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Natural Birth
Birth Story - Repost from May Mamas
So I wasn't sure about posting this story here, as I did have Pitocin to augment labor. I did NOT have any pain meds whatsoever, and when I asked the nurses if it still counted as natural, they all adamantly said "YES!"
My water broke at 8:00am just as I was lying in bed grumbling to myself about feeling so uncomfortable and pregnant. I heard a definitive ?pop? and then water gushed all over me. Luckily, DH and I had put down a plastic tablecloth under the sheets a couple of weeks before! I sat there in shock for a second and then immediately called DH to come back home (he had just left for work). I called my BFF and my parents to let them know and then all I could think of to do was go stand in the bathtub until DH got home. They?re not kidding about being constantly wet once the water breaks!
We got to the hospital in about 2 minutes (we live very close; we didn?t speed, lol) and checked in. By then I still hadn?t felt any contractions, and it was about 8:45 before I felt the first one. My original birth plan was to labor at home for as long as possible before going in, but because I was GBS positive they had me come in immediately. The GBS also meant I had to have an IV that I didn?t want to have, but oh well. My initial pain was at about a 1 or a 2. After an hour, my BFF showed up. I was feeling really excited and was able to talk and laugh about things between contractions, which were about 3 minutes apart. We put on some music that we had brought (a classical music mix), and that really helped me concentrate through the contractions. After a few more hours, my parents showed up. It was wonderful to have them there! Originally I thought I would only want to labor with DH in the room, but as it turned out leaning on my dad and my mom while sitting up in the bed was amazingly helpful. They all took turns being labor coaches, and were so helpful with massaging my feet and back. After what felt like 10 minutes but was in reality 4 hours, my midwife said I was only dilated to a 3. My contractions were still at 3 minutes apart, with the pain at about a 5 or a 6. She said we?d wait it out a little longer, but if in 2 more hours I was at the same frequency and duration of contractions, we should speed it up with Pitocin. I was so wanting a completely natural birth, and it made me so sad to hear that, but I said ok because of the GBS ? my water had been broken for 8 hours already. They ended up starting me on the smallest possible dose of it, and it definitely kicked in strong within 10 minutes. I started having multiple peaks to each contraction and they became about 1 or 2 minutes apart with pain at about a 7-8 with the occasional 9. I stayed that way for a couple of hours. It didn?t feel like it was that long. I was just concentrating on each individual contraction, and trying to relax into the music playing. My BFF kept telling me to ride the pains like waves, and picturing myself floating onwaves was incredibly helpful too. We had read books on the Bradley method and it worked very well for me. Relaxing through contractions made them so much easier to bear, but honestly I would not have been able to remember to relax had DH not reminded me each time. Soon I felt like my pain was at a 10 each time, and contractions were becoming near constant. Each one would have 4 or 5 peaks, and pauses between contractions were still at a pain scale of a 6 or a 7. At one point a nurse came in and suggested opening my eyes (they had been shut for hours) and focusing on something in the room. If I had had any energy or breath to spare, I would have told her to take a long walk off of a short pier. They checked me again, and I was absolutely heartbroken to hear I was at 5.5 cm. After all of that work, I felt like I should have been atan 8 or at least a 7. They upped my Pit again (baby was doing fantastically well), and I reached pain that I did not think was possible. I somehow managed to climb off the bed onto a birthing ball, which felt great and helped a lot with opening up my cervix. This pain was enough to make me actually think I was dying. I started to cry and say ?I can?t do this, there?s no way?, and somewhere in the recesses of my brain I remembered that this was the ?third signpost? according to Dr. Bradley: right when you think you can?t possibly do it is when you?re at the end. It was just my BFF and my DH in the room, and they reminded me of this and were doing everything possible to relax me and keep me comfortable. I?m certain that if they had not been there supporting me that I would have gotten an epidural, which I absolutely did not want to get. I got back in bed and I was at 8cm. Between 5.5cm and 8 cm felt like it took hours, but in reality was about 20 minutes. I started to feel the urge to push, and as soon as I said that the room became a blur of activity with nurses coming in and getting ready. I felt like they were moving like molasses, but DH said they were faster than a pit crew. They checked again and I was at 9cm, but really wanting to push. This was by far the worst thing I had felt. The nurses were telling me not to push, that I could tear my cervix, and at this point DH had to yell at me to not push during contractions. That was like telling me to not breathe, or to not fall if someone pushed me off a building. It was utterly impossible not to push. I was petrified of what would happen if I did, but I couldn?t not. At this point I was screaming at them to check me before the next contraction started. I actually lost my voice a little. The one nurse who was checking me said ?no, honey, I just checked you a minute ago.? I yelled at her and she checked, and sure enough I was at 10cm. I was relieved and once assured I could push I just went for it. Pushing was the best, most powerful, amazing release ever. I felt like an amazon warrior/animal/powerful unstoppable force of a woman. There was no pain whatsoever, just a lot of pressure. I absolutely thought I was pooping (even though I didn?t) but I did not care one bit. This was about the point where I completely lost all modesty. I just wanted to push. I honestly would not have noticed if an elephant had walked into the room. I remember feeling differences in the pressure and vaguely thought of the head and the body going through. My midwife said to open my eyes, and I saw my son for the first time. At that point I realized that I had been in so much pain for so many hours that I had forgotten that I was having a baby. He was the most amazing, beautiful sight I had ever seen. He was instantly placed on my chest and they waited to cut the cord until it stopped pulsing, as I had asked. He was crying loudly, and got an 8 and a 9 for his APGAR scores. He nursed almost immediately and was a natural at it. He was born at 7:30pm, 11.5 hours after my water broke, and was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long. After the birth all pain was completely gone, but I had such a release of energy and was so excited that I started shaking uncontrollably. The nurses were joking with me about never having seen a vibrating bed in L&D before. My midwife was amazing. I ended up having a 2nddegree tear from the birth, and she had to sew me up with me shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She was so calm and just waited for an opening before throwing a stitch and then waiting again. Having a plan and having such a strong support system kept me on track for how I wanted the birth to go. I can easily see how women opt to get the epidural, and having gone through it, I can?t say that I blame them. I was so close to asking for it myself, when I knew so strongly I didn?t want it.The pain was awful. But only briefly. And the thing is, I don?t think I would have had that amazing rush of power had I gotten the epidural. And that feeling was seriously worth all of it. And you know, the baby they give you at the end of it. J I cannot believe that just this week I became a mother. It?s been 4 days and I feel like I know him so well now. He?s doing great and we?re both working on learning how to breastfeed (SO much patience required, but we?re coming along!). He came 13 days early, but I?m so thankful he did. I was ready for him, and he was definitely getting to big to stay in there! He is perfect and amazing and I never knew that love like this existed in the world until now.This discussion has been closed.
Re: Birth Story - Repost from May Mamas
Hey, thanks so much for sharing your story, and congrats.
I really think that "natural" has no standard definition at all, but those pain-med-free stories are always great to hear on this board (especially with Pit augmentation - you go, mama!!)
thank you so much for sharing your story!!!
congratulations on your baby boy and for such a great natural birth!
What a great story! I feel like you are one of Dr. Bradley's patients that he writes about : ) Especially when you write about the "rush of power" you got at the end! Good for you! Very motivating!! Your son is adorable : )