Birth Stories
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Carter's birth story
Nineoceans
member
Hey ladies, I mostly just lurk but I know I loved reading these stories up until my delivery so I thought I'd share the love...
On Weds Oct 31st I got up for my 40 week prenatal appointment. My midwife and I spoke and decided to schedule an induction for the following week just to have something on the calendar to ease my mind.
i had been really uncomfortable and "dropped" for several weeks prior. The previous week I was 80 effaced and 0 cms dilated and we decided if I was even 1 cm dilated in coming weeks my midwife would strip my membranes. That morning I was 1 cm so we jumped at it.
Immediately after the appointment I was feeling crampy and miserable. No bleeding but I could tell things were starting.
My Dh and I made weekend plans and went on preparing for next week's due date.
Around 1ish I began charting contractions. I turned off all the lights in the house, played some music and rode out three hours of regular, really intense back labor contractions 511, then 311 before calling my midwife and deciding to go in to LD.
Once in LD, I was checked none too quickly and determined I was only a 2. They sent dh and I on a walk for several hours to see if we could progress.
After an hour I was absolutely out of my mind with back labor pains. The contractions were bad but every step and every move was vomit inducing.
The LD nurse gave me the discouraging news that baby was most likely posterior and my contractions were not working efficiently. She said that I just needed to prepare myself for an extra long labor and come back when my water broke
I was literally sobbing in pain so she gave me a shot of Nubain before sending h and I home to labor longer.
That night every three minutes for the next 12 or so hours I had dh furiously rubbing my back through contractions.
By morning dh was sleep deprived and puking from stress and I was miserable as well. I took several Tylenol and dh got us breakfast and I walked, took a bath and rested.
At this point the contractions started to space out to every 7 minutes but I still charted.
By 1pm I was out of my mind with back labor pain again. Literally, blinding, throwing up pain. At one point I remember throwing my cell phone and a water bottle across the room. I was just out of my mind and had no relief because of the constant back pressure. My whole body felt like it was going to tear in half from the pressure
I called my midwife and she talked me off the ledge a bit. She asked if I had felt baby move and I told her that honestly that was the furthest thing from my mind. She told me to have some lunch and concentrate on feeling baby, if I hadn't felt him in an hour to go to the hospital immediately.
Honestly just having a sane conversation and a goal for the next hour helped me refocus. Dh made me some soup and juice and I sat and concentrated on feeling for baby
At the point my back labor decreased and all my labor began to be in my uterus. Very low menstrual cramps. I told dh I thought baby must have shifted and we pretty much threw a party and I bounced on my birthing ball and happily called my midwife back.
For the next two hours contractions stayed around 511 but I didn't want to get sent home again so I waited it out
Around this time no position felt good for me any more except lying on my right side. I took a little nap and woke up to the most insane back labor. It was back with a vengeance.
I immediately got in the shower and tried swaying my hips. After an hour of a hot shower did nothing I went back in the bedroom and did hands and knees with my birth ball for about 45 minutes.
Around midnight I was in uncontrollable pain and sobbed to dh that we just needed to go to the hospital.
I called my midwife and she said she would keep me if I was at least a 3 but I needed to accept that I may need interventions like pain meds if I was in this much pain in the hospital setting. I agreed to any and everything she said and we got to the car.
The car ride was horrific and at one point I actually tried to stand up in my seat. My back felt like it was being stabbed by 1000 knives every second.
Dh and I hurried to LD and got the same nurse who seemed skeptical and said she was sending us home unless I had made drastic changes.
Well after checking my cervix I was a 4 and my water had ruptured a little so that was all they needed to keep me.
I immediately got another shot of Nubain and the midwife and I talked about whether I wanted the epidural.
By this point both dh and I had been awake for about 45 hours so I said yes to any and all pain relief. I really needed to sleep and relax.
I got the epi about an hour later and it was a great epidural. I still had a lot of sensation in my legs and feet but my back pressure was gone. I had to lay on my right side continuously through the rest of labor because if we tried to move baby's heart rate would decel and my blood pressure would crash another great reason to get the epi!
