Birth Story
So, on the 10th of July, after discussion and a biophysical profile and sonogram, my midwife and I decided to try to naturally induce my 42 week baby to come.
Cara, my midwife, gave me membrane sweep at her office, and found that I was already 2 cm dialated and partially effaced. She has her protocol for castor oil induction, which I was instructed to follow. Most castor oil inductions are about 8 tablespoons of castor oil in a single serving, which causes hours of intestinal stress. Instead, Cara had me take ONE tablespoon of castor oil with my lunch around 1:30, and a second tablespoon at 7 :30 pm. She gave me an option of taking a third tablespoon depending on how I felt anytime between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.
I took a long nap in the afternoon, and midnightstation and I had a nice dinner, and watched "The Wiz" and "Casablanca". We went to bed quite late - around 2 a.m.
At 5 a.m. on the 11th, I woke up and felt extremely uncomfortable. Very strong cramping feeling in my lower uterus, It was like a sustained cramp, and then I would feel like HAD to do a bowel movement. I was up and out of bed several times doing this.... eventually I realized that I was doing this regularly and tried to time them.... Yep - these were contractions and they were occurring four minutes apart as pretty much regular as clockwork.
At 6 a.m. we called Cara and she said talked to me through a contraction or two, and suggested I get in the shower, and to call back at 9 a.m. I was having a bit of a rough time coping on the bed and got in the shower which helped immensely. midnightstation called our doula, Lauren, and she headed over.
I ended up in the shower for about 1.5 or 2 hours. I basically lay on the floor of the tub with the water pouring over me. I threw up several times but didn't mind at all since I was in the shower and it just washed away. midnightstation and Lauren were keen for me to drink Emergen-C or juice/seltzer mix - but after a while I told them I didn't want it. I just kept throwing it up. But I could keep down cold straight seltzer, and we switched to that and I stopped puking. Anyway, I would have a contraction and cope with it, and then fall asleep on the floor of the tub in between contractions.
After a long time of this, I was wanting to move out of the shower, because of the hard floor. I got out and Lauren helped dry me off, and I got onto the bed. midnightstation had made it up with a plastic shower curtain and sheet. I did some time coping there with contractions, again dozing in between.
At 9, midnightstation called Cara and she spoke with me on the phone through another contraction or two and told me to tell midnightstation to set up the birth tub. He did, and I got in in it. It was incredibly helpful. In between contractions I would sit and lean back in the tub and doze, when I had a contraction, I found myself getting on my hands and knees to cope with it. I was moaning and making a lot of noise at this point and I started to find myself pushing which startled me. It wasn't ME pushing - it was my BODY pushing. Cara still wasn't there, and I was worried about pushing without her there. We tried to page her, but I had the wrong number programmed into my phone, and I could not remember where her pager info was. midnightstation was looking and looking for it, and finally I told him to stop, that I needed him present with me and that Cara would be here in time. He stopped looking and sat on a little stool in front of the tub, and now when I had a contraction, I would hold onto his arms or legs to cope. It was getting harder to not push, and so I would let myself push a little but I was scared that it was too early and that I would damage my cervix if it wasn't fully dialated.
Cara arrived. I don't know what time it was but she arrived and checked me in the water and said I was at 9.5 cm, with just a little lip of cervix. She checked the baby's heartbeat with the doppler and the baby sounded good. She said she could push the lip of the cervix out of the way for me over the next 2 contractions, or we could wait for me to do it on my own through pushing but it would take longer. I told her to help so she did. Now I was pushing and grunting and moaning really loudly through the pushing. Cara would check the heartbeat intermittently. At one point she checked and it had gone WAY down and wasn't recovering quickly. She had me stand up at this point and breathe deeply while moving my hips, and that made the baby's heartrate recover quickly and well.
After that, I pushed standing up. They brought a stool over and I had one foot on it to help widen my pelvis, and the other foot in the tub. After a while though I didn't like this and wanted to move to the bed. So, we moved me I put one foot up on the chest I keep by the bed, and the other on the ground and had midnightstation sit in front of me on the bed and I kept pushing. I could feel Cara stretching my vaginal canal and perineum with her fingers. midnightstation kept reminding me to take big deep breaths in between urges to push to get the baby's heartrate back up. He was moving down now and I like that. I could tell we were getting closer him coming out. I kept talking to him, telling him to come on out and in between contractions breathing and moving my hips.
