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Natural Birth
XP: Harper's birth story- pitocin and med free
My water broke at 1:15pm on Saturday March 3. (EDD was 3/6). I expected contractions to be soon to follow. But I only had some mild ones that faded. I cleaned the house and tried to rest and called my MW at 9pm and she told me to come in. (oops....don't know why this is bold)
We discussed starting pitocin to start contractions, but after my terrible 3 day labor induction with my first daughter I wanted to wait. I tried the stairs, walking, squats and nipple stim to no avail. I gave in and started pitocin at 8:15 am. I knew this time was different. I could feel contractions begin within 15 minutes and by 9:45am I was very uncomfortable and needed to get into the labor tub. I did a lot of deep breathing and turned on the jets when I had a contraction, which helped take the focus off contractions. This labor was different, instead of just getting through the contractions, I really focused on letting the contractions come over me to let the baby move down.
After my DH helped me get out of the tub to pee I decided that I wanted the nurse to check me. While I was on the toilet and he was getting the RN, I had a big contraction and ended up on my hands and knees. Just then they walked in and the nurse ended up checking me in this position. She said the head was right there and she was going to get the MW. When the MW got there she said it would probably be best to get to the bed. I crawled to the bed. On the way I did tell the nurse to "shut" (meaning please stop talking to me this is the worst pain i have ever been in) and did let out some 4 letter words. When the MW checked me she told me I wasn't there yet, but she encouraged me. She didn't tell me the number and I didn't want to know. At this point I could not even imagine trying to sit still for a epidural. The contractions were right on top of each other. The nurse kept asking for the number and the MW kept not telling her, which i totally appreciated. For the next 1/2 hour (so I am told) I laid on my side and tried to relax thru contractions and breathe. I kept repeating, I am OK, I am OK. I don't know why, but it helped. It was INTENSE. All at once my body started to push. I was 10 cm and it was time to push. I pushed for 13 minutes (the nurse told me later) and Harper was born at 12:31pm at 7 lbs 8 oz. Apparently I was only 5 cm when the MW checked me, but I dilated to 10 in 1/2 hour.
My husband's later recollection of the birth was that it was like the movies. A bit of screaming and some swearing. After she came out I was really shaky and in awe that my body was able to do that and that she was perfect. (We did have a questionable anatomy scan that had some soft markers for Downs). She is doing great. It is so much easier the second time around. If you want to go med free i highly recommend Ina May Gaskin's book The guide to childbirth. Without it I couldn't have done it and I took an extensive birth class the first time around. Good luck to everyone!
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Re: XP: Harper's birth story- pitocin and med free
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