Baby H's Natural Bradley Birth! (Super long...)

Our Estimated Due Date was May 17. Our 20 week sonogram in December showed he was measuring May 11. So when May 11 came and went we weren?t worried. We had done Bradley Method classes and were planning a natural childbirth, and our doctor was completely on board. She knew I didn?t want to be induced if at all possible. I was 2 cm, 25% effaced and soft at my appointment on May 5. I didn?t get checked by choice the next week. My next appointment was scheduled for May 18 and I was going to have her check me again. Little did I know?.

I hadn?t really had any Braxton Hicks contractions except for about 45 minutes on May 8, after walking around the mall for a few hours. So I wasn?t sure I would ?know? when I went into labor, and we thought it would still be awhile.

May 17 ? Between 12:30 and 1:30 AM

I was having trouble falling asleep for many reasons but must have finally at some point. At this time I was laying on my right side. I felt a pain which woke me up. I figured it was the baby moving around and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep.

Between 2:30-3:00 AM

I couldn?t fall asleep and didn?t want to wake DH so I got up to go to the guest room to try to sleep.

Around 3:30 AM

I felt one of those pains again. Since I was laying on my right side, I turned over, thinking it was just the baby moving. About 8 minutes (guesstimate) later I felt it on my left side. I lay there, and a few minutes later felt another. They felt completely different from the BH contractions and I had a feeling these were real. So I remembered what I learned in class: to find out if they were real, try to sleep (done), change positions (done), take a walk (not at 3:30 AM!), eat, and shower/take a bath. I got up and drew a bath to see if the pains would go away. At this point, they felt like very strong menstrual cramps that would ?squeeze? my abdomen and let go.

4:00 AM

DH, who didn?t realize I wasn?t in bed, comes into the bathroom. I look at him and tell him I?m having contractions (the bath had not made them go away.) He got really excited and grabbed his iPhone, and started timing them using the contraction application. They were about 5 minutes apart, lasting 30-60 seconds. After awhile they went to 3 minutes apart, then 2-3 minutes apart. We wanted to labor at home as long as possible, but we realized we needed to get to the hospital because they were coming faster! Also, I had tested positive for GBS (Group Beta Strep), so I would need an i.v. of antibiotics in me before the baby was born. I took a shower, knowing I probably wouldn?t get one for a long time, got ready, and ate some food. DH finished packing the bags in the car while I timed the pains. Sitting at the dining room table, I started to really have to concentrate on relaxing through them instead of just breathing through them. We knew we were getting close! We left the house (and the lights on I think!) and drove to the hospital. We got there at about 6 AM.

6:00 AM

We get to the hospital, got to the ER, and get checked in. A super sweet nurse, KL,  met us and took us up to Labor & Delivery. She offered me a wheelchair but I refused ? I wanted to walk to keep the contractions going. We got to our room and got settled. Her shift was ending and I got a new nurse named P.

6:30 AM

I got checked and I was at 4 cm, 80% effaced, and the baby was at +1 station. It was a little discouraging to hear that I was only 4 cm but we knew from what we learned in class that I could go to a 10 in no time. Also, our doctor was not on call that day (she had worked all weekend) so another doc from the practice would be attending us, Dr. B. We spent the next few hours just laboring away in the room. DH had already called work, and our parents and siblings. We were waiting for my sister B to arrive since she had the day off ? my other sister J would be coming after work. I tried different positions for labor, such as pelvic rocking on the bed (hands and knees), and sitting in the rocking chair.

We had asked for intermittent monitoring, but our nurse was pretty strict about the hospital?s ?30 minutes on, 30 minutes off? policy. Since I mostly labored by or on the bed it wasn?t a huge deal (but DH did have a chat with her about it!) Our baby did a great job ? his heart rate stayed between 140-160 all day.

9:00 AM

They checked me again and I was at 7 cm!! Time seemed to go by really fast. I quickly learned that using the bathroom frequently helped make me more comfortable. I finally found a good position: sitting on a pillow on the medical stool, leaning over a few pillows on the bed. DH had been telling me some of the relaxation stories we prepared, but after awhile I realized I just needed quiet. So he stroked my arms and back and forehead during contractions, and told me where I needed to relax (such as my jaw and shoulders). This is literally what we spent most of the day doing.

11:00 AM

I had not wanted to be checked too much, but since my water hadn?t yet broken I wasn?t too worried about it. They checked me and I was ?between 8-9? cm.

