Birth Story
I’m here!
I’ll see how much I can get through to share…
Wed morning I decided that we would ask the doc to induce that day. I knew he would insist on inducing either Thurs of Fri & I knew that if I set a date in the future I wouldn’t be able to rest unitl then. As well as the lactation consultant at the hospital would not be there if we waited another day. Charlie & I had both slept well & I was ready to just go for it.
When the doc checked at the 8:40 a.m. appointment I was 3cm & 50% effaced, he aggreed to the induction & told us to go to the hospital. He wanted to induce w/ Pitocin & come later to break my water - at first I agreed but when we arrived @ the hospital I asked that we wait & just try to break my water & see how things progressed before using Pit. The doc agreed, but insisted it would be a LONG labor. When he came to break my water at 12:35 he checked me again & I was 3+ dilated & 70% effaced. After my water broke I waited for the contractions, 2 hours went by and I felt occasional ones, but nothing significant. I was dissapointed b/c I knew that meant we would have to use Pit. The nurse came in & checked me again and to our suprise I was a “good 4cm dilated” and 80% effaced - so I was progressing even w/out many contractions - we decied not to use Pit at all.
I was never able to leave the bed except to go to the bathroom b/c from the begining they were picking up short decelerations of Elliot’s heartbeat on the monitor & suspected something going on w/ the cord. I found I was most comfortable sitting strait up almost indian style except w/ my legs not quite crossed. My mom & Charlie were on either side of me. They massaged my legs and feet during contractions.
around 2:40 I finally began active labor & got very regular strong contrax that were 2min or less apart. I feel like handled them well, focusing internally, mom & Char didn’t have to say much, their presence was comfort enough. I sometimes focused on a painting that was on the wall - it was a picture of these stairs leading up to a double archway that opened to a beautiful town by the beach. I imagined that I was climbing the stairs and the arches were motherhood - opening up to a new world for me. It was very effective visualization for contractions. I also spoke in my mind to my uterus, encouraging it to open up, it sounds weird, but I think it helped.
As the pain got more intense and the contrax came closer together I threw up around 4:00 pm and the combination of being hunched over & not breathing while throwing up sent Elliot’s heart into a decel for 4 minutes. The nurse came in & said if it happened again I’d have to have an emergency section. At that point she checked me & I was at 6cm dilated. I knew puking was a sign of transition, but it had only been a couple hours and I didn’t expect to hit transition for several more hours so I convinced myself that it couldn’t mean transition.
Oh, but it WAS & boy is it PAINFUL. I was still in denial that it was even transition. I remember thinking that I couldn’t bear the pain anymore, but I ran through the list of pain medications available in my head, and I knew I wouldn’t take any of them, so I just told Charlie that I couldn’t do it. Of course we knew I had no choice. I stayed sitting up at this point, Charlie standing beside me and I rested my head against his stomach, it felt so good to have him close. As I was dealing w/ constant contrax Elliot’s heart deceled once again & they began preparing me for the emergency section - at this point I was dilated to 9. They put me on my side and the contractions were more painful than ever - I squeezed Charlie’s hand so hard during them I’m sure he thought it was going to break. As they began wheeling me out of the room down the hall I said “I have to push!” once on the operating table I kept insisting I had to push, they checked me & said if I did push good I could do it vaginally. The urge to push was so much stronger than I imagined it would be. I thought it would be similiar to having to go to the bathroom, but no, it is feirce! My whole body would litteraly bear down automatically, like an involuntary spasm. So I pushed with everything I had inside of me. After one push I heart the nurses exclaim that he was almost crowning and it gave me even more hope. Finally, Charlie was allowed in & he held one leg while I pushed and a nurse held the other. It wasn’t the most comfortable, delivering on a hard operating table, but it was way better than a c-section. The doctor gave me an episiotomy and used the vacuum to get his head out quickly. When his head came out they saw that the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his little neck. Charlie got to cut the cord right of the neck! Next I pushed his little body out, it was a slipery feeling. They put him right on my che st, and his warm little body laying on me was the most and wonderful feeling I’ve ever known. I pushed the placenta out & the doctor took Elliot to examen him. He scored an 8,9 on his apgars.
He was born at 5:25 and I was SHOCKED to have had about a 3 hour labor if you count from where I began feeling regular, painful contrax. Praise to God for causing it all to go quickly enough to escape the knife!
My doc didn’t make it in time to deliver, but I liked the doc who did deliver. He was actually the doctor who delivered my little brother 16 years ago. My doc showed up just after he was born, having jogged as fast as he could to make it. All he told me was “boy when you put your mind to something you really do it” - It was a fantastic compliment. His prediction of a long labor if I only broke my water was certainly a wrong one!
Elliot is nursing fantastically and we are just so in love with this little guy. So far he is a very EASY baby - keeping my fingers crossed!
