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3rd Trimester
Drug-free birth story, 3.5 weeks early, LONG
Hi, I gave birth to a baby boy on 11/10/09 at 10:39 am. I was 3 1/2 weeks early. He was 7.4lbs and 20" long.
Here is my birth story:
I started loosing my mucus plug on Saturday. On Sun. I started having small contractions, but nothing that was too painful or timeable. I went to work on Mon. and went for a long walk during lunch. After the walk the contractions started getting a little more painful, but still nothing consistent. I went to bed around 10 and then at 2:30am, I woke up and the contractions were getting stronger so I got up and started timing them. They were about 5 minutes apart and 45 seconds long. Around 3:30, they were getting stronger and then at 4am my water broke. It wasn?t a big gush; it was more of a trickle. So I woke my husband up at 4 and said we need to go to the hospital. He couldn?t believe it. I got in the shower and he finished packing our bag. My plan was to labor as long as I could at home, but when I got out of the shower, I said to my husband, we have to go to the hospital NOW. Contractions were getting very close together and extremely painful.
The drive to the hospital was awful ? every bump was so painful. We got to the hospital at 5:30am and went into triage. They monitored the baby for ? hour and then checked me at 6am. The Dr. asked me if I wanted an epi and I said my plan was to not get one and then she asked me what my pain level was and I said 7. Both the Dr. and Nurse looked at me like, no way is she going to do this drug free ? I could see the doubt in their eyes. The Dr. felt the outside of my stomach and said I was probably about 4cm, then she checked internally and I was 6cm! I was thinking in my head that if I wasn?t far along, then I couldn?t do this drug free, but felt very relieved that I was 6cm. At that point the Dr and Nurse were very supportive and said if I made it this far, that I could definitely do drug free. So I was admitted and went to my labor room. I had to walk from triage to labor and it was very painful. I had to stop in the hallway when I had a contraction and put my head on the wall.
My sister arrived at 7am to help me through the labor. It was great to have her and my husband there. I wasn?t in the mood for talking because the contractions were getting so much stronger and the only way I could cope was to close my eyes and moan through them. Between contractions I tried to rest and relax and breathe deeply. This may be TMI, but I also asked for warm washcloths and put those on my vag. The warm cloths made my muscles relax and relieve the pressure.
I felt so much pressure that I wanted to be checked around 8:30am. So the Dr. checked me (shifts had changed and I had my Dr. that I?ve had through the whole pregnancy, I was so happy!) and I was 8 cm. The Dr. said that I was bleeding pretty badly because labor had gone so quickly so they hooked up an IV just in case I needed it.
At around 9am I asked to be checked again and I was 9.5 cm. The nurse suggested that I go sit on the toilet and try to go pee. She said that sitting in that position and also emptying my bladder may help progress things faster. So I sat on the toilet and my husband was in front of me. I was holding onto his hands and burying my head in his stomach. I felt the need to pee, but I couldn?t go. After about ? hr on the toilet I got up and went back in the bed and asked to be checked again. The Dr. checked and she said I was ready to push!
Pushing was a nice relief because I felt I had something to focus on. When I started pushing, the Dr. was pressing on something inside of me and I was peeing all over the place. She said that I had gone too far in labor so couldn?t pee on my own. So, I peed all over the table. Haha! I was pushing 3-4 times per contraction. My husband and sister were each holding a leg. For some strange reason, in between contractions I wanted my legs straight up in the air rather than stretched out on the bed. It felt better on my hips. Ha, I?m sure it was quite a site!! Also, towards the end between pushes I felt so nauseous. I did throw up a little, but it was all water. My husband and my sister kept saying that they could see the head and I was almost there, but it took about an hour to push the little guy out! Finally at 10:39, I gave 5 pushes during a contraction and then just kept pushing when the contraction was over. I just wanted him out of me. He came flying out and the Dr. put him on my chest. It was the greatest feeling of relief. All of the pressure was gone and it was an amazing feeling to have my son lying on my chest.
I delivered the placenta, that wasn?t very fun. They were pushing on my stomach so hard and then after that I had to get stitches. I had a 2nd degree tear. The stitches hurt soooo much.
I?m very glad that I was able to go drug free. It was a great sense of accomplishment. I was glad I was able to get up and walk around during and after the delivery. It was the worst pain imaginable, but my body just went to ?another place? and I managed it. I would definitely do it all over again.
I?m so in love with my son. We?ve enjoyed our first few weeks with him so much. I just can?t stop staring at him.
Good luck to everyone!
Here is my birth story:
I started loosing my mucus plug on Saturday. On Sun. I started having small contractions, but nothing that was too painful or timeable. I went to work on Mon. and went for a long walk during lunch. After the walk the contractions started getting a little more painful, but still nothing consistent. I went to bed around 10 and then at 2:30am, I woke up and the contractions were getting stronger so I got up and started timing them. They were about 5 minutes apart and 45 seconds long. Around 3:30, they were getting stronger and then at 4am my water broke. It wasn?t a big gush; it was more of a trickle. So I woke my husband up at 4 and said we need to go to the hospital. He couldn?t believe it. I got in the shower and he finished packing our bag. My plan was to labor as long as I could at home, but when I got out of the shower, I said to my husband, we have to go to the hospital NOW. Contractions were getting very close together and extremely painful.
