My natural Birth story! FTM

luvU2theMoon · May 2014

Hi ladies i have been more of a lurker on this page but have really found a lot of help from everyone here. I had a baby girl on April 30th (6 days late) and i had a perfect natural birth. I wanted to share my story with everyone and hope some of you other soon to be mom's can find some good vibes and motivation from my story as i had from other natural birth stories.

Amisa (Ah-Me-Sa) was Born April 30th 2014 at 3:40 pm 8 lbs 15 oz 21 inches long

I was Due April 24th but as a FTM knew it was very unlikely that she would come on time. However after learning i would possibly need to be induced if i didn't pass a NST and ultrasound for fluid check at 41 weeks i felt very defeated and felt like i would not be able to accomplish my birth plan if i was induced. I had tried every natural method possible but felt really good and didn't have any feelings of baby coming any time soon. on monday the 28th i woke up and went and got a prenatal massage to help relax myself since i felt so tense thinking of possibly being induced. Later in the evening i went to the gym and walked for 2 hours while my boyfriend played basketball. I woke up tuesday feeling even more defeated, i felt nothing from the massage and walk. i got up and got in the shower and as i was showering i felt a liquid come out, it was very minimal but i could see it coming down in the shower. i thought it was just discharge as i had a lot that in the weeks prior. I paid little attention to it and finished my shower. After i got out i got ready to go to the store to get some breakfast food. I went to the bathroom before i left and i had more fluid and blood come out. it didn't keep coming so i thought it was just more of my Mucus plug which i had lost the friday before. I wanted to believe it was my water breaking but because it was only a little bit and didnt keep leaking i didnt want to get my hopes up. I went to the store and as i was there i started to feel contractions. I then realized it was probably the real deal. I got home and went to the bathroom again and same thing happened. I called my Midwife since i was strep B positive, she told me to come in so they could check to see if it was my water breaking. We ate breakfast and packed up our things and got to the hospital around noon.

My Midwife came in a checked me and sure enough it was my water! However i was only 1.5 cm dialated. i really wanted to labor at home but since i was Strep B positive i was stuck in the hospital. from 11:00am to 6pm i had contractions 4-8 minutes apart lasting about 60 seconds.they were pretty strong but i was able to eat and talk through them. I walked the halls and got in the bath for a while. Around 6 they started to get harder and were coming alot closer together. it was hard to get through my dinner. by midnight i was so tired since i did not sleep well the night before and they were feeling very close together and were very heavy. I got checked again and was only at a 2. i tried to not feel disappointed but it was hard going through the whole day and barely progressing. my midwife wanted to give me some morphine to help me relax and sleep to help my body progress more. I was hesitant to take anything but i was so tired and getting tense i wanted to get some rest to help move things along. unfortunately it did not help me sleep too much as i still felt some contractions and it made me very nauseous. at 4am i was at a 4. i was glad it did help me dilate more but unfortunately my contractions stopped from the morphine. I was tired and sick and everything stalled. at about 9am, 24 hours after my water broke my midwife suggested doing pitocin. I was so against it and was already mad at myself for taking the morphine. I declined and started walking again and doing other things to try and get the contractions started again. at 11am i was checked and i was still at a 4. i finally agreed to the smallest dose of pitocin. it started to kick in about 20 minutes later. Walking was getting rough and i spent a lot of time moving positions as things were getting really uncomfortable. by 1pm i was unable to really talk through the contractions and the waves were very intense. i got in the tub hoping it would help the pain but at that point things were so intense nothing felt good. i went from the tub to the toilet to kneeling on the bed and back in the tub. i lost track of time and it felt like time was not moving but in reality it was only an hour. I felt like i was at the end and i was almost positive i was transitioning so my midwife checked me. I was only a 6!! that was the first time i was ready to give up, i cried so hard and kept telling my boyfriend i was not strong enough and i couldnt do it anymore. he was so encouraging and really helped me see i was already doing it and i was already being strong enough to get through. My midwife then wanted to try one more thing to help me progress. she warned me that it would be extremely intense but it would open me up more to help baby move down. I agreed as i was ready to do anything to move things along. she had me lay on my side and put my lower leg straight with my top leg hanging over the bed. she pushed down on my hips through three contractions and then flipped me and did the other side. That was the worst most intense feeling i have ever felt in my life. I cried so hard and hung on to my boyfriend so hard. It was more intense then actually pushing her out. after she did that to me i got in the bath again and i felt the urge to start pushing. she was not too concerned as she said it could take hours to push. i really felt like it was time to push and i had to get out. i stood at the bed and i felt like pushing again, and all the sudden a gush of fluid came out. it had meconium in it which concerned the midwife because it more than likely baby had swallowed some. i got on the bed and was kneeling. she checked me and i was at a 10 and gave me the ok the just listen to my body. i pushed through contractions for about 3 minutes then she had me turn over. she had a stand on the bed and i pulled on a towel to help push through contractions. It was so tiring but i prepared my self to do it for a long time. i rested and breathed at every break. i did that for maybe 10 minutes then felt that serious burn. i was so surprised it was so quick that i was crowning, it burned so much and i was loosing oxygen so they put a mask on me and i felt like i couldnt do it anymore. i just wanted a break but my body kept going. my midwife told me to feel baby's head and as soon as i felt her head coming out i got the most insane strength. i used everything i had and pushed her out in three more pushes! I felt like super woman! it was the best feeling to feel her body come out, i felt instant relief.