12:30 PM

Water still hasn?t broken! I get checked and am at 9, almost 10 cm. I was still managing well, although my lower back hurt some. We had a foam noodle that I had DH dig into my back during contractions, which helped a lot. Although I was at almost 10 cm, I didn?t really feel a lot of the emotional signs of transition, such as doubt. Except for every once and while when my contractions would double up and be about 4 minutes long, I never felt like I couldn?t just handle the pains by breathing and relaxing through them.

12:30-3 PM

At some point, I got into the shower and DH sprayed my back with warm water. Standing felt good, but I felt a lot of pressure. P suggested that if I needed to grunt during a contraction, do it! So I would breathe in and ?moan? out. Vocalizing really helped too! So during this time DH would say ?Breathe in, moan out? in a low voice, while pushing the noodle into my back.  I also labored a bit sitting cross-legged (Bradley tailor sitting) on the bed. I was so tired from not getting any sleep the night before that I actually fell asleep during and in-between some of the contractions. At this point my water STILL hadn?t broken!

At 3 pm B finally got there and it was so great to have another helper! She did a great job of encouraging me as well and backing up DH. Also, I had been feeling a little nauseas for awhile, but nothing ever happened. Finally, I threw up, which felt really good!

Between 3-4 PM

I still had a lip of cervix left, and I was starting to feel like I wanted to push with the contractions. So while P checked me, I had a contraction and pushed ? and my waters came gushing out! That got me to 10 cm, even though the baby was STILL at +1 station. He was faced the right way?just hanging on!

4-6 PM

For two hours I pushed in the bed, just moving the baby down. Pushing wasn?t really a relief to me, because I had to push extra hard to get the baby down. It was like pushing a boulder over a hill, and having to give even more. I didn?t really like the position I was in, but the doctor felt it was the most beneficial for getting him down. (I was sitting up, with DH holding my left leg and Becky holding my right.)

At some point the doctor told DH to lay the bed back a little to give my pelvis a better angle for pushing. Well, he started to right when I was having a contraction ? big mistake! I turned to him and yelled, ?F!!! STOP MOVING THE BED!!? My sister had gone into the hall to get P and could hear me out there. So DH did not touch the bed anymore!

6-7 PM

The baby had finally moved down ? now I had to actually push him out. He was a lot bigger than our doctor had guessed and his head coming out did NOT feel good. The doctor told me not to push if I wasn?t having a contraction to conserve energy. However, this meant that I was literally holding his head and later, his torso, out of my body at certain points! He did not slip out easily after his shoulders came out ? I had to push pretty much until his bottom came out (I even asked if they would just pull him out, but was told no.) The doctor did cut a 2^nd degree episiotomy, which I was hoping to avoid. However, DH told me later that watching the baby come out, he really felt like I needed it. After the baby was out, DH was in tears, I was relieved, and Becky was snapping pictures. The doctor clamped the cord and DH cut it and our baby was placed in a blanket on my chest. He let out a nice big cry and we were just so in love at first sight!

After a few minutes, they took Baby H and wiped him down, then brought him back to me for breastfeeding. He fed for at least 20 minutes. Finally, during this time, I delivered the placenta ? it was huge and I had to push it out too.

Our hospital has a policy of taking the baby to the nursery for his first bath and shots and then observation for 4 hours. DH and I really hated this, and luckily it was a slow night, so the nursery came to us! DH got to help with his bath and everything while I finally got to eat a sandwich and drink some orange juice. We were so glad that we didn?t have to be separated from our new baby.

KL, our original nurse, came back on duty shortly after Baby H was born and helped with getting me cleaned up. At one point, after Baby H?s procedures were done, DH was rocking him while KL helped me to the bathroom to change and all. While there, I said, ?I feel dizzy?. The next thing I know, I?m waking up, sitting on the toilet, leaning on KL, and two other nurses are trying to revive me. I had fainted from a combo my low blood pressure and from sitting in the bed, pushing for 3 hours. I was only out for about 30 seconds, but it meant that they would not take out my i.v. until the next day, when they were sure I wouldn?t faint again. We got to our room and settled in for the night.

Because of my GBS, we had to stay in the hospital until Wednesday so that the staff could monitor Baby H. Fortunately I had received 3 rounds of antibiotics during labor (including while I was pushing) so he was perfectly fine.

Baby H was born May 17, 2010 at 6:54 pm. 8 lbs 9 oz, 21.5 inches long, 14.5 inches head circumference. His Apgar scores were 8 and 9. No drugs!