Emerson Michael's Birth Story

Finally getting around to writing this...things have been a bit hectic and a huge adjustment and I am finally starting to feel a bit normal.  On Friday March 4th I had my 39 week, 2 day doctors appointment where my doctor said I was 2cm, 80 percent effaced and he stripped my membranes. He said that I could go into labor within th next 48 hours or it could be another week or two (if I wasnt already on my way).  Well, almost immediately afterwards I started having cramping and intense Braxton-Hicks contractions.  The feeling continued and the next nite (Saturday nite) I was having very intense contractions that I needed to breath through (thank goodness I took the baby class and learned how to breathe, wouldnt have been able to get through the contractions without the breathing!!!).  The contractions ranged from 10 min apart to 5 min apart and some 3 min.  My husband and I were really unsure if we should go to the hospital or not since they were not consistently 3-5 min apart.  After laboring for about 6 hours, we decided to go since I was obviously in soo much pain! We ended up at the hospital at 12am Sunday.  They checked me at the hospital and I was still only 2cm dialated, but they could see the contractions on the monitor.  They decided that this was "false labor" since I was not dialating any further and that this "pre-labor" could last another week even.  Me and my husband were beside ourselves and I couldnt stop thinking how much longer am I going to need to deal with this pain??! When we got back home my contractions continued and worsened although they were still not in regular intervals (still 10 min, 3 min, 5 min, etc).  I labored on my glider and had to breathe through every one and it was very intense! Finally at 8am, me and my husband decided to venture back to the hospital since I knew that something had to be done (could they give me something to ease the pain if this wasnt the real thing?!!) We got to the hospital and I was still only dialated to a 2 with contractions all over the place (not timeable 3-5 min). I was soo scared I would have to go home for a 2nd time and deal with the pain I was experiencing! The nurse told me that I could walk around the hospital for 1 hr to see if I had made any changes and they would go from there.  After walking around for 1 hr and having back to back contractions and looking like a crazy person walking around the hospital I was checked again and had dialated to a 3 with bloody show.  I begged to be admitted and finally the nurse said they would admit me.  Once I got into L&D I requested an epidural (originally was going to go natural but after dealing with the contractions I knew I would be eventually giving in).  Got the epidural--which didnt hurt at all and took all the pain away!! The worse part of the whole thing was the catheter...I hated the sensation of it!! Once they added a little more epidural medication I stopped feeling the catheter, couldnt feel the contractions and it was smooth sailing!! 1 hr after receiving the epidural I dialated from a 3 to a 7.....me and my husband were in shock!! (We expected to be in the hospital for a few days !) BTW--my contractions were still all over the place, goes to show that you CAN be in labor without contractions that are textbook!The doctor said that she seems this happen sometimes...some peoples bodies try to fight dialation when they are in extreme pain, but once the pain is relieved with the epidural the body is able to relax.  Getting the epidural was the best decision I made (I could have been in labor a few days if not!) The doctor broke my water when I was a 7 and then an hour later I was at a 10 and ready to push! Doctor slipped away and came back about 30 min later and I started pushing...pushed for about 20 min (didnt feel a thing only a little pressure but no pain!) and my son was out on March 6th at 4:36pm weighing 8 ibs, 8 oz and 20.75 inches long!! Only had 1st degree tear a few stitches and no pain at all!!! The labor was extremely easy (expect for everything I did at home) and the pushing was no big deal! Hope that some read this that may be scared about the process...all I heard prior to my delivery were horror stories and I could have used some good birth stories. 

 I had a huge adjustment the first week he was home with dealing with hormones all over the place, breastfeeding issues and lack of sleep.  I am now 2 weeks out and am starting to feel more normal and my hormones feel a bit better.  Cant wait to take LO out since my one gripe is cabin fever! Best day of my life was delivering my son!!