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The water birth I had wanted...

cyndiathmacyndiathma
in Birth Stories

Our boy floated into our hearts at 6 lb 2 oz and 20inches on March 7th at 1:34AM. Here is the story...

 

My water broke at 4PM just a trickle that I couldn?t stop and when I dipped the pH paper it turned dark blue. As I continued to move around more water would leak out, but it was a slow week so when H called for a ride home from work I went and to pick him up instead of telling him over the phone. I was only having very minor cramping and some back pain. We called the midwives together from the car and Catherine advised us to eat and go for a walk to get the baby into position, which would start the contractions.

 

We decided to stop for dinner at Macaroni Grill, but when I stepped into the restaurant my water began to pool at my feet so I left H to place our to go order and I went outside to stand in the grass. 

 

We ate and then I decided to take a walk before I tried to lie down to rest in case it was going to be a long night. H took the car to fill it with gas (just in case) while I started my walk. By the time he joined me around 7 pm I was having some contractions but they were manageable. I could continue to walk until big one hit that forced me to stop and breathe through the contraction. We headed back toward home so I could go to the bathroom and take my rest.

 

After sitting on the toilet I had to get down on all fours and breathe to manage the contraction that started. H was timing them on contractionmaster.com, but I was having difficulty telling when one would start or end. The contractions were piling up one after the other and by 8:30 I asked H to call the midwife. We knew she was teaching the last birth class because we were planning to attend before my water broke. She asked to talk to me and when I was not able to give her a lot of details because the waves of contractions were really coming close together she let me know she would head our way. I employed my breathing and continued to labor on all fours in cat-cow pose (if your familiar with yoga). Then I asked H to call Lisa, my doula, to join us. We hadn?t moved the birth tub and I was feeling that things were progressing much more quickly.

 

Lisa arrived first and began helping to get the tub ready and helped me with some counter-pressure, cold compresses, and ice chips. Really a huge relief that I didn?t know I needed. By the time the midwife arrived at 10 pm and checked me I was already at 5 cm (She didn?t tell me at the time per my request. I had asked for only necessary internal exams so this would be the first and last exam through my labor.) She returned to the living room to allow H, Lisa, and I to labor in my bedroom.

 

I continued to labor on all fours (my knees are still sore from all the time spent rocking and kneeling) until the birth tub was ready (we had some difficulty getting the correct temperature since our hot water tank is not very big, so they had to heat water on the stove, one pot at a time!). I finally slipped into the warm pool at 11pm. The warm water was such a relief and I found I had my first 2-minute break in contractions. I was finally able to take a breath and float. The short break concluded and I continued with back to back to back contractions which really moved things along. The midwife was there to remind me to relax and allow my body to do the work. I was very glad I had spent so much time in yoga classes and listening to relaxation CDs. I really think those tools helped me to focus on where I was resisting and let it go of the muscles and the tension I was holding.

 

I felt the need to push around midnight. I reached down and felt the head beginning to descend, which was a HUGE relief. I began giving myself a bit of a massage to stretch and to get constant feedback of the progress I was making which was a key motivator. The midwife continued to help me by reminding me to relax. My H was in the water with me and continued to use pressure points to help me relax my sit bones (really a great way to relieve pressure during the pushing stage, for me). The midwife helped me to assist the head to move slowly. She directed me when to breath and to allow myself to stretch in between contractions by focusing on relaxing all the muscles and tissue in the perineum area. At this point I just wanted him out, so I pushed through the feeling of burning and stinging as he crowned. The rest of him slipped out into the water. The midwife helped me pull him up and lay him on my stomach?what an amazing feeling!

 

(I had a small tear which required a few stitches because his hand was up over his head when he came out, but after a few days recovering in bed with my family helping with cooking and generally taking care of us, I am recovering and feeling good. Breastfeeding has been challenging, but we are working through it together?)
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