My natural birth story...

I am very proud to announce the birth of our new son Timothy James II.

I wanted to share my birth story with all of you:

So I guess my story starts last Tuesday (October 14). The past couple of appointments Tim and I had gone to, the baby was measuring about 4 weeks ahead. So we decided to start acupuncture at 38 weeks (per the advice of my midwife) to try and get things moving along. My first session was last Tuesday. It seemed kind of odd and I was not sure how well it would work, if at all, but I was willing to try anything. That evening I got a few more Braxton Hicks contractions that were normal. I also started taking Evening Primrose Oil last week to help to soften my cervix. I went to the midwife on Wednesday and had the growth ultrasound, the baby was measuring 8 lbs 15 oz. The midwife checked my progress and I was 1/2 cm dilated and only slightly effaced and the baby was -2 station. The midwife seemed concerned with the size of the baby and therefore wanted me to be induced on Monday morning (October 20) in order to prevent the risk of a c-section because of the size of the baby. I therefore decided to go back to the acupuncturist. I woke up Thursday morning, about 2:00 AM with contractions but they were not regular. I didn't sleep much at all that night nor did I sleep much that day because they continued throughout the day. I went back to the acupuncturist on Thursday for one more treatment. Thursday night they began to get more regular, but they still were not very strong. The midwife prescribed me a hot bath and glass of wine before bed, but I again got no sleep that night. We called the midwife and she wanted me to come see her on Friday morning so she could check my progression. I went in about 10AM and I was now 1-2 cm dilated and 90% effaced and -1 station. She gave me one sleeping pill to get some rest that afternoon. I went home, ate lunch, and hopped into bed as soon as I took the sleeping pill. I slept for 5 hours Friday afternoon and miraculously got 10 hours of sleep on Friday night. The midwife told me I could be induced on Saturday if I wanted to but I was really hoping to still go natural if I could. I felt so relieved Saturday morning when I woke up refreshed and knew that going for induction that day really was not much of an option. I was very antsy on Saturday so I went out for a walk as well as went shopping with my Mom for some baby clothes. Saturday night we went over to a friends for dinner and I could tell my contractions were intensifying but they still were not regular. We got home about 7:30 and I went straight to bed, hoping to get another night of sleep. Lying there, I could feel my contractions getting closer and closer together. I called Tim up at about 8pm to help me time contractions and they were 3-5 minutes apart 40 seconds long and much stronger then they had been the past few days. We called the midwife and she said that progression was good and she would call me at 10 to see how I was doing. At 10 when she called, my contractions were similar. She asked if I felt like I needed to go to the hospital and I told her I didn't think so. She said to call her as soon as I felt it was time or if my water broke. I woke Tim up again about 1:30AM, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 1+ minute long so we decided to call the midwife and get heading to the hospital.

We got to the hospital about 2:45am. On the way over, I started getting nervous because my contractions were spacing apart and I did not want to be sent back home. But as soon as I got to the hospital, the contractions were back full force. The midwife came in not long after I got there and checked to see my progression. I was 4 cm dilated, fully effaced, and -1 station. I had gone into the room with the tub, hoping to labor in the tub, but everything was happening so quickly that I did not want to move off of the bed. As soon as I was hooked up to the monitors, I was contracting every two minutes. The contractions started to come quicker and stronger and when she checked me at about 5:30 AM I was 6 cm dilated but when she went to check, my water broke. It felt like a very warm gush of water (like a water balloon popping). Tim said it looked like clear egg drop soup. As soon as my water broke I swear the contractions were one right after another. I felt like I had no time to breath in between and I was clinging to the bed rails for dear life to get through each contraction. After about 30 minutes of those contractions, I started telling Tim that I was thinking of getting an epidural. I figured that I had about 5 more hours of contractions and I was not sure I could handle the pain for that long but Tim was really great encouraging me, telling me I could get through it on my own. It came to the point that it was additionally painful because I felt like I was holding back pushing and when I told Tim he immediately paged my midwife who came in to check me again (about 6:30 or 7 AM) and I was already 10 cm dilated and ready to push. She was shocked.....I was relieved. I started to push at about 7:30 and, what a relief! I always thought the pushing part would be the most painful, but it was the exact opposite. Pushing was so much easier and the contractions were further apart which allowed me time to breath and relax between. All the literature I was reading was correct when it said it was like pushing out a large bowel movement. I was able to get about 3 pushes per contraction, sometimes 4. Not sure when (as my eyes were closed almost the entire duration of the labor), but the baby started crowning...Tim seemed to be amazed (I never thought he would look, but he did). Supposedly right after the head started to crown, I really started pushing. The eyes came through and then the nose and I went to stop pushing through that contraction, but his nose got stuck. The midwife got nervous because his nose was out, but his mouth was not so she put her hands in to try to help pull the baby out. I heard Tim say something about a lot of blood and it turned out that I tore. I pushed a couple more times and the entire baby was out. It was the best, most relieving, oddest feeling I have ever felt. What an amazing thing. Tim mentioned it was a boy and it was emotional for both of us. It is a feeling I could never really explain. They put him on my chest as they cleaned him off and Tim cut the cord. Tim went in the side room as they weighed him while the midwife collected the cord blood. She then proceeded to look at my tear, she thought it was nothing but it turned out to be a 4th degree tear (stem to stern as Tim would say). They had to call the surgeon in to repair my tear. While we were waiting for him to come, I breastfed him for the first time. I thought he did really well until he unlatched and I saw the hickey he left me. The surgeon then came over to stitch me up and that was definitely very uncomfortable.

So now for the stats.

Name: Timothy James II
Date: 10/19/08
Time: 8:43 AM
Weight: 9 lbs 13.5 oz
Length: 21"
Head: 14"

He is now latching on pretty well, but I am pretty sore. I only got about 5 hours of the first night because he would cry every time we put him in his crib. We finally sent him to the nursery at 5:30 yesterday morning so we could get a few hours of sleep. I woke yesterday morning feeling like I got hit by a bus. Every muscle in my body is sore. I hadn't realized how many muscles
I used in labor.

So that's about it. Thanks for all the well wishes and we will keep you all updated.