This post may be a little graphic and too much information for some so please don’t bother reading if you don’t want to know the true gory details of Brooklyn’s birth.
Our baby was due Friday October 3. Jackie spent the week leading up to D-Day taking long walks with their dog Chance and staying as active as possible.
She went to the fabric store on Thursday to buy supplies to make the crib bedskirt, hoping that making the plans would be enough to convince baby girl it was time to come.
On Thursday Jackie believed she began to lose her mucus plug since she saw some pink when she wiped which at least meant some progress was happening but it still could be days before the baby came.
Contractions began Saturday night and got as close as 6 minutes apart. Jackie called the midwife to give them a heads up. They said to wait it out and see if they get closer to 4-5 minutes apart for an hour. Unfortunately they started to slow. They became more erratic and 15 minutes apart. No go on baby Saturday night. Jackie probably only was able to get 4 solid hours of sleep Saturday night.
The midwife called Sunday morning to make sure we were still okay. By then the contractions were still coming but were every 15-20 minutes but remained more intense and consistent. We spent Sunday watching Band of Brothers after revigorating our interest after all the Remember September events in Eindhoven surrounding Operation Market Garden. It was a nice distraction during the contractions and waiting.
Sunday night the contractions started to get stronger. They were about 10-15 minutes apart. We went up to bed around 10pm hoping to get some sleep. Jackie sat on her exercise medicine ball leaning her head over on the side of the bed while timing the contractions. They were still 10-15 minutes apart so around 11pm she decided to get into bed and try to get some sleep through them. Every 15 minutes she was awake for each contraction. They were now strong enough to no longer sleep through. At midnight she got up to use the bathroom. This is when she truly saw the bloodly show with the mucus plug release. As soon as she finished wiping, the contractions picked up. She brought the medicine ball into the bathroom (so Joe could keep sleeping) and leaned over the bathtub while timing the contractions. Within that hour they were now 4.5 minutes apart! Time to call the midwife!
Jackie made the call and the midwife on call that night was at Maxima hospital delivering another patients baby. She said she would be to the house in about an hour to check on my progress. She arrived at the house at 2:30am along with a midwife student finishing up her final year of studies. They checked me and said that I was 1 cm dilated. They suggested taking a bath and they would be back in 3 hours to check on my progress unless we notified them sooner that things seemed to be progressing quicker or if it was too much pain for Jackie. Jackie ate a snack and then got into the tub. Joe made sure the bags and car seat were ready to go. The bath was extremely relaxing and really helped alleviate some of the pressure of the contractions. The midwife came back 3 hours later and during the exam said that Jackie was 5 centimeters dilated and that it would be a good time to head to the hospital.
Joe dropped off Jackie at the hospital entrance and the midwife helped her into a wheelchair. We got the last room available at Maxima hospital in Veldhoven. Since there were so many deliveries going on, the kraamzorg nurse that does after birth care in the home for a week had to come to the hospital to help with the delivery. Jackie was very tired and would drift to sleep slightly in between the contractions. She felt very odd in the hospital. She felt like a lab rat on display with the midwife, the midwife student, the kraamzorg nurse and Joe all watching her breathe through each contraction knowing there wasn’t much they could do to help her but tell her to relax. Around 8am they checked Jackie and she was 6cm dilated. They decided to break her water to help speed up the delivery. At 9:45am Jackie was 8cm. This is when the contractions began to be really painful. Jackie was managing the pain well with relaxation breathing. During each contraction she would focus on it as a rush of energy like an ocean wave rushing over her waiting for her. She would envision herself anxiously waiting for the peak of the ocean wave to arrive at the height of the contraction and then ride it back to shore as the contraction lessened. It was a very calming vision for her. As she became further dilated, closer to being able to push the pain became more extreme. Joe offered his hand for her to hold for support. He played our song that we danced to at our wedding (“You and Me” by Lifehouse).
Joe was incredibly nice the entire time and was strong support system for Jackie.
The last few contractions before Jackie was fully dilated at 10cm were the hardest. She felt the urge to push badly.
