3rd Trimester

Our Med Free Birth Story!

Here are our stats!  Our (surprise) baby girl, Ellinor Lillian was born on Tuesday, November 4th at 10:00pm.  She weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 20.5 inches.  I had an entirely med free birth experience and it was amazing!



On Monday around 9:00pm I started having mild contractions.  They felt a lot like menstrual cramps, but they were coming ever 10 minutes or so and seemed to be getting stronger.  By 1:00am I was pretty sure I was in labor.  The contractions were stronger and they were in my back again - all my earlier contractions in the previous days had been in my lower back as well.  These contractions were 5 minutes apart or less, but still not really painful.  I called DH (who always has late nights on Mondays) and told him he should probably think about coming home.

I called our midwives and the midwife on call got back to me saying I should spend a couple more hours at home before coming in to see if the contractions got stronger.  They did, so at around 4:00am we headed into the hospital.  We checked in and got hooked up to the monitors.  Baby's heart rate was great and I was definitely having frequent contractions.  We got checked by the midwife and I was only 1 cm dilated but 80% effaced.  We hung around at the hospital, but the contractions weren't picking up.  They recommended we go home and come back in once I'd made more progress.

At home DH and I both tried to get some sleep.  By 11:00am I was up with contractions too painful to sleep through.  I showered and got ready to go.  At 1:00pm I called the midwives again and the new midwife on call (one of my favorites) recommended we still wait a couple of hours before going in.  When she suggested this, I started crying.  I was in a lot of pain at that point, DH was still half asleep and I really felt like I needed more support.  I was also feeling like I wouldn't reach my goal of going med free if I already was in so much pain.


After that DH started helping me out more.  We had a light lunch, he started massaging my lower back through every contraction and helping me with my breathing.  I was able to get my pain under control, we put on a movie and ended up heading back to the hospital at 3:30pm.  The car ride was tough.  DH couldn't massage my back, so I had to do it myself (and it wasn't as good).  We got to the hospital and found out that I was 5cm dilated and 95% effaced!  We were checked into L&D right away.



Our nurse and midwife were really great.  They got a tub going for me right away and I labored there for awhile.  When the contractions got to be too much again (or the water got too cold) I got out and we started trying out different positions.  Since I was having back labor the ENTIRE time, lying down was out.  I spent some time on my knees leaning over the back of the hospital bed.  Once my knees got sore, I was on the birthing ball for pretty much the rest of my labor, leaning over the bed with a pile of pillows.  DH was amazing!  He massaged my back through every contraction, helped with my breathing and kept me drinking enough fluid.  Our midwife was in and out, so was the nurse.  A lot of the time it was just the two of us, and it was really nice.


Around 8:00 my contractions became more painful.  Breathing and relaxing through the contractions was SO important.  I found if I didn't get on top of them before they got bad, the pain was almost unbearable, but if I was able to start with the deep breathing right away and keep myself relaxed the contractions barely hurt at all - it was such a strange thing.

A little before 9:00, I felt a lot of pressure and kind of like I need to push.  We called the midwife back who checked me and said I was still only 8cm.  That was hard to hear and that was probably the first time when I truly felt like I really wouldn't be able to make it through without medication.

About 20 minutes later (I really want to get the times from the midwives because it seemed to go VERY fast) I started having VERY strong contractions, I felt leaking, and I was starting to push without meaning to.  We got the midwife back quickly and she checked me and said I only had a tiny lip of cervix left!  

They let me get ready for some practice pushes on my back.  Since I was still having back labor, this was uncomfortable but after two or three pushes my water broke.  Three minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to go.  I pushed on all fours for awhile (much more comfortable) and after about 15 minutes, the midwife suggested I turn onto my back again so she could check the baby's position.  At this point, I was able to push on my back without issue.  They set up a mirror so I could see what was happening.  She came down fast.  The worst part was when her head was partially presenting - the burning was SO intense.  I had to wait for the next contraction to push and it felt like an eternity.  With the next contraction her head was out and her body came right after.  She was delivered at 10:00pm exactly after only 35 minutes of pushing.  DH announced that she was a girl and she was put on my chest right away for her first evaluations. I had no tearing and we delivered the placenta without pitocian 13 minutes later.


To those attempting natural childbirth you CAN do it!  I had moments of doubt but in the end the experience was so empowering ? I wouldn't have done it any other way.
image
imageimage 
  image

Re: Our Med Free Birth Story!

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"