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Natural Birth
MrsKidd
member
Cora's Birth Story
MrsKidd
member
I loved reading the birth stories when I was expecting so I wanted to finally post mine. It's long but I hope you enjoy it!
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Around 2:30am on 4/13 (Friday the 13th) I woke up from a deep sleep (something I would normally never do) with what felt like strong menstrual cramps. My first thought was they had to be Braxton-Hicks, or fake, contractions. Still I decided to download a contraction timer app to my iPhone and see what I was dealing with. I also made the (looking back on it) smart decision to tell DH to go sleep in the guest bedroom so I didn?t disturb him while I was dealing with the pain.
I tried to time what I thought were contractions but I kept falling asleep in between with my phone in my hand. From what I could tell they were pretty irregular, but about a minute long each. They hurt but in the end I was able to sleep until about 7:30am.
I woke up and went into the living room to eat breakfast and watch TV. DH was pretty concerned because he was supposed to work at 1pm and then leave to go turkey hunting after he got off work. I was in pain but I managed to take about an hour long nap on the couch. When the time came for him to go to work I was still convinced that I wasn?t in labor so I told him to go.
I had an already scheduled midwife appointment at 3pm so all day long I kept thinking, ?Just three more hours until I go in and can get checked?Only two more hours till I can go in?Only one more...,? you get the picture.
At 2:30pm I left to go to the midwife and was still doing okay. In fact I had stopped timing the ?contractions? because I was convinced I still wasn?t in labor. I got to the midwife after an uncomfortable car ride and had to wait to see her until around 3:30pm. While I was in the room I had four contractions and when the midwife Denise came in I couldn?t even sit in the chair comfortably. She saw how I was acting and checked me right away.
She said I was 100% effaced, around 3cm dialated and she could feel a bulging bag of waters. She also said I would be having a baby that weekend. When she said that I burst into tears on the examining table. All day long I had convinced myself I wasn?t in labor but you couldn?t argue with what she said. Denise told me the contractions may stop when I got home but it wasn?t likely.
I tried not to freak out and headed to the car where I called DH and told him he wasn?t going turkey hunting that weekend. That was at 4:00pm. But I still told him to stay at work because I was convinced when I got home the contractions would slow down. The car ride back home was even worse than the one to the clinic (I had probably 4-5 contractions) but I didn?t know the worst car ride was still ahead of me.
When I got home I decided to run a bath because I had read that the warm water could slow down contractions. That didn?t happen. I was using the app to time them and they were a minute long and three minutes apart. Keep in mind you?re supposed to go to the hospital when they are one minute long and five minutes apart. I finally gave up and called DH and told him to come home.
I got out of the bath and managed to get into some clothes. I had promised DH that I would pack the hospital bag since we hadn?t done that yet since I was 12 days away from the due date and convinced I would go over. I went into the living room and sat on the exercise ball and that was about all I could do as I breathed through the contractions.
It seemed like it took DH forever to get home but finally at 5pm he walked through the door. He said we better call Triage at the hospital and I spoke to the midwife on duty who said we better come in. This whole time I was still on the exercise ball and trying to direct DH what needed to be packed in between the pain. I?m afraid I wasn?t very nice to him because I thought he was packing too slow.
By this time it was about 5:30pm and we were finally ready to go to the hospital. Slight problem was I couldn?t sit in the car I was in so much pain. It was at this point that I told DH if I was only half ways through labor, I was going to need pain medication because I wouldn?t be able to handle any more. He moved the seat all the way back and reclined it and I was on my knees turned around backwards with a death grip on the headrest the whole way to the hospital.
DH said this was the only point that he started to panic because I was truly in so much pain. During a contraction I would say, ?I can?t do this,? ?Pull the car over!,? etc. Keep in mind we were on a busy highway and I wanted to get out of the car. Every turn and stop was pure hell. The only thing that kept me going was DH calling out the landmarks so I could know how close we were to the hospital. I kept my eyes closed the entire time. It got so bad that DH ran a red light on the street the hospital was on.
Finally we were there.
I made sure to look at the clock in the car when we pulled up to the
front ? it was 6pm. I didn?t know it but
I had been in transition (almost the worst part of labor) in the car. The valet took our car and we entered the
lobby where I scared little children and other people by having very vocal
contractions in the lobby. Every time I
had a contraction I had to bend over and grip on to something while I groaned
and breathed through it.
We finally made it up to the birthing center floor and when I got out of the
elevator they immediately started to lead me to a room. Thank goodness I said, ?We?re having a water
birth!? because they almost led me to a regular room. I had a contraction in the hallway and the
midwife Jodi was there beside me whispering in my ear that I could do it even
as I was saying that I couldn?t.
We made it into the room and they got me onto a bed to check how far along I was. First a midwife student tried to check me but it hurt so bad I couldn?t hold still. When she told me she couldn?t tell and would have to check again I almost screamed at her! So the midwife took over and said I was 9 ? cm dialated and better get in the tub. I couldn?t believe my ears ? I was about to have a baby and I had only come to terms with the fact that I was in labor two hours earlier.
There was only a few inches of water in the tub when I got in it. DH had left all of our stuff in the car so he ran back out to the parking lot to get it. Honestly I barely knew he was gone. I was on my hands and knees in the tub with my eyes squeezed shut trying to get through each contraction. The midwife suggested I said sit in the tub and recline but there was no way in hell that was happening. The only position that worked for me was supporting myself with my hands in front of me.
DH was on my left trying to help me but I didn?t want much to do with him! That was a surprise for me because I always thought he was the only one I?d want helping me. But Jodi the midwife was on my right and I gripped her hand (almost breaking it I swear) during every contraction. Jodi, the student midwife and the nurse were all very helpful constantly telling me I could do it and being supportive.
I don?t remember every moment but I know there was a lot of noises coming out of my mouth that I?m sure DHhad never imagined he?d hear J At 6:30pm my water broke while I was pushing in the tub. I just felt like a big pop coming out of "down there." It wasn't really painful. And 27 minutes later, Cora arrived! It was 6:57pm and she weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long. I had no medication during the delivery just like I wanted. Honestly looking back on it, it hurt a lot but it wasn?t as bad as I had imagined it would be. I just wanted to have her out so badly and have the pain stop that I buckled down and pushed with all my might. The midwife was very impressed at my pushing!
After she came out, the nurses said, ?Here?s your baby!? and told me to sit back in the tub and hold her. She was covered in the waxy yellow vernix and she started crying right away. Meanwhile I was in shock. I couldn?t believe that I had just had a baby. DH grabbed the camera and then cut the umbilical cord. The nurses told him to take off his shirt and hold Cora skin-to-skin to regulate her body temperature. I was in the tub for maybe 10 minutes before they told me I had to get out and get in the bed to finish the delivery and get stitched up. That part was almost worse than the birth because I was shaking uncontrollably. I was just so cold! I watched as the nurse and DH took Cora?s stats and washed her off and then they brought her to me.
None of these birth stories will prepare you for the real thing but hopefully mine helps you realize that you can do it! I honestly kept waiting for it to get worse and during the pushing part it hurt really bad during contractions but there was always a break where I could catch my breath. Good luck!
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Re: Cora's Birth Story
This part cracked me up! Thanks for sharing your story - it was well written and had me gritting my teeth in suspense!