My med-free hospital Birth Story

I'm so very late with this but it's on my mind this morning so here it is: Quincy David Lincoln's Birth Story

I was having contractions 3 minutes apart lasting about 45 seconds or so since Sunday 8/29 around 10 pm. They continued into the night and the next morning we called my OB and she said to keep an eye on them and if they got more painful or began to last longer then to come in to the office. Nothing changed that day though, so I stayed home from work and spent pretty much the entire day walking around the neighborhood. Later monday night around 11ish they started to become uncomfortable though not really painful and were still 3 mins apart so we called again and the on call doc said to head to the ER. When we got there, the ER dr didn't believe me until they hooked me up and were shocked that I was as calm as I was when I was clearly having decently strong contrax 3 mins apart (just like I said! ) He sent us home with the expectation of seeing us in the am. I was still only 1/2 cm dilated and about 60 % effaced. We thought we'd be back in the morning but this lasted for 3 more days. I had a scheduled OB appt on Wed, and she stripped my membranes and manually dilated me to about 1cm. That night, the contractions slowed to 7 mins apart. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I'd felt so close to finally meeting my boy and I was so disappointed that my early labor had slowed.

Thursday I spent the entire day walking and bouncing on the pilates ball trying to relax and to open everything up for him and help move him down into position. I went to bed early that night and I am s o glad I did because around 1am I woke up to some pretty strong contractions. I didn't want to time them though because I felt sure it would still be 7 mins apart and would just be disappointing. But after a couple of hours I could no longer sleep so I woke up John and we started timing. They were 4 mins apart and lasting a minute. But I still didn't really feel pain, just very uncomfortable. I really didn't think it was time to go to the hospital but I knew we were close. I remember waking up around 6am after about an hour of sleep and telling John "we're going to meet our son today".

Around 7am we called the OB and she said to head to the ER. I called my doula who I'd been texting all night long and she met us there for 8am. Once they checked me though, I was only 2 cms dilated and about 90% effaced. I was so disappointed.But the ER midwife was incredible. She said she really felt like based on the strength of my contractions that I'd be having the baby today. But it was the day of Hurricane Earl and the bad weather had already started. The ER was packed and she knew there was no way they could let me stay in the ER with the hopes of being admitted. So she sent me home and told me to come back if I started to feel real pain. She just said I'd know when. Man was she right. We all went back to my house with a plan to have breakfast and rest. My hunger lasted all of ten minutes. I remember I had time to have a little glass of water and half an orange. I fed my cat. As I was putting food in my cats bowl I felt this insane wave of nausea come over me and had to run to the bathroom. And so the puking began. It was awful, it just didn't stop. Within an hour I had nothing left in my belly to vomit anymore. I was laboring over the pilates ball on all fours holding Amanda's (my doula) hands and breathing through the contractions. I was having a lot of back labor so John was behind me rubbing my back and putting pressure on my hips and tailbone to help open everything up and relieve some pressure. I did not want to move from that position, every time I tried it hurt more intensely and I felt even worse. After another half hour, Amanda convinced me we had to leave. The contrax were 2-3 minutes apart lasting 1 1/2 minutes consistently. I would have one extremely strong contraction followed by another little one and then another strong one. It continued like that with little aftershocks the whole way to the hospital. We were driving in all the rain from the hurricane, the roads were flooded near my house and we could not get there fast enough!

The ER was still full and while we waited for a bed to free up I paced the hallway with Amanda, stopping frequently to vomit in the trash in the hallway. I remember being aware of the other people waiting watching me labor and throw up but there was nothing I could do. I just wanted to lay down. Finally after about 45 minutes of torture there was a bed free! I got checked again by the same mw who was shocked we were there so soon but glad to see I was so uncomfortable, it meant she was right and we'd have the baby that day! Unfortunately I was only 2 cms still. She couldn't admit me unless I was 4. She said she was supposed to come back in an hour and check again and if I hadn't progressed enough they would have to send me home again. I started to cry. She said she didn't want to do that to me, so she was going to "forget" I was there for a while and see how I did. She came back two hours later and I was 3 cm and 95% and my cervix had finally turned. The baby's head was in place and I was really making progress, just not quickly enough. She put me on IV fluids because I was still vomiting and dehydrated. She left again and came back a bit later and I hadn't moved from 3 cms. She said she planned to admit me, but there were no beds in L&D. Hurricanes bring in all kinds of crazy things to a hospital, on top of the 6 scheduled c/s and 4 inductions they had 11 women walk in off the street with broken waters. There was no room at the inn. And I still hadn't progressed enough to be technically admitted. Finally after 4 hours of laboring in the ER I was 4 cms!! My water still hadn't broken though, and though I could be admitted there were still no beds. So we were admitted and had to labor in the ER for a while. I really don't know how long we were down there but when they came to tell us we had a room finally I think I jumped off the gurney. I wanted to get to a private space and be able to focus. I was trying so hard to breathe through eveyrhting and hearing the person next to me in the ER getting stitches was not helping!