Dh and I slept until 7 am the next morning. By then my midwife decided to go home and nap as well and she guessed we would have a baby around noon.
The rest of the day my contractions stayed steady even with the epidural. Dh and I mostly hung out, chatted and watched tv. I was at a pain scale of 4 or 5.
Around 11:30 they checked me and I was complete. My midwife decided to give me an hour to "labor down" to get baby to a 2 station before we started pushing.
Waiting to push for an hour was excruciating. Even with the epi I had so, so much pressure and wanted to push with everything I had.
Finally it was 12:45 and show time. Pushing hurt like crazy. Even with an epidural I just wanted to keep pushing until he was our but my midwife was cautioning me to slow down so the baby could get plenty of oxygen.
My midwife eventually lost the internal contraction monitor because baby pushed it out of place so we were determining contractions based on my and her feeling.
I would tell her I thought I was having one and she would confirm by seeing baby's head tilt a little. He was still posterior and trying to move to get under my pubic bone.
About an hour later he was born, sucking his thumb. 8 lbs, 8 ounces and 20 inches with a full head of blond hair!
I had two small first degree tears that required a few stitches. Recovery has been surprisingly easier than I thought though.
What I was not prepared for: a posterior baby, back labor and how much pushing would hurt. Also I was shocked that the pain did not go away as soon as he was delivered. I felt better and he was out but I continued to feel a lot of pain and pressure for several hours after the delivery. I was shocked at the pain!
What I was surprised by: the epi didn't impede my progress. The epi also for me just mostly gave me relief it wasn't amazing nor did it make me feel like I was "drugged up" all it did was help me to coherently get through my labor.
What I would change: nothing. I was very natural birth oriented but I would not have gotten through any more of that labor without pain meds. My midwife was a rockstar and I could not have gotten through that labor without her. She also made us push slow amd massaged my perinium to minimize tearing. Having a care provider I trusted with my life and baby's was the best decision I made through the entire thing and also helps to reenforce that I would change nothing about my experience
Sorry it's a novel. Hope it was helpful to another FTM!
On Weds Oct 31st I got up for my 40 week prenatal appointment. My midwife and I spoke and decided to schedule an induction for the following week just to have something on the calendar to ease my mind.
i had been really uncomfortable and "dropped" for several weeks prior. The previous week I was 80 effaced and 0 cms dilated and we decided if I was even 1 cm dilated in coming weeks my midwife would strip my membranes. That morning I was 1 cm so we jumped at it.
Immediately after the appointment I was feeling crampy and miserable. No bleeding but I could tell things were starting.
My Dh and I made weekend plans and went on preparing for next week's due date.
Around 1ish I began charting contractions. I turned off all the lights in the house, played some music and rode out three hours of regular, really intense back labor contractions 511, then 311 before calling my midwife and deciding to go in to LD.
Once in LD, I was checked none too quickly and determined I was only a 2. They sent dh and I on a walk for several hours to see if we could progress.
After an hour I was absolutely out of my mind with back labor pains. The contractions were bad but every step and every move was vomit inducing.
The LD nurse gave me the discouraging news that baby was most likely posterior and my contractions were not working efficiently. She said that I just needed to prepare myself for an extra long labor and come back when my water broke
I was literally sobbing in pain so she gave me a shot of Nubain before sending h and I home to labor longer.
That night every three minutes for the next 12 or so hours I had dh furiously rubbing my back through contractions.
By morning dh was sleep deprived and puking from stress and I was miserable as well. I took several Tylenol and dh got us breakfast and I walked, took a bath and rested.
At this point the contractions started to space out to every 7 minutes but I still charted.
By 1pm I was out of my mind with back labor pain again. Literally, blinding, throwing up pain. At one point I remember throwing my cell phone and a water bottle across the room. I was just out of my mind and had no relief because of the constant back pressure. My whole body felt like it was going to tear in half from the pressure
I called my midwife and she talked me off the ledge a bit. She asked if I had felt baby move and I told her that honestly that was the furthest thing from my mind. She told me to have some lunch and concentrate on feeling baby, if I hadn't felt him in an hour to go to the hospital immediately.
