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Birth Stories
Long Labor but Wonderful Experience
Short Version:Addyson Mae Jackson was born July 20, 2010 (on her due date) at 11:58pm EST (barely). After 42.5 hours of labor I pushed 7 pounds, 19 1/4 inches of pure perfection into the world. It was the most intense experience of my life and I'm so happy!
Long Version:I felt my first contraction at approximately 5:30am on July 19th. I had already been up twice that night to pee and when the first contraction came I was skeptical. So I waited and about 15 minutes later felt another one. I decided that these were indeed contractions because they had a rise and fall to them. Very different from my constant crampy BH contractions. I got up, ate, walked around the apartment, rocked in the rocking chair, etc while timing the contractions and dealing with them one at a time. They were still inconsistent in length, duration, and frequency so I waited to wake up DH. At about 8:30am I decided these weren't "false labor" and I was going to wake up DH. I'll tell you what, I've never seen him up out of bed that quickly.
) I texted our doula and she said to go for a walk, take a bath, eat something then call her back and we'd decide whether we needed her to come over yet or not. Well, as soon as I get off the phone with her I have the most intense contraction thus far. So, I decided to skip the walk and get in the bath tub. The bath was nice for a while but I think I had the water too hot because I started to overheat and needed to get out after only 4-5 contractions. Around noon we had lunch. I only managed to eat half a PB&J sandwich since I was already feeling nauseous. Then we called the doula to come over.
When she arrived, I was in the rocking chair working through contractions by rocking and breathing. She watched DH and I work through one contraction and jumped in to help. The difference was immediate. I could do a whole separate post on doulas, but let's just say that there is NO WAY I could have done this without her. She was an amazing help to both DH and myself. We labored at home for about 3-4 hours before deciding to go to the hospital. At this point, I've been in labor for about 10 hours.
We arrived at the hospital about 4pm Monday, got checked in, and was immediately taken to our room. At the time we didn't think anything of it, but they didn't even check me before admitting me! In retrospect, we probably would have gone back home because I was only about 4cm dilated at this point. So we labor at the hospital for awhile. Our MW came to check on us at about 8pm or 9pm. At this point I had progressed to 7cm. (I think this is accurate. We got checked a couple times and I decided I didn't want to know my progress.) She wanted to break my water but we declined. So she went home expecting to be back about midnight and that we'd have a baby by 3am or 4am.
The MW stopped by the next morning because she was never called that night. She checked me and I was still at 7cm. I decided to let her break my water. She said she'd be back around lunchtime to check on me. (At this point I've been in labor for around 27 hours.) Before she left she made a point to say that if she were an OB, this is the point where they'd "cut me off" so to speak and I'd be wheeled to the OR for the section. Nice. I'm glad I had a MW if that was the case.
The next few hours were the hardest for me. Because my water had been broken, the contractions were closer together and WAY more intense at the peak. I had a terrible time trying to relax through them. We were also doing every labor position we could think of that brought on the strongest contractions to help me progress. I had to give into the pain and just thinking about it makes me want to cry. It was very very intense.
The MW came back around 1pm to check me again. I thought surely I had to be almost complete. The intensity and frequency of the contractions, along with other signs, just screamed transition to me. Alas, it was not to be. In fact, I had REGRESSED to 6cm. Yes, you can regress and I did. All that work... and I went backwards. I was very upset. I knew something had to be done. I couldn't continue like that. So, after 30ish hours of med-free labor, I got the epidural. DH and I were extremely emotional about it and I told the anesthesiologist that I didn't want to do it. It was the strangest sensation ever. In all honesty I didn't like it one bit. The only positive was I could relax and sleep. They did the epidural first (as opposed to Pitocin) because I just knew Pitocin wasn't going to do anything but make the contractions worse and I already had intense contractions I couldn't relax through. When they do an epidural, you have to have IV fluids (BOO!) and a catheter. (I did not have an IV until this point. There's no way I could have labored the way I did with an IV or even a saline lock.) They administered the catheter after the epidural so I couldn't feel it going in. I'm sure it would have been super painful. They also did an internal contraction monitor so they could more accurately gauge my contraction strength. Of course, the epiural made my contractions weaker so I did end up on Pitocin, but because I couldn't feel the contractions anymore (and I was asleep) I didn't care at this point... The thing that helped the most (in my opinion) was the catheter. Apparently, all the trips I made to the bathroom did NOTHING to empty it and it was so full. This explains a lot to me. I believe that a full bladder, along with the inability to relax during a contraction, was the reason I needed the epidural. My full bladder was preventing her from descending into my pelvis.
