Birth Stories
Bradley/Med Free/Team Green Birth (really long)
December 17, 2009 (Thursday)
I went to work at Halifax to cover a girl?s basketball game. I had previously told several people that I was going to give birth on the 17th so there were many comments on why was I there and still pregnant. Threw out the night I had a few contractions. They were easy and I found them very amusing! I even had one of my students poke my belly when it would harden up with a contraction; she was freaked out.
After the game I went home. Chris and I stayed up awhile taking and making plans for the weekend. He had even rented a movie for us (Four Christmas?s). We went to bed still having very minor contractions.
December 18, 2009 (Friday)
At Home
I woke up about 2am that morning when the contractions were getting a little more intense. I just lay in bed watching my clock for about an hour; they were about 5 minutes apart lasting only about 30 seconds. At about 3am I woke Chris to tell him I thought we should call Lisa (our Doula). Lisa asked about their duration and then suggested to try and go back to sleep. So back to bed we went. Well at least Chris did. I just lay in bed waking up every time a contraction came. They were still pretty minor and about 5 minutes apart, but I just couldn?t sleep threw them.
At about 4am I got up and went down stairs. The only light I turned on was the Christmas tree lights; it was wonderful to think that our baby would be here before Christmas even though my due date was December 30th. I sat with my laptop and timed the contractions. They were now about 4 minutes apart but still about 30 seconds in length. I wrote on my facebook page Erin thinks its time; which of course got a lot of replies!
At about 5am I called my parents. All week I had been joking with my mom saying she would only have a 4 day work week because I would have my baby and she would need to take Friday off. So I called to tell her to call in sick; at first my mom didn?t even understand what was happening when I told her. When she finally woke up enough to understand my dad and I started laughing at her because she said she ?felt like a wet noodle!? (Meanwhile in the body department I could not stop having bowel movements!) Shortly after things really got moving, everyone but the baby that is. My mom met up with my Aunt Glee and Uncle Dale to drive down to our home. Lisa called again to check on things and she said she would also be there in about two hours. Meanwhile my contractions really hadn?t changed. I made my self some eggs even though my stomach didn?t feel the greatest. I knew I should eat while I could. I also made a few more phone calls. One to Camp Hill clinic to let them know I wouldn?t be in for physical therapy (they cheered) and another to the Chevy dealer to tell them I wouldn?t be getting my oil changed in my car today. (Meanwhile in the body department I lost my mucus plug!) By about 10 am everyone was at our home and the contractions where getting stronger. I was slowly losing my ability to talk threw them. Lisa was really able to help with that. She just knew all the right spots to rub! I spent a little time on an exercise ball and then later Lisa and I started to walk around the house. Around noon I was unable to walk threw the contractions anymore. I would have to stop everything and concentrate on relaxing and breathing. We finished packing for the hospital and then I lay down on the bed. After having some toast I just laid on my side concentrating on relaxing and breathing threw each contraction while Lisa worked her magic. At about 2pm Chris called the OB?s office. He started to worry about the Friday traffic we would be faced with we waited too long. He talked it over with Lisa. We could either leave soon or wait until after rush hour. Fearing being stuck in the car during rush hour or being stuck at home we chose to leave sooner rather then later. Chris got everything in the car ready so that I had to do was walk down to the car between contractions and leave. My mom sat in the back seat with me and tried to rub my back while Lisa followed behind. The trip to the hospital was a quick one. The construction was a little ruff but I was glad we left early. (Meanwhile in the body department I got my bloody show on the way there.) At the Hospital: We got to the hospital at about 3pm my contractions where about 3minutes apart last about 45 seconds in length. Part of admittance was to get hooked up to the monitors for 20mintues. The baby was doing well but my contractions weren?t really showing up on the monitor. Of course the only midwife I didn?t like in the whole practice was the one on call. She checked me and I was only 2cm. I was shocked! I had been laboring for 12 hours and seriously laboring for the last 4 and I was only 2cm!?! Worried about the traffic we told the nurses we didn?t want to go home. So without admitting me they allowed me to walk the halls and then take a shower in a room that wasn?t being used. The shower felt great. We waited until 5pm when the midwife got off work to get check again. Dr. Long said I was 3cm and since I had progressed some they would allow me to be admitted. He reviewed our birth plan with us, and then we were taken to our birthing room where Chris and Lisa got the whirlpool tub ready. I spent the next 