Birth Story--I'll fix the formatting later
..and this is the somewhat edited version--just the facts, ma'am. ;) Full version available by request.
The very basic facts:
Labor time: 10 hours
Labor places: 5.5 hours at home, 1 hour in car/in birth center, 3 hours in tub, 30 minutes on bed
push time: 10 minutes
No medications for pain
no episiotomy
no tears at all (no stitches)
Birthed the Placenta before cuting the cord
Baby latched on within 30 minutes of birth.
Molly Diana
Born 10:01pm on 12/28/05 (edd 1/4/05)
6lbs 12oz 17 3/4 inches long.
The Story
At
10am I had my membranes swept even thouh I was already having cx.
Around 11am, I started having very noticeable contractions. We went to
Target, and I was walking a little funny when the cx hit, every 5-7
minutes, but trying to ignore them. We went home and Jupe made me a big
brunch. By noon I was sure that I was in early labor, and I did my
hypbirthing deepening techniques to get ready. Then I called my doula
friend to get her input, she said to stay home as long as I was feeling
comfortable, and go on about my day as normally as possible, while
taking it easy and resting. I kept checking for show or mucous plug
every time I went to the bathroom, but there never was any!
Around
3:30, I was still feeling good about being home. I did some internet
posting and surfing to "get my mind off of it." The contractions were
still coming pretty consistently and stronger, but I was feeling very
good on the whole. By 4pm I was having trouble relaxing through
contractions without the help of my hypbirthing labor meditation, so I
went down to the couch again. I called the birth center at 4:30 to let
them know I’d be coming soon. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30pm and
they put me into a room to be checked.
The nurse said my
contractions weren’t very strong, but were regular. She told me she
didn’t think that I was in labor!! HA! I told dh, “I must be a wimp
then, and if they’re going to get much worse than this just in early
labor, I don’t know if I’ll make it!” She checked my cervix and said I
was about 4cm. My BP was 159/98. She called my OB, and she said she
wanted to see me.
Connie came a few minutes later, checked me,
said I was at 5cm and said she wanted to admit me because I was
dilated, and my BP was so high. She also thought the monitor was too
high and just not picking up my cx, based on my reactions to them. She
said she’d have them get me into a room and into the tub ASAP. Thank
GOODness! I stripped and sank in up to my neck. Immediately, the
contraction pain was reduced by half. I had dh time some to make sure
they were still regular and weren't tapering off! They were 2.5 minutes
apart and about a minute to a minute and a half long.
I labored
in the tub with my hypbirth CD for about an hour, and I had this funny
feeling, “in there,” like if I just pushed a tiny bit with a
contraction, my water would break. So I did, and it did!! I told dh my
water broke, and he said, “I think I heard it!” He told the nurse. It
was 8:30 then. Labor started really progressing, I was moaning through
each contraction but still in control. 30 minutes later I told the
nurse I was feeling a lot of “pressure” down there. Then I had another
contraction and she told dh to let her know if I told him I wanted to
push or if he noticed me pushing at all.
I never really felt
like I needed to push, but dh said that I was. I was also telling him,
“okay, I want it out NOW.” He told the nurse, and she came in and said,
“why don’t you get out of the tub and on the bed so I can check your
cervix. I hadn’t been checked since I arrived at the birth center. I
told dh, “if I haven’t progressed, I’m asking for drugs.” As I said it,
I remembered that I’d read and heard people say that usually when a
woman’s been laboring a long time and suddenly feels like she can’t do
it anymore, it means she’s in transition and it’s almost over. I hoped
to GOD that was my case.
I got out of the tub and the bed looked
about a mile away, but I made it. The nurse said I was fully dilated
but had a small lip of cervix still over baby’s head. She said they’d
page the doctor, and I could push if and when I felt like it. I pushed.
I was having a really hard time holding it together and started
holding my breath and breathing very shallow. The nurse had finally got
the monitor on me, and said the baby needed me to breathe, her
heart-rate was going up. I tried to focus, the pain was unbearable. I
was writhing on the bed, trying to get comfortable, or control, or
something like that.
My OB came in checked me and said I was
fully dilated and ready to push. I don’t remember much of the next ten
minutes besides everyone telling me to bear down when I pushed, not
pull up and away from it-even though Connie said it was a normal
reaction. She said it would help if I held onto my thighs and bore down
like that. So I did that, and I BORE DOWN. I didn’t feel a “ring of
fire,” but just a ton of pressure. Then the OB said she saw a ton of
black hair and I knew I was there! I pushed hard and the head came out.
Then two more times and her shoulders finally came free with a huge
splash! I was soaked from the waist down, but I as naked so it didn't
matter. lol-- everyone surrounding me got a shower. She was up on my
belly before I knew it, and I felt the hugest sense of relief! The pain
seemed to disappear. They covered us with a towel and Jupe looked at me
and said, “It’s a girl!"
