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Natural Birth
msjanet02
member
I did it! My birth story. :)
msjanet02
member
I'm so happy to announce that I did it!!! But what a test of a lifetime. It would not have been possible without my birth team - my husband and doula.
Was 39 weeks, and Thursday night my doula gave me a prenatal massage. I lost my mucus plug that night. The next day I was beginning the early stages of labor, short sporadic contractions roughly every hour, and still losing bits of my mucus plug. In the afternoon I went to my acupuncturist, who focused on turning baby around as it/he (didn't know sex at the time) was in position but not completely anterior. She also hit pressure points for stimulating labor.
The next day, Saturday 1am contractions picked up and became quite regular and i threw up quite a bit of liquids, so i contacted my doula. She said to time them and to call if i needed her here with me. I called her at 3am, she came over, and after about one hour of laboring she said it was time to go to the hospital.
We packed the car, and just before getting in I threw up all over the sidewalk again. Heaving and all water. Checked in around 4am, was dilated 6-7cm, and labored til 12pm when I was stuck at 9cm. Ah!!! My birth team was amazing at helping me get through very contraction. Hot showers, walking and swaying with me, reminding me to relax and breathe whenever I panicked into a contraction, helping me on and off the bed, squatting with me, applying counterpressure (this one was the best!), and more. The hospital staff was so amazing and respected my birth plan, all having read it carefully and letting us do our thing. No one came to offer us anything I didn't request in my plan.
By noon I just couldn't move on when I asked them to check me. Stuck at 9cm and no water having broken yet, and wanting to push, I asked them to please break my water. As soon as they did, I dilated immediately to 10cm and started pushing! 2 hours of nonstop pushing, my legs were spent. I alternated using the squat bar and getting on all fours, doing whatever my body was telling me to. I could completely understand why folks opt for medication. WOW, the pain. When they finally told me baby's head was crowning, I reached down and felt its head. That gave me a surge of motivation, and I pushed even harder. I felt ripping, I felt the ring of fire, I didn't care at that point. I had been tirelessly working at all of this I couldn't let it keep going. I yelled and asked baby to please come out with my final pushes, giving whatever i had left, and out he came!
7lbs 8oz, 20.5in, 2:23pm on Saturday, Sept. 14. Learned of his sex 5 min later when I remembered to check between his legs. I asked them in my birth plan to please not announce the sex. I am so pleased with how Kaiser honored my plan and that I had the birth experience i wanted. It would certainly not have been possible without my amazing doula, who made sure I stayed hydrated to avoid getting IV fluids, talked me through contractions, supported my husband, and was next to my side each step of the way.
The only regret I have is having agreed at check-in to put the hep lock on. My gut told me no. The only thing I would have allowed them to use it for would be if I were hemorahging and needed to be saved. But after laboring in all kinds of positions and moving around so much, the hep lock was doing more damage than good, getting hit and snagged on things. Ouch!! Imagine that needle just digging around under your skin! So after 10 min I asked them to take it off. They did try to scare me by saying it could save me in an emergency situation. Please...! They put that hep lock on me so fast. Whatever. Had to sign a waiver and they took it off. Now I have a huge, needlessly painful bruise on my left hand. Oh well.
At any rate, I did it!!! Feelin like a champ.
Happy to join the club and good luck to those whose births are coming up! You can do it!!
Was 39 weeks, and Thursday night my doula gave me a prenatal massage. I lost my mucus plug that night. The next day I was beginning the early stages of labor, short sporadic contractions roughly every hour, and still losing bits of my mucus plug. In the afternoon I went to my acupuncturist, who focused on turning baby around as it/he (didn't know sex at the time) was in position but not completely anterior. She also hit pressure points for stimulating labor.
The next day, Saturday 1am contractions picked up and became quite regular and i threw up quite a bit of liquids, so i contacted my doula. She said to time them and to call if i needed her here with me. I called her at 3am, she came over, and after about one hour of laboring she said it was time to go to the hospital.
We packed the car, and just before getting in I threw up all over the sidewalk again. Heaving and all water. Checked in around 4am, was dilated 6-7cm, and labored til 12pm when I was stuck at 9cm. Ah!!! My birth team was amazing at helping me get through very contraction. Hot showers, walking and swaying with me, reminding me to relax and breathe whenever I panicked into a contraction, helping me on and off the bed, squatting with me, applying counterpressure (this one was the best!), and more. The hospital staff was so amazing and respected my birth plan, all having read it carefully and letting us do our thing. No one came to offer us anything I didn't request in my plan.
By noon I just couldn't move on when I asked them to check me. Stuck at 9cm and no water having broken yet, and wanting to push, I asked them to please break my water. As soon as they did, I dilated immediately to 10cm and started pushing! 2 hours of nonstop pushing, my legs were spent. I alternated using the squat bar and getting on all fours, doing whatever my body was telling me to. I could completely understand why folks opt for medication. WOW, the pain. When they finally told me baby's head was crowning, I reached down and felt its head. That gave me a surge of motivation, and I pushed even harder. I felt ripping, I felt the ring of fire, I didn't care at that point. I had been tirelessly working at all of this I couldn't let it keep going. I yelled and asked baby to please come out with my final pushes, giving whatever i had left, and out he came!
7lbs 8oz, 20.5in, 2:23pm on Saturday, Sept. 14. Learned of his sex 5 min later when I remembered to check between his legs. I asked them in my birth plan to please not announce the sex. I am so pleased with how Kaiser honored my plan and that I had the birth experience i wanted. It would certainly not have been possible without my amazing doula, who made sure I stayed hydrated to avoid getting IV fluids, talked me through contractions, supported my husband, and was next to my side each step of the way.
The only regret I have is having agreed at check-in to put the hep lock on. My gut told me no. The only thing I would have allowed them to use it for would be if I were hemorahging and needed to be saved. But after laboring in all kinds of positions and moving around so much, the hep lock was doing more damage than good, getting hit and snagged on things. Ouch!! Imagine that needle just digging around under your skin! So after 10 min I asked them to take it off. They did try to scare me by saying it could save me in an emergency situation. Please...! They put that hep lock on me so fast. Whatever. Had to sign a waiver and they took it off. Now I have a huge, needlessly painful bruise on my left hand. Oh well.
At any rate, I did it!!! Feelin like a champ.
Happy to join the club and good luck to those whose births are coming up! You can do it!! This discussion has been closed.
Re: I did it! My birth story. :)
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Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
Engaged 10/2/1202
BFP (a lil quicker than expected) 12/7/2012
Married to my best friend 12/24/2012
Beautiful baby girl arrived 8/15/2013
BFP #2 3/13/2016
BFP #1 08/05/12. EDD 4/15/13 m/c 08/27/12
BFP #2 06/05/13. EDD 2/16/2014 (Team Blue). Baby Wombat born 2/20/2014 7lb. 11oz and 20 in.
2010: Infertility
October 2015: missed miscarriage #2 at 11 weeks (trisomy 22)
Married 10-20-12 | First Baby Due 1-22-14 | Team PINK | Me (29) Hubby (33)
January 2014 | December Siggy Challenge | Favorite Christmas Movie: "It Nearly Wasn't Christmas"