A scary change
At about 7:45pm, things got serious in a hurry. Kerri's attitude changed and she vomited twice. While Megan coached Kerri through some contractions, I snuck out to call Lauren and give her an update (and, of course, get some advice). When I returned to the bedroom, Megan told me that Kerri had begun bleeding rather heavily, and we decided that it was time to get her to the hospital. Until this moment I was the picture of composure - excited, but down-to-business and confident. When I found out about the bleeding, I'm pretty sure that my wide eyes and hyperventilation belied my icy cool appearance. I cannot stress this enough - I thought something was seriously wrong. With the worst kinds of thoughts running through my head, we rushed to Tucson Medical Center. When Kerri closed her eyes I made eye contact with Megan, whose self-control and reassurance was of great comfort to me.
To the hospital
Panicked, I walked Kerri into the hospital while Megan parked the car. When we entered the room, a huge contraction brought Kerri to her knees. As I knelt down and coached her through it, a clerk at the front desk asked, "are you here to be seen by a doctor?" and I couldn't help but laugh. As Kerri was being admitted, it was obvious that they were not used to seeing women who don't rush to the hospital the minute that they start labor - when we were making our way in, they kept asking if she needed emergency assistance!
It wasn't long before we were in a triage room to check Kerri's dilation. My worries and fears were immediately assuaged when the nurse hurriedly demanded the phone that was near Megan to exclaim, "I need a doctor - I have a patient at full dilation!". It turns out that the blood was from the cervix dilating fully, something that I thought was hours away. Kerri was wheeled into the delivery room and after a few hours of work, gave birth to Max.
Ultimately we achieved our goal of an unmedicated birth. Although the OB performed a sneak-attack episiotomy, there were very few complications. Kerri did this all with no pitocin, no epidural and no chemical intervention - and no complaint! She was truly amazing, and I'm lucky to have her.