The drive to the hospital was awful ? every bump was so painful. We got to the hospital at 5:30am and went into triage. They monitored the baby for ? hour and then checked me at 6am. The Dr. asked me if I wanted an epi and I said my plan was to not get one and then she asked me what my pain level was and I said 7. Both the Dr. and Nurse looked at me like, no way is she going to do this drug free ? I could see the doubt in their eyes. The Dr. felt the outside of my stomach and said I was probably about 4cm, then she checked internally and I was 6cm! I was thinking in my head that if I wasn?t far along, then I couldn?t do this drug free, but felt very relieved that I was 6cm. At that point the Dr and Nurse were very supportive and said if I made it this far, that I could definitely do drug free. So I was admitted and went to my labor room. I had to walk from triage to labor and it was very painful. I had to stop in the hallway when I had a contraction and put my head on the wall.
My sister arrived at 7am to help me through the labor. It was great to have her and my husband there. I wasn?t in the mood for talking because the contractions were getting so much stronger and the only way I could cope was to close my eyes and moan through them. Between contractions I tried to rest and relax and breathe deeply. This may be TMI, but I also asked for warm washcloths and put those on my vag. The warm cloths made my muscles relax and relieve the pressure.
I felt so much pressure that I wanted to be checked around 8:30am. So the Dr. checked me (shifts had changed and I had my Dr. that I?ve had through the whole pregnancy, I was so happy!) and I was 8 cm. The Dr. said that I was bleeding pretty badly because labor had gone so quickly so they hooked up an IV just in case I needed it.
At around 9am I asked to be checked again and I was 9.5 cm. The nurse suggested that I go sit on the toilet and try to go pee. She said that sitting in that position and also emptying my bladder may help progress things faster. So I sat on the toilet and my husband was in front of me. I was holding onto his hands and burying my head in his stomach. I felt the need to pee, but I couldn?t go. After about ? hr on the toilet I got up and went back in the bed and asked to be checked again. The Dr. checked and she said I was ready to push!
Pushing was a nice relief because I felt I had something to focus on. When I started pushing, the Dr. was pressing on something inside of me and I was peeing all over the place. She said that I had gone too far in labor so couldn?t pee on my own. So, I peed all over the table. Haha! I was pushing 3-4 times per contraction. My husband and sister were each holding a leg. For some strange reason, in between contractions I wanted my legs straight up in the air rather than stretched out on the bed. It felt better on my hips. Ha, I?m sure it was quite a site!! Also, towards the end between pushes I felt so nauseous. I did throw up a little, but it was all water. My husband and my sister kept saying that they could see the head and I was almost there, but it took about an hour to push the little guy out! Finally at 10:39, I gave 5 pushes during a contraction and then just kept pushing when the contraction was over. I just wanted him out of me. He came flying out and the Dr. put him on my chest. It was the greatest feeling of relief. All of the pressure was gone and it was an amazing feeling to have my son lying on my chest.
I delivered the placenta, that wasn?t very fun. They were pushing on my stomach so hard and then after that I had to get stitches. I had a 2nd degree tear. The stitches hurt soooo much.
I?m very glad that I was able to go drug free. It was a great sense of accomplishment. I was glad I was able to get up and walk around during and after the delivery. It was the worst pain imaginable, but my body just went to ?another place? and I managed it. I would definitely do it all over again.
I?m so in love with my son. We?ve enjoyed our first few weeks with him so much. I just can?t stop staring at him.
Good luck to everyone!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Drug-free birth story, 3.5 weeks early, LONG
Wow! That's an inspiring story! Congrats on going natural, and I think you are the first person to mention the delivery of the placenta! I've always been curious if that is painful or not? I am going to TRY for a natural birth, but we'll see!
Congrats on the baby boy!
Congrats on a beautiful birth! Going natural is a wonderful experience, painful, yet sooo rewarding! I had a flashback while reading your story....I labored on the toilet with DD#1 for quite some time....it was a confortable position and helped to bring her down.
So happy for you and hope you are feeling well!
Congrats and thanks for sharing your story. I also plan to go drug-free and am inspired by other natural birth stories, especially in a hospital setting.
I am curious, during delivery of the placenta, did they give you Pitocin? Were you breastfeeding at that point? I am just curious why they chose to push on your abdomen so hard.
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No, they didn't give me Pitocin. I know they were having a hard time getting it out so I think pushing on my stomach was getting it to move down. My husband said they were also pulling on the umbilical cord really hard to try to get it out. They said something about the cord being really tough. I wasn't breastfeading yet. I started breastfeeding maybe 45 min after delivery.
Good luck. If you want to go drug-free you can do it! Just think positive thoughts!