Honestly just having a sane conversation and a goal for the next hour helped me refocus. Dh made me some soup and juice and I sat and concentrated on feeling for baby
At the point my back labor decreased and all my labor began to be in my uterus. Very low menstrual cramps. I told dh I thought baby must have shifted and we pretty much threw a party and I bounced on my birthing ball and happily called my midwife back.
For the next two hours contractions stayed around 511 but I didn't want to get sent home again so I waited it out
Around this time no position felt good for me any more except lying on my right side. I took a little nap and woke up to the most insane back labor. It was back with a vengeance.
I immediately got in the shower and tried swaying my hips. After an hour of a hot shower did nothing I went back in the bedroom and did hands and knees with my birth ball for about 45 minutes.
Around midnight I was in uncontrollable pain and sobbed to dh that we just needed to go to the hospital.
I called my midwife and she said she would keep me if I was at least a 3 but I needed to accept that I may need interventions like pain meds if I was in this much pain in the hospital setting. I agreed to any and everything she said and we got to the car.
The car ride was horrific and at one point I actually tried to stand up in my seat. My back felt like it was being stabbed by 1000 knives every second.
Dh and I hurried to LD and got the same nurse who seemed skeptical and said she was sending us home unless I had made drastic changes.
Well after checking my cervix I was a 4 and my water had ruptured a little so that was all they needed to keep me.
I immediately got another shot of Nubain and the midwife and I talked about whether I wanted the epidural.
By this point both dh and I had been awake for about 45 hours so I said yes to any and all pain relief. I really needed to sleep and relax.
I got the epi about an hour later and it was a great epidural. I still had a lot of sensation in my legs and feet but my back pressure was gone. I had to lay on my right side continuously through the rest of labor because if we tried to move baby's heart rate would decel and my blood pressure would crash another great reason to get the epi!
Dh and I slept until 7 am the next morning. By then my midwife decided to go home and nap as well and she guessed we would have a baby around noon.
The rest of the day my contractions stayed steady even with the epidural. Dh and I mostly hung out, chatted and watched tv. I was at a pain scale of 4 or 5.
Around 11:30 they checked me and I was complete. My midwife decided to give me an hour to "labor down" to get baby to a 2 station before we started pushing.
Waiting to push for an hour was excruciating. Even with the epi I had so, so much pressure and wanted to push with everything I had.
Finally it was 12:45 and show time. Pushing hurt like crazy. Even with an epidural I just wanted to keep pushing until he was our but my midwife was cautioning me to slow down so the baby could get plenty of oxygen.
My midwife eventually lost the internal contraction monitor because baby pushed it out of place so we were determining contractions based on my and her feeling.
I would tell her I thought I was having one and she would confirm by seeing baby's head tilt a little. He was still posterior and trying to move to get under my pubic bone.
About an hour later he was born, sucking his thumb. 8 lbs, 8 ounces and 20 inches with a full head of blond hair!
I had two small first degree tears that required a few stitches. Recovery has been surprisingly easier than I thought though.
What I was not prepared for: a posterior baby, back labor and how much pushing would hurt. Also I was shocked that the pain did not go away as soon as he was delivered. I felt better and he was out but I continued to feel a lot of pain and pressure for several hours after the delivery. I was shocked at the pain!
What I was surprised by: the epi didn't impede my progress. The epi also for me just mostly gave me relief it wasn't amazing nor did it make me feel like I was "drugged up" all it did was help me to coherently get through my labor.
What I would change: nothing. I was very natural birth oriented but I would not have gotten through any more of that labor without pain meds. My midwife was a rockstar and I could not have gotten through that labor without her. She also made us push slow amd massaged my perinium to minimize tearing. Having a care provider I trusted with my life and baby's was the best decision I made through the entire thing and also helps to reenforce that I would change nothing about my experience
Sorry it's a novel. Hope it was helpful to another FTM!
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Re: Carter's birth story
Funtastic!!!