Starting at 37 or 38 weeks and
at the advice of our health care providers, I had started
doing various natural methods to prepare my body for labor.
I drank 4 cups Red Raspberry Leaf tea every day, walked, had
sex, and took borage oil (a stronger version of Evening Primrose
Oil). My chiropractor did some adjustments on 1/26 that he
said might help me go into labor. I don’t know if any
of this stuff actually helped but it certainly helped our
peace of mind to know we were doing what we could. At both
my last two appointments I was 1 cm and the baby had moved
from 0 station up to -2 station. I was so bummed and thought
I would end up being induced since I personally did not feel
comfortable going into the 43rd week and waiting it out. On
Saturday, we walked a lot - hours and miles. On Sunday, we
did our normal routine of church and grocery store, and made
sure to get more walking in.
At 1:30am on January 31st I woke up feeling
funny and thought I had to go to the bathroom. I went into
the bathroom and my water broke all over the bathroom floor
as soon as I got in there. I immediately called out Rob’s
name and he bounded out of bed. There was no denying that
it was my water. We discussed heading to the hospital but
I wanted to wait a little longer until contractions came and
became stronger. I had a huge rush of adrenaline and took
a shower, cleaned, drank some red raspberry leaf tea, and
ate leftovers. At 2:30am, I decided I should lie down and
try to sleep since I might not be getting any for a while.
Rob was too excited to lie down and stayed up in the living
room. Sleeping didn't work; contractions began coming about
6 minutes apart and I had to get up to use the toilet after
each one. That was also how it was with for false labor for
me so I was nervous I wasn't having effective contractions.
Around 3:30am, I decided we should go to Wal-Mart to get some
pads and also get some walking in to get contractions going.
It worked and contractions began to be about 2-4 minutes apart.
Around 4:30am, I wanted to go to a diner by us because I knew
I wouldn't be able to eat much in the hospital. Finally at
5:30am as we finished our meal I decided we could go to the
hospital. I was definitely having regular, strong contractions
and being a first time mom I didn't realize how much worse
they would get!
We got to the hospital at 6am. I could not
have had a better experience. The triage nurse was so encouraging
and said she was so proud of how I was taking the contractions
and that I would put her other triage patient to shame (who
ended up not even being in labor). She said some women come
in 5-6 times just hoping that the nurses/doctors/midwives
will finally agree to just get the baby out by any means possible
because they are so miserable being pregnant! I also had an
internal exam at this point but was still only 1cm but 100%
effaced/0 station.
At 8am we were moved into our birthing suite.
The nurse, Kelly, was fantastic! She put a saline lock in
my forearm and monitored me for 30 minutes at 9am. I could
move around as I wished while being monitored. The midwife,
Simone, decided to only monitor every 2 hours against hospital
policy of every hour and said I should move and do whatever
I wanted. The contractions started getting really tough! I
thought for sure I would be done with labor soon. I did not
realize how truly bad the pain would get! Later one of the
other midwives told me that having your water break at 1cm
sets you up for a more painful labor and mine was definitely
intense. Rob and I tried different techniques during this
time like the shower, Jacuzzi, etc., and I was still appreciating
his words of encouragement. At 11am, Simone checked again
and I was only 3cm. I was so bummed as contractions were intense.
She asked to strip my membranes and I consented. Before she
left, Rob asked her: "So should we just call you when
she feels the urge to push?" Simone responded: "Well,
that will be a long while yet". Funnily enough, that
is exactly what we did end up doing!
I didn't know how to cope after the exam. Finally,
I realized that sitting on the toilet and getting up into
a half squat and swaying during the peak of contractions allowed
me to breathe through them instead of writhing in agony on
the bed. I could NOT be on the bed at this point. I also asked
Rob to leave me alone in the bathroom because even his encouraging
eyes made me tensed and self conscious. Sometime around 11:30am
Kelly brought the external monitor into the bathroom to hook
it up there. There was no way I could be hooked up anywhere
else and I had already refused her request to come back into
the room so she could monitor! Since I kept sitting and standing
up, she ended up standing with her hand to my belly for I'm
not sure how long monitoring the baby’s heart rate.
She encouraged me through a few contractions while she was
there too. After monitoring, she left.
Sometime later I began to feel the urge to push
or bear down. I didn't tell anyone this even though I was
doing some little pushes. I asked Rob to come into the bathroom
to do counter pressure to deal with my back labor during contractions.
In my opinion, my back labor was no worse than the regular
contractions before back labor came on. They were both equally
intense, just different pains – but that might be because
my water broke so early. And I actually liked that the counter
pressure from Rob provided some relief, whereas there was
no relief on my abdomen! I guess around 1:30pm Rob figured
out I was bearing down or maybe I told him and Kelly came
in to check on me. He told her I was feeling the urge to push
and she went to talk to Simone. I figure that I must have
been in transition at this point. I could not breathe through
contractions and began acting a little crazy, Kelly tried
to get me on all fours to help get the baby to turn from posterior
but I ended up running back to the bathroom in the middle
of a contraction to do my toilet sitting/squatting and swaying
routine. When I did this the second time (I really wanted
to give turning the baby a try and I had no idea how long
I'd be in labor if he was in a malposition), Simone and another
nurse had come in. Simone began to coach my breathing and
the other nurse was a huge cheerleader that I was doing this
all natural.
Simone checked me and said I was 8 cm and she
thought the baby was turning. I was so pumped and I think
both Rob and I felt renewed energy! She still advised me to
breathe through contractions and not push. I got back on the
toilet while the other nurse held a monitor to my belly and
Rob applied counter pressure while I attempted to breathe
through contractions. I could not do it! I knew before every
contraction I would push some at the peak because it provided
a huge relief to me.
At exactly 2:30pm, Simone asked to check me
again - I think because I was pushing so much in contractions
and kept saying "I can't help it, I have to push!”
I was 10cms and the baby was at +1. I knew that I could gather
my strength and make it. I lied down on my left side and began
to push with each contraction while Simone and various nurses
set up the rest of the area. Rob continued to apply counter
pressure. When Simone asked me to turn on my back, I asked
to recline the bed at more of a downward angle which they
did. I then pushed through three contractions, a total of
5 pushes is what Simone told me. I held my own legs up, and
curled into a C and pushed with all my might! Simone helped
me to focus on pushing effectively.
Carsten was born at 2:51pm, 8lbs1oz and 21in,
after a completely natural, unmedicated labor and he was sunny
side up! Posterior does not mean you will be pushing forever
and I can't imagine if they had tried to manually turn him!
The cord was lying draped across his neck and I wonder if
it would have wrapped around it if he had turned. I suffered
two very minor one-stitch tears. I felt so great after having
him and I am so proud of myself because it really was for
me the hardest thing I've ever done. No one once mentioned
medication for pain relief to me though. I credit my nurses,
midwife, and Rob with helping me make it through 100% natural!
back
to Birth Stories main page
Home
• About Us • FAQ
• Schedule • Contact
Testimonials • Birth
Stories • Breastfeeding
• Pregnancy Tips •
Resources
|
