Cade's Natural Hospital Birth

I started having menstrual-type cramps on Sunday evening around 10 pm when I was 36 weeks 3 days pregnant. I tried sleeping but I knew the cramps were different from my normal Braxton Hicks contractions and I couldn?t get settled in bed. By midnight I was wide awake and started timing the contractions. They were getting more intense but weren?t coming consistently. They were anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 minutes apart. I decided to try and sleep since I knew it would be a long night. Around 2 am I got up and took a shower just in case I had to go to the hospital. I stayed in the shower for about 30 minutes since the hot water felt amazing on my back cramps.

The rest of the night was spent alternating between timing my contractions and trying to sleep. Around 6 am DH noticed I was still in bed and not getting ready for work. I informed him that I thought I may be in labor and that I wouldn?t be going to work that day. DH got our 19-month old DD up and fed her breakfast while I finished packing my hospital bag just in case. I wasn?t sure if I was really in labor so I told DH that he could just drop me off at the hospital and I would get checked before he called his sister to come over and watch DD since she was already at work. He dropped me off around 9:30 am.

I checked in and got settled in my room and got hooked up to the monitors which showed I was definitely having contractions 2-6 minutes apart. My midwife came in around 10:00 am to check my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated. She told me I would definitely be having a baby so I called DH and let him know to head to the hospital once his sister arrived at our house to watch DD. I was pleasantly surprised that they didn?t make me get an IV. They never even brought the topic up. I spent the next several hours walking the halls, soaking in the tub and sitting on the birth ball.  I had planned for a water birth but because I was less than 37 weeks my midwives advised against it which I was ok with. 

My midwives encouraged me to order lunch around noon so I would have some energy for pushing later. I ate a sandwich, soup and some fruit and boy did that taste wonderful since I hadn?t eaten since dinner the evening before.

A student midwife checked me around 1:30 pm and said I was about 6-7 cm. My contractions were still inconsistent and weren?t terribly strong so I agreed to let them break my water at 2:30 pm. My contractions really started to pick up after that and I had about three or four really painful contractions that I had to breathe through. I would lean over the bed with each contraction while the student midwife applied pressure on my back to ease the back labor pain. The contractions began to make me feel nauseous and I thought I might get sick. I was definitely in transition at this point. The midwives kept laughing at me because I had a smile on my face the whole time even during my contractions. Smiling helped distract me from the pain!

With the next contraction I felt a TON of pressure in my bottom. It felt like I had to have a bowel movement but the midwives informed me it was just the baby. I told them I needed to push and the room instantly filled with nurses. The midwives asked me where I wanted to push and I was so indecisive since nothing sounded like it would be comfortable. I ended up squatting on the floor holding onto the bed. The student midwife and the nurse pulled my shorts and underwear off and began to set up some pads and towels beneath me on the floor. I then decided to get on the bed so one of the nurses tore the bed apart so I could sit on the edge. When I got onto the edge of the bed they said the baby?s head was right there so I began to push. They let me push whenever I wanted to which I thought was way more effective than pushing on demand. My body just took over and I began to push the baby out. I reached down and could feel his head coming out which motivated me to push even harder. I figured the harder I pushed the less time it would take and the faster it would be over!

I pushed for a total of 5 minutes and Cade William was born at 3:25 pm weighing 6 lbs 11.8 oz and measuring 19.5 inches long. They immediately put him on my chest and he was just perfect. After a few minutes DH cut the cord and they took the baby and cleaned him up while I delivered the placenta. I had to have a few stitches for a small internal tear but nothing major.

When Cade was 12 hrs old I noticed he was breathing funny and making grunting noises so the nurse took him to the special care nursery to monitor his breathing. That led to 2 days in the special care nursery and a transfer to the NICU at another hospital for 5 days for Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He is now two weeks old and is home and doing just great.

I am very happy that I achieved my goal of having a natural birth. It was a very empowering experience that I will always cherish. More importantly, I am thrilled that Cade recovered so quickly from his respiratory issues and that he is now healthy and at home with us.