Corbin's NB Story
Corbin?s Natural Birth Story
My forebag of waters broke at 2:45 Thursday (5/24) morning and I was a little unsure of whether or not to call the midwives at the Center. I informed DH of what I thought had happened and gathered up the phone number to call, but still couldn?t decide if I needed to call just yet. I went downstairs to see if I could find anything online about the rupture of the forebag and phoning the midwives? 15 minutes later, the rest of it broke during a contraction while I was on the exercise ball.
I let DH know this was the real deal and called in to the Midwifery Center. When J called me back, my contractions hadn?t increased in frequency or intensity and she agreed I could stay at home until I felt like I needed to head in since I didn?t have any other risk factors. I was a bit nervous about the impending rush hour traffic and getting stuck in the tunnel on the way to the Center, but I didn?t want to leave home too early, either. At first, I let DH continue to sleep while I washed Baby?s recently arrived blanket from his Great Grandmama and packed up some last minute items in our hospital bag. I?m not sure when I told DH to get up and get his own things packed. After packing and making sure our older son?s bag was packed, he began to clean house so that when we came home, the house would be immaculate. I also texted G (our student doula) to let her know I?d be having a baby very soon and that we would call when we left for the Center. We took our time at home until I started yelling at DH for not following directions IMMEDIATELY... That's when I knew we needed to go. (Specifically, he was doing dishes and I asked him to get me ANOTHER overnight pad, as I?d just soaked one and he continued to load dishes until I snapped at him ?No. RIGHT NOW.?) Neither of us expected me to get as much attitude as I was getting and neither of us expected me to progress this fast. (Labor began similarly with our older son and I wasn?t having any regular contractions 5 hours later when they started me on pitocin.) He didn?t understand that my instructions were direct instructions and not suggestions on what to do when he got a moment. He did ask a time or two how far apart contractions were, but I wasn?t doing well to keep up with timing them and each time he asked, I was getting more irritated, especially as they got more and more painful.
We left home a little after 5 AM, once we knew where we were taking DS1 and who was going to feed the dogs. I waited as long as possible to get in the car because I knew contractions would feel worse once I was restrained. I didn?t expect them to become so much stronger and closer together while we traveled from home to the city. The bumpy roads (roadwork!) during contractions were miserable, and passing the hospital on the way to drop off DS1 nearly made me cry. When we parked at the hospital, it was raining but I did not care. I got out of the car and started walking as fast as I could manage between contractions. I had to stop a few times to hold onto DH and I remember crying as soon as we made it under the awning at the front door? and almost all the way up to the third floor.
We arrived at the hospital a little before 6 AM and I was checked at 4 centimeters. Upon admittance, I had to be hooked up to the monitors to check on baby for 20-30 minutes and laying down was misery so the moment they were OK with Corbin?s heart rate, they let me up and in the shower. We think I was in the shower for about 45 minutes to an hour before my doula pulled me out because I started vomiting. I remember thinking (saying?), "Weird... I haven't had anything yellow to eat." And knowing that I was glad I brought two different flavors of gatorade because I wouldn't want the yellow now. I thought I was going to be getting checked, but later, DH said they were just saying that to get me out of the shower and into another position.
There was a shift change pretty soon after I got out of the shower, but I do remember the first midwife (J) telling me through contractions to relax my face and make deep guttural sounds instead of high-pitched sounds. Once the new midwife (B) came in, she checked me at 8 and said I could push if I wanted to get him into position (little bugger was OP and still not engaged- very high) I was not discouraged by the news that he was high as I pushed out my first son from very high, even while laboring completely on my back, unable to change positions.
I began pushing at 9:00 AM, starting with lying on my side, then my back, then my other side. I think I tried just about every position in the book as the midwife, doula or other nurses suggested it. Eventually, my legs started cramping so badly I was close to kicking nurses in their faces, without even meaning to. The midwife helped me off of the bed and around back to the side closest to the monitor where they offered the birthing ball and had me stand and raise a single leg while pushing, but my cramping inner thighs couldn?t take it anymore. I was crying and I remember telling my husband that I couldn?t do this anymore, but please don?t let me get a C-section after coming this far, but someone PLEASE get him out NOW (If someone had said C-sec or epidural at that point, I?d have absolutely taken it). Finally, something in me made me stop listening to everyone else in the room. I pushed standing up, holding my legs together tightly for a contraction or two and then I announced that he was RIGHT THERE. B checked and said, ?Yes he is. You can push him right on out!? So that?s what I did. It seemed like it took a long time, but it was only a few minutes. (My contractions were one on top of each other, so my measurement of time was WAY off!) Ring of fire? Yeah? it burned, but compared to the rest of the labor, eh? not so bad, really. It meant my baby was coming to meet me!
Corbin was born at 10:16 AM weighing 7 lbs 7 oz after pushing for just over an hour. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and there was some meconium staining at delivery, so I wasn?t able to hold him skin to skin immediately. The pediatrician was concerned about his breathing and ability to regulate temperature so I was only able to hold him for 30 minutes or so before they took him to the nursery for more monitoring and tests. He came back later in the day with an ?all clear? from the pediatrician.
Despite pushing for what seemed like hours, I had no tearing at all. Once I delivered the placenta (almost immediately and not even uncomfortable on the pain scale) and Corbin was away in the nursery, I was able to get up and take a long, hot shower with little assistance. And once we got Corbin back, he stayed with us for the remainder of our brief stay at the Midwifery Center. He latched on well from the get-go of our nursing relationship, though he?s already a much different nurser than DS1 ever was. Our families were completely surprised by our call to announce his birth (as none of them knew I was in labor) and our little student doula was thrilled to find out that when I was checked upon arrival, I was early enough in labor that Corbin?s birth will get to count towards her certification. She was an excellent asset to our birth team and I?m not sure how DH and I would have been able to handle contractions without her there to assist us.
When the delivering MW checked on me the following morning, she told me that about halfway through pushing, she contacted the OB and said I might need a transfer to L&D for an assisted delivery, because Corbin still had turned and dropped. Her next words were, "And then you got up and knew just exactly what you needed to do to get that baby out! You did great!"
Re: Corbin's NB Story
Congratulations!!! Another adorable little boy!
Thank you so much for writing an excellent, detailed, amazing and inspiring birth story.
Thank you for taking the time to write this! Very inspiring and I love what your MW said to you = You knew exactly what you needed to do to get that baby out! I hope this replays in my mind for my upcoming HB!!
Congrats on Corbin!
Honestly, I had no idea that's what he needed. I knew what *I* needed to keep going and that was for them to let me give my inner thighs a break. Pushing with my legs together actually felt GOOD even though I knew I couldn't get him out that way... but it probably felt good because it's what he needed to descend into the birth canal.