The Birth of our First Child

On Tuesday, November 18^th at 2 am I lost my mucus plug all in one piece. I woke my husband up and anticipated labor to begin in a few days, as I was already past my due date of November 16^th (changed to 15^th after birth). I went for a routine ultrasound to check on the baby that morning, which they found the amniotic fluid levels to be a tiny bit low, but nothing significant. Just in case, I went to labor and delivery for a non stress test. I had this done in the room I wished to labor in when the time came. The test came back fine and I only had one contraction during the test. Later that afternoon, I felt cramps come and go, but did not get excited in case it was not labor contractions. The dog and I went for a walk and then I went to the chiropractor to have him try to jumpstart labor. When I got home that evening, contractions started anywhere from 7- 10 minutes apart and were slightly uncomfortable. I told my husband to get his report cards done (he is a teacher), in case this was it! I took a nap on the couch and of course, woke up with no more contractions! That evening, after about three contractions in my sleep, at 1:45 am, I went to the bathroom and my water broke as I pulled up my pants. I had about 5 small gushes of light pink watery fluid that filled a panty liner each time. I woke my husband up and said ?We are having a baby today!? I called our midwife on call and she said to call her when contractions started being 5 minutes apart. Almost right after I hung up, they were 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. So, after showering and packing last minute items in our hospital bag, I called her and she told me to come in to the hospital. After I hung up, my husband reminded me that I had wanted to wait until contractions were very intense before going in to the hospital and not to let my excitement get in the way of my decisions. So, I called the mw back and told her my thoughts. She told me to stay home until I was ready to go in. I labored at home walking, eating and trying to rest until my mw called me at 10:00 am to go in and get checked since it had been a while since my water broke. So, off we went! My contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart and manageable. My doctor was waiting for me at the hospital. After checking me and only being 1 cm dilated, but completely effaced, she allowed me to go home and try natural methods of bringing on stronger contractions. She also told me to eat because I will need the energy, as it will be a long night! The wonderful labor nurses knew I wanted the larger room for natural birthing methods with the tub, so they promised to clean it and have it waiting for me when I came back at 4:00pm. While at home, my contractions went back to 5 minutes apart and were much stronger. I used my Rainbow Relaxation and Birth Affirmations (for hypnobirthing) on my I Pod as I knelt on the floor draped over my birth ball. This was comfortable for me, as I was having back labor with each contraction. At 4:00 pm we headed back to the hospital with contractions much stronger, and not able to talk or walk through them. I remember telling my husband that after we registered at the hospital, we were going up to have our baby! The next time I would go outside, we would have our daughter! Once upstairs to the birth center, we got set up in our room. My doctor came in to check me....still only 1-2 cm!  So, I agreed to get an IV and start Pitocin. Of course, after trying 4 times with two different nurses, they finally got the IV in and we were on our way to having our daughter! Our labor nurse recommended that I sit on the birth ball and drape over the bed with pillows while I listen to my I Pod of hypno-birthing music since that is what helped at home. She also taught my husband where to press on my back to help my back labor. About an hour later, the nurses changed shifts and we got Jen, who little did we know would act similarly to a doula throughout our birth experience.  Jen brought up the idea of using a heating pad on my back as well, which was helpful. Throughout the next 6 hours, Jen gave us alternate methods of coping with labor pain such as walking the halls, sitting on the birth ball and rocking my hips, straddling the toilet and straddling the shower seat with the hot water on my back. Throughout all of this, my husband was an amazing birth coach. For 6 hours he pressed on my back as hard as he could every 2-3 minutes during contractions that were very long and intense due to the Pitocin. He also reminded me to keep my shoulders down and relaxed, to breathe and would count down how many seconds were left for each contraction. It was helpful when he told me that I could do anything for 60 seconds. He was right, I could and I would. Those 6 hours were the hardest and most painful hours of my life, yet I enjoyed every minute of them. I knew in a few more hours I would meet our daughter. I knew she was trying to make her way into the world to meet us. However, she had a different plan that I did! Although I wanted a natural water birth, when Jen checked me at midnight (she thought I would be ready for the tub and 6 centimeters) I was only 3 centimeters! At this point my water had been broken for 22 hours, and the risk for infection was getting higher. She recommended Stadol to help me rest a bit in between contractions, to help me relax and dilate. I did not like the idea of feeling drowsy during the birth, and preferred the epidural. She assured me that this far along, an epidural would not slow labor, but would let my body relax and dilate. So, while waiting for the anesthesiologist to come, I labored in the tub. I was very uncomfortable; I had tremendous pain in my hips from her being so low. At 12:30, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural. Although I did not want one originally, for ending up with one, I have to say it was done very well. I was able to feel my water breaking on my legs and could still move my legs. My husband and I slept/rested for an hour and at 1:30 they gave me a bit of oxygen, as our daughter?s heart rate was dropping and they believed she was lying on the umbilical cord.  At 2:00 my doctor came in and checked me again?I was almost 10 centimeters! She ruptured the last bit of my sac and quickly I went to 10. She very quietly asked me to just try and push a little. She told me I was a good pusher and put on her coat to deliver our baby! I woke my husband up and we pushed through 4 contractions in no more than twenty minutes. I could feel pressure, her head crowning and her shoulders coming out! It was amazing. My husband could see her little head full of hair right before she crowned. (I had him take a picture so I could see it after!) My doctor kept telling me I was a great pusher and making huge progress to meeting my baby. This was very encouraging and motivating. On the second to last push, I was able to sit up, lean over and see her head! My husband said her face came out with her eyes looking all around. She did not cry right away, instead she made little grunting noises. They reassured us that this was okay and her tests were all normal. We named our daughter Reese. She looked just like my husband! Reese was put right on my chest for skin to skin contact, as her temperature was a bit low. Holding her so close was the best feeling that no one can understand unless they are a mother. Looking at her with my husband was truly amazing. We created her. Down to every last eyelash and wrinkle in her skin. Our daughter was finally here after months of anticipation, and she was just perfect! Although our birth experience did not go as planned, I would not change a thing. The lights were low and the atmosphere was calm and intimate. There were more interventions than we would have liked, but our baby was healthy and happy, as were we.  That was the most important thing. This is the birth story of how our perfect daughter Reese entered the world.