Natural Birth Story - LONG

Hi Ladies

I figured I'd post this here because it focuses on natural childbirth. It's from when my 19 month old was born, but I thought it might interest some of you considering natural birth. I hope to do it the 2nd time around, too. 

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I was due on Friday, November 26th but baby was late. On Monday, November 29th, I went in for a check-up, NST, and ultrasound. The NST went fine, but the ultrasound (we later learned) showed heightened levels of amniotic fluid. Typical is in the 20?s and I was measuring 37.8. When I went to meet my doctor, I asked her if she would strip my membranes to help induce labor. After consulting with another physician, they said that my fluid levels were too high and she wasn?t comfortable doing it at the clinic ? she recommended induction because if my water broke on its own, the cord could come out with the gush of fluid and potentially cut off the baby?s lifeline.  So my husband and I reluctantly agreed?we had been hoping to need little to no medical intervention during labor, and induction often leads to ?the cascade of interventions??  But we wanted what was best for baby, so we left the office with a date for the 30th at 11:30.
During dinner that night, we were both kind of feeling ill-at-ease?my husband did a bunch of research online and it seems many of the concerns they had about my water breaking naturally were also concerns of doctors artificially breaking your water?we were really 2nd guessing our decision. I talked to a friend of mine that suggested we try castor oil ? she was in a similar situation and the night before induction took 2 rounds and went into labor on her own. My husband wasn?t too comfortable with the thought of me using castor oil, so instead we decided to go the old natural route of intercourse.  I felt fine afterward and we went to bed.
At 3am, I woke up with some diarrhea and was going often, but I was also cramping at what seemed to be time-able intervals (finally)! I lay on the couch for the next 2.5 hours, took a bath, and then back to the couch; all-the-while trying to figure out if I was really in labor or not. By 7am, I was confident that this was the real deal (back pain that came and went, right?). So I woke up my husband and asked him to start timing contractions for me. We don?t have an iPhone so we didn?t have the contraction timer ap ? we just used a stopwatch and sure enough, they were every 2.5-4.5ish minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 45 seconds to 1.5 minutes. I showered while we timed, he got ready, then we left to go pick up my mother at my sister?s home. I put a puppy pad and a beach towel on the front seat in case my water broke. The ride wasn?t too bad initially, but AFTER we picked up mom, the ride to the hospital sucked ? it was around school time and there were crossing guards at every block for the children ? traffic was a NIGHTMARE ? I was ready to get out of the car and walk to the hospital.
Once we arrived (around 9:15am), they took me to my birth suite and they asked to see our birthplan. We gave it to them, I changed into a sports bra and an old nightgown, and they hooked me up to the monitors. I didn?t have to be hooked up to the immobile monitors the whole time, but the doctor?s did want the baby?s heart rate because of my amniotic fluid levels. The resident examined me and said I was already 7cm and 75% effaced (I had been dilated for several weeks around 3-5, but was shocked that I was already 7 ? yippy!) Once that exam was done, they were comfortable with me moving around and trying to labor med-free, so I was hooked up to the mobile monitor and I began walking around ? the huge bathtub seemed so comforting, so the nurse started filling the tub ? I kept going to the bathroom [recommendation #1 and #2 - drink TONS of liquid during labor, make your husband force it on you and take bathroom wipes with you, I needed to wipe with something more soothing than TP].
After laboring for a couple hours in the tube, I felt down-right great! The tub took away a large chunk of the pain and I started wishing I had brought the latest book I?d been reading. Mom went to get magazines and husband and I chit-chatted for a while.
I made it through about 10 pages of People magazine. Then the real pain started. I gave the mag back to my mom and started concentrating on contractions; breathing through them and what-not. The tub was no longer doing it for me, so the nurse suggested we try a few other positions/movements. Several worked out well (walking in circles around the room), while other?s not-so-well (laying down).
About 1:30 or so, I was checked again. I had progressed to 8cm, 90% effaced. So more laboring in different ways ? the exercise ball was nice, my husband putting counter-pressure on my back was great, and always telling myself ?you can do this?? got me through the next 2 hours or so even though I was COMPLETELY exhausted because of the lack of sleep from the previous several nights.
At some point ? perhaps around 3 ? I got back into the tub and labored there for quite a while. It wasn?t as relieving as it had been before ? but the warm water helped some. I was ?in the zone? as they say and was able to fall asleep in between contractions. There was a lot of moaning and death-gripping of the tub bars, and occasionally I had the fleeting thought of ?what am I doing??? but I never took the steps to actually seriously consider meds.
By 5pm, I was in really bad shape ? the adrenaline shakes started, I moved to the bed because I was so so uncomfortable, and I asked to be checked again. I was 9cm ? water still in-tact and finally I asked if they would just break it so that I could get to 10. The doctor came in and broke it ? HUGE gush of warm water that never ended. I ended up leaking fluid the entire rest of labor with every contraction. The next ? hour was terrible. I was gripping the rails of the bed so hard that I actually snapped the joint where the 2 sides connected (and later found out that I had some temporary nerve damage in my left hand). I was moaning totally random things, occasionally swearing?it was pretty intense.
By 5:40, I asked if I could start pushing ? some contractions I couldn?t really help NOT pushing, even though the nurse wasn?t ready for me to push. Even though I had planned on trying to push in a couple different positions, I was in too much pain to move ? so I pushed while laying on my right side for a little, then my left, then on my back. I was most successful on my back ? she raised grip-bars to help. Even though we had planned on not counting during pushing, I found it helped quite a bit ? it gave me a goal. I know they say that pushing ?feels good?? and in a way I can agree because I felt like I had something to do with the pain, but in most ways, it hurt bad. I felt like I was breaking in two, and then of course you?re trying to push a grapefruit through something the size of a plum?it doesn?t feel that great.
In total, I pushed for 1 hour, 20 minutes and at 7:09 Violet came into the world. It was so surreal ? the doctor told me to open my eyes and look ? and there was another human coming out of me! I couldn?t believe it! I actually said, ?What is happening!?! I can?t believe this!!!?
I delivered the placenta with no problem and I had a small tear that took a little while to sew up because it was ?oddly torn.? [Recommendation #3 ? be prepared for the massage of death after delivery ? the doctors and nurses have to push on your uterus to help eliminate the blood and cause it to contract. I actually gripped the doctor?s arm and begged him to stop!]
Violet weighed 8lbs 4oz, 20? long and had an appetite that still cannot be satiated! I am still in shock that she is ours and we get to keep her. It is the most overwhelming feeling ? but the best feeling.
So ? for those of you that were able to get through this post? Congrats! I hope all of you interested in a natural birth take your birth into your own hands and don?t let doctors scare you into interventions ? do your research,[recommendation # 4 - if you can afford it, take a natural childbirth class], ask ?why?? and ?what are my other options?? and ?is this medically necessary?? If you do opt for a natural birth ? just tell yourself ? this is one day of BAD pain but is totally worth it.