After several hours of sleep, I was FINALLY at 10cm. They let me labor down for an hour before starting some practice pushes. By this point it was about 11:20pm on Tuesday, July 20th. I'm up to 42 hours of labor. We talked about pushing with our doula so I could better understand what I needed to focus on. They turned my epidural down so I could feel what I was doing. (Side Note: My epidural was perfect in this regard. I wasn't completely numb. I could still move my legs, just not walk. They were tingly, as if almost completely asleep. I would have really hated being completely numb.) I did the practice pushes and the room started to fill with people getting ready for a birth. FINALLY! They pulled the mirror over at my request so I could see what I was doing. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was not a relief to push because I'd been numb. I didn't get those endorphins flowing through me because I was on Pitocin. But I could feel her coming out. It felt like intense pressure. The MWs were great about stretching me so I wouldn't tear. After each contraction during pushing I would start to hyperventilate and DH and our doula were AMAZING to help me remember to breathe. (You really get to a point where you cannot think for yourself and having supportive loving people around you makes ALL the difference. If someone looked at me and said "You can't do this" I would have probably believed them. But because they said, "You CAN do this. You ARE doing this" I was going to do it.)
When I saw her start to crown I looked up at the clock and it was about 11:56pm. I thought to myself, "No way in hell am I having this baby after midnight!" I didn't care what anyone said at this point. I was pushing this baby out NOW. And I did. She came out pink, crying, clean, perfect. She was never in distress at any point. Her heart rate was about 135bpm throughout the entire labor. When they broke my water, it was clear. She weighed 7 pounds and was 19 1/4 inches long. Her hair is brown, her eyes are gray with a little blue, and her fingernails are LONG. Most importantly, DH was the one to tell me that we had a baby girl (we were Team Green). He teared up and I've never been more in love with him. I had a first degree tear that didn't really require any stitches, but they did one anyway. Recovery has been a breeze and breastfeeding was a bit of a struggle at first but we've overcome the initial hurdles. I'm so in love!
Long Version:I felt my first contraction at approximately 5:30am on July 19th. I had already been up twice that night to pee and when the first contraction came I was skeptical. So I waited and about 15 minutes later felt another one. I decided that these were indeed contractions because they had a rise and fall to them. Very different from my constant crampy BH contractions. I got up, ate, walked around the apartment, rocked in the rocking chair, etc while timing the contractions and dealing with them one at a time. They were still inconsistent in length, duration, and frequency so I waited to wake up DH. At about 8:30am I decided these weren't "false labor" and I was going to wake up DH. I'll tell you what, I've never seen him up out of bed that quickly.
) I texted our doula and she said to go for a walk, take a bath, eat something then call her back and we'd decide whether we needed her to come over yet or not. Well, as soon as I get off the phone with her I have the most intense contraction thus far. So, I decided to skip the walk and get in the bath tub. The bath was nice for a while but I think I had the water too hot because I started to overheat and needed to get out after only 4-5 contractions. Around noon we had lunch. I only managed to eat half a PB&J sandwich since I was already feeling nauseous. Then we called the doula to come over.When she arrived, I was in the rocking chair working through contractions by rocking and breathing. She watched DH and I work through one contraction and jumped in to help. The difference was immediate. I could do a whole separate post on doulas, but let's just say that there is NO WAY I could have done this without her. She was an amazing help to both DH and myself. We labored at home for about 3-4 hours before deciding to go to the hospital. At this point, I've been in labor for about 10 hours.
We arrived at the hospital about 4pm Monday, got checked in, and was immediately taken to our room. At the time we didn't think anything of it, but they didn't even check me before admitting me! In retrospect, we probably would have gone back home because I was only about 4cm dilated at this point. So we labor at the hospital for awhile. Our MW came to check on us at about 8pm or 9pm. At this point I had progressed to 7cm. (I think this is accurate. We got checked a couple times and I decided I didn't want to know my progress.) She wanted to break my water but we declined. So she went home expecting to be back about midnight and that we'd have a baby by 3am or 4am.
The MW stopped by the next morning because she was never called that night. She checked me and I was still at 7cm. I decided to let her break my water. She said she'd be back around lunchtime to check on me. (At this point I've been in labor for around 27 hours.) Before she left she made a point to say that if she were an OB, this is the point where they'd "cut me off" so to speak and I'd be wheeled to the OR for the section. Nice. I'm glad I had a MW if that was the case.
The next few hours were the hardest for me. Because my water had been broken, the contractions were closer together and WAY more intense at the peak. I had a terrible time trying to relax through them. We were also doing every labor position we could think of that brought on the strongest contractions to help me progress. I had to give into the pain and just thinking about it makes me want to cry. It was very very intense.
The MW came back around 1pm to check me again. I thought surely I had to be almost complete. The intensity and frequency of the contractions, along with other signs, just screamed transition to me. Alas, it was not to be. In fact, I had REGRESSED to 6cm. Yes, you can regress and I did. All that work... and I went backwards. I was very upset. I knew something had to be done. I couldn't continue like that. So, after 30ish hours of med-free labor, I got the epidural. DH and I were extremely emotional about it and I told the anesthesiologist that I didn't want to do it. It was the strangest sensation ever. In all honesty I didn't like it one bit. The only positive was I could relax and sleep. They did the epidural first (as opposed to Pitocin) because I just knew Pitocin wasn't going to do anything but make the contractions worse and I already had intense contractions I couldn't relax through. When they do an epidural, you have to have IV fluids (BOO!) and a catheter. (I did not have an IV until this point. There's no way I could have labored the way I did with an IV or even a saline lock.) They administered the catheter after the epidural so I couldn't feel it going in. I'm sure it would have been super painful. They also did an internal contraction monitor so they could more accurately gauge my contraction strength. Of course, the epiural made my contractions weaker so I did end up on Pitocin, but because I couldn't feel the contractions anymore (and I was asleep) I didn't care at this point... The thing that helped the most (in my opinion) was the catheter. Apparently, all the trips I made to the bathroom did NOTHING to empty it and it was so full. This explains a lot to me. I believe that a full bladder, along with the inability to relax during a contraction, was the reason I needed the epidural. My full bladder was preventing her from descending into my pelvis.
After several hours of sleep, I was FINALLY at 10cm. They let me labor down for an hour before starting some practice pushes. By this point it was about 11:20pm on Tuesday, July 20th. I'm up to 42 hours of labor. We talked about pushing with our doula so I could better understand what I needed to focus on. They turned my epidural down so I could feel what I was doing. (Side Note: My epidural was perfect in this regard. I wasn't completely numb. I could still move my legs, just not walk. They were tingly, as if almost completely asleep. I would have really hated being completely numb.) I did the practice pushes and the room started to fill with people getting ready for a birth. FINALLY! They pulled the mirror over at my request so I could see what I was doing. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was not a relief to push because I'd been numb. I didn't get those endorphins flowing through me because I was on Pitocin. But I could feel her coming out. It felt like intense pressure. The MWs were great about stretching me so I wouldn't tear. After each contraction during pushing I would start to hyperventilate and DH and our doula were AMAZING to help me remember to breathe. (You really get to a point where you cannot think for yourself and having supportive loving people around you makes ALL the difference. If someone looked at me and said "You can't do this" I would have probably believed them. But because they said, "You CAN do this. You ARE doing this" I was going to do it.)
When I saw her start to crown I looked up at the clock and it was about 11:56pm. I thought to myself, "No way in hell am I having this baby after midnight!" I didn't care what anyone said at this point. I was pushing this baby out NOW. And I did. She came out pink, crying, clean, perfect. She was never in distress at any point. Her heart rate was about 135bpm throughout the entire labor. When they broke my water, it was clear. She weighed 7 pounds and was 19 1/4 inches long. Her hair is brown, her eyes are gray with a little blue, and her fingernails are LONG. Most importantly, DH was the one to tell me that we had a baby girl (we were Team Green). He teared up and I've never been more in love with him. I had a first degree tear that didn't really require any stitches, but they did one anyway. Recovery has been a breeze and breastfeeding was a bit of a struggle at first but we've overcome the initial hurdles. I'm so in love!
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Re: Long Labor but Wonderful Experience