I'm 
so excuse any typos...
Sorry this has taken so long... it's been a little bit of an epic adventure the last six days to put it mildly
I had my home visit with my midwife on January 12th, just shy of 36 weeks. The next night I started having prodromal, early labour contractions every night when I would go to bed. It was like my body was in toddler mode all day and as soon as he went to sleep it would go into labour prep mode. The next weekend I started losing my mucous plug and had some bleeding (early labour/mucous plug bleeding, nothing scary). I checked myself and was a couple of centimeters dilated at the external os and very soft/stretchy but I could reach all the way to the internal os because my cervix hadn't shortened enough.
I went to my 37 week appointment and told my midwife what was happening. I booked a 38 and 39 week appointment but she said she didn't think I'd make it to the 38 week one. I told her I was sure I would and that probably I'd be booking 40 and 41 week ones soon enough My first was born at 43 weeks so I was not expecting this one early at all.
I hit my breaking point shortly after that and just wanted the baby out. I wasn't done being pregnant, not all that uncomfortable or large but I just couldn't handle no sleep. Partner gone 13+ travel time hour days with me alone with toddler and then contractions all night. So I told body/baby that either baby came out or this had to stop. Then suddenly woke up on Friday the 23rd at peace. Totally at peace and not antsy at all. Spent the weekend relaxing and just content baby would come when baby would come.
Monday morning I woke up with a full list of things to get done... just ready to walk out the door and went to the washroom one last time before leaving and my water broke
Got cleaned up, told DP to go on without me and take toddler boy. I spent the day alternating resting with trying to get labour to start. In the evening I went and facillitated our local babywearing meeting (yep, with ruptured membranes, they laughed at me )
The next morning I went to my 38 week appointment. I told my midwife my water had broken and she swabbed to be sure (it had!) We decided I'd go home and rest some more, try some homeopathics and then decide what to do from there. I did, and nothing started. By the afternoon baby's movement was down some and I had let enough negative voices get into my head that I was really feeling like I should transport. I was really wanting to avoid antibiotics and the hell that they caused with breastfeeding the first time and the OB that was known for being the most easygoing of alternative stuff was on call. So in I went. We consulted and I was checked, they had a hard time reaching my cervix (a problem I had last time too... was told I was totally undilated and effaced after I'd had a stretch and sweep by a different HCP
) but told me that I was only 1cm, 20% effaced. I almost cried at the reversal of progress and the lack of my body doing anything to get labour going. I consented to stay and get induced but was clear I was refusing IV antibiotics. My hope was to get baby out before any infection developed.
I started pitocin at 8:30pm. My body started responding fairly quickly with little contractions that got longer and stronger as they regularily turned it up. I was on the monitor most of the time but was promised I could come off it it more when my contraction pattern was better established and I was moved to my own room.
At 1:00am I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. The OB resident was discouraged which annoyed me but I was over the moon. It took me 24 hours of induction to gain 1 centimeter with Tobias and another almost full day to gain two more (and then I went from 4-10 in an hour
). My midwife and James and I just continued doing what we were doing and then they moved me to my own LDR room. At this point I was at their normal maximum amount for pitocin. The OB gave the OK to turn it up because I was still talking during contractions and laughing between contractions and I wasn't progressing quickly. In hindsight I am very annoyed by this because that is how I coped with my labour, and slow progress at first is apparently just what I do so I question the need to go up as high as they did. Once they went up more I wasn't allowed off the monitor at all except to pee and I was being constantly watched for rupture... good times.
At 8:30 in the morning, 12 hours after starting pitocin I was 4cm dilated. There was some forewaters so the OB broke them to see if baby would move down more. I continued to labour, talking to the baby with every contraction and telling the baby how amazing we were doing, and to keep on going. In between I was still smiling and told the resident at one point when she commented yet again "Why wouldn't I laugh and smile? I'm about to have a BABY
"
I was checked twice more and made no more change. I was getting discouraged by the time it was about 1:00pm because I knew I was on a clock and everything had gone so fast after 4cm last time. I told them at one point the contractions weren't stopping (though I was still talking/communicating with baby through every one) and my nurse started freaking about rupture. I told her it wasn't that kind of pain, but I needed to pee (really I wanted to get away from everybody, I was incredibly overwhelmed).