After she came out the midwife put her on my chest while they tried to suction the meconium out of her, she did cry so they were not too concerned but she sounded raspy. after a few minutes they had to take her off of me and the special care nurse continued to suction her out better and check her lungs. During this time i was just in utter shock. i was shocked i just did that, i was shocked at how amazing i felt, and shocked that my baby was having to get checked for swallowing meconium. i had a very small inside tear but my midwife said the primrose oil probably helped a lot because normally when baby comes out so quickly its easier to tear more. she stitched me up and i delivered the placenta. they finally brought her back over and put her on my chest and she latched on right away. we layed together for a while as i just looked at her amazed that i just accomplished that.

I am so proud of myself for getting through that! it was so intense and in the moment i thought i was not able to get through that but i would do it again in a heartbeat! it was the most intense feelings i have ever felt in my life but its so doable for anyone! it was so exciting and so rewarding and i am so glad i accomplished that. My baby girl is perfect and i was up and moving around right after. she was not a small baby either so know size does not matter! you can do it! sorry this was so long hopefully you made it all the way through.

FrodaBaggins · May 2014

Congrats! Thanks for telling your story!

hdchafin · May 2014

Thanks for sharing your story! And congrats!

LovetoLive614 · May 2014

Awesome story! I love hearing positive, natural birth stories especially from first time moms! I am very impressed with your story - dealing with the sickness from morphine, pitocin and slow progression must have been so tough! You should feel so proud! Congrats!

aylafsu88 · May 2014

Congrats! You did an amazing job!

lavendergiraffes · May 2014

Thank you for sharing your story!! It gives me hope as I'm sitting here waiting for something to happen! :-) What a great support you have in your bf!!

JennaRaek · May 2014

Great job! I agree, touching my son's head was a turning point for me as well. What an awesome experience!

rooftop · May 2014

congrats! very awesome story

fmb2011 · May 2014

Congrats!! Thanks for sharing!

GH0714 · May 2014

Thanks for sharing

HannahsHope · May 2014

Thanks for the share. Glad you found peace in your birth and can inspire other women to achieve a natural birth as well.

Junebaby614 · June 2014

Thank you for sharing! I am a first timer due next week and hoping to have a natural birth. Your story brought tears to my eyes and made me even more confident in my decision. Congrats!

H&H2014 · June 2014

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your story. I was due last Friday and am dreading induction. I had the membrane swept today and hoping that jump starts things for delivery by the weekend. Thanks for giving me inspiration that WE can do this!