Natural and Fast Birth Story

The night of Friday, April 3rd I found myself scrubbing my kitchen cabinets and I had to laugh because I heard that you hit a nesting phase before you go into labor.  Saturday, April 4th I helped throw my in-laws a surprise anniversary party. I was on the go all day and noticed that I was spot bleeding. After the party was over I figured that I would help speed things up so I was on my feet cleaning and putting things away until 10:30pm.  I woke up at 8:30am on Sunday and felt my water break.  I told my husband that I thought that my water had just broken and he started freaking out a little.  The contractions started coming about 10 minutes later but weren't painful. They just felt like period cramps all in my back.  I tried to clean my kitchen and get things in order so we could come home to a clean house after the baby was born while my husband packed the truck with our bags. At this point the contractions were irregular and ranged from every 3-10 minutes and lasted about thirty seconds each.  I labored at home for about an hour and a half and then decided to head to the hospital once my contractions started to be more painful. 

We decided to leave the bags in the car until we knew if I was definitely in labor.  We got to triage around 10:30am and they got me into a room and hooked up to the monitors.  The nurse checked me and I was dialated about 2cm and the baby's head was low.  The baby's heartrate dropped a couple of times during contractions so they started an IV and got me on oxygen.  We told the family to start heading to the hospital around 1:00pm because we figured that it would be awhile before our little man made his debut. Within a 30 second span my contractions went from totally bearable to taking my breath away and I wasn't able to talk through them anymore.  The nurse checked me again around 11:30am and I was 5cm, had some effacement and his head had dropped even more.  She said that since I had had the LEEP procedure done a few years ago I would dialate rapidly once the scar tissue popped.  She thought that I was farther along in the labor than my cervix was showing because my contractions were coming really strong and regular at this point so she decided to get me to a room quickly.

Once I got to my Labor and Deliver Room I labored on the bed and anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about pain medicine.  I asked what options I had for IV medicine and they said that I could have Stadol. I asked what it would do and was told that I would feel drunk and still feel the contractions but it would make them easier to handle.  Since I was having such hard and strong contractions and unable to talk, my husband told the nurse that I hated the feeling of being drunk and that I would not be happy with that medicine in me.  We told the anesthesiologist to come back in 20 minutes and we would have an answer for her.  The nurse brought in a birthing ball while I went to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I had the urge to vomit and my stomach would contract super hard. I told the nurse what was going on and she said that I should try sitting on the birth ball.  I sat on the ball for about a minute and they couldn't get a reading on the baby's heartrate so I had to get back onto the bed and the nurse tried to find the heartbeat. 

That is when the mood in the room changed drastically.  She searched all over my belly for the heartrate and couldn't find it.  She went down low on my abdomen and finally found it and realized that the baby had dropped even farther.  She started freaking out and checked me and realized that I was 10cm and ready to go.  She leaned over me and pushed the emergency nurse call button and told them to come in quick because I was about to have the baby. I told her that I definitely had the urge to push and couldn't control it.  She informed me that my doctor wouldn't make it and the back-up doctor might not make it but she would get someone in here to deliver my baby.  Within a few minutes my doctor came strolling in as calm as could be and put on her scrubs.  I was put into position and within 3 pushes I had given birth to a beautiful baby boy.  Drew was only 5lbs 7oz and 19 inches long but was as happy as could be and scored a 10 on his tests. The anesthesiologist came back and was shocked that the baby was in the warmer.  She even said "I guess that she won't be needing an epidural" LOL

I am so thankful that I didn't get medicine. Not only because my labor only lasted a few hours but also because I was able to talk to the nurses (and apologize for being rude during labor) and the doctor while she stitched up my 1st degree tear.  I was completely alert and can remember every detail of my labor and deliver and was able to be moved up to the recovery room within an hour and a half after delivering Drew. I feel great! I am a little sore but that is to be expected and we are all adjusting really well. If you are considering to go natural DO IT!! Once you hit the point where you don't think you can do it anymore is when you are almost done.  All of the pain goes away the instant you see your beautiful baby!!! I wish everyone the best of luck and I hope that your labor and deliver is as quick and memorable as it was for me.  You are about to fall in love harder than you ever thought imaginable