They first took us up to this tiny dark room and my heart sank. The nurse said ok just relax and the anesthesiologist will be in in a minute. I looked at John and Amanda but I was in the middle of a contraction and couldn't speak. John said "um, we told them no anesthesiologist. She's doing this on her own"  And the nurse actually surprised me. She brightened up and went oh my then we'll get you a good room! Good for you! I've had 7 and I've had them all different ways. You'll need a good room and a window... haha I am so grateful to that nurse. She took us to this huge room with a big window and a private bathroom. We had to tell every single person who came in the room that we didn't want to see an anesth. I was so surprised at how adamant they were about bringing someone in. I started to get really ticked off when the dr tried to make me talk to them. Thank God for Amanda. She stepped out with the head nurse and I'm not sure what she said but no one ever said anything about the anesth. to me again.

My good friend Kerin was on later that day so we called her and told her we were there and wanted her when she came on. Time is a complete blur. There was this huge digital clock in the room but I did everything I could to ignore it. I know it was at least 3 hours of laboring in that room before the doc came in to check me. I was having very strong contractions and just breathing and moaning through them. Voicing was helping, I just focused on the sound of my voice and tried to forget about the pain. I just kept thinking each wave brings me closer to meeting Quinn. I labored on the bed but not laying down. I was on all fours for a lot of it, rocking back and forth or holding onto John. When the doc checked me I was 5 cms and it had been about 3 hours. Our plan all along had been to do everything with no intervention at all. But the doc didn't even ask me, he just broke my water right then. I remember I was so mad he did that without asking. But that anger disappeared fast because there was meconium in the water. Quinn wasn't under any distress, his heart rate was good and he was kicking DURING contractions. But with the meconium they were worried about him so they had to use the continuous fetal monitor. I had planned to labor in the tub and they told me I couldn't since they needed to monitor. I was so upset, I was really looking forward to using the water to help with the pain. They fitted me with a portable monitor though so I could use the shower. 

Amanda helped me get in the shower and I put my arms around her neck through each contraction. I got her soaking wet and I felt so bad because I knew she didn't have a change of clothes. John stood next to me and sprayed my back with the sprayer. In the shower, the contractions started getting insanely strong. I was weak-kneed with the pain and intensity. After about 30 minutes I told them I felt dizzy and they wanted me to lay down for a bit. Once I got back on the bed, the nurse checked our heart rates and felt the baby's movements and she thought based on how long the contractions were (they were lasting 3 minutes long with another conrrax starting before the last finished) that I was getting really close. The doc came back and checked me again. I was 9 cms. It had only been an hour since he broke my water! They started prepping the room and me. The nurses let me push for a while on all fours but it was more of practice pushing, just working the baby's head down into place. After about 15 mins the doc came back and said I had to deliver in the traditional position. I was so irritated but he explained it was because they needed to be able to get to Q fast in case he wasn't breathing due to the meconium. They were afraid his lungs would be filled. They had everything set up in the room to suction his lungs if needed. I was terrified. But I tried not to think about it. When they said my baby might not be breathing when he comes out and not to freak out if I don't hear him cry, I started to cry. I squeezed John's hand, then took a deep breath and decided to not think about it. I just had to focus on getting him out so they could make sure he was ok.

15 minutes later they had me pushing. It hurt like hell. I was shaking and I felt so hot. My head hurt from the pressure. But I just focused on feeling him move down with every push. The ring of fire everyone talks about wasn't that bad. The worst feeling was having to stop pushing. I pushed for a half hour and finally his head came out. Then they made me stop so they could make sure he could breathe before pushing the rest of him out. But the second his little head touched the outside air, he started to cry. I was so shocked and happy I tensed up and that hurt more than anything else had to that point. It was like I finally let myself feel everything. I was so relieved he was ok! A few seconds later (which felt like an eternity) I pushed out his body. They put him right on my belly and threw a little towel over him. I couldn't believe I was finally looking at the face of the little angel I had carried for so long. I wanted to so badly to cry, but for some reason I had no tears. I just couldn't stop laughing. I held him so close, so tight...I was so reluctant to let him go they practically had to pry him loose. After a couple minutes they took him over and did his vitals while I delivered the afterbirth. I didn't know it, but they gave me pitocin to help with the placenta and to contract my uterus. When they told me I was pretty upset but I decided, I got to do everything else the way I wanted, I wasn't going to let that upset me. Finally I had my baby boy back in my arms. 10 minutes after he was born, I nursed him for the first time. It was such an amazing moment. Here I was finally a mom, with this teensy little person to care for. I was so terrified, elated, in love all at once. I was exhausted from the emotions but still running on adrenaline. Quincy David Lincoln was born on Sept 3 at 11:19pm. Amanda's birthday was the next day. Before she left that night, she told me it was the best birthday present she could ever imagine. I'm so grateful to her for her part in Quinn's birth. 

The second best part of that whole night was that by midnight I was starving, and I desperately wanted a shower. I'd been craving a turkey sandwich for 9 months. Kerin said she'd try to hunt down some food for me while I showered. I took a glorious 10 minute shower and when I was done,  she had a turkey sandwich waiting for me. I could have kissed her! It was the perfect end to the day to have my baby in my arms and the sandwich in my belly. I didn't go to sleep until 3am that night but it was the best night of my life. I had my sleeping husband on one side and my sleeping precious son on the other. My world was complete.