60+ hr birth story. FINALLY (obviously long)
bellaleanne
member
Let me start by saying Tristan came a week and a half after his due date, and I had really wanted to go natural....man, I had no idea what my body had in store for me.
My contractions started around 2:30am Saturday morning. I woke up because the back pain was pretty intense, and it only took about 6-7 minutes for me to realize what was happening because another contraction followed shortly.
Now, I wanted to go back to sleep. I had only slept for three hours at the most, so I was exhausted. but a few glances at the clock confirmed that they were 3-7 minutes apart, and were taking some concentration to get through. so I got up and continued to have them the ENTIRE day on saturday, averaging 4-8 minutes apart, only on rare occasion did I get 10 or 11 minutes.
I spent that day walking when I could, not eating because of the pain, and just hoping something was happening. At about 7pm the contractions were painful enough that I couldn't talk through them, just moan. they were only 1-3 minutes apart so we went to the hospital.
They check me when I get there and I was 80% and a fingertip dilated. They had me hooked up and the contractions were no more than 1 1/2 minutes apart, and going up into the 60-80 range on the monitor. They couldn't understand why, so I was put on an IV and they forced a couple pitchers of water down. The contractions started coming on top of each other, and by the time they checked me again at 11:30, there was no progress at all but I was in so much pain I could hardly move at all. The midwife said it was rediculous that I was having such intense conractions so frequently but they had to try to stop it.
They gave me demerol and sent me home, and even though they said it would stop the contractions, I continued to have them in a drugged stupor all through saturday night/sunday morning.
when I got up sunday I FINALLY lost my MP. I didn't find it too encouraging at that point, given the fact that my contractions were about four minutes apart and I was sore from all the contracting the day before.
I spent all day sunday laying on the floor in a dark room with my mom and sisters around trying to help me through the contractions. overall, it was miserable because even with contractions less than five minutes apart, I was discouraged from going in because it just wasn't making any progress.
Finally around 11pm sunday night it was too much again. contractions almost on top of each other made me head back to the hospital.
when they checked me I was 90% and barely at 2cm. The midwife stretched me and I immediately started crying. I was so scared of being sent home again. This midwife said she would admit me and give me something to help me sleep, and we would start pitocin in the morning if I needed help progressing.
I don't remember what they gave me, but it made contractions less uncomfortable but no less frequent. after only twenty minutes my contractions came on even stronger than before, and I had to call a nurse in to see what could be done to help. I thought my back and hips were going to break with these contractions going well over the 110 mark on the monitor.
The nurse was an idiot. She was telling my mom "she's in labor now, contracting on her own, that's why she's feeling sick.." when I had been feeling that way for two days straight and everyone kept telling me I was NOT in labor.
The midwife came in again and said I was at 3cm finally (this was around 4am monday morning). after this, she told me that she really wanted to help me and give me pitocin. She was very understanding that I had wanted to do it naturally but she could see that I hadn't slept and had been in horrible pain for days already, and told me that since pitocin would only make it worse and I had a "long road" ahead of me still, she really recommended that I think about the epi.
I really hesitated to do it, having already gotten myself through so much just to get to that point. But logic won out, and I knew that I could not possibly continue at that rate, in that much pain. I decided to get the epi.
Getting the epi was awful. the anesthesioligist (sp) was digging hard into my spine to find the right spot, and he had me hunched over leaning on my mom. I had nothing to help me manage the pain by that time save sheer force of will, but the monitor was proof that my contractions were off the charts in intensity. because of my position the monitor was no longer on the baby, and even though I was mid-contraction with someone digging in my back telling me to stay perfectly still, the idiot nurse started reaching between my mother and I to prod at my belly and "try to find the baby". I wanted to kill her. This was around 4am monday the 16th
after that it's a bit of a blur...they had to break my water, and the midwife said there were trace amounts of meconium in it. I really just tried to rest while the pitocin did the work. It was rather uneventful until the midwife checked me a little after 1pm and said I was at 10cm, and to let them know when I felt like pushing.
I pushed for around 40 minutes or so and my LO was born at 2:36 on 11/16, at 20 inches and 7lbs 12 ounces.
It was worth it, of course. I think it probably always is. But things can go wrong...in my case, it was exactly what I didn't want. I am jealous of women who were able to go natural, but luckily I don't feel like a failure after all I went through.
Now motherhood on the other hand....that's a challenge so far. That can make you feel like a failure so quickly...but also be extremely rewarding.
Re: 60+ hr birth story. FINALLY (obviously long)