She arrived one week early!

Manderlin923 · June 2013

DD arrived at 39 weeks exactly. I woke up at 1:30am with my water breaking. We went to the hospital at 7:30am and they confirmed it was my water breaking, and my doctor showed up at 9:30 and I was 3cm, 100% effaced. I had almost no contractions (just a little bloody show and mucus) and was getting frustrated. I labored all day trying to start contractions, walking around, bouncing on the ball, and eating light food, but nothing was happening. I was dreading the pitocin convo but our doctor was at clinic all day doing appointments so I was just waiting for her to get back- the nurses never checked my cervix so I had no idea if I was progressing. Our doula showed up at 5:45pm and showed me how to do nipple stimulation in the shower and it got my contractions started- hard. My dr came back at 6:30pm (the staff was great about letting me labor without much interruption apart from occasional checks on baby's heartbeat) and I was ONLY 4cm. She offered me pain relief but I turned it down as I was still intent on going med-free (as I did with my first birth) and luckily could see I was contracting on my own pretty intensely so she didn't mention pit. The next time I got checked I was 7cm and my resolve to go med-free was dwindling. I began thinking in my head how I could bargain with DH and the doula to get an epi because I knew they'd try to talk me out of it, and I was right. It was way harder going med-free at a hospital than it had been at the birth center- there hadn't been any meds there! This was like seeing a huge piece of chocolate cake and not eating any...

I began saying I couldn't do it, I didn't WANT to do it, and I wanted relief. I was so exhausted by then, as I'd only gotten 4 hours of sleep that morning and the long day was getting to me. At one point I broke down crying and my friend who'd come to take photos also cried. DH kept telling me I could do it, and he was great at applying counterpressure as I was having horrible back labor (again!). I got checked again and was 8-9 cm and I asked the nurse, "Is it too late for an epidural???" and she never answered me. Finally I started feeling pressure in my butt like I had to poop. The nurses began coming in to break down the bed, and bring in the baby warmer and everything. I got really recharged then and munched on a red popsicle. I think my exact words before that were, "I would KILL someone for a popsicle right now."

Finally my dr checked me again and said there was just a little lip of cervix left and I could try to push through the pressure. I was afraid of pushing. I thought I'd burst my uterus open or rip my a$$ open. I was afraid of tearing again- I'd had two second degree tears with DS. I was still in so much pain and though pushing felt good in a way, it still hurt so bad. I was pissed at everyone for talking me out of the epi. I began pushing in the traditional pose, and they showed me how to do it and kept encouraging me. I kept asking if they could see her head yet but it wasn't quite time yet. Finally they saw dark hair and I asked to see a mirror. They brought one out as I screamed through the pushing, and I watched her being born, which was awesome. I felt instant relief when she came out. She was tiny! My DS had been 9 pounds 8 oz so I was expecting another big baby- she was only 7 pounds 8.6 oz. I had one tiny tear which didn't need any stitches and pushed for 20 minutes (vs 90 minutes with DS). Overall recovery is waaaay better. Baby Maren Josette is a joy and though nursing is a challenge, we are slowly getting the hang of things. I still sort of wish I'd had the epi lol but I'm also glad I did it without. Once contractions started my labor was just 6 hours long, so a little less than half of what I had as a first time mom (14 hours). She was born at 10:44pm.

She's in my siggy- tons of black hair! She's got long toes, and my ears and eyebrows, and DH's & DS's chin. We are in love.