B's Hospital Birth

lifesabeach85

After my due date came and went with no signs of impending labor, I became worried that I would never go into labor on my own, especially when at 40w3d my doctor told me I was not dilated at all! But at 40w6d I began to experience irregular contractions that continued through the following day. I went for a long walk with DH but mostly tried to rest. Awoke at 2am with strong contractions that were already 7 min apart. Within an hour they were 5 min apart and I thought it must be the real deal. I woke DH and told him I was getting in the bath. He called our doula and told her what was going on. She joined us around 5am, when contractions were progressing strongly. After an hour of contractions 3 min apart we headed to the hospital, arriving around 7. The car ride was the worst! We unfortunately had to wait in triage for a long time as the hospital was having a shift change. I was so disappointed that I was only dilated 3cm!

When we finally got to our labor room (9am) I labored in various positions to encourage baby to move down. I really wanted to labor in the tub, but needed to be at least 5cm dilated before that could happen. By 11am I was and the tub was ready to go! Oh what relief!

The relief was short lived as by noon my contractions were double peaking and then triple peaking. I didn't think I could take much more so I asked for another cervix check, and said if I wasn't dilated at least 7 I wanted the epi. Well the reason it was so tough was that I was in transition during that time and was complete and ready to push at my cervix check.

It took about a half hour before I felt the urge to push and boy was it hard work!!! I really relied on the help and support of DH, our doula and amazing delivery nurse. After an hour and a half of pushing DD was in my arms. She celebrated by popping on my chest immediately!!!

All in all I had a beautiful med-free delivery that I had planned. It was hard but beautiful and I don't regret it one bit. Recovery was a breeze and it was only 12h from first contraction to baby in arms. You can do it!!

SharonB222

Congrats on your babe! If I melded my 1st and 2nd birth stories together it would be similar . Welcome, B!