XP: 2nd Natural Birth story (Induction, NB may have prevented c/s)
trinny
member
I was about 1 week overdue and decided to go in and have my water
broken. I just couldn't wait another week. I had been about 4 cm and
50% effaced for awhile and had a previous vag birth, so I felt like the
risks were low, though I was still pretty scared.
7:45 broke my water
We started walking around the hospital and I really wasn't feeling too many contractions and I was worried I'd end up needing pitocin-- which they would wait on until 1 pm.
10:45 started having some real contractions about 6 min apart. OUCH! These seemed to hurt far more than what I'd felt with my DD. I went back and started breathing/sitting on the birth ball.
11:45 contractions were getting stronger, so I got in the jacuzzi tub and AHHHH... some relief, but things were still hurting.
12:45 I got out of the tub and the checked me-- I was maybe 7-8 cm and 80%. I was sooo hoping they'd tell me it was time to push since it was my second labor-- I was thinking it was going to go faster. My MW came in and said the baby was still kind of high and asked me to get on my side. I rolled over and breathed through more contractions.
1:00 They checked me again. I was still only 8 cm! Then she asked me to get on the birth ball-- saying it would hurt, but it would help him come down.
1:30 breathed through more and more painful contractions on the ball. I so wanted it to be over and have some drugs. I don't know how much more I could take of this!
1:35 MW came in and checked me and said "are you ready to push and have this baby?!" Yes! I got in bed and started pushing. All I could think about was the pain, but it felt so good to push. As with my DD, I never really got the urge to push, but it felt so good when I finally did.
1:50 I could feel his head crowning. My MW was massaging my perineum and had me slow down a little. As excrutiating as it was, I think it saved me from any tearing at all.
1:54 One big push and I felt his head. Another couple big pushes and out came Ender James.
DH asked them to keep the cord pulsing and I heard the nurse say "Not with this baby" Apparently the cord was wrapped around his neck (just once), but he was purple and they needed to rub him and get color into him quickly. It worked and his color came back right away-- the cord probably hadn't been tight for too long.
As soon as they were done, I held him skin to skin and started nursing him right away. It was amazing!
I honestly believe my ability to move and change positions is what really brought the baby down. If I had the epidural, I would not have been able to do that and the outcome may have been very different, considering I was stalled at 8 cm for awhile.
I credit my MW
for delivering both my beautiful kids-- naturally with no tearing and
medical interventions! I'm so glad I did this and it was an amazing
(though very different) NB from my #1 DD. It is hard to say, but it
definitely seemed like this hurt more-- possibly one difference is with
DD, my water didn't break until almost the very end. And I may have
been more prepared/resolved/researched for #1 and a little
overconfident about it not being so bad...?!
Re: XP: 2nd Natural Birth story (Induction, NB may have prevented c/s)
Thank you! That is his namesake!