Cara suggested I needed some energy and my mother gave me some soy ice cream, and Lauren gave me two teaspoons of honey followed by water.
Finally I put my hand down and felt his scalp at my vaginal lips. Cara suggested I move to laying on my side in the bed, but a contraction came and instead I pushed as hard as I could and his head came sliding out of me. I took a few deep breaths and pushed the rest of him out! And there he was!!! I laid down on the bed and Cara put him on me and did her inspections while I laid with him. He was still attached to the cord and it was nice and healthy and long. I had been sure that it would be wrapped around his neck or body since he was so active and liked to turn so much in the womb - but it wasn't and it surprised both midnightstation and myself that it wasn't!
It was 12:31 when he was born. I had been in labor for a total of 7 or so hours, and I pushed for about 1 and quarter hours. I did not tear, there was no meconium in what little fluid came out of me, or anything. His APGAR was excellent at 9/10. Honestly, every other newborn I've seen pics of had a purple head and extremities - he was pretty much pink all over from the moment of birth :)
We didn't have any problems until after labor. Usually the placenta easily detaches itself from the uterine wall in what is called "the third stage of labor". It detaches itself and you have a few mild contractions and push it out. But mine was not detaching. Jaeger breastfed which will help stimulate the detachment of the placenta but it didn't help me.
Cara was concerned and so gave me a shot of pitocin to help.... that didn't help either. I guess I was bleeding heavier than she expected me to, and still the placenta was not detaching but I was bleeding. She told me what was going on and said that we could do one of two things - she could remove the placenta manually. In the best case scenario, she'd get it all out and my bleeding would slow and that would be that. 2nd case scenario: she'd try and get it all out, and we'd have to transfer IMMEDITELY to the hospital. 3rd case: she'd get it partially out, I'd stablize but we'd still go to the hospital if she thought there was any placenta left.
OR: We could go immediately to the hospital.
Well, I wanted to avoid going to the hospital if possible. We set up everything for a possible emergency transfer, including sending my Mom out to her car to wait in front of the building. Then Cara manually removed my placenta. It was incredibly painful. Basically, I got double fisted while midnightstation and Lauren held up my legs for me. Weirdly, I had the baby the entire time and he slept through the whole thing! Cara was literally up to her elbows in blood. It was pretty gruesome, and I will say that it was far more painful than all of my labor put together, but much shorter too. And it was necessary as I was starting to hemmorage. Getting the placenta out stopped that.
We hung out at home for another hour or so while Cara monitored me. The placenta had come out in pieces and she was not 100% sure it had all come out, and my uterus was still quite high. She also felt I was bleeding too heavily to be safe staying home, so we gave Jaeger to my mother for safekeeping, and went to St. Vincents. They admitted me at around 6 or so, an at 7:45 p.m. I was put under full anesthesia and had a D&C. The staff was really (mostly - there's always one!) lovely and my nurse, Michelle-from-New-Zealand was marvelous. Just really attentive and kind and had a wonderful bedside manner. Cara went into the operating theatre with me and was with me until I went under, and waiting with midnightstation in the recovery room when I came out from under the drugs.
When I was admitted, I was given a sonogram and there were big chunks of matter in my uterus that they thought was placenta. It turns out they were huge bloodclots that still needed to come out. Apparently they had to really high up in there to get them out. After hearing the description, I was glad for the general. I have never had general anesthesia before and didn't realize until it was over how scared of it I was.
Recovery was pretty quick, and at 10:30 p.m. I was wheeled downstairs, and by 11 pm we were back at my mother's house where I was reunited with our son, and a plate of beef stew :)
That was 2 days ago. Today was my first anniversary of marriage to midnightstation! It was lovely. We went outside with our son for the first time today, had dinner, hung out, and cuddled.
And that's how Jaeger came into the world.
I just wanted to add something: I am amazed at the pure ability of our midwife, Cara. She was the perfect choice for us, and she was amazing both during labor and delivery, and even MORE incredible afterwards. And my beloved husband? I literally could not have done any of this without him. His support throughout the pregnancy and then in labor was essential to me - he kept me focused, calm, was my rock and my support, and he was amazing, and continues to be. I am so very grateful to have him as my partner in life. Bunny? I love you so so so much :)
N.
