Team Green/Bradley FAIL (very long!)

On Friday and Saturday, (May 7 and 8) I began having some light contractions. My mom was late with both me and my brother ? I had somewhat mentally convinced myself that I would go at least a week late so even though I previously had not experienced any contractions during this pregnancy, I was convinced I still had a while to go. I wanted to run errands on Saturday, but I cleaned up around the house instead. And DH and I decided to go on a date and just have a relaxing day ? I?m so glad we did that!

When we got back from dinner on Saturday, DH wanted me to watch Betty White on SNL with him, but I was really tired and wanted to sleep, which was the best decision on my part! Around 4:45 am I awoke to my first real contraction. It wasn?t really painful, but definitely more intense than the ones I?d been having over the past couple days. I went to the restroom and soon realized that I had timeable contractions. I got DH?s blackberry so I could accurately track them (using an app called Birth Berry, highly recommend!)

After a couple hours of this I realized that I was probably in early labor and should rest, eat and give my midwife a heads up. I called her around 8:30, and then our Bradley class instructor, just to keep her posted.  DH and I proceeded to take a nap for about an hour and a half. I was contracting about 10 minutes apart, but could still sleep pretty soundly between them. I decided to get up, since they hadn?t stopped I figured that I?d had enough rest and now it was time to get the ball rolling. I used my birthing ball to work through contractions for a little while and they quickly progressed to 5-7 minutes apart.

Mentally I still felt like I was in early early labor, so I ate some light foods and decided to take a bath. The contractions did not slow down or decrease in intensity, but it felt good to be in there. Once I got out, I started working on my hospital bag. I called our midwife and talked to her about what we should do ? it was now 2 pm. She told us that it sounded like we had good progression at home, but that she would support us staying at home for longer if we felt that way. So we decided to labor at home for a bit more. By 3 pm we decided it was time to go.

Even though we thought there was progression I was so sure that the hospital would send us back home. My contractions were 2-4 minutes apart and 60-90 minutes long. I could not walk or talk through them, however in between contractions I was fine. I could still joke around and act normal. So to me, it felt like I wasn?t in ?labor land? yet, and I was so sure that I would get checked and be 2 centimeters.
(meanwhile, my husband later told me that he saw some signs that I was in transition: I was a little shaky, nauseous and was having hot/cold flashes)

After being checked in triage I was told I was 8 cm, fully effaced with a bulging bag. I definitely did not see that coming! They also told me that even if I wasn?t that far along I would have gotten admitted, because the baby?s heart rate was concerning. Considering I wanted an intervention-free birth, this was not good, but I just assumed I would have to labor with the monitors on, but that everything else would still go to plan.

I got in my room and immediately requested to get in the tub, since it had helped at home. At first I didn?t think I could get in, because the only mobile monitor on the floor was in use by another patient. Fortunately my midwife and nurse figured out how to get me in the tub but still be hooked to the monitors. For a couple of hours I labored in the tub. In between the contractions I watched the Cavs/Celtics game and chatted with my family. They were all shocked that I was that far along and still ?myself?.

After about three hours without progression (still 8 cm,  and the baby?s head was still high) we talked with the midwife and decided to break my water.  Since I had been in labor for about 12 hours at this point, we figured it would move things along and still allow me to have strength to push.  This was against our  original plans, but  we figured the risks of breaking the water were lower than the  potential benefits, especially since I was so far long already.

Here?s where things got tricky.  The water was yellow, so we knew baby had pooped. And the heartrate pattern was still a little concerning. My midwife had me try different positions, because she thought baby was posterior which was preventing him/her from descending into the birth canal. However each position I tried (hands and knees, birth ball, lying on my side with my leg raised, etc) caused more problems with the heartrate. So I couldn?t move around to change baby?s position, which was the very thing preventing me from dilating any further.

At this point I knew I would need an epidural. I had been 8 cm for at least 6 hours now (and probably more, since we labored at home for a while) And because of the frequent position changes, moving of the monitors, oxygen mask, etc. I could no longer relax through the contractions. I was now tensing up and I knew that would prevent progress. DH and I decided an epidural was the best chance at still having a vaginal birth and our midwife agreed.

Well a couple hours later, baby?s heartrate was still concerning, and though he/she was not in full-on distress, that?s where it was headed.  So we were headed to a c-section. Our birth was exactly the opposite of what we hoped for, but we didn?t feel pressured into any interventions and had a very supportive birth team.  Our daughter Eva was born at 10:16 on May 9 (Mother?s Day). She was 7 lbs even and 20 in long.

I was not prepared for the c-section recovery process, although it has gone well and 2 weeks later I feel about 85%. I still am questioning the decisions we made during labor and wondering if things could have gone differently. I also remind myself that it could have been worse had we refused any interventions. Recently one of the couples from our Bradley class had a stillborn baby girl. That really made me realize that the most important thing is that Eva is here and we are both healthy. I do have hope that when we have future children I will be able to have a VBAC.

Here?s a couple pics of our little princess: