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Birth Stories
Share your Birth Center Stories
I just toured a freestanding birth center last night and really liked it. I'd love to hear some stories about your experiences delivering at a birth center.
Thanks!
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Re: Share your Birth Center Stories
I just delivered my second son at a free-standing birth center in Colorado this fall. Not the typical delivery for them, but they handled it like rockstars (https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/8512305.aspx).
The Big Sky Country Welcomes Us Home!
Monday the 11th, his due date, I started to losemy MP around lunch time. By dinner time, I had lost more. After coming homefrom book club, I started to have bloody show. Got a little excited but after 2weeks of timable BH, I thought it was just another tease. Went to bed around 11and woke up about 1:30 with 8 min. ctx. Same old, same old. I couldn?t go backto sleep so I got up at 2:15 and started writing the last of my thank younotes. I hopped online and started chatting with our doula, Heather, on gmail.Told her what was happening and she told me to go to bed. I did around 3. At 4,the ctx moved from 8 minutes to 5 minutes and were much more intense. Startedhurting in my back too. I kept getting up to go to the bathroom since I feltlike I had to go so badly.
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At 6:30am, we called Heather to let her know we thought thiswas real. There was no reason for her to come at that point so we agreed tocall the BC at 8 and page the on-call MW to give her a heads up. I labored inbed on my side in between feeling the need to sit on the toilet. Jeremy made mebreakfast but I couldn?t sit down to eat it. So, I ate while on the toilet. Itwas the only comfortable seat. Heather kept calling to check in but we told herthere was no need to come just yet.
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DH was a rock-star coach. He was right there with me andoffered water every 3 ctx. He got out the child birth class book and read aboutdifferent labor positions helping different feelings and had me moving aroundto try them. I wasn?t sure I could walk but he was right there to encourage meand help me. Walking circles in the living room and using him to lean on andhang off turned out to be great.
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At 11:30, we called Heather to ask about the tub at home orother positions and to see if she would start making her way here. I told herthe pain left my back but was super intense in my butt. She said she was justchatting about us with the MW and that why don?t we call her and meet them atthe BC. WHAT?????? I didn?t think I was that far along. So, we called the MWand told her. She listened to a couple ctx and had us come in. We scrambled topack the cooler and load the car. Its hard to do 2-3 minutes at a time. We madethe first round of calls to family too.
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I rode in the car kneeling in the back seat hugging thefront passenger seat. We got to the BC around 12:30. I was checked and was 8-9with a bulging bag. SO glad to hear that. I was afraid she was going to say 4or something. I don?t even remember stripping my clothes and getting into thetub. It felt amazing. They poured water over my belly the whole time and ithelped relax me so much. Around 1:30, MW checked me again and she felt like Iwas fully dilated. She broke my water and discovered I had a small lip left.After another little while, I could not get comfortable. That is a relativeterm in labor but I was flinging myself about in the tub just to try some otherposition. It was like I lost my mind or something. (the next day, my head hurt.Apparently I smacked it on the wall during a flinging fit)? They had me get out of the tub and siton the toilet backwards hugging a couple pillows. Felt good. I had them squeezemy hips and that was wonderful. DH and Heather actually had to team up b/c Iwanted so much pressure.?? Iended up starting to push on the toilet. After a few minutes, Heather askedwhat I was feeling and I told her it was burning (ring of fire in hind sightfor me). She told the MW and into the bed I went. I was hoping for a waterbirth but I was not pushing well in the tub when we tried before.
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I pushed for 48 minutes. I know I kept asking how muchlonger she thought it would be. I was so afraid it would be a couple hours.Pushing is hard work. DH was right there in the bed with me and encouraging mewith every push. There was no counting and I was able to hold my own legs. Idon?t think I would have liked someone else to be pushing my legs back. At thevery end, I actually didn?t even hold them but used DH as leverage on one sideand gripped the bed with the other. His head took a while to come out. Then MWhad a hard time with his shoulders and thought they might be stuck. She had mepush w/o ctx and that sucked. It was so hard to do. I remember asking her tojust pull him out and DH said that is pretty much what it looked like she wasdoing. She ended up being able to get him out and I pulled him to my belly.There was a ridiculous gush of water with him. Soaked the bed. And when I saysoaked, I mean soaked. I had so much water weight, it wasn?t even funny.
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He was 8 pounds, 8 oz; 22 ?? long; 13 ?? head and 14 ??chest. I needed no stitches although I did tear in a couple places. I thoughtmy urethra would be split in two, I will be honest.
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Delivering the placenta was not so fun. I wasn?t feeling theheavy ctx anymore and all I wanted to do was look at my baby. Got it out thoughand then started bleeding. They had to give a shot of pitocin and ?massage? myuterus. Um, that sucks. I was crying. It was worse than labor and pushing. Iwas screaming. I care not to think about it.? Once I got up to shower and go to the bathroom, I ended uptrying to pass out a couple times from the blood loss so I had to chug Gatoradeas to avoid a transfer for an IV.
We left at 10pm, 6 hours after he was born. It was a truly amazing experienceand Im glad I got the birth I planned for. I do remember thinking though thatnow I get the appeal of epidurals. I have never judged someone that chooses onebut have not really understood it either. Now I get it. Having the majority ofthe pain taken away and being able to hold a conversation during labor couldcertainly have its high points. As would sleeping! But, I never once thought Icant do this or I want the drugs. I am proud of myself but more for being amother than how it happened. It was a personal choice and not a cause for medalas some would claim.
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Funny stuff:? DHsays labor noises from me sounded like I was talking to the whales in Nemo. Itwas so primal. I wasn?t even thinking. It just felt right. During pushing, Iwent high and once told to keep it low, I did and it made a difference.?