The Benefits of Having Toddlers Present in the Beginning Stages of Labor

My husband and I never expected to have our 19-month old son at the hospital with us when I went into labor with our daughter. We had been responsible and made arrangements ahead of time with the members of our family who would be watching him. Everyone knew my due date and knew to expect a call around then at any hour of the day or night. We had even planned on packing a suitcase for our son a week before my due date in case I went into labor early. Given the fact that our son was a week late and my labor had to be induced with him I half expected to have another scheduled delivery. Never did we consider the possibilty our daughter would decide she wanted to enter the world three weeks ahead of schedule.

On November 3, 2008 my husband came home from work for lunch as he did any other day. This day however he would not be returning. A bit earlier I experienced something that made me think I might have broken my water. I called my doctor and she told me to go to the labor and delivery unit of the hospital where I planned to deliver. I waited for my husband to get home at his usual lunchtime and we were off. I was convinced that I had overreacted and I would be sent back home so we decided to take our son with us to the hospital. Soon enough our family would have to take care of him and he would be away from us. We did not want to be seperated from him before we had to.

Upon examination at the hospital it was determined that my water had not broken, but I was 4 cm dilated. Hesitant to send me home my doctor had me walk around the unit for half an hour to see if there was any labor progression. When I was checked again I was dilated to five cm. At this time my husband took out his cell phone and proceeded to call his grandma who was our first choice as a babysitter. There was no answer. Not paniced yet, he called his step-mom. There was no answer there either. At this point we started to get nervous.

One of my fears throughout my pregnancy had been my having to go through labor and delivery alone because we would not be able to get a babysitter and my husband would have to be with our son rather than in the delivery room. As hours passed and no one was answering the phone I was afraid that my fears were coming true.

I was lucky in a sense that my labor progressed very slowly. Though I was having some mild contractions I was not in a great deal of pain. My doctor wanted to avoid giving me Pitocin unless he absolutely had to so he told the nurses to have me continue to walk around the unit in hopes my labor would progress on its own. There I was, dressed in a hospital gown with my belly round and swollen, walking circles around the labor and delivery floor with my toddler son next to me holding my hand. It was not how I had planned it but looking back I would not have changed a thing. My son was with me for almost three hours before my husband's father came to the hospital to get him. He was his usual adorable, smiling self and quickly won over the nurses. He would wave and say Hi! to them every time we passed the nursing station and after a few laps one of the nurses came and gave him a juice box and graham crackers from the refrigerator. When he started to get tired my husband lifted him up on his shoulders and we continued to walk in circles.

I was sad when I had to kiss and hug my son goodbye, but I was grateful for the precious hours I got to spend with him in those early stages of labor. It was the last time we would spend together when he would be an only child. His being there and walking with me made him a part of the birth experience without us subjecting him to the painful and gruesome side of his sister being born. It made a precious and unforgetable experience even more wonderful and amazing. I was very glad that our plans did not work out quite as smoothly as we had hoped.