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Birth Stories
WildcatPrincess
member
Riley Elizabeth, au naturale (long)
WildcatPrincess
member
Saturday morning, May 1st, I got up around 5:30 to pee and had a definite rush of fluid. Enough that it trickled down my leg. I called at 7 and the midwife on call, told me to go in around 8 or 8:30 and she'd meet us. We packed the rest of our bag, made sure the bunny was all set and we headed in. I was in major denial the whole time. I think I'm the only pregnant woman in the world who would hope, at 39 weeks, that I WASN'T in labor.
It turns out it wasn't my water breaking. Right after I had the fluid rush I found I was losing my mucus plug, so I guess it had something to do with that. When the midwife was spelunking around down there she said it was really wet and she got a good sized fluid sample, but when they did the fern test it didn't fern on the slide. I did have my cervix checked and was 100% effaced (thinned) and 3 centimeters dilated! I had pretty much expected no progress just because I didn't want to get my hopes up.
Since it was early morning and I was dehydrated, my blood pressure was higher than normal. I had to stay for monitoring thanks to that!! So I laid on my left side and chugged a liter of water and finally got two good readings in a row and was discharged. The midwife seemed really apologetic that it wasn't the real deal - I told her no worries, I was psyched.
During dinner that night I felt like I might be having contractions. DH put in a movie they seemed to be every 10-20 mins over the course of it. He went to bed right after the movie just incase, but I wasn?t able to sleep thanks to the contractions, which were getting closer together. Around 3 AM it they were 5 mins or less apart and lasting about a minute long each, so I called the midwife oncall in the middle of the night again. I told her what was going on including the fact that I was losing more mucus and it was bloody tinged. She said she usually tells people to not come in until contractions are too intense to talk or walk through and she?d let the hospital know what was going on so I could show up whenever that was for me.
I ran a tub at that point and was in it probably 5 or 10 minutes before I had a really bad contraction. I stood up really fast and had a gush of fluid. At first I thought it was because of the bath, but there was a LOT. As I was toweling off I had another gush and was pretty sure my water had broken. The contractions were a lot more intense after that, though still manageable, but super close together. I finally managed to get dressed and wake DH and we packed up the car once again. It was probably 5 or 5:30 Sunday when we left.
We got taken back to triage where I was hooked up for monitoring. I was having contractions about every 2 minutes and some of them didn?t ebb completely before peaking again ? those sucked. The nurse checked me and I was 4 centimeters ? improvement, but all that pain for only one centimeter! They told me the MW wanted me to walk the hall and see what happened, so off we went. It started off manageable, but after 45 mins or so it was unbearable. I felt like I was dying with every contraction and as soon as it ended and I took a step or two another one would start. We finally went back to the triage room because I couldn?t take it anymore and I told DH I needed some kind of meds. As soon as he buzzed for it three people came running and they checked me again ? 7 centimeters! And they confirmed my water had broke. Since I was at a 7 I said never mind the meds and my moment of weakness. Still not proud I asked, but at least I didn?t get them!
At that point I was admitted and we went down to the room to get settled while they started my antibiotic IV. I was exhausted from not sleeping all night and pretty much refused to move from the bed. Luckily no one insisted too much. Going to the bathroom was the worst! I was drinking a ton of water still and kept having to pee. I?d get in the bathroom and have to stop 3-4 times to work through contractions. Not to mention standing made them far more intense. At that point my preferred position was sitting straight up in bed. Unfortunately baby started to show distress so they made me lay down on my left side ? it was pure agony. As far as I knew at that point I was till a 7. I could sense I was getting closer to the end, however, because the contractions were suddenly SUPER intense. Everyone says transition, 7-10 centimeters, is the ?I can?t do it? point of labor. I know what they mean. I had stayed pretty quiet up until then, but I started moaning with each contraction or panting ?ow ow ow?. In between I?d mention once in awhile how much it sucked and the MW would laugh and agree. I kept hearing her tell the nurse I was funny and she loved me.
After awhile I was getting into a rhythm again and they asked if I wanted to roll onto my right side. To which I said no, but knew I should probably switch things up. As soon as I did that they started putting sheets and tarps down under me and a part of me realized I was getting close to the end. I started getting immense pressure in my bum, they?re not kidding when they say you feel like you have to poop. I also could feel a slight burn starting in the birth canal. I hadn?t planned on pushing ? hypnobirthing says let your body move the baby down naturally, but the contractions were so painful at that point and when I pushed I couldn?t feel them. I have no idea how long I pushed, a lot of things are pretty fuzzy after we got to the room, but I remember someone saying usually it took first timers an hour to get to the point I did in a few contractions pushing. Getting her head out was the hardest part, I felt like it was sitting there forever, but I know it wasn?t long at all. Once her head was out the rest was easy! I had my eyes closed most of the time and suddenly I was aware of the MW calling my name. She was telling me to reach down and grab my baby! I looked down and there was my beautiful little girl, all warm and wet and slippery and blue. They helped me get her onto my chest and I held her while they dried her off and did her APGAR. Oh she was beautiful, I couldn?t believe it. Luckily the placenta delivered very soon after she was out because I was so done having contractions! Once that was out it was such a HUGE relief. No more pain!
At that point my blood pressure dropped and they were concerned about bleeding so I was lowered onto my back and they massaged my uterus while the nurse got me a shot of pitocin. I felt fine and they said my belly was firm (apparently a good thing) so they?re not sure what caused the drop, but that was a little scary! Also since the little one came out so fast she had fluid in her right lung so I had them take her across the room to help her out. It would have been fine if she had cried, but she kept starting to and then shoving her hand in her mouth and sucking on it instead. Funny girl. Have I mentioned how beautiful she was? It was love at first sight, big time. They also gave me a stitch, I had one small 1st degree tear.
After she was out and we were settling in everyone kept telling me how amazing I was and how it was such a joyful birth to watch. The MW said they get people all the time saying they want to go natural and so few actually go through with it. I didn?t think it was that impressive, but it?s nice to hear about a job well doneSo that?s that! I still can?t believe it happened, it?s so surreal. I expected to be pregnant for weeks longer and here I am already a momma.
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Re: Riley Elizabeth, au naturale (long)
Congrats on going natural!