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Natural Birth
jennyann28
member
Ruby Josephine's natural, hospital birth
jennyann28
member
This is going to be long, be warned!
Thursday morning, I was going upstairs to get dressed for work. When I got to the top, things felt really wet down there. I went to the bathroom & found I needed a new pair of underwear. Still, I was thinking, "that's a lot of discharge!!!" I warned my DH to have his phone by him, because, well... I just wasn't sure.
I went to work (I'm a teacher) and decided to ask a close co-worker if she thought I should call my MWs and get checked. I thought I *should* but I kind of didn't want to, because I really DIDN'T think that was my water, and I felt like an idiot for not knowing. My co-worker told me I needed to call, so I did. Of course, they said, "Yes, come get checked as soon as possible." I had to round up someone to cover my classroom, which made everyone very excited, which made me feel more stupid. I *really* did not think my water had actually broken, and told everyone I was sure I'd be back at school in a bit.
I got to the clinic. It was really busy & I had to wait forever, but my MW took a look and said "I can tell already that your water DID break." Then she held up the pH strip. I was in shock. She told me I could go to L&D and start an induction (ha!) or go home and wait for labor to start. Obviously, I chose go home. She told me I had to come back at 6pm if labor hadn't started on its own, and that she wanted an NST first. The clinic was so busy that she was sending me to L&D for it. I went down there and baby passed the test just fine. As I was about to leave, my main MW came out to see me as she was down there on call. She gave me a big hug because she knew that I was sad she would be going off call at 7, and the other MW wasn't on call that night either (there are only two & they rotate call with the OBs). She told me to go home and rest, and that since I was a FTM, I might not deliver the baby until after she came back at 7am anyway! That made me feel better and I left in shock, knowing now that we were actually having a baby SOON.
On my way home, I decided it would be a good idea to fill the car with gas. Then I remembered that I really wanted some Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple cream and hadn't had a chance to buy it. I knew Fred Meyer (a local wal-mart type store) had it, so I decided to stop there too. As I walked in the door, I knew I was in trouble. The floodgates OPENED. I had on a really long jacket & started trying to zip it up, but couldn't. I put my purse in front of my crotch & hightailed it for the bathroom! I continued to leak, and wondered how I was going to get my pants off with minimal splashage. Once I finally did, even more fluid came out on the toilet. I thought it was all done when I left the MWs - I was really surprised how much there was! But, then I was stuck in the bathroom. I put on a pad and sat in there until I thought I was in the clear, zipped up my long jacket and left. The puddle hadn't gone past the hem of my jacket, phew!
I still really wanted that nipple cream though. The aisle was close by, so I took a chance, grabbed some, used the U-scan, and hustled out of there. I don't think anyone was the wiser!
At home I packed my hospital bag, rested, and waited for contractions to start. They didn't, so DH and I packed up the car and trekked to the hospital. I was worried about intervention, since I hadn't started labor on my own, and worried that I wouldn't be able to stick with my hypnobirthing plan because of it.
At the hospital, the OB on call (who was really supportive of my birth plan, actually). Told me that since the risk of infection was high with prolonged ruptured membranes, she wanted to try to get things going with a very small dose of Cytotec (the pharmacy actually had to cut the pill into 1/4ths, she only wanted that much).
That did the trick! The Cytotec put me into labor. Unfortunately, I was required continuous monitoring for 4 hours after getting the pill put in. My first nurse was awesome though, and hooked up the telemetry so DH and I could walk around. It didn't work very well at all though, so after a couple of boring laps around L&D, DH and I came back and tried to teach our nurse how to play cribbage. Once contractions had started (this did take a while), they were coming every 2-3 min apart, except they almost all would double peak. They weren't very painful though, so no big deal. Shifts changed for nurses & I got bossy nurse. She immediately started talking pitocin because my contractions weren't regular "enough". Luckily, she had to get approval from the OB, who said no pitocin, let her go on her own.
At this time, the contractions had started getting stronger, and they were all in my back. I was still hooked to the monitors & I wanted OFF. Bossy didn't want to let me, but OB saved the day again, so Bossy asked if I wanted the birthing ball or tub. I opted to try the tub, so she set about getting it ready, and also started getting a better attitude, once she knew I wasn't wavering from my plan (she wanted me to have an IV too, but doc said I didn't have to).
