Quynh's Birth Story

I've had two children and two unmedicated births. But I can only take "credit" for the first one. Quynh's birth was so fast that they wouldn't have given me an epidural even if I had bribed the anesthesiologist. Still, her story will be told.

On May 27th, I tucked Tai into bed and said, "stay in your room until your night light turns off" instead of "come find me when your night light turns off" because I had a feeling I might not be home at 6:30 the next morning.

8pm: Minh and I sat down to watch a movie. I was having some short, mild contractions. Not unlike what I had off and on for the previous months. Still, I wondered if I might be going into labor, as I watched a woman die during childbirth in the opening scene of Benjamin Buttons. (Not the best movie choice for the occasion, in retrospect).

11pm: We finished the movie, which ends with a baby dying (again, not the best film choice that night). At this point I was pretty sure I was in labor, though Minh was still not convinced. We discussed possibly needing to call someone to come stay with Tai, but Minh figured we wouldn't need to leave for the hospital until after breakfast the next morning. I disagreed and, in preparation for a long night, I ate a giant bowl of Cheerios and went to lay down and rest.

11:30pm: I got back up, certain I was in labor. Spent a few minutes convincing my husband of this fact. Next I called the doula to warn her that she too was in for a long, sleepless night. Then I got down to serious business -- washing dishes, changing the sheets on our bed, packing Tai's lunch for the next day, and ordering Minh around. Minh, finally convinced this was the real deal, ate a bowl of instant noodles and then opened up the Bradley Natural Childbirth book and began cramming for the final exam.

12:00am: Minh arranged for our friend Scott to come stay in our bed and take care of Tai in the morning. Then he called the doctor and described the nature and frequency of my contractions. They suggested I stay home a bit longer. Minh dutifully relayed this information to me and then promptly called the doctor back and told them that his wife said we are going to the hospital NOW.

12:45am: Scott arrived and greeted me with a big smile and a "hey, how ya doin'?" (Seriously? Men, I swear.) Minh gave Scott all the necessary instructions and we pulled out of the driveway around 1am. I rode the whole way to the hospital with my eyes closed (partially because I was trying to relax, but mostly because I was scared to see how fast Minh was driving.)

1:20am: We arrived at the hospital (in record time) and Minh endured 4 contractions on the way from the car to the childbirth center. Yes, Minh endured them. For him, this meant letting me throw all my body weight on him and moan and groan, in public, while he was holding two duffel bags, two pillows, and trying to act casual. The folks smoking their cigarettes in the parking lot outside the ER gave us funny looks, I think. But seriously, Minh was a rock star of a hubby during all this, making sure I had whatever I needed. He didn't even piss me off by cracking a stupid joke (this time).

1:40 am: I received the most wonderful news--that I was 9.5 cm along and could pretty much push right away.

1:45am - 2:55am: Lots of messy details no one needs. A grouchy OB, a wonderful husband, a helpful doula, and I somehow managed to get Quynh born. There was yelling and swearing as I attempted to educate the OB on my pioneer valley hippy-dippy views about unmedicated birth while giving birth. And then we forgot to ask for the placenta until after they had cleaned up the room and our doula went running out into the hallway to track it down. The folks at that hospital undoubtedly think we are truly weird.

7:30am: I talked to Scott and learned that, upon waking and finding him in our bed, Tai burst out with laughter. We had been worried that it would be traumatic for him to see someone else in our place, but apparently not. Minh then began to wonder if perhaps that was not the first time Tai has seen Scott in our bed. But Quynh looks decidedly Vietnamese, so no paternity tests have been ordered.

Friday May 30th: As we headed home as a family of four, we stopped at the nurses' station to say goodbye. They said, "come see us again sometime" and Minh promptly replied "hell no!" We are done. This will be the last birth story I write.