Didn't end up going natural, but still had a beautiful, satisfying birth

Blackrose1918 · September 2012

Sept. 12 I took castor oil to induce labor after it being mentioned at my MW appt. the day before that I may have to be medically induced. I really didn't get sick from it. Around 9pm I had a backache, and went to soak in the tub for a while. When I got out, the pain hadn't gone away, but was less noticeable. MH and I sat down to play cards, and I began to notice what I thought may be contractions around 10:30. I'd been having strong pre-labor symptoms for nearly a month at this point, so I wasn't sure what was important to pay attention to. I started timing the contractions and realized this was it. Even though they weren't painful in the least, they were 5 min. apart, lasting 20-30 seconds. We played cards for about an hour, and the I called my doula and MW to make plans as to which hospital to go to and when my doula would come to the house. I tried to clean a bit, to help pass the time, but the contractions started coming quickly, and i wanted to slow them down. I got into the tub again, and was out about 15 minutes later. I told MH that we needed to leave, even though our doula, Shauna, hadn't arrived yet. At that moment, she pulled into our driveway. She came upstairs, evaluated the situation, and we left for the hospital. At this time I realized I was having back labor. The uterine contractions didn't hurt, but the back pain was incredibly intense. I don't remember much of the car ride, aside form talking and joking with Shauna and DH between contractions, and that they rubbed my shoulders and encouraged me through the pain.

When we arrived, I was triaged quickly and got into the labor tub. What relief! It still hurt, but being on my hands and knees, with Shauna pouring water over me and talking me through contractions while DH rubbed my shoulders and comforted me made things so much better. For a while. I was 4 1/2 cm dilated, and having contractions that lasted 45-60 sec and were only 60-90 sec apart. I began to lose control. At this point the uterine contractions still didn't hurt much, but that back labor had me in actual tears. I asked for an epidural. I'm probably the only woman who was ever grateful for 6 hours of unmedicated back labor, as it meant I wasn't going to have to be chemically induced.

After the epi was administered, I was shocked at how it made me feel. I was affected from my breasts down, my arms were tingling, and my legs felt like there was an intense pressure compressing them, while experiencing a sensation not unlike a limb that has fallen asleep. I hated it, but knew that I had made the right decision for myself and my son. I had crossed the line from pain into suffering, and needed the relief to birth my baby.About an hour later my dilation was checked, and I was at 5cm. I stayed at that same measurement for 5 hours. Christian being OP and me not being able to move much was keeping me from dilating effectively. It was suggested that they break my water. I was reluctant, but after talking it over with my birth team, and being told that it would not place a time limit on my labor, we chose to do it. It didn't help. My contractions got extremely intense, but then slowed nearly to a stop. At this point I'd already been in labor for at least 10 hours. We decided to start a low-dose, slow pitocin drip. That got me up to 6 cm after a couple of hours. All this time my MW and nurses are flipping me from one side to the other, trying to encourage Christian to turn. He wouldn't. About 16 hours in, 10 hours after my epi, it had worn off enough for me to flip onto my hands and knees. I was told that if this didn't work, we'd have to start seriously considering a cesarean. That terrified me. I spent the next two hours on my hands and knees with Shauna and DH rubbing my back, helping me stay in position, and giving me encouragement. I finally began to feel a sensation that I wasn't familiar with, a new kind of pressure. My MW was called back, and when she checked me, I only had a small lip of cervix left. When I was told this, I squealed with delight and started crying. I was going to have my boy vaginally, if not naturally! About 10 minutes later I was pushing. I had DH on one side of me, feeding me ice chips and keeping the mood up, and Shauna in the other side, encouraging me. We had such a great time.With the first push, I felt him drop down into my birth canal. After the second push, my MW held me open and I could see his hair! Within 30 minutes, Christian made his grand debut (without doing any damage to me, no stitches needed!), amid smiles and laughter. He was placed on my chest and just looked at me. MH and I stared at this amazing creature, and we were just awed by him. We still are.

Christian was born September 13, at 4:35 pm, on his daddy's birthday, 25 minutes after his birth-time. He weighed a healthy 7lbs. 2oz. and was 20" long.