The very basic facts:
Labor time: 10 hours
Labor places: 5.5 hours at home, 1 hour in car/in birth center, 3 hours in tub, 30 minutes on bed
push time: 10 minutes
No medications for pain
no episiotomy
no tears at all (no stitches)
Birthed the Placenta before cuting the cord
Baby latched on within 30 minutes of birth.
Molly Diana
Born 10:01pm on 12/28/05 (edd 1/4/05)
6lbs 12oz 17 3/4 inches long.
The Story
At
10am I had my membranes swept even thouh I was already having cx.
Around 11am, I started having very noticeable contractions. We went to
Target, and I was walking a little funny when the cx hit, every 5-7
minutes, but trying to ignore them. We went home and Jupe made me a big
brunch. By noon I was sure that I was in early labor, and I did my
hypbirthing deepening techniques to get ready. Then I called my doula
friend to get her input, she said to stay home as long as I was feeling
comfortable, and go on about my day as normally as possible, while
taking it easy and resting. I kept checking for show or mucous plug
every time I went to the bathroom, but there never was any!
Around
3:30, I was still feeling good about being home. I did some internet
posting and surfing to "get my mind off of it." The contractions were
still coming pretty consistently and stronger, but I was feeling very
good on the whole. By 4pm I was having trouble relaxing through
contractions without the help of my hypbirthing labor meditation, so I
went down to the couch again. I called the birth center at 4:30 to let
them know I’d be coming soon. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30pm and
they put me into a room to be checked.
The nurse said my
contractions weren’t very strong, but were regular. She told me she
didn’t think that I was in labor!! HA! I told dh, “I must be a wimp
then, and if they’re going to get much worse than this just in early
labor, I don’t know if I’ll make it!” She checked my cervix and said I
was about 4cm. My BP was 159/98. She called my OB, and she said she
wanted to see me.
Connie came a few minutes later, checked me,
said I was at 5cm and said she wanted to admit me because I was
dilated, and my BP was so high. She also thought the monitor was too
high and just not picking up my cx, based on my reactions to them. She
said she’d have them get me into a room and into the tub ASAP. Thank
GOODness! I stripped and sank in up to my neck. Immediately, the
contraction pain was reduced by half. I had dh time some to make sure
they were still regular and weren't tapering off! They were 2.5 minutes
apart and about a minute to a minute and a half long.
I labored
in the tub with my hypbirth CD for about an hour, and I had this funny
feeling, “in there,” like if I just pushed a tiny bit with a
contraction, my water would break. So I did, and it did!! I told dh my
water broke, and he said, “I think I heard it!” He told the nurse. It
was 8:30 then. Labor started really progressing, I was moaning through
each contraction but still in control. 30 minutes later I told the
nurse I was feeling a lot of “pressure” down there. Then I had another
contraction and she told dh to let her know if I told him I wanted to
push or if he noticed me pushing at all.
I never really felt
like I needed to push, but dh said that I was. I was also telling him,
“okay, I want it out NOW.” He told the nurse, and she came in and said,
“why don’t you get out of the tub and on the bed so I can check your
cervix. I hadn’t been checked since I arrived at the birth center. I
told dh, “if I haven’t progressed, I’m asking for drugs.” As I said it,
I remembered that I’d read and heard people say that usually when a
woman’s been laboring a long time and suddenly feels like she can’t do
it anymore, it means she’s in transition and it’s almost over. I hoped
to GOD that was my case.
I got out of the tub and the bed looked
about a mile away, but I made it. The nurse said I was fully dilated
but had a small lip of cervix still over baby’s head. She said they’d
page the doctor, and I could push if and when I felt like it. I pushed.
I was having a really hard time holding it together and started
holding my breath and breathing very shallow. The nurse had finally got
the monitor on me, and said the baby needed me to breathe, her
heart-rate was going up. I tried to focus, the pain was unbearable. I
was writhing on the bed, trying to get comfortable, or control, or
something like that.
My OB came in checked me and said I was
fully dilated and ready to push. I don’t remember much of the next ten
minutes besides everyone telling me to bear down when I pushed, not
pull up and away from it-even though Connie said it was a normal
reaction. She said it would help if I held onto my thighs and bore down
like that. So I did that, and I BORE DOWN. I didn’t feel a “ring of
fire,” but just a ton of pressure. Then the OB said she saw a ton of
black hair and I knew I was there! I pushed hard and the head came out.
Then two more times and her shoulders finally came free with a huge
splash! I was soaked from the waist down, but I as naked so it didn't
matter. lol-- everyone surrounding me got a shower. She was up on my
belly before I knew it, and I felt the hugest sense of relief! The pain
seemed to disappear. They covered us with a towel and Jupe looked at me
and said, “It’s a girl!"