I did it natural! (It's a little long)

jwurnig · July 2010

My baby girl arrived Thursday morning July 15th at 6:25am. I was able to go all natural, not even an IV, there wasn't time!

I had my membranes striped on Monday (she was 8 days overdue) and on Tuesday morning, lost my mucous plug. I started feeling a little crampy on Wednesday morning but this is my 1st baby and I had no idea what to expect! I thought contractions were supposed to feel like tight bands all around your back and sides and this was just a little menstral like cramps in my lower pelvis. Around 6pm, I was talking to my mom telling her what I was feeling but that I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not. She said it sounded like contractions to her! I wanted to make banana bread to take to the nurses and my DH wanted pasta salad so I cooked and tried to organize the rest of the night. At 10pm I laid down to listen to my Hypnobirthing relaxation CD to get me in the right state of mind. At this point, the contractions were all over the place. Sometimes 12 minutes apart, sometimes 14, sometimes 8 minutes and never lasting more than 45 seconds, usually lasting about 20-30 sec. At 10:30 I went to bed since I wanted to be rested before we went to the hospital. If only I decided to take a nap that afternoon! I ended up never actually sleeping that night. I kept watching the clock to time the contractions and they were about 8 minutes apart. Finally at midnight, I decided to get up. I made myself some RRL tea and walked around my house. At 1am I got in the tub and started writing down the time and length of my contractions. They were consistently 7 minutes apart but never longer than 45 seconds. I had been told not to even call the hospital until they were 5 min apart, 1 min long, lasting 1 hour. I didn't want to be sent home so I didn't want to call and sound like an alarmist. I stayed in the tub for an hour and at around 2:30 thought maybe I could get back into bed an rest. Of course that didn't happen! At 3:30, my DH couldn't sleep any more with all my tossing so I got back in the tub and he started timing me. The contractions were 2-3 min apart but still at 45 sec. long. This is the first time they felt too painful to manage. I kept changing positions in the tub and really concentrated on relaxing through the contractions. I let my jaw fall open with every contraction and made sure my eyes, face, chin and shoulders were loose. These were the only things I felt I could control! At 4am my DH called the hospital and they recommended staying in the tub for another 10 min and then coming in. DH packed up the car and changed clothes while I stayed in the tub. When he was ready he came in to get me, but I COULD NOT leave the tub! I knew the ride to the hospital wouldn't be fun and the tub was providing a little relief. I kept saying, "One more contraction, I'll get out after the next contraction." Finally at 5am, he was able to get me out and help me get dressed. I threw up in the bathroom and then as soon as we got to the car, threw up again. In hindsight, I was probably in transition, but I just felt sick and was pretty sick of the pain and contractions as well! I had practiced my relaxation with Hypnobirthing and planned to 'go to my calm, special place' while I was having contractions. I never was able to actually get out of my own head. I was very aware of where I was and what I was doing so I didn't zone out. But, I KNOW the deep slow breathing and the concentrating on opening my jaw and relaxing my upper body is what helped the most! We got to the hospital at 5:15 and every time I had a contraction, I had to drop to my hands and knees. That was the only position comfortable for me. They let me walk up to labor and delivery since I knew I'd be miserable feeling stuck in a wheelchair. The freedom of movement was key. This is where time distortion really kicked in. I knew I was moving slow and I thought we stopped maybe 3 tims for me to have contractions. My DH says we stopped more like 10 times! We made it to the delivery room and as soon as we walked inside they said they wanted to check me. I said sure, but hold on while I have a contaction. I dropped to all fours and my water broke! Perfect timing! I got up on the bed (still on my hands and knees) and they checked me and said I was 10 cm! I was thrilled! I had hoped to be at 8 cm. My Dr. wasn't even there yet so they brought in a resident. They could have had the janitor deliver my baby at that point, I didn't care! As soon as my water broke, the next contraction, I HAD to push! I had thought this would feel like a relief but really, it was tough! I could feel her head moving down, but then sliding right back up when the contraction was over. I would cry in between contractions, "I just did all that work for nothing, she's going right back in!" Everyone was wonderful and supportive and kept telling me I was doing great, but I was getting mad that they all were just sitting watching it happen! I thought, "Reach in and get this baby out!" Smile My Dr. arrived and they encouraged me to push even further than I thought my body would allow. It's amazing what your body will do because even though I was so exhausted, I would take a deep breath and push even harder right at the end of a contraction. After about 45 min of pushing (again time distortion because I thought I only pushed about 15-20 min) she was OUT!!! I thought for sure we were having a boy so when they told me to roll over (still on hands and knees for delivery) and look at my daughter, I was in shock! She's so beautiful and I can't believe that I did it. It was tougher than I expected and I was naive enough to think it could be pain free, but I still wouldn't do it any other way. It was worth it and she is so calm and peaceful. It feels like such an accomplishment!

Cheekers2010 · July 2010

Wow! Congrats. What a beautiful birth.

apattie3730 · July 2010

Congratulations! You are amazing.

ErinMSB · July 2010

What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing. And congratulations on your new baby girl! (We were team green with DD and everyone thought she'd be a boy too. I've absolutely LOVED having a little girl! She's so sweet and, even though I was excited for all the little boy things, little girl things are absolutely adorable! So enjoy your (surprise) baby girl!)

spfclr · July 2010

YEA!!! Thank you so much for sharing your story - although it was not painless, it seems like you handled it so well!! I hope that I will have a similiar story in less than 2 weeks!