natural birth after two inductions

doodlemonkey22 · August 2013

I'm not a regular on this board, but I wanted to share my natural birth story. here is a quick rundown of my previous pregnancies. With my first pregnancy I had complete trust in my OB. I did not do my own research or educate myself. Big mistake. My water broke at 37 weeks. I was admitted to hospital and immediately blasted with pitocin. Around 6-7 cm I caved and got an epidural. With second pregnancy I switched to a nurse midwife group and hired a doula determined to take control of my labor. Then I developed Cholestasis which has a risk of stillbirth. I had to be induced at 38 weeks. With pitocin. Again. It was an excruciating back labor. My birth plan went right out the window. Caved at 7cm and got an epidural...for 'll the good that did. The epidural was ineffective. The only positive aspect of that delivery was that I delivered vaginally. No c section.

Now I was pregnant with my third and had given up on trying for a natural birth. My history of Cholestasis meant I was likely to develop it again and that would mean another induction. But I never developed Cholestasis with this pregnancy for some reason. Maybe it had something to do with being 3rd trimester in the summer and vitamin D. Who knows. I was so scared to even voice my concerns and theories for fear that I'd suddenly develop it at the very end. Then at 37 weeks I noticed I started losing parts of my mp. I lost a little bit every day for 5 days. I knew it did not mean a whole lot so I ignored it but cut back on physical activity just in case. At 38 weeks I woke up at 6am with very mild cramps. Nothing painful but strong enough to be aware of them. And they were 10 minutes apart. Luckily I had an appt that day. Midwife says could be false labor, wait and see. She offered an internal exam and I accepted. I needed to know where I was because my ds's birthday party was planned for Sat and I needed to know if I should cancel party. I was 1cm and 50% defaced. I figured I had plenty of time. Midwife told me to lay on my side, drink lots of water, take a shower or bath and it should stop any contractions. I did as she suggested and they slowed to every 30-45 minutes. Thought I was in the clear. Called my mother just in case and asked her to take charge of ds's party. Also packed a hospital bag. At 11pm contractions came back stronger and 10 minutes apart. When they didn't stop an hour later, I went into the tub. except this time they got stronger and closer together. I was sure I was in labor now. But I didn't want to rush to th hospital and have them send me home because I had not progressed enough. So I stayed in the tub. The water made pain management so easy. I loved it. By 2am I felt like I could no longer walk or talk thru a contraction. they were 6-7 minutes apart for the past 1.5 hours. Called midwife. I guess I didn't sound convincing enough of pain because she tried to talk me out of going to hospital, but I insisted. I could tell she still did believe me when I got to L&D because It took another hour for her her to check me. I was 6cm. I was admitted and roomed. I went straight to the tub and started filling it. Nurses helped me in and turned on the jets.

I was in there for about an hour and got to a point that even the water didn't ease the pain. I had flashbacks of my previous back labor and panicked. Started asking for an epidural. Midwife tried explaining that since I got in the tub they never started an IV. I had to be on IV for at least 15 minutes to get an epidural. Did not know that. You learn some some new every day. In my head though I thought it was going to be back labor again and I figured I couldn't be more than 7-8cm. It had only been an hour. So I got out of tub and insisted we start IV and prep for epidural. The nurse got the IV block in my hand and I guess I was making pushing faces because midwife said "uh oh we need to check you." I was at full 10cm and no time for an epidural. Time to push. My first instinct was to cry and plead but nothing to do but push. I pushed until my water broke. It popped and shot out. That pushing until water broke was the most painful part of the whole delivery. I screamed like a crazy person, screamed out crazy things and wanted to give up. But once water broke I reached down and felt baby's head and it was like the fog cleared. I grunted thru 4 pushes and baby's head was out and everything else just kinda fell out.

I am so thankful my labor played out the way it did and I was able to experience a natural birth. When I was on pitocin I felt like my entire body was being squeezed by a python...like my uterus was in a vice. While my drug free contractions were no joke, they were not half as intense as the pitocin contractions. Recovery has been so much easier too.