Team Green is Team Pink..My Shocking (at least to me) birth story (Nikki912)

nikki912 · April 2014

Short Version:

Ryan Elizabeth was born at 6:37 on 4/27 (41+3 weeks)

7lbs, 12 oz and 21 inches

9 hours of labor, after days of early labor

Delivered naturally via water birth

Extremely (no, seriously) Long Version:

I had been experiencing mild contractions for a few days prior to going into real labor that would keep me up all night. Then Friday night came and i slept beautifully and even got to sleep in because my MIL was here to watch DS. When i woke up on saturday without any pain or cx i was somewhat discouraged but decided to try and enjoy it! MIL took DS camping that day and evening so DH and i spent saturday running errands, looking at houses, and went for a long walk. After the walk i felt some BH but they fizzled out after an hour or so.

Then after dinner around 9:00pm I felt my first contraction of the day. It was very mild but radiated around my back, to the front, and down my hips. A REAL one- i remember these! I felt silly for all the times i had thought i was in labor earlier because i instantly remembered the difference. I felt another one about thirty minutes later. And another about 15 minutes later. I decided to try to go to bed because i thought it was possible we would be having a baby the next day. Once i was laying in bed They started to come about 10 minutes apart lasting 20-40 seconds. By midnight (still awake in bed) I started timing them because it seemed they were coming even faster. 7-8 Minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds. No big deal. Stayed in bed.

Ten minutes later they were 5 minutes apart and lasting 40 seconds. At that point i decided to get up since i couldnt sleep anyway and sit on my birth ball in the living room while watching an episode of House. I started timing again a few minutes into the episode and they were 3-4 minutes apart lasting 40-50 seconds- intensity picking up but i was still completely fine and normal between contractions so i figured we had some time and id wait to wake DH. By 2:30am I had my bloody show and cx were 2-3 minutes apart but still about 45 seconds apart. I went into our bedroom to grab some more pads and DH woke up. He asked what was up and i told him it was probably going to happen tonight but that i was dealing with them fine on my own. I told him my stats and he told me later that since i sounded so nonchalant about it his instinct was to go back to bed but once the words registered he realized he needed to get his ass up and get ready.

Since they were lasting almost a minute and keeping steady at 3 minutes apart we called the oncall midwife to ask for advice. I still felt totally fine between contractions but was starting to turn inwards and vocalize during them. With DS i went into the birthcenter too quickly and was only 4cm when i arrived and had to walk around for an hour or two before getting admitted. i definitely wanted to avoid that this time. My midwife suggested i take a bath and call her in twenty minutes. Once i was in the tub the intensity definitely picked up and i was vocalizing a lot more. They were still totally manageable though. We talked with our midwife every twent minutes for about another hour until she made the recomendation that we come in based on the sounds i was making.

I was alittle scared because i felt like it was still too early to go and did want to be sent home but DH insisted. When we got in the car it was 4:00am and we got there in twenty minutes. THe car ride wasnt as bad as the car ride when i was in labor with DS so i was once again worried it was too soon. CX were holding steady and getting really strong but i remembered what they could really feel like and still thought we were making a mistake.

When we get there she checks me but doesnt tell me how many cm i am. She asked if i wanted to get in the tub and i told her that unless i was really close i would like to try to work the baby down using the birth ball for awhile. She agreed that was a good idea. Since she let me stay but didnt say i was really close to birthing i assumed i was at least 5cm. I labored on the birth ball for about half an hour and cx picked up again. By now i was turning inward between contractions and using my hypnobabies lightswitch. I was still making jokes though and feeling light about everything. After about a half hour my midwife suggested sitting on the shower chair with the seat cut out and laboring there for awhile. THe water felt amazing, and the cut out at the bottom of the seat really helped put pressure on my cervix because the cx pickedup in intensisty again and i was getting scared. They were coming on too strong and too fast for where i thought i was in my labor and i was afraid i wouldnt be able to last the 10+ hours i expected to labor more, (DS was a 27 hour labor start to finish). I started telling Dh that it was too hard to get into my hypnobabies zone because the cx were coming too fast and changing too fast. I couldnt catch my breath. Very different than DS birth. I labored in the shower for an hour and when i hit a brick wall i asked if i could get in the tub. This was around 6:00am.

She checked me while i was standing up (highly recommend this if its an option- way better than being checked lying on your back) and told me i could get in the tub. I had 2-3 cx getting from the shower to the tub and i thought i was never going to make it. Once i was in the tub i started feeling pushy towards the end of each cx. I told my midwife and she just said for me to follow my body's instincts. After a few more cx my body started pushing on its own and i started to freak out. I couldnt use any of the tools id learned because it was all happening too fast. I was so overwhelmed and by body felt like it was breaking in half. THe pain was 1000x worse than DS. By the time she made her way down the canal i was screaming bloody murder and telling everyone i was dying. I was that chick. The woman i never thought id be. Ring of fire happened and it was more like the ring of hell this time. Once she was out it was definitely the best feeling of relief in the entire world. No emotion or experience compared. I felt tramatized but was still with it enough to pull her out of the water. I didnt even think to check for the sex because i was still in shock as to what i just went through. SHe came out like a freight train and i was a deer in the headlights. (Hello cliches!) MOre like a deer in the headlights with its ass exploding. Funny imagery.

DH reminded me to check between her legs thorugh his happy tears (and possibly painful tears- pretty sure i beat the crap out of him at the end, i was thrashing around so much). And i announced we had a daughter. I was shocked because i just assumed it would be a boy. Iwas also shocked to learn i had only received a labial tear and wouldnt require stitches- i was convinced id have a vagasshole after that delivery.

And my final shocker- my midwife then told me i was only 2-3 centimeters when i got there. She said she let me stay because she had a feeling id go quickly. She was definitely right, in two hours i went from 2-3 centimeters to birthing a baby girl. I said how sorry i was and how embarrassed i felt for being so crazy and loud and she said she expects that from women who go too quickly. Your mind doesnt have time to catch up to your body and everything goes crazy. I was still pretty embarrassed.

Woah- that was a long one!! And for your reading and my lack of proof reading i leave you these...

Dixon813 · April 2014

Congratulations! I hear ya on being "that girl"... I too was much more vocal/out of control than I thought I would ever be! But, hey, our babies are here!

ETA:posted too soon

baileymama3 · April 2014

wow!!! that's amazing! congrats

She's a cutie!

allyandmike24 · April 2014

Oh wow, props to your midwife for not telling you how dilated you were! That is such a mind eff, especially if you're trying to go naturally.

Oh and I feel you on being loud in labor. I didn't give a shit toward the end- I was naked, completely naked, soaking wet from getting out of the tub (I could only labor in the tub, unfortunately) and hollering wildly. DH told me that I sounded like what he imagined a really angry dinosaur would sound like. DD was our in three pushes and it was incredibly intense. No shame in that game.

buffyjsa · April 2014

wow, amazing story and your little girl is absolutely adorable. congrats!

BiggerinRealLife · April 2014

Wow, great job Nikki! I was that girl too. I thought I'd be all hard core and stoic, nope! Yelled my freaking head off. Embarrassing, but whatever. Congrats mama!

haziedaze · April 2014

I was super calm and happy, singing and swaying through contractions until I hit 7 and started to transition. I lost my shit and then got an epidural. Major props to the mommas that find a way through that- I truly can't imagine! Congrats on your beautiful baby.