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April 2014 Moms
pdilly2b
member
DS, May 2011
Juliet Anne's arrival (pdilly2b) - med free hospital with midwife
pdilly2b
member
My daughter, Juliet Anne, arrived on Friday, April 11 at 1:46 PM, 4 days past my due date, on her great-grandmother's birthday. I had my second med free hospital birth with a midwife. I felt much less prepared than the first time, but I made it and am so grateful and absolutely swelled by love for my little girl.
Birth story:
I was starting to go nuts that she hadn't come yet because DS was 3 days early and I was expecting her to be at least that early (sure of my dates with both). She was born on 40+4. I'd started on a walking and exercise ball bouncing routine to try to get her to come a few days before my due date and also had my membranes swept at 40+2. I'm not sure if any of those worked, but at 4:30 PM on 40+3, I started having some bloody show. Contractions started about 10 min apart around 9 PM. They continued though the night and got to about 5 min apart and 30 seconds long by 3 AM, but still light enough that I could continue laying down through them, though sleep was pretty impossible the entire night. I called my parents to come watch DS around 4 AM and when I got up and started milling around things got a lot more painful. I called my midwife practice around 5:15 AM and she said to come to the hospital since it was possible things could pick up quickly since it was my 2nd kid.
Arrived at the hospital around 6 AM and was only at 2 cm, which was a huge bummer, esp because I was so tired from being up all night. The pain was pretty strong, but I could still walk through them, though not talk. We walked around the hospital grounds for an hour then I tried to nap a bit and was 4 cm when checked around 9 AM so I was admitted. At this point, I started vomiting with literally every contraction - generally just a little water since that's about all I had wanted since labor started. They started a hep lock and I got antibiotics for GBS. Lots blurs together, but I labored in the hallways, on the ball in the room, and leaning over the side of the bed, but was still 4 cm but a "different 4 cm" and went to 5 cm as I had a contraction being checked by my midwife. She told me my cervix had changed so I would probably start progressing with about every contraction and esp if my water broke, but that by policy she couldn't rupture it for me until after my 2nd round of antibiotics.
Since I was starting to make more progress, I got in the jacuzzi tub, which helped a lot, and let me get some rest. Contractions were crazy intense and I found it helpful to stare in someone's eyes during them - either my midwife or DH. I had to get out for monitoring (doppler indicated some potentially concerning heart rates and wanted to be sure DD was OK) which was really hard, and the only position that I found at all tolerable was squatting down beside the bed with my head resting on the side and rocking side to side (with my handy throw-up bucket sitting on the bed in front of me) with one of the nurses holding the monitor on my stomach. Then back in the tub, started the second round of antibiotics about 30 min early through my heplock (thank goodness) and I started to get a little pushy. I got out and was checked and was at like 8 so my midwife broke my water which caused an intense contraction, and made me go to 9 cm. My midwife was able to apply a bit of pressure to my cervix and my body started to push a little and I was complete. I had really wanted to push squatting this time (inspired largely by the cover picture of Childbirth without Fear) but I was so desperate to get the baby out at this point, that I went right for hands and knees like I did with DS because I knew it would open my pelvis the most and be very effective for me. After pushing for about 5 min, DD was born. My mom got some good pictures of her coming out and it's pretty wild because I was looking down between my legs as she wriggled out so I have the pictures from one angle and my memory from another.
Juliet Anne was born at 1:46 PM on April 11 weighting 8 lbs, 6 oz (about 1 lb heavier than DS) and 21 in long. She came out with one hand at her face and I had 1 minor perineal tear ("skid mark") that I got a couple stitches for as a precaution. Overall, from first contraction to birth was around 16 hrs, much shorter than DS, which was 36 hrs. The contractions were much more like strong period cramps this time whereas with DS they felt like really bad food poisoning cramps in my rectum. I did feel a lot less prepared and more scared going in this time, I think because our Bradley classes that we did before DS weren't as fresh and I was frightened of the pain having experienced the really bad butt contractions with DS. I am so thankful to have another pretty wonderful, empowering birth and equally thankful that this is our last baby and I don't have to do it any more 
I was concerned about whether I would be able to love another child like I do DS, but as other parents always told me, it just works. I feel like my heart swells for DD to fill the entire room and am just filled with joy and amazement with another baby in the house.
I was concerned about whether I would be able to love another child like I do DS, but as other parents always told me, it just works. I feel like my heart swells for DD to fill the entire room and am just filled with joy and amazement with another baby in the house.
DS, May 2011
DD, April 2014
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Re: Juliet Anne's arrival (pdilly2b) - med free hospital with midwife
DS, May 2011