Cara, my midwife, gave me membrane sweep at her office, and found that I was already 2 cm dialated and partially effaced. She has her protocol for castor oil induction, which I was instructed to follow. Most castor oil inductions are about 8 tablespoons of castor oil in a single serving, which causes hours of intestinal stress. Instead, Cara had me take ONE tablespoon of castor oil with my lunch around 1:30, and a second tablespoon at 7 :30 pm. She gave me an option of taking a third tablespoon depending on how I felt anytime between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.
I took a long nap in the afternoon, and midnightstation and I had a nice dinner, and watched "The Wiz" and "Casablanca". We went to bed quite late - around 2 a.m.
At 5 a.m. on the 11th, I woke up and felt extremely uncomfortable. Very strong cramping feeling in my lower uterus, It was like a sustained cramp, and then I would feel like HAD to do a bowel movement. I was up and out of bed several times doing this.... eventually I realized that I was doing this regularly and tried to time them.... Yep - these were contractions and they were occurring four minutes apart as pretty much regular as clockwork.
At 6 a.m. we called Cara and she said talked to me through a contraction or two, and suggested I get in the shower, and to call back at 9 a.m. I was having a bit of a rough time coping on the bed and got in the shower which helped immensely. midnightstation called our doula, Lauren, and she headed over.
I ended up in the shower for about 1.5 or 2 hours. I basically lay on the floor of the tub with the water pouring over me. I threw up several times but didn't mind at all since I was in the shower and it just washed away. midnightstation and Lauren were keen for me to drink Emergen-C or juice/seltzer mix - but after a while I told them I didn't want it. I just kept throwing it up. But I could keep down cold straight seltzer, and we switched to that and I stopped puking. Anyway, I would have a contraction and cope with it, and then fall asleep on the floor of the tub in between contractions.
After a long time of this, I was wanting to move out of the shower, because of the hard floor. I got out and Lauren helped dry me off, and I got onto the bed. midnightstation had made it up with a plastic shower curtain and sheet. I did some time coping there with contractions, again dozing in between.
At 9, midnightstation called Cara and she spoke with me on the phone through another contraction or two and told me to tell midnightstation to set up the birth tub. He did, and I got in in it. It was incredibly helpful. In between contractions I would sit and lean back in the tub and doze, when I had a contraction, I found myself getting on my hands and knees to cope with it. I was moaning and making a lot of noise at this point and I started to find myself pushing which startled me. It wasn't ME pushing - it was my BODY pushing. Cara still wasn't there, and I was worried about pushing without her there. We tried to page her, but I had the wrong number programmed into my phone, and I could not remember where her pager info was. midnightstation was looking and looking for it, and finally I told him to stop, that I needed him present with me and that Cara would be here in time. He stopped looking and sat on a little stool in front of the tub, and now when I had a contraction, I would hold onto his arms or legs to cope. It was getting harder to not push, and so I would let myself push a little but I was scared that it was too early and that I would damage my cervix if it wasn't fully dialated.
Cara arrived. I don't know what time it was but she arrived and checked me in the water and said I was at 9.5 cm, with just a little lip of cervix. She checked the baby's heartbeat with the doppler and the baby sounded good. She said she could push the lip of the cervix out of the way for me over the next 2 contractions, or we could wait for me to do it on my own through pushing but it would take longer. I told her to help so she did. Now I was pushing and grunting and moaning really loudly through the pushing. Cara would check the heartbeat intermittently. At one point she checked and it had gone WAY down and wasn't recovering quickly. She had me stand up at this point and breathe deeply while moving my hips, and that made the baby's heartrate recover quickly and well.
After that, I pushed standing up. They brought a stool over and I had one foot on it to help widen my pelvis, and the other foot in the tub. After a while though I didn't like this and wanted to move to the bed. So, we moved me I put one foot up on the chest I keep by the bed, and the other on the ground and had midnightstation sit in front of me on the bed and I kept pushing. I could feel Cara stretching my vaginal canal and perineum with her fingers. midnightstation kept reminding me to take big deep breaths in between urges to push to get the baby's heartrate back up. He was moving down now and I like that. I could tell we were getting closer him coming out. I kept talking to him, telling him to come on out and in between contractions breathing and moving my hips.
