Aaron's (previously Gummy Bear) au natural LONG birth story
RunningMamaH
member
Sorry that this ended up being so long, I wanted to make sure I had all of the details. When I was reading others before Aaron's birth I wanted to know everything to help myself prepare for as natural a birth as possible. Hope this helps! Good luck to everyone 
?
At my last appointment I was 1 1/2 cm dilated andstill 50% effaced so I figured that Aaron might come the weekend of the 22nd. Ieven had a NST scheduled for Friday the 21st.
?
On Tuesday the 18th we were supposed to go to awake. Ryan called to say that he wasn't going to make it so I would have to goon my own. I was not feeling all that great but it really wasn't too bad so Idecided to go and went to get in the shower. Before getting in at 4:30 ish Iwent to the bathroom and lost my MP. In the shower I had two crampycontractions and decided that I probably shouldn't go to the wake just in casethis was turning into real labor. I went for a walk to try to start thingsmoving and called my friend Alicia who was going to act as my doula. It turnsout she was at the grocery store right down the road and that our friend Reannawho was also going to try and be at the birth was there too. I walked over andmet them and we set a plan just in case this was real. Reanna's husband wassick so she didn't think that she would make it if he came that night becausethere wouldn't be anyone to watch her son. So I called my other friend Laurawho had offered to be there as well and gave her the run down.?
After that I walked for another mile or so and thenheaded back home to have dinner and clean up around the house just in case. Ihad more contractions on the walk but they slowed down when I got home andafter dinner. At around 6:30 I went to the bathroom and had some blood. Ithought that things might be moving now as this could be the bloody show. Icalled the MW on call and asked her if it was normal (it was pretty dark and a little chunky like a period, way TMI sorry!) andshe said that it was fine and that it could be the start of labor but it couldstill be a couple of days. We got into bed but the contractions were startingto hurt more and it was impossible to lay down though them so I got up and wentand sat on the yoga ball in the living room.
I was using the Bump contraction timer (LOVE IT)and they were around 5-6 minutes apart. Around 10:50/11 pm I was still sittingon the yoga ball and felt like I was getting very wet. I figured it was mywater breaking and stood up to look and the ball was had blood on it (waswearing thin yoga pants). In the bathroom the blood kept coming and my pantswere soaked. Needless to say, I freaked out and yelled for Ryan to get up andthat we needed to go to the hospital. At this point all I can think of are allthe horrible things that can go wrong (placental abruption, undiagnosedplacenta previa, you name it). Called the MW and she said to come right in butthat it was probably more "bloody show."
We made the 45 minute drive in under 30 got set upin Triage and MW said it was just bloody show! (So if no one ever warns you, itcan be a LOT of blood) I was now 2cm and 90% effaced and the contractions were2 minutes apart! So even though I wanted to labor at home longer (wanting asnatural a birth as possible) it was best for us to stay with them that close.
We had submitted our birth plan at the last appointment and when we got to the hospital everyone had read it. It was a HUGE help and I was never once offered pain meds or an IV which I had specifically included in the plan.?
We got into our room around 12 and I tried sleepingin the bed for a bit to get some rest. This did not work at all. By 12:45 Itried the yoga ball because it had worked so well at home and HATED it. I wasalso FREEZING (the MW at one of my appointments had told me this sometimeshappens and she was sooo right, DH informed me later the room was set at 75 and he was sweating) So I paged the nurse and said that I wanted toget in the tub. The tub was heavenly and I stayed in there eating ice chips anddrinking water (I told DH to try to sleep until I needed him) until I wasreally having trouble focusing through the contractions and called my doula andfriend Laura to come and help me (they were still at home).
I did not take any classes but had borrowed aHypnobirthing cd with the affirmations and practice relaxation that I hadpracticed with (actually a HUGE help, strangely not the relaxation part but theaffirmations) and read a ton of books. My favorite was Ina May's Guide toChildbirth (I think I read it 3 times and even looked over it again while inlabor at home). I did not bring any music or the cd's in (left them all at home in such a rush to leave) and I don't think I would have wanted them. It was easier for me to focus through the contractions without distractions.
It is crazy how your mind is able to think of thestrangest things to get you through the rough spots. At first when I was eatingthe ice chips and a contraction would come on I started to realize that Ineeded something to focus on, so I would shove a bunch of ice in my mouth andchew it at the same time. This worked for a while and then I started trying tomake myself focus on something completely different. At first I was makingmyself remember how penguin yearly migration cycles work (the ice made me thinkof it) and that kept me occupied for a while and then I started trying toremember the Hypnobirthing affirmations in order. During the breaks in between contractions I would try to focus on nothing and help my body relax and enjoy the break. Moaning low like a cow was a huge help as well.
