Med-free Bradley birth story (long!)
My due date was May 13th. My first two children were born two and three days before my due date, so I didn't expect to even make it to my due date with my third. Well, my due date came and went and I was 2 cm and 50% effaced at my 40 week appointment. Finally, on May 19th at 11:30 PM, a contraction woke me up out of my sleep. Immediately, the contractions were 30-45 seconds long and only 2-3 minutes apart. I wasn't sure what to do because they were immediately so close together, but not very long in length. I expected a fairly long labor since my first two labors were 21 and 14 hours from start to finish.
I decided to get out of bed and pack my bag and continue timing the contractions. They continued to be about 2-5 minutes apart over the next few hours and lasted about 30-45 seconds. At 1:30 AM, my husband and I decided we should probably head to the hospital 30 minutes away. As soon as we got in the car, I had a feeling that the contractions would stop. Even though I was one week overdue, I wasn't convinced this was it. Sure enough, I only had 2 contraction in the next 30 minutes! When we got to the hospital, my contractions seemed to have stalled completely. So, I decided to stay out in the car and see if they would start back up again before making the decision to either go inside or head back home.
After about an hour in the car, the contractions started back up again and were fairly intense, so we headed inside. The triage nurse checked me at 3 AM and I was still only 2 cm--the same as I had been at my 40 week appointment several days earlier. I was pretty disappointed! She said she would come back at 5 AM and check me to determine whether they would admit me at that point. Over the next few hours, I had my bloody show, several instances of diarrhea and increasingly uncomfortable contractions. I knew this was definitely the real deal! The nurse came back at 5 AM to check me and I couldn't believe it when she said I was STILL only 2 cm. I had been in labor at that point for 5 1/2 hours with my third child and hadn't made any progress whatsoever!
She said she couldn't admit me but encouraged me to walk the halls to see if I could get things moving. So, at 5:15 AM, my husband and I started walking the halls. Things started to get pretty intense at that point and I was telling my husband that if my labor continued to progress this slowly, I wasn't sure if I could do it! Then, after 30 minutes of walking the halls, my water broke all over the hallway in a huge gush at 5:45. The contractions were incredibly strong after that and I was finally admitted since my water had broken. As soon as I got into my room at 6 AM I was checked and was at 4 cm. Within minutes, my body started involuntarily pushing. It was insane. I couldn't help it at all. The nurses were telling me to stop pushing, but I literally couldn't. After ten minutes, I asked them to please check me again and I was 6 cm. After another 5 minutes, I was 9 cm! Finally, at 6:55 I was fully dilated. At 6:59 AM after a few pushes, Adelyn Hope was born weighing 8 lbs 10 oz!
So, in the hour and fifteen minutes from when my water broke I went from 2-10 cm and pushed her out! It was the most intense labor I've had! The pushing didn't hurt at all. It was such a relief to be able to finally push with the contractions. The worst part was when they were telling me not to push because I wasn't fully dilated and it was taking so much effort and concentration NOT to push.
I had a second degree tear (same as the first two) but minimal pain. I was up walking around within an hour of having Adelyn and got an early discharge when she was 24 hours old because we were both doing great. For anyone considering natural childbirth, you CAN do it. I felt great immediately after giving birth and felt so empowered by what my body accomplished naturally.
At three weeks post-partum, I feel completely normal. Addy is the sweetest baby. She rarely cries, nurses like a champ, and loves to be held. We're so in love and are already thinking about when we will have a 4th baby!
Re: Med-free Bradley birth story (long!)
Thank you for sharing your story. I am considering a natural childbirth as well via the Bradley Method and was so happy to see your post. This is my first pregnancy and I'm not ashamed to admit I'm scared of a natural birth and am not quite sure I can do it yet...
Congratulations on the beautiful new addition to your family!
~Lindsay
Natural miscarriage - April 2009 ~ We love you, 'Blueberry'
Lydia, born July 12, 2010
Labor buddy to Kelly0615