Birth Stories
NICU RN
member
Positive unmedicated hospital birth - long!
NICU RN
member
I am currently 37 + 2 days pregnant with my second child, but I don't think I ever shared my son's birth story. I thought I would come on and post it, since I enjoy reading everyone else's stories.
I had a doctor's appointment that Friday at 39 + 6 weeks. Was checked and still "high and tight". Not even a fingertip. Asked when I would "need" to be induced, as I was hoping to avoid it. My doctor made me an appointment for the next Tuesday, but said he thought I would have the baby before then. Not sure why he thought this as my body hadn't started doing anything yet, but he had a feeling.
On my son's due date, I knew he was still going to be in there awhile, so we had a big cookout and had both sides of the family over. It was really exhausting and I pretty much crashed that evening. I woke up at 3 am to pee and lost my mucous plug and had my bloody show. On my way back to tell my husband, I realized I was having a solid contraction.
I woke my husband to tell him I was in labor, but told him to rest for awhile as he needed to be rested. I should have done the same myself, but I was too excited. I went into the den and watched reruns of Friends until about 6 am. At this time, I was certain I was in real labor, so I called some friends that were working in the NICU that day to let them know (we like to watch out for each other). I also tried to call my mom, but somehow she had turned the ringer on her phone off!
I went and and woke my husband up and he helped me through contractions. We mostly talked, listened to music, and walked around the neighborhood some to keep things moving. I finally got ahold of my mom to let her know. At around 2 pm, I decided the contractions were bad enough that I should go in. We got there and got dressed and I was checked. I was 5 cm!
We got settled in a room, and my mom took over a lot of the breathing coaching (we had all practiced Lamaze), while my husband rubbed my back. I thought I would really love sitting on my balance ball, so I brought my own, but I really hated it, so after sitting on it once, I was done with it.
I spent some time in the tub, which was nice, but I wish they had a birthing tub, instead of just the standard tub, as it was really too shallow. Most of my labor was spent just walking around my room. (I did intermittent monitoring).
I got to 7 cm shortly after getting to the hospital, but stayed at 7 cm for hours and hours and hours. I thought transition was supposed to be faster and started to become discouraged. I even started to ask about the epidural, but when my husband asked if I really wanted one, I told him no.
I finally let them break my water. I should have done that sooner, but was afraid that any "interventions" would make the labor too painful. But this was just what I needed and I went to 9 cm very quickly. At this point, my body started bearing down on its own. I was worried since I had only been 9, but they came back in and I was complete.
I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement, and was really afraid to do it while pushing, so the nurse agreed to take me to the bathroom. While in there, she could see him crowning, so we went back to the bed. We tried hands and knees but that was just awkward for me.
So we used the birthing bar and I used it and sometimes just put my arms behind me to keep myself upright. The doctor was very patient and told me just to push whenever I had the urge. I probably pushed for about an hour and then he was here! Born at 11:27 pm after 20 1/2 hours of labor! 7 lbs. 15 oz., 21 inches long, with a full head of dark hair! He cried at first and then calmed immediately when they laid him on my chest. He was (and is), the most beautiful, sweetest boy I've ever seen.
I had a doctor's appointment that Friday at 39 + 6 weeks. Was checked and still "high and tight". Not even a fingertip. Asked when I would "need" to be induced, as I was hoping to avoid it. My doctor made me an appointment for the next Tuesday, but said he thought I would have the baby before then. Not sure why he thought this as my body hadn't started doing anything yet, but he had a feeling.
On my son's due date, I knew he was still going to be in there awhile, so we had a big cookout and had both sides of the family over. It was really exhausting and I pretty much crashed that evening. I woke up at 3 am to pee and lost my mucous plug and had my bloody show. On my way back to tell my husband, I realized I was having a solid contraction.
I woke my husband to tell him I was in labor, but told him to rest for awhile as he needed to be rested. I should have done the same myself, but I was too excited. I went into the den and watched reruns of Friends until about 6 am. At this time, I was certain I was in real labor, so I called some friends that were working in the NICU that day to let them know (we like to watch out for each other). I also tried to call my mom, but somehow she had turned the ringer on her phone off!
I went and and woke my husband up and he helped me through contractions. We mostly talked, listened to music, and walked around the neighborhood some to keep things moving. I finally got ahold of my mom to let her know. At around 2 pm, I decided the contractions were bad enough that I should go in. We got there and got dressed and I was checked. I was 5 cm!
We got settled in a room, and my mom took over a lot of the breathing coaching (we had all practiced Lamaze), while my husband rubbed my back. I thought I would really love sitting on my balance ball, so I brought my own, but I really hated it, so after sitting on it once, I was done with it.
I spent some time in the tub, which was nice, but I wish they had a birthing tub, instead of just the standard tub, as it was really too shallow. Most of my labor was spent just walking around my room. (I did intermittent monitoring).
I got to 7 cm shortly after getting to the hospital, but stayed at 7 cm for hours and hours and hours. I thought transition was supposed to be faster and started to become discouraged. I even started to ask about the epidural, but when my husband asked if I really wanted one, I told him no.
I finally let them break my water. I should have done that sooner, but was afraid that any "interventions" would make the labor too painful. But this was just what I needed and I went to 9 cm very quickly. At this point, my body started bearing down on its own. I was worried since I had only been 9, but they came back in and I was complete.
I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement, and was really afraid to do it while pushing, so the nurse agreed to take me to the bathroom. While in there, she could see him crowning, so we went back to the bed. We tried hands and knees but that was just awkward for me.
So we used the birthing bar and I used it and sometimes just put my arms behind me to keep myself upright. The doctor was very patient and told me just to push whenever I had the urge. I probably pushed for about an hour and then he was here! Born at 11:27 pm after 20 1/2 hours of labor! 7 lbs. 15 oz., 21 inches long, with a full head of dark hair! He cried at first and then calmed immediately when they laid him on my chest. He was (and is), the most beautiful, sweetest boy I've ever seen.
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Re: Positive unmedicated hospital birth - long!
BFP February 2016 Baby Girl born 11/2016
BFP 8/16/2018 EDD 4/29/2019 MMC 10/3/2018
BFP 12/16/2018 EDD 08/26/2019 MC/CP 12/20/2018
BFP 03/28/2019 EDD 12/07/2019 Hoping for our rainbow
Married Jan 2008
DD Baby Bells born Dec 2016 5 lbs, 12 oz, 18"
Due with #2 Baby Arya EDD February 2020