Cara suggested I needed some energy and my mother gave me some soy ice cream, and Lauren gave me two teaspoons of honey followed by water.
Finally I put my hand down and felt his scalp at my vaginal lips. Cara suggested I move to laying on my side in the bed, but a contraction came and instead I pushed as hard as I could and his head came sliding out of me. I took a few deep breaths and pushed the rest of him out! And there he was!!! I laid down on the bed and Cara put him on me and did her inspections while I laid with him. He was still attached to the cord and it was nice and healthy and long. I had been sure that it would be wrapped around his neck or body since he was so active and liked to turn so much in the womb - but it wasn't and it surprised both midnightstation and myself that it wasn't!
It was 12:31 when he was born. I had been in labor for a total of 7 or so hours, and I pushed for about 1 and quarter hours. I did not tear, there was no meconium in what little fluid came out of me, or anything. His APGAR was excellent at 9/10. Honestly, every other newborn I've seen pics of had a purple head and extremities - he was pretty much pink all over from the moment of birth :)
We didn't have any problems until after labor. Usually the placenta easily detaches itself from the uterine wall in what is called "the third stage of labor". It detaches itself and you have a few mild contractions and push it out. But mine was not detaching. Jaeger breastfed which will help stimulate the detachment of the placenta but it didn't help me.
Cara was concerned and so gave me a shot of pitocin to help.... that didn't help either. I guess I was bleeding heavier than she expected me to, and still the placenta was not detaching but I was bleeding. She told me what was going on and said that we could do one of two things - she could remove the placenta manually. In the best case scenario, she'd get it all out and my bleeding would slow and that would be that. 2nd case scenario: she'd try and get it all out, and we'd have to transfer IMMEDITELY to the hospital. 3rd case: she'd get it partially out, I'd stablize but we'd still go to the hospital if she thought there was any placenta left.
OR: We could go immediately to the hospital.
Well, I wanted to avoid going to the hospital if possible. We set up everything for a possible emergency transfer, including sending my Mom out to her car to wait in front of the building. Then Cara manually removed my placenta. It was incredibly painful. Basically, I got double fisted while midnightstation and Lauren held up my legs for me. Weirdly, I had the baby the entire time and he slept through the whole thing! Cara was literally up to her elbows in blood. It was pretty gruesome, and I will say that it was far more painful than all of my labor put together, but much shorter too. And it was necessary as I was starting to hemmorage. Getting the placenta out stopped that.
We hung out at home for another hour or so while Cara monitored me. The placenta had come out in pieces and she was not 100% sure it had all come out, and my uterus was still quite high. She also felt I was bleeding too heavily to be safe staying home, so we gave Jaeger to my mother for safekeeping, and went to St. Vincents. They admitted me at around 6 or so, an at 7:45 p.m. I was put under full anesthesia and had a D&C. The staff was really (mostly - there's always one!) lovely and my nurse, Michelle-from-New-Zealand was marvelous. Just really attentive and kind and had a wonderful bedside manner. Cara went into the operating theatre with me and was with me until I went under, and waiting with midnightstation in the recovery room when I came out from under the drugs.
When I was admitted, I was given a sonogram and there were big chunks of matter in my uterus that they thought was placenta. It turns out they were huge bloodclots that still needed to come out. Apparently they had to really high up in there to get them out. After hearing the description, I was glad for the general. I have never had general anesthesia before and didn't realize until it was over how scared of it I was.
Recovery was pretty quick, and at 10:30 p.m. I was wheeled downstairs, and by 11 pm we were back at my mother's house where I was reunited with our son, and a plate of beef stew :)
That was 2 days ago. Today was my first anniversary of marriage to midnightstation! It was lovely. We went outside with our son for the first time today, had dinner, hung out, and cuddled.
And that's how Jaeger came into the world.
I just wanted to add something: I am amazed at the pure ability of our midwife, Cara. She was the perfect choice for us, and she was amazing both during labor and delivery, and even MORE incredible afterwards. And my beloved husband? I literally could not have done any of this without him. His support throughout the pregnancy and then in labor was essential to me - he kept me focused, calm, was my rock and my support, and he was amazing, and continues to be. I am so very grateful to have him as my partner in life. Bunny? I love you so so so much :)
N.