Natural Birth story! (Super long)

Hey all! I know when I was pregnant how helpful this board was to me, so I wanted to share my story! Baby G was born 7/17 after 11 hours of labor.   I hope this helps you!

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Monday started out like any other day: I was anxious for the baby to arrive, but also excited that my maternity leave had begun and I had the day to myself. I did the usual things: read, napped, went to the grocery store, and kept feeling all of the warm-up contractions I had been feeling for a couple of weeks. I had my weekly appointment with my midwife that morning, and she checked me ? I was already 2 centimeters along, but I was thoroughly unimpressed ? people walk around like that for weeks with no progress, so I figured I'd be the same. And hey, I was already 2/10ths of the way through!

At about 5:00 p.m. I started feeling contractions that were more intense than before, and they also added a ton of pressure on my back, which I had never had before. The back pain was what made me sit up and take notice and think that maybe this was the real thing. I downloaded a contractions-timing app on my phone and tracked them, and they were a good six-seven minutes apart. After dinner my H and I took a walk, and I was disappointed because the contractions seemed to disappear. A while after we were done, though, they returned.

H and I were pretty sure this was ?it?, so I decided to head to bed at 10:30 ? I was tired, and wanted to rest as much as I could. I couldn't sleep in between the contractions, but I listened to my ?slow labor mix? on my phone while I rested, just focusing on the music. The contractions were intense but not what I would describe as painful; I just rode each one out like a little wave.

The contractions were coming about every eight minutes, and we waited for them to get to the ?5-1-1? point, but we decided to call the midwife just before midnight, when it seemed they went from eight minutes apart to two to three minutes apart. She asked what my comfort level was and asked if I could labor at home just a bit longer, so they wouldn't make me wait at the hospital. I agreed ? I wanted to labor at home as long as I could. I thought I'd take a shower to try to relax, but just then, at about 12:20 a.m., a really strong contraction came on that felt like a thunderclap. It was the most painful one so far, and I started to cry. That's when we decided to call the midwife back and let her know I was coming in.

We got to the hospital but because it was after midnight we had to go in through the emergency room. H didn't know where to park, so he had me get out and head over myself while he found a spot. Just as I got out of the car, my water broke. Doubled over, I hunched inside and leaned on the counter. The receptionist asked me if I was in labor, and I said yes ? and she had me fill out a little form while they got me a wheelchair. H came in, and we headed upstairs to triage.

The contractions were way more intense now, and I sat in the triage waiting room while H went to go park the car in another spot. They called me in and I headed in by myself, waddling super wide since my water was still leaking, and the triage nurse handed me a clean catch urine cup and told me to change into my gown. I couldn't handle all of that ? I barely had any pee in me, for one; two, I couldn't figure out how to get the cup closed up; and three, I was leaking gross fluid everywhere and I was scared I would slip in it and fall in my flip flops. H came in at that point and I was bent over and shaking ? and worried that I would only be something like three centimeters along and they would send me home.

It seemed to take the triage nurse forever to come in, and when she did she hooked me up to the fetal monitor. She left again, and it was just H and I ? and I told him I had to throw up. I hadn't eaten for hours by then, and threw up mostly stomach acid, which made H gag (and made me laugh a bit). The nurse came in to put in my hep lock and had me lie down. The only thing that got me through the contractions when they came was to lie on my side and rock back and forth. I always thought I would labor in different positions, but that the was the only one I used for the whole time ? standing up seemed like a pipe dream at that point. H did a good job trying to counteract the pressure in my back; without those massages, I don't know how I would've gotten through the contractions!

The midwife finally arrived and checked me, and I was 6-7 centimeters along; she also confirmed that my water broke, and she left to get the labor and delivery room all set up. After a while they wheeled me up there (which made me nauseous because I get motion sickness), and I got right back into the same position ? lying on my side, rocking back and forth.

I barely talked to anyone the entire time I was up there; I was in my own zone and didn't want to talk. It surprises me that I was like that; I thought I'd be more social and more mobile than I ended up being.

I did tell the midwife in between contractions that I was really nervous for the transition period. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle it. She laughed and said ?Oh! You're already in it!? And I felt this great relief.

The baby was having some issues, though ? his heart rate was dropping, and staying down longer than they liked. They couldn't get him on the fetal monitor very well, so they put in an internal fetal monitor, attaching it to the top of his head. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but knew it was the best plan. It felt weird to feel this cord move between my legs of its own accord, haha.

Contractions were really intense, but between them I still had a clear head. I knew where I was, and was strangely okay with it. They put an oxygen mask on me which I really hated ? I couldn't hear anything because of the air flow, and it made me really sweaty ? but soon enough it was time to push.

I had expected pushing to be something completely different from what it was. I thought I had to push my vaginal muscles, not the ones I'd use to poop, so I felt completely uncoordinated. Baby's heart rate was still dropping ? he didn't like the positions I was in ? so they called in an OB to assess the situation.

The OB was a total jerk. I could hear him telling the midwives that I wasn't pushing correctly because I had no confidence, and that if I couldn't get things going they'd have to use the forceps/vacuum; and if those didn't work, then I'd have to have an emergency c-section. I did not come all this way with no medication just to have a c-section! He left after that and the midwife had total confidence that I could do it; she and the nurse continued to help me know when to push and for how long. H got in on helping, bringing my knee up and helping me get into position. I ended up pushing mostly still on my side until the baby started getting really low, and then I got into the traditional pushing posture on my back.

I felt the ?ring of fire? when he crowned, but it only lasted for a second; and although the midwife had wanted me to hold off at one point to prevent a tear, she changed her mind just to get the baby out faster. I did tear, but it was pretty minimal. I ended up pushing not during a contraction just to get him out, and it felt wonderful when he did! He was born at 4:14 a.m.

They popped him right up on my stomach and he was shaking from the cold. I was shaking like crazy from all of the adrenaline! I couldn't stop. I watched H cut the cord. The midwife injected me with some anesthesia for my stitches, and they gave me some pitocin so I could deliver the placenta (which came out with no problem). It was really neat to see it ? H thought it was really cool looking.

I was still in a state of disbelief, but I loved that the pain from the contractions and the pushing was totally gone. I still felt pain when the midwife stitched me up and when the nurse pushed down on my uterus, but nothing at all what I had been feeling all evening.

Because he was born so fast (I had gotten to the hospital at 1:00 a.m and he was born just three hours later) he still had more mucus in his lungs than they liked, so they called for a pediatrician to check him out. They put him under some warming lights and checked him out while H called our families to tell them the good news. About twenty minutes later I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom; I loved that I didn't have to wait to get moving. When the pediatrician gave the okay, they handed him back to us and we got to spend some time together as a family before bringing us up to our room.

It was an amazing experience. I loved that although it was so intense I still had my head together, and I loved the wonderful confidence-booster it was for me to know that I could go through something like this and make it out the other side. I loved that after it all I was alert and the baby was alert; and I loved the sense of empowerment I felt ? and still feel today, two months later!