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December 2016 Moms
mysteryship
member
Mysteryship & August's birth story
mysteryship
member
Better write this up or it'll never get done...
This past Monday (12/19), I was 11 days overdue and went to the midwife for my third NST. I'd passed a small amount of mucus but no bloody show, and I was having periods of crampiness but nothing intense enough to consider a contraction. They were seeing contractions on the monitor though, and it turned out I was already dilated past 3cm. She suggested stripping my membranes and I agreed, then we headed home.
By the time we got home (only 1/2 hour away) I was definitely in labor, contractions were regular and strong. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible but I was also worried about making it to the hospital in time. We went back in after being home for an hour.
Checking in at the hospital was one of the hardest parts of labor for me. I was surprised at how quickly things had intensified and I felt like I didn't get any time to adjust to them or try out coping strategies. They had me hooked up to the monitor and had to ask a ton of questions, and I was having to stop and moan through contractions every 3 minutes.
Finally got to our room and I was still struggling to cope. I felt like everything I'd prepared went out the window, because nothing was making the pain any easier. The tub helped a bit, but I got overheated and started throwing up so I got out. Nothing else I tried did much, and I ended up on a mattress on the floor for a while.
I started asking for an epidural around 6 cm, even though I had wanted to go med-free. I just felt like I couldn't handle the pain and I didn't know how much longer it was going to go on. Poor DH, he knew I didn't really want interventions but there I was on the floor begging for one. The nurse (who was awesome), basically handled it by agreeing to get me one, and starting a fluid IV to prepare, but delaying a bit so that by the time she said it was time to get the anesthesiologist in, I was at a 9 and decided I could just keep going.
DH and the nurses were awesome - I was so hard to help because I had no idea what I needed, but DH just kept reassuring me and massaging me through contractions and the nurses really made me feel like I could do it. I was apparently very bossy and told DH to "stop saying that" when he tried to joke around. I remember feeling jealous that I couldn't enjoy the joke.
I started feeling the urge to push but still had a lip of cervix so they made me hold off, which was so hard. Then it was time to push, which took me a while to figure out how to do. My midwife was a great coach, I was having trouble getting him under the pelvic bone and she directed me exactly where to focus my energy when pushing. I pushed for an hour and a half, and found out later that they were on the verge of calling the OB to bring the vacuum, but finally he was out. He weighed 9 lbs 9 oz and had his hand by his face, so it made sense that it took so long to push him out.
They put him on my chest, DH cut the cord, and everyone marveled at his size and his chubby cheeks. It was 6 hours since we'd arrived at the hospital and 8 hours since I started feeling contractions.
I felt a sense of loss around not being able to do anything to cope with labor - I really went through the whole thing resisting each contraction and saying "I can't do this". But I also felt this immense respect for my body that it did what needed to be done even though my brain wasn't helping. I'm incredibly grateful that there were no complications, and even more in awe of the mamas who had longer labors and more trauma. It's hard enough when it's straightforward and quick.
I just realized I have no photos of myself with August yet, but he's cuter than me anyway.
This past Monday (12/19), I was 11 days overdue and went to the midwife for my third NST. I'd passed a small amount of mucus but no bloody show, and I was having periods of crampiness but nothing intense enough to consider a contraction. They were seeing contractions on the monitor though, and it turned out I was already dilated past 3cm. She suggested stripping my membranes and I agreed, then we headed home.
By the time we got home (only 1/2 hour away) I was definitely in labor, contractions were regular and strong. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible but I was also worried about making it to the hospital in time. We went back in after being home for an hour.
Checking in at the hospital was one of the hardest parts of labor for me. I was surprised at how quickly things had intensified and I felt like I didn't get any time to adjust to them or try out coping strategies. They had me hooked up to the monitor and had to ask a ton of questions, and I was having to stop and moan through contractions every 3 minutes.
Finally got to our room and I was still struggling to cope. I felt like everything I'd prepared went out the window, because nothing was making the pain any easier. The tub helped a bit, but I got overheated and started throwing up so I got out. Nothing else I tried did much, and I ended up on a mattress on the floor for a while.
I started asking for an epidural around 6 cm, even though I had wanted to go med-free. I just felt like I couldn't handle the pain and I didn't know how much longer it was going to go on. Poor DH, he knew I didn't really want interventions but there I was on the floor begging for one. The nurse (who was awesome), basically handled it by agreeing to get me one, and starting a fluid IV to prepare, but delaying a bit so that by the time she said it was time to get the anesthesiologist in, I was at a 9 and decided I could just keep going.
DH and the nurses were awesome - I was so hard to help because I had no idea what I needed, but DH just kept reassuring me and massaging me through contractions and the nurses really made me feel like I could do it. I was apparently very bossy and told DH to "stop saying that" when he tried to joke around. I remember feeling jealous that I couldn't enjoy the joke.
I started feeling the urge to push but still had a lip of cervix so they made me hold off, which was so hard. Then it was time to push, which took me a while to figure out how to do. My midwife was a great coach, I was having trouble getting him under the pelvic bone and she directed me exactly where to focus my energy when pushing. I pushed for an hour and a half, and found out later that they were on the verge of calling the OB to bring the vacuum, but finally he was out. He weighed 9 lbs 9 oz and had his hand by his face, so it made sense that it took so long to push him out.
They put him on my chest, DH cut the cord, and everyone marveled at his size and his chubby cheeks. It was 6 hours since we'd arrived at the hospital and 8 hours since I started feeling contractions.
I felt a sense of loss around not being able to do anything to cope with labor - I really went through the whole thing resisting each contraction and saying "I can't do this". But I also felt this immense respect for my body that it did what needed to be done even though my brain wasn't helping. I'm incredibly grateful that there were no complications, and even more in awe of the mamas who had longer labors and more trauma. It's hard enough when it's straightforward and quick.
I just realized I have no photos of myself with August yet, but he's cuter than me anyway.
Re: Mysteryship & August's birth story
Due December 27th with baby #7
By the way, it's time to start taking some pictures of you and August, even selfies. I have very few pictures with my babies when they were newborn because I didn't like the way that I looked/felt. But the few that I do have, I cherish so much, and wish that I had taken more together.