Here is the very long extended version of his birth story. Don't say I didn't warn you that it was long.
On Tuesday, February 2, 2010, I decided to do some things to try and get labor moving faster. I didn’t think any of them would actually work, but I thought it couldn’t hurt anything. At this point, I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced and a -2 station (per the last doc’s appt). I took a bath, listened to relaxing music, ate spicy food for dinner, and tried some acupressure points that we learned in our Bradley class. I was feeling some Braxton Hicks contractions while in the bath, but I had been feeling them for the past 2 weeks, so I didn’t think too much of them. When I got out of the bath around 8:30, I could feel the contractions were picking up and were stronger, so we started timing them. They were about 7 minutes apart. I was secretly hoping that this was the start of labor although I was afraid it was just going to stop.
We started using our relaxation techniques. I found that I enjoyed walking around the room, stopping at the footboard of our bed during contractions. Of course I was excited so it was hard to sleep or rest at this point. Although around 11, I decided I had to get some rest if this truly was the beginning of labor. I laid down and fell asleep and then woke up to breathe through 3 contractions (about a ½ hour) and the pain was so bad while laying on the bed, that I decided I couldn’t do that anymore. I had to get up and move around. David got up with me. We decided at this point, labor was progressing (my contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart). David finished packing the bag and getting last minute things together while l labored in the bedroom. I did take a shower at one point and the pressure and heat really helped. Sometime around 2am, I started getting concerned that the car ride to the hospital would be miserable with contractions and thought we should go soon. David called our Bradley teacher and she confirmed what he was thinking…it was still a little early. So we kept going through contractions at home. I did try a few other positions like the birthing ball and the bed again, but really it was the walking and swaying that helped the best. Of course, the deep breathing and relaxation helped during a contraction.
At around 3:30am, David decided we were far enough along to go to the hospital. He told me later that he thought I wouldn’t let go and progress any further at this point because I was still at home and obviously, didn’t want a home birth. We pull into the hospital parking lot (about 10 min away) and realize that I didn’t have my insurance card, so we went all the way back home and back to the hospital. We go into the ER and they admit me and then send for a L&D nurse. They kept wanting me to sit down (I guess for liability reasons), but I just couldn’t. I did manage to ride in the wheelchair but it was not fun. At this point, my contractions did space out to about 4 min apart which worried us, but as soon as we were up in the room and dressed, they picked back up again.
Once we were admitted, my own doctor was able to come in and give me the initial exam (he was there for another delivery that morning). I was 8 cm. I was so happy that I had progressed so far on my own and that we would soon be meeting our son. This was around 5am. We continued to labor by walking around the room. They did do an initial strip of contractions and the baby’s heartbeat, but they were fine, so they took the belts off and I was able to move around again. They just used doptones about once every hour. The baby’s heartbeat was always fine, although the nurse had difficulties finding it. The pain had definitely increased and I was finding it harder and harder to breathe through them. I think at this point, I was going through transition. I kept thinking I was going to get to start pushing soon. David was giving me water after every contraction, but the nurse noticed my temp going up and thought I was getting dehydrated. Then David kicked it in high gear and made me drink water by the gulpful. I think it was only like a ½ hour and I was better, so I avoided the IV. The doctor came back to check me again and I had only progressed about another ½ cm. So disappointed. So then we discussed artificially breaking my water to speed the last cm up. We talked about the risks and benefits and decided to go ahead. After the bag of waters were broken the contractions starting picking up. A little over an hour later I started feeling the pushing urge.
We still labored and with each contraction, I was really feeling the pressure in my butt. I was also grunting a lot and starting to bear down and squat with the contractions. Finally around 10am, the doctor checked me again and I was 10 cm and could start pushing. Although he was skeptical because the baby was still really high, I think he said I was still -1 station. So I crawled into bed and they set up the bed for pushing. I did try a few other positions like lying down, squatting (using the squat bar) and hands and knees, but they were just too painful and I found the modified sitting position was best. At this point the nurse thought it would be best to have continual fetal monitoring. Since I was lying down anyway we said alright. After that, the nurse started discussing putting an internal fetal monitor on the baby since she was having problems detecting the heart rate. David immediately said no and the nurse was telling him he would have to sign a waiver and how after her 20 years of experience, we really should reconsider. The doctor overheard and picked up the Doppler and found the heartbeat immediately. He told the nurse the monitor wasn’t necessary, the baby was fine.
Pushing was a different sensation; it gave me the power to push through the contractions, versus trying to relax my whole body through them. I pushed and pushed and pushed until I thought I couldn’t push anymore. I remember looking at the clock tick by (actually it seemed to go by really fast) and thinking when is it going to be over. They kept checking me, the doctor was in the room a lot, but the baby still wasn’t coming down as fast as they liked. Then the doctor told me he thought this was a BIG baby and I was going to have trouble pushing him out. He told me I should consider getting an episiotomy. I very adamantly said no, I want to tear. So he gave me an injection so it wouldn’t hurt as bad when I did tear because he was certain I would. They also started doing the hot compresses to help prevent tearing. I’m not sure how much that helped for tearing, but it sure felt good at the time.
I pushed for about 2 hours and FINALLY, I got to the point where everyone starting getting prepared. No one told me I was close but I could tell by the way everyone was acting that I had to be getting close. Then I started getting scared because there was talk that the baby’s shoulders would be stuck on my pelvis and they would have to wiggle him out. There were a ton of people in the room at this point, between the nurses, tech people, doctor, hubby, pediatrician and then some extra ped people in case he wasn’t ok.
I pushed through the next contraction and his head crowned. I was out of contraction, so I had to wait while his head was right there. That had to be the worst pain ever mostly because there was nothing I could do to make it go away. Then the next contraction came and with 3 pushes (2 for his head and 1 for the rest of his body) he came out. They put him on my belly and I just kept saying “oh my god”. I couldn’t believe I had done it. The next thing I knew I pushed the placenta out; apparently it came out at almost the same time as Noah. What happened to 10-30 minutes for that?
Anyway, Noah was perfectly fine, no shoulder problems. I did not tear; I just had what they call a skid mark (think skinned knee). I ended up with a completely natural birth, no pain medications. The only part that didn’t go exactly according to plan was artificially breaking my water, but it was well worth it. I don’t think I was prepared to go through more hours of labor. Noah ended up being 8lb, 13oz and 21 inches, so yes, he was a big baby.
Noah did have some issues breathing at first so they gave him a couple puffs of oxygen. After 5 min they brought him back to me and we had a good hour of bonding time. After the bonding time they weighed, measured and cleaned him. Once finished they hooked him up to some machines. Those machines said his oxygen saturation levels weren’t what they were wanting, so he had to be monitored for a few hours. He seemed fine after that. I guess he just took a little longer to adjust to the real world. The nurses and doctor were fantastic, they gave us all the bonding time we wanted. They didn’t bath him, weigh him, or do any tests (other than his apgars which were 8/9) for several hours. Overall, I’m very happy with the way everything went. It was fantastic to get up right after delivery and go to the bathroom and have a quick recovery time.
