All Natural birth story and PIPs

It all started on Wednesday June 16^th (my due date)  I was having contractions at 5 minutes 45 seconds apart all day that never got closer together or any stronger. I was on the phone with my doula all day and we were trying to get them moving along.  By Thursday the contractions had stopped and turned into a great deal of pressure all day. It was very intense and super uncomfortable.  Very frustrated I went about my business. 

At 1am on Friday June 18^th I started having contractions again. They were 3, 5, and 7 minutes apart and were pretty intense. I could still sort of walk and talk through them and was able to breath through them fairly easily.  I called my doula and told her that the contractions were back but weren?t consistant but were pretty close together.  I labored at home till about 1:30 when I called my doula and said that Derrick wanted us to go in and get checked just to see if this is the real thing. We had a hard time because they weren?t consistant in invervals and I could still walk and talk through them.  So we went in and right away they admitted me saying I was 2 cm dilated (1/2 cm up from my appt the day before) and 100% effaced.  I was bummed.  I knew the effacement was huge but I was hoping for more dilation than that. They said they could break my water and get things moving and I explained that I?d rather wait till my doula got there. When she arrived I told her that I wanted to wait a few hours to see how things progressed on their own.  The nurse was fine with that and we began laboring.

 The contractions got worse but then came to a plateau where they weren?t really getting  much stronger but would come more frequently, sometimes right on top of eachother.  My doula was able to help me easily breath through them at that point  At about 2:30pm I began birthing on the ball. It was great and really helped relieve some of the pressure.  At about 5pm I got into the tub for an hour which helped a ton too! It was such a relief. About an hour into my tub time the contractions got very intense and right on top of each other. I went to get up and the pressure from standing nearly made me fall over. Completely caught me off guard and sent me into some serious contractions. 

After getting out at about 6:30 they checked me again and I was 7 cm.  Great, transition ? the part I was nervous for. We were moving along quite rapidly.  With my water bags still in tact I began laboring on the ball again working with Derrick and my doula to stay as completely relaxed as possible. It provided a great position for my doula and Derrick to massage, apply pressure, and talk to me working me through each contraction. 

I got back on the bed at about 7pm and got checked again ? 8 ? cm and head dropping. We made the decision at that point to break my water. It was a tough decision for me because I didn?t want interventions and I knew it would make it more intense ? on the other hand it was entirely possible it would spead things up for me too (not that they really needed too).  They checked me right after breaking it and I was a 9 with a little lip left over. 

After breaking my water my body instantly started pushing. I was in so much pain I wouldn?t even let them check me to see if I was fully dilated or not.  I was trying to stop my body from pushing and started throwing up all over? luckily Derrick was prepared with bags for me.  My dr came in just as I finally gave in to the pushing.

It was intense.I was in and out of control because I had no control of my body at that point. My doula would help me regain control and shortly after I?d lose it again, it was quite the process.  I kept looking into my drs glasses so I could see what was happening, felt her head coming out and everything. Derrick was already bawling at this point.  HOLY RING OF FIRE! Be prepared for that.  I thought I was but it was really hard to push through that pain. I pushed for 10 minutes total and my beautiful baby girl was born at 7:37pm  6lbs 12ozs and 20.5 inches long!  I later found out that Derrick was even able to help catch her on the way out  I had no tearing or anything and am healing up very nicely.  We came home yesterday and settled in.  She?s the most amazing little thing I?ve ever done!

Oh and, every one of the nurses and drs read my birth plan while I was laboring and EVERYTHING on my birth plan was followed.  It really did make my experience that much better.

And I definitely recommend a doula to anyone who wants to go naturally. She was amazing and wouldn?t let me give in!  I don?t know how I would have handled it without her.

Here's some pics hopefully - and no, she looks NOTHING like me.  She's is her daddy's little mini-me.