I did it again! Birth story, long

sweetfern

Well sort of.  While this birth again was not exactly what I had in mind, I was still able to pull it off without pain meds.  After a 42 week induction with my daughter, I was getting anxious as my due date came and went.  We are planning our second to be our last and I really wanted to go into labor on my own this time.  However, because of timeable contractions most every evening for 2 weeks (3 weeks with my daughter), I was terrified that I wouldn't know when I was in labor.  I was having stronger contractions on Monday morning (Oct 3, my due date) that were producing some pretty intense back pain.  After a few hours, and they weren't going away, I was certain that I was in labor.  I went out to tell my husband what was going on.  Not long later, unexpected company showed up and my contractions abruptly stopped. Next day, I had suspiciously few contractions.  Wednesday, we had a midwife appointment in the late afternoon.  All day leading up to the appointment, I was again having stronger contractions.  We decided to go to the mall before the appointment.  For about the last 2.5 hours before the appointment, even throughout the mall, they were about 11-12 minutes apart.  As soon as we walked into the doors for the appointment,no more contractions.  Frustration...the midwife stripped my membranes in hopes of bringing them back on.  I was 2.5 cm, somewhere around 50% effaced with my cervix still behind my tonsils.

Thursday, I woke early because of DD.  I had BH all day, but was paying no mind to them until evening when they got stronger.  I went outside to tell H that dinner was done, 6ish, and told him that I was having contractions but they were anywhere from 2-9 minutes apart.  We both know that is nothing to get excited about since it was an every evening event for so long.  Around 7, I noticed what seemed like a change, so I went in to lay down for a bit to time and get some rest.  Well, they were consistently 5-7 minutes apart and didn't change. By this time I started kicking myself for not trying to nap that day "just in case".  After we got DD to bed around 10 pm (she is a night owl), I called the MW on call even though I still wasn't certain that I was in labor.  We were told to call when they were 5-7 minutes and they were now 4-6, but I wanted to stay home for a bit.  I thought for sure they would stop before we got there.

We arrived around 12:30am Friday and went right back to a room and to my surprise I was still having contractions, some as close as 3 minutes.  I was immediately put on the monitors and checked. My heart sank as she reached up to my tonsils again to get to my cervix.  4cm, I can't remember how thin, cervix very postirior, and baby was very high (-2).  Certainly I couldn't be in labor and I could tell that they didn't think so either.  After the midwife left, the nurse said that I'd be able to go home for a while after they get their base readings on the monitors.  Well, a while later, she came back to tell us that she was wrong.  Even though the baby had been active, he was now in a sleep pattern and they wanted to see more activity.  The MW wanted me hooked up to IV fluids to get the baby more 'active' and to 'speed things up'.  I protested and got the nurse to stall the fluids by promising to drink a good bit of water and some OJ.  I did that and got to walking.

I walked for about an hour and towards the end my contractions were much stronger.  We walked back to the room in hopes of getting on a ball.  I was put back on the monitors and a while later told that I have to get the fluids that the baby wasn't active enough.  It seemed as though they thought that I was dehydrated and I would not be able to drink the amount that they wanted me to have.  I reluctantly agreed, I could still feel the baby moving and the heart rate bumped up when he did, but I wasn't a professional.  I was also told it would help speed up labor, I made sure that didn't mean pitocin.  Somewhere thereafter, I needed to poop; I did, but it wasn't a satisfying one, but I couldn't go anymore. 

About 4 am, the nurse checked me...I was 8cm.  The nurse suddenly realized that I was going to have a baby after all.  That meant asking me a bunch of questions that I thought we answered in the pre-admission appointment and was finally admitted. I was REALLY annoyed because it took my concentration away, up until then I was doing awesome relaxing between the contractions.  I had been sitting upright with my legs folded in bed.  I got up to pee, after a contraction remembering how horrifically painful contractions on a toilet were.  I had one walking back to bed that I felt an urge to push.  I quickly sat down in bed afraid it might happen on the floor.  All of a sudden it was a rush to get everything ready.  The MW came in around 5:30 am and broke my water.  It turned out that there was meconium in the fluid.  I started to feel the urge to push a few minutes later and stripped off my gown.  Appartently I can't have anything on me while pushing, it was the same with DD.  In came one of the baby drs waiting for DS, who was a younger guy.  He was waiting by the warmer, which was right smack in front of me...this dude had a front row seat to the events.  The MW checked and told me that I was fully dilated; a few minutes and pushes later, she found that there was still a lip.  She held it back during a contraction or two, HOLY F-Ing crap that hurt.  I pooped during every push thereafter, and yup, the baby dr still had a front row seat.  While H knew, he never saw it.  I felt the ring of fire which was exacerbated by the MW trying to stretch me out so I didn't need an episiotomy again.  This pain was far worse than any contractions.

DS was born at 6:30 a.m. and was placed on my chest for only a moment before he was taken away to be checked out by the two drs and nurse waiting for him (all directly in front of me).  Luckily, he had no complications from the meconium. We also found out that he had a true knot in his cord.  I was hooked up to pit to help stop the bleeding.  I tore, mostly inside, I had one stitch on the outside.  After what seemed like an eternity laying there listening to him cry, I was finally given my baby.  He weighed 8 pds 11 oz, 21", and scored 9 and 10 on the apgars.  After I was closed up and finished nursing DS, it was time for me to get up and pee.  Unfortunately that didn't happen, despite feeling an overwhelming urge.  It took 3 tries to get up to go to the bathroom, every time I tried standing up, it felt like all my organs were sloshing back into place.  It was an absolutely horrible feeling and made me extremely nauseous and faint.  About an hour later, I was catheterized.  By that time I was crying because my bladder was so full; I nearly filled the bag immediately.  Over the next 18 hours, I struggled with extreme pain in the front of my pelvis and the sloshing feeling every time I had to get up.  

All in all, labor and delivery wasn't too bad.  It was over fairly quick.  The contractions this time were nothing like the pit contractions with DD.  I was able to relax through them and had plenty of time in between.  I was even nodding off between pushes, though that may have been because sheer exhaustion.  I had no idea that I was in active labor until I was checked and the thought of getting pain meds NEVER crossed my mind this time.  Although I got through DD's birth without an epi, I did ask for one when I got into active labor and the contractions were one on top of the other.  Unfortunately, I did not get the euphoria I remember after DD...it was quite the opposite.  I remember feeling like a million bucks after she was born.  I think the first day after this birth was worse than labor itself.  By noon Saturday though, we were ready to leave...a day early.  Recovering from the tear was SO much easier than recovering from the episiotomy after DD.  I do suspect that the fluids may have contributed to my distended bladder, but I was also horribly swollen.  Oh, for future reference, salad for dinner = lots of poop during labor.

Mamasaurus

Congrats on your natural birth and healthy baby! I hope you are peeing more easily now.