Landon James is here! Long natural birth story (XP from May board)

noycela · June 2012

After a bit of a roller coaster the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, our little man is finally here! My blood pressure was high starting around 36 weeks. After that, every weekly appointment went: blood pressure high, OB talks to me about others signs of pre-e (i had none) and possibly inducing early, BP not as bad at end of appointment, take some labs. It almost felt like a weekly struggle to avoid being induced, which became every few days when the little guy decided to be over a week late. At my 41 week appointment on Tuesday, they tried to schedule an induction that night. I talked the doctor into Thursday night at 9:00 instead. I left my appointment feeling defeated and that being induced was inevitable. Time to get to work with natural induction! Nipple stimulation, sex, walking, spicy dinner, EPO, RRL tea, and finally talked myself into castor oil. I took 2 oz with OJ around 8:00 pm Tuesday night. Around 9:30, I was having fairly regular contractions about 12 min apart. I tried to go to bed, but was too uncomfortable when the contractions came to get any sleep. I took a shower, laid down for awhile, took a bath, laid down for awhile, took another shower. Around 3:30 a.m. I woke DH up and told him he may want to get up and pack. By 5:00, Contractions were about every 4-5 minutes and getting pretty intense but I could still talk through them. We left for the hospital at 7:45 am and we were checked in and in our room about 8:30. After some monitoring and being checked (I was 4 cm and had been 2-3 at my appt the day before), I labored in the rocking chair, on the birth ball, then in the whirl pool (amazing!) Around 10:45 am, the nurse came in and told me my blood work (taken because of my BP) wasn't good - diagnosed as pre-e, and my doctor wanted me out of the tub and in bed. I would have to labor there from then on. I was already questioning whether I would be able to do it without meds, and i felt somewhat defeated knowing I would be immobile. About 11:00 am, I was set up in bed and the doctor checked me. The contractions seemed so crazy the last couple hours and I knew if she said I had only progressed a small amount that my birth plan would be out the window. I was 7 cm! I was so relieved that I burst into tears. She broke my water and told me to expect to progress about 1 cm per hour.. I wasnt sure I could handle 3 more hours, especially confined to the bed.The next hour is pretty much a blur. I had my eyes closed most of the time, just listening to my DH and the nurses through contractions which seemed to be right on top of each other and SO intense. During a couple of contactions, I felt like i had to poop (NOT pleasant with the castor oil! I had fairly bad diarrhea most of the night beginning about midnight). The nurses told me it was probably just baby's head but dont worry about it if I just pooped a bit in bed. Not sure whether I did or not. Soon after that, I felt an extreme urge to push during a contraction. The nurse told me I had to resist that, but it was impossible! This happened 2 contractions in a row so they checked me - 10 cm! I'm not sure what time I started pushing. It felt like I was pushing forever, but it was probably only about 15 minutes (through about 7-8 contractions). I had heard from many people that pushing would actually feel good, but I disagree! It definitely felt like what my body was supposed to do, but wow did it hurt! I was screaming so loud and hard until the nurses told me to hold in the sound and I would make more progress. I know it terrified DH - he was crying but being amazing telling me how great I was going and that we would be meeting our baby soon. I was bawling between contractions, cursing my mom in my head for her stories of pushing out all her babies in 1 push and also thinking of stories of women who push for hours. After what felt like forever, the head was out, and everything else just sort of slid and gushed out after it. It felt like all of my insides were falling out of me.We were team green, and DH took way too long to tell me the sex! I asked "what is it?" at least twice until he said "A boy!!" We both thought it was a boy, so it was almost like I already knew. Landon James officially entered the world at 12:37 pm on Wednesday June 6, 2012, 10 days past his due date, weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and 20" long. We are so in love, and DH is completely amazing! The nurses were amazing and so supportive of my birth plan -- it almost seemed like they were more determined to stick to it than I was and disappointed when it seemed like it may go off track. I'm thankful and lucky my labor progressed as quickly as it did or I know I would have had to get something for the pain. I credit the castor oil with getting my labor going so quickly. The side effects (diahrrea) were not fun to be going through while in labor. I would only recommend it to someone overdue and wanting to avoid a looming induction. It was all definitely worth it!