My Natural Birth Story (in case anyone is interested) very long

I was due July 12^th and my last day at work was July 16^th. Saturday July 17^th began like any other Saturday, DH and I went about our day. I had a decent amount of liquid in my underwear that morning but it wasn?t enough to mean anything. Later that afternoon, DH and I had some sexitime and then later on we walked down to the Village for a little festival they were having that day.  We hung out and listened to music and snacked a little bit. We walked back up the ?Hill of Doom? as we like to call it. It?s a huge hill in our neighborhood and I was having contractions all the way up. We got back home and cooled off and DH made dinner.  I noticed a little more fluid in my underwear but it didn?t gush and didn?t continue to come out. We called the midwife at the hospital and she didn?t think my water broke she said to call back later.  The contractions were continuing and I stupidly being starving ate some pizza. We sat down to watch the movie. Near the end of the movie, I started to realize that this was the real thing as I became more uncomfortable.

DH called the doula and let her know what was going on. We didn?t ask her to come yet because we wanted to make sure it wasn?t a false alarm. They got more intense and I ended up puking up all the pizza I had eaten earlier. I was also having to go number 2 a lot. After I puked, we were sure this was real and DH called the doula and told her to come. All my hypnobirthing really went out the window. I moaned, I tried to breathe, I relished the breaks in between the contractions. I mostly labored laying on my side, writhing around. I spent a little time in the shower when I had some back contractions. We played soothing music and the doula massaged pressure points. That was helpful. I also sat on my Birthing ball and leaned up against DH which helped a good amount, gripping his shirt during contractions and rubbing my head up against his stomach. Finally, around 2:20AM, I was bed-bound because anywhere else was unbearable and began questioning whether I could do this anymore.  I was dreaming of going to the hospital and getting an epidural. The contractions were right on top of each other and my breaks were far and few between. I insisted that it was time to go, we tried calling the midwife but we had to leave a message.  

We got in the car for the short 5-minute drive to the hospital. I had contractions throughout the ride and when we arrived DH dropped me off and went to park. Amazingly, someone else in labor arrived at the same time as me. I went into the emergency room entrance and they got a wheelchair and whisked both of us off to L&D. The other lady did not look as far along as me. She could still stand and did not even sit in the wheelchair they offered. I signed some papers when I got there, answered a few questions, and then checked into our room.

The midwife checked me and they put an external monitor on the baby. I was hoping for good news and when the midwife said I was 9 ? centimeters dilated. I said ?Fvck yeah? and my midwife laughed and gave me a high five. Then she insisted that I get up and labor. I didn?t really want to but DH and I began a slow dance and I rocked back and forth. After a few contractions, it got really, really bad and I puked the water I had been drinking all evening. She checked me again and I was 10 centimeters. I didn?t really have the urge to push. I rested for a little while and DH said I fell asleep. I don?t really remember. I started pushing around 3:15AM. The contractions weren?t really that strong and I didn?t have the overwhelming urge to push that most women say they have. My midwife wanted me to push for a while on the toilet, which really wasn?t that comfortable and I couldn?t do it for that long. I tried it once and gave up right away and then again a little bit later I had better success. After pushing for an hour or so, I wasn?t making as much progress as I should have been. I did end up pooping once and they cleaned me up right away.

They brought in a mirror finally so I could start to see the head. This was sooooo helpful. Because I could see and gauge which one were good ones and which ones weren?t so good. It?s funny because DH said beforehand that he didn?t want to see the baby coming out or ickiness. But with the mirror, he really couldn?t avoid it and he was watching with the rest of us.

 She had me doing three pushes per contraction. The first push was always the best one, and the second one not as good and the third I made the least progress. I kept seeing the head and every time it would go back in. She gave me direction to not push my legs and to relax my face. I tried to follow the directions, but damn I was exhausted. Finally I pushed and the head got to a point where it wasn?t going back in. The head came out completely and it was just sitting there. Oww?.they wanted me to wait for the next contraction but that could be like 5 minutes I really couldn?t sit there with the head sticking out for 5 minutes. So I pushed during what I think was a smaller contraction but I finally got him out and it was sweet wonderful relief! He was born at 6:12AM after 3 hours of pushing. I was just so happy that it was done and I had made it through. They put him on my chest. I kept saying ?Oh my God.? I felt the umbilical cord wriggling around in my vagina?it was odd feeling. My midwife told me to push again and the placenta came out very easily with one push. I never really saw it. They clamped the cord and DH cut it. The baby was fussing a little bit, but no straight out bawling. Breastfeeding started out a little rough because he wasn?t interested at all. But it?s gotten better now.

There were some concerns about jaundice, but since my milk came in and he?s been feeding regularly, it?s really been great and I have no concerns about my supply.

Overall, I?m thrilled I was able to go natural.  I would like to learn some better coping techniques for next time. I might look into a hypnobirthing class next time around. The midwife and nurses were very supportive and said I did a great job and that if I hadn?t gone natural I probably would have gotten a c-section, because they wouldn?t have let me push for that long. The doula was very helpful with laboring at home and DH said he would have freaked if she hadn?t been there.