I would guess I got out of the tub around 4am ishand the MW checked me again. I was 8-9cm and 100% effaced. I then stood androcked next to the bed with my friends pushing and massaging my back (feltAMAZING) and then got on the bed on all fours and rocked back and forth.?
(Most of these later times are just guesses as Ihad my eyes closed from about 12:30pm on, it was easier to focus through thecontractions this way)
This last hour (now that I make myself look back onit) was rough. Transition is no joke. The contractions were right on top ofeach other. They also kept pushing the hand Doppler into my side to hear himduring them and it was REALLY annoying me.?
Around 5:30am my water broke, or at least a littledid so she checked me and I was10cm with a tiny lip of cervix. She broke therest of my water and she had my try to push through the lip of cervix while onmy back while she pushed it back around his head. This was NOT fun. Little manwas also sunny side up. So once the lip was pushed back the marathon pushingbegan. I first tried on all fours on the bed, then standing next to the bedwith Ryan and Alicia (or Laura, hard to tell with my eyes closed) holding myhand on the other side so I was kind of pulling on their arms as I squatteddown. Then moved to the birthing stool, then back to all fours on the bed.Little man would come down and then go back up. She then tried making him turnthe right way but he still wouldn't budge.
The nice thing about the pushing stage, once you get through transition, is that the contractions get farther apart. So even though I was working hard I had a longer break in-between to rest. The urge to push is also unbelievable. It reminded me of when you are REALLY sick and you have to throw up or have diarrhea and you are fighting it and then your body wins out and makes you do it. You have very little control over doing it and fighting it is hard.?
Part of the way through pushing the shifts changedand another MW came on. So we tried more of the birthing stool, then into thebathroom on the toilet, then back to the bed. I finally ended up there pushingon my back just because I was so beat. At around 9/9:30 ish (again, eyesclosed) I started begging for the vacuum. At around 10 or so the MW finallycalled in the order for it, but the Dr. on call was with a patient in the OR,so we would have to wait. So the MW and my friends gave me 3 sticks of honey and some apple juice during the breaks in-between pushing, and finally the little man flipped over! Pushing then was so easy and he was out by 10:30 all on his own!The Dr. actually made it to the door of the maternity ward just as he came out(guess my little man didn't want to be vacuumed out
Once I could feel him starting to crown I wanted tojust keep pushing but the MW (and my amazing friends) told me I would regret itso I stopped. This is not fun or easy and it really does BURN. Blowing helps alot. Luckily the MW had been putting warm compresses on me and squirting mewith mineral oil for quite a while (4 1/2 hours or so to be exact) to help mestretch. Finally she told me I could push him out slowly so I tried to do it asgently as I could. Once his head and the tops of his shoulders were out she hadme reach down and pull him out the rest of the way myself. He came out witheyes wide open and yelling I pulled him right up to my chest and we snuggledfor almost and hour. After his cord had stopped pulsing my friend Alicia cut itand not long after I delivered the placenta (super easy, no bones in that!).The MW then checked me for tears (I could tell by the look on her face that shethought it was going to be bad). I expected to have massive hemorrhoids. Turnsout we were both surprised. No hemmies at all and only a small 1st degree tear,only 2 stitches needed!?
Little man (now Aaron) then latched right on andnursed for 30 minutes on each side!!! After that he was weighed (7lbs 8oz) andmeasured (20 inches). He has a HORRIBLE bruise (at least 5cm around) on the topof his head and two blood blisters (one of them popped on the way out) fromhitting my pubic bone over and over. They said it should go away in a couple ofdays. He then came back to snuggle. After everything was cleaned up thevisitors started arriving.?
Recovery so far has been great. I only needed Motrin for 1 day and never needed the crotch ice packs. It does NOT feelgood when they come and push on your belly (and they will do it a lot) and the peri bottle is very helpfulto keep the burning down when you pee. The MW also recommended peeing in theshower (normally I am fully against this.... but as it was not my shower, it wasgreat
I am so glad that I was able to push him out on my own without the vacuum,I know that I really would have regretted it, but at that point I was so tiredand beat that I would probably have even taken a c-section if they had offeredit to me.?The MW was also glad because she could see the bruise and bloodblisters on his head and really didn?t want to put a vacuum on it withoutknowing what it was.
Strangely enough I never once thought to ask for anything for the pain.It really didn?t hurt like a pain that you would want to stop. It feltproductive. I knew that really the only way to make it stop would be for him tocome out. That is why I was begging for the vacuum by the end; I knew that oncehe was out it would be over.
I don?t know what I would have done without my support team there. Ryanwas great but there just is no substitute for amazing women. He admitted afterthat there were points during labor that they were working so hard and hecouldn?t even begin to think of how to thank them or that we even had enough money to get them something worthy of what they had done.?
Hopefully this was helpful and good luck to everyone!?
Re: Aaron's (previously Gummy Bear) au natural LONG birth story