When it was finally time to push she wasn’t very effective. Joe had to remind her during pushing to keep her chin down on her chest, keep her eyes open and hold in each breath while she pushed. After 32 hours of relaxation breathing it was hard for her to switch for slowly releasing air to holding it. It is not like pooping like they say. That push you don’t have to worry about tensing your other muscles and closing your eyes, but in labor you do so you don’t waste any unnecessary energy or risk having bloodshot eyes afterwards.
After each push the midwife would use the doppler to monitor the baby girl’s heartbeat. It was extremely hot during the pushing. The bright lights over the exam bed were really warm. Between each push Joe would put a new wet cloth on the forehead and chest to help cool her down.
Jackie’s contractions had started to spread further and further apart and she was getting extremely tired from pushing. The midwife suggested to bring in a doctor after an hour of pushing. That motivated Jackie to push with everything she had to get her little girl out of the birth canal. We were worried they were going to decide we had to do a C-section. By the time the doctor was in the room they said they could see the hair on her head.
The doctor placed in an IV to administer the pictocin which emulates oxycotin to induce labor and keep the contractions coming steadily. The doctor listened more continuously to the baby’s heartbeat through a different monitor once the drugs were administered to make sure the baby wasn’t distressed.
The doctor numbed Jackie and then cut her.
Brooklyn Grace Liang was born at 12:53pm.
They immediately put her on Jackie’s belly. We couldn’t have been more proud to meet this little girl.
At that moment it didn’t matter that Jackie had to have an episiotomy (2nd degree), our baby girl was safely out and healthy.
Joe cut the umbilical cord.
One more small push and the placenta was delivered. They asked us if we wanted to see it. We really didn’t but they made it seem odd that we didn’t so Jackie agreed. They then asked if we were planning to keep the placenta. I guess that is the norm in the Netherlands…
The stitches of the skin and muscle afterwards were extremely painful.
If it hadn’t been for this beautiful angel in Jackie’s arms, she might have been crying too from the pain.
We are In love already
She immediately began to latch and suck when placed properly on Jackie’s chest by her boob.
Brooklyn weighed 3460 grams (that is 7lb 10oz in “American”)
We estimated a few days after her birth that she was 19.5 inches long.
Daddy and his girl
Brooklyn dressed and snuggly
We had the duck there from our birthing class to remind Joe to be nice.
While Joe was at home letting Chance out and giving her some breakfast, Jackie got some sleepy snuggles with Brooklyn.
Brooklyn with her hands around her face just like in all our ultrasound sessions
Brooklyn in her carseat ready to leave the hospital room.
Brooklyn in the car, ready to come home.
There is a HUGE perk to having a baby while living in the Netherlands. Mothers are entitled to an after-care program, a kraamzorg, who is a maternity nurse who visits the home daily to look after the baby, provide practical advice if needed and help with the general house chores. Our insurance covers the kraamzorg’s help care for mom and baby and her basic cleaning and laundry. We refer to her as Joe's new best friend.
Joke, our kraamzorg was at the hospital for the birth to assist since all the nursing staff were busy with other maternity room births. We did not realize at the time that she would be the same one coming to our house for the next week.
Joke told Jackie to stay on the first floor for the first few days and to avoid taking the stairs since the pelvis bones had been through so much. Joke brought breakfast and lunch to her each day. Joe handled dinner duty. She watched the baby so Jackie could shower each day. She showed us how to bathe Brooklyn. She vacuumed every other day. She did all the laundry. She changed the bedding every other day while Jackie showered. She ironed the sheets. Yes let me say that again. SHE IRONED THE SHEETS! Craziness. Who irons sheets?! We told her she didn’t need to but she said she needed something to do since everything was going so well with Brooklyn and momma.
One other perk to having babies in the Netherlands is a maternity leave of 16 weeks. Mothers are required to stop working 4 weeks prior to their due date.
Breastfeeding is going great so far. My milk has already come in and she is going a good job latching, sucking and swallowing.
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