The tub was AMAZING. This whole time, I hadn't been able to get into my Rainbow Relaxation groove at all, and the tub really helped me to be able to relax through the intense back contractions. DH poured water on my belly when I had one, and it was fantastic. I was in there almost an hour, when things got REALLY intense. I really felt like I had to poop, and I wanted to get out and sit on the toilet, because I really thought I was going to poop. I had been at 4cm when I got in the tub, so I just thought I had to go to the bathroom & that back labor sucked really badly.
I started having crazy thoughts, that I couldn't do it anymore. I was tired, and the back labor was really painful. I didn't feel in control of relaxation at all, and I didn't think I could get there on my own. I begged DH for an epidural. He asked me several times to be sure and I said yes. He told me that the nurse had said she'd be back in 15min to check me, and we should wait until then. I made it through another contraction (they were still 2 min apart) and said, "NO, I NEED IT NOW!" DH went to go get the nurse.
That's when the angel came. Nurse Jenn was covering Bossy's break. She was amazing. She checked me right there on the toilet & said, "Honey, you are at 8, you can DO THIS." She was so encouraging. I remember asking her, "Is it really this bad, or is it the transition talking?" lol. It turned out that DH had gone to tell her I wanted the epi, but he didn't think I really did. They conspired together to help me realize that I didn't. Then I realized that my body started to push on it's own. I told Jenn & suddenly the room was full of activity. I just started pushing on the toilet because I couldn't help it. But it had only been a few minutes since I'd been checked! At some point Bossy had come back, and they were yelling for the doctor, getting things set up.
Bossy came in and told me I had to get off the toilet. I said no, I didn't care, I'd have her right there, lol. She told me I couldn't have my baby on the toilet & I could get up, or she'd get a wheelchair. Haha. They got me to the bed, which I thought I didn't want, but didn't end up minding at all, my body pushing all the way. I was very vocal through contractions at this point, which surprised me, but it helped me a lot. Nobody "coached" me through contractions, they just let me go, but reminded me that grunting during pushing was more effective than yelling (it totally was). I could feel her head coming out, but going back in in between contractions. I hated the pauses between, I just wanted her out!
Shortly after, at 4:18am, Friday, May 4, Ruby Josephine entered the world. They put her right on my chest, and she was just so CUTE. She was 6lbs. 4oz. They worked on me, and just let me snuggle with her. I heard them say she'd had a loose nuchal cord, and that it was long. Nobody clamped or cut it, as we wanted it to stop pulsing. I had to get stitches, as I had a 2nd degree tear, but I got to hold my baby the whole time. Finally, a looooong time later, they had DH cut the cord.
I was sad my MWs weren't there, and I feel like I totally failed at hypnobirthing (though a lot of people said I was really relaxed for a long time, and I had been telling Jenn "I feel so out of control!" but she said I was in control). But I don't have regrets about the birth. The OB was good to me. Ruby had low blood sugar and temp at birth & Bossy threatened me with formula & NICU, but we never needed it. I felt fine to be up and around, and my tear does not bother me at all. We love our girl so much, and I just can't believe that she is here, and I can't believe that I actually could do it natural, just like I had wanted.
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Re: Ruby Josephine's natural, hospital birth
Baby BOY is due May 23, 2014!
Wonderful!!! I'm glad everything went well and Bossy never got her way
We have VERY similar birth stories! PROM, Cytotec (I got two 1/4 pill doses to really get going), 2nd degree tear, even the time of birth - My son was born at 3:42 AM.
Congratulations!
Congrats! Thanks for the inspiring birth story! :-)
...............the papeete blog...............
Wow! That's crazy, those similarities!
Thanks so much for your kind words, everybody. It was a crazy labor, yet the best day of my life.
Congratulations! Your baby girl is beautiful!
Being a Type A, I like to plan everything in advance. Although I'm not TTC yet, I have been curious about epidural vs natural and really on the fence. I have a high tolerance for pain due to endo, but really value comfort. Your story is very inspiring to me.
Dx: Endometriosis (2010), PCOS (2013)
TTC since 8/2012
BFP 3/9/2014 Femara 7mg + trigger. EDD 11/20/2014
http://amycookiemonster.blogspot.com