3 hours in that tub listening to classical music, focusing on relaxing and breathing threw each contraction to let my body do its job. Chris, Lisa, and my Mom took turns sitting with me giving me water and honey sticks (they said it was 30 minutes each but it only felt like 10 minutes). A nurse came by shortly after being admitted to drawl some blood. She wanted to insert a Hep lock but I said no. She continued to ask and ask and ask, all while ignoring Chris saying ?she doesn?t want one? so finally I said yes. Her big selling point for the Hep lock was that I would only have to be stuck with a needle once. Yea that didn?t work. She couldn?t get it in on my right hand so we had to try my left. If I had been in my right mind I would have stopped her before moving on to the left. When she finally got in on my left hand I was unable to get it wet so if I wanted to lay on my side, I could only lay on my right. Around 8pm I asked to get check. They had come by periodically and used a Doppler to listen to our baby but I wanted to know how I was dilating. I had it in my head that my body was working really hard and I should be around 7cm. When I heard that I was only 4.5cm I broke down. I cried to Chris and Lisa that I wanted drugs. The nurse offered something to take the edge off but I knew from my research that those drugs can make you loopy and I wanted to be aware, not dazed and confused. This is where my great support team came up big! Some how they managed to get me back into the whirlpool tub without any drugs. I remember sitting in the tub thinking ?Wait, what just happened? And where are my drugs?!? So I labored another 3 hours in the tub. Around 10pm my contractions started to get really weird. They would last 2 minutes long but only coming every 10 minutes. I knew from our Bradley classes that contractions usually picked up toward the end but these were weird and really drawn out. Around 11pm I got out to get checked again. The nurse wanted another 20 minutes attached to the monitors and to give me an IV of fluids. Chris, Lisa, and Mom had been diligent with making me drink water I knew I wasn?t dehydrated but I didn?t even have the strength to argue with her. The baby was still doing well and as soon as those 20 minutes were up I wanted those monitors off. But the nurse kept excuses to keep them on. The contractions were the worst ones yet. It was getting harder and harder to focus on breathing and relaxing. Closer to midnight I really lost control and during contractions my body started to push on its own. I was shivering and the nurses kept covering me in warm blankets. And then Pop there was this loud noise and fluid everywhere; my water had finally broken! The nurse noticed some meconium in the fluid and called the Doctor. December 19, 2009 (Saturday) It was finally time to start pushing! They were calling for a big snow storm to come that weekend and I remember them opening up the curtains to see that it had just started snowing. The pressure was so intense I wasn?t able to fully feel the release of the contractions. To me it just felt like they were constant. Since I was still attached to the monitors so everyone was able to see that they weren?t constant, were able to see when I was contracting, and to tell me when to push. At first Dr. Long sat all gowned and ready to catch but after awhile he left. The baby wasn?t coming down that quickly which was ok because the baby?s heart rate was still doing well. I thought this baby must be big since it was taking so long. I pushed for 3 hours!! I was beyond exhausted; but when they finally said to reach down and feel the baby?s head I was given a 2nd wind. And at 3:13am Chris yelled it?s a BOY! After not knowing the sex of our baby for months is was a joy to see him! We also quickly realized why his birth took so long; he was sunny side up! The nurse said had he been the right direction my labor probably would have been at least 5 hours shorter. Kolby Christopher was whisked away to the NCIU nurses to be checked since there was meconium in my water. He was screaming bloody murder and I couldn?t wait to hold him! The NCIU nurses said he was perfect; he didn?t swallow or breathe any in. He weighted in at a skinny 6lb. 4oz. and was 19 ? inches long. (Meanwhile in the body department Dr. Long was repairing my 3rd degree tear, it was painful and took forever to repair. Lisa and my Mom both said later that they had never seem anything like it) About a half an hour after his birth I was finally able to hold him. I was still in so much shock; I just gave birth to a baby! He was wide awake looking at all of us. He quickly deiced he was hungry and knew just where to go! He could care less that I was still wearing a sports bra that was still a little wet from the whirlpool. I remember asking the nurse to ?just cut it off it was cheap!? Chris cried and I fell in love (I was too exhausted and in shock yet to cry).This discussion has been closed.
Re: Bradley/Med Free/Team Green Birth (really long)
My little man was also sunny side up and I pushed for 4 1/2 hours before he flipped over and then came out within 1/2 an hour so I completely feel for you! Although you get a metal for getting him out that way!
Just think, for our next ones they will just fly out
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