They took me off the monitor and I went to the bathroom. With noone in their with me I just talked to the baby and took some breaths. I could feel the baby was much lower and I suspected I wasn't the 4cm anymore My nurse opened the door a few minutes later and says "Are you pushing??? " I said "Yes, No, Maybe... Not on purpose!" She hauled me off the toilet and dragged me back to the bed yelling "Don't push Don't push!"
The OB had come back while I was in the washroom to check me (which is why the nurse came to get me) and he checked and said I was only 9cm don't push. I told him that wasn't an option and with my primary midwife right beside me talking me through what I was doing (not that my body needed much help knowing) I birthed my baby into my own hands a few minutes later with everyone else standing there in shock
Noone could believe I had no pain meds with the level of pitocin I was on. Honestly I never felt like I needed them. Communicating with the baby was KEY. Every single contraction was him and I working together, I never felt like it was being done to me, but rather with me and him working together to get him safely into my arms.
I wish I could say the after part went as well. After being exhausted from the ridiculous level of pitocin, my uterus held onto two clots and I hemmoraged badly because it couldn't clamp down for hours after the birth. When they finally passed they were together the size of the baby
: I passed out immediately after that but then felt *so* much better. I was offered a blood transfusion, which I declined because I knew I'd heal better at home and they'd want to keep me longer if I had it. We came home about 24 hours after he was born. Then four days postpartum I caught a gastro bug and had a puking toddler as well has having the puking/diarhea myself.
Still I feel pretty good all things considered. Trying to take it easy and recover. He is here and he is perfect and even though it was far (far far far!) from my perfect birth (I had planned a homebirth) I feel like it taught me lots about myself and I feel empowered to have worked with my baby despite the circumstances and kept in tune with him and then recieved him into my own waiting hands.
Without further ado:
Linus Kenneth Neil
born Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 2:14pm
7lbs 13oz 19.75" long
Mama with her new baby
Daddy with his boys
Our family right after we got home together for the first time
Stack 'em up, Knock 'em out *wink*
Our first wrap job... nursing hands free as well *huge grin*
Didn't expect him to be here for the big game, but since he was... (and then our team won!)
so excuse any typos...Sorry this has taken so long... it's been a little bit of an epic adventure the last six days to put it mildly
I had my home visit with my midwife on January 12th, just shy of 36 weeks. The next night I started having prodromal, early labour contractions every night when I would go to bed. It was like my body was in toddler mode all day and as soon as he went to sleep it would go into labour prep mode. The next weekend I started losing my mucous plug and had some bleeding (early labour/mucous plug bleeding, nothing scary). I checked myself and was a couple of centimeters dilated at the external os and very soft/stretchy but I could reach all the way to the internal os because my cervix hadn't shortened enough.
I went to my 37 week appointment and told my midwife what was happening. I booked a 38 and 39 week appointment but she said she didn't think I'd make it to the 38 week one. I told her I was sure I would and that probably I'd be booking 40 and 41 week ones soon enough
My first was born at 43 weeks so I was not expecting this one early at all.I hit my breaking point shortly after that and just wanted the baby out. I wasn't done being pregnant, not all that uncomfortable or large but I just couldn't handle no sleep. Partner gone 13+ travel time hour days with me alone with toddler and then contractions all night. So I told body/baby that either baby came out or this had to stop. Then suddenly woke up on Friday the 23rd at peace. Totally at peace and not antsy at all. Spent the weekend relaxing and just content baby would come when baby would come.
Monday morning I woke up with a full list of things to get done... just ready to walk out the door and went to the washroom one last time before leaving and my water broke
Got cleaned up, told DP to go on without me and take toddler boy. I spent the day alternating resting with trying to get labour to start. In the evening I went and facillitated our local babywearing meeting (yep, with ruptured membranes, they laughed at me )The next morning I went to my 38 week appointment. I told my midwife my water had broken and she swabbed to be sure (it had!) We decided I'd go home and rest some more, try some homeopathics and then decide what to do from there. I did, and nothing started. By the afternoon baby's movement was down some and I had let enough negative voices get into my head that I was really feeling like I should transport. I was really wanting to avoid antibiotics and the hell that they caused with breastfeeding the first time and the OB that was known for being the most easygoing of alternative stuff was on call. So in I went. We consulted and I was checked, they had a hard time reaching my cervix (a problem I had last time too... was told I was totally undilated and effaced after I'd had a stretch and sweep by a different HCP
) but told me that I was only 1cm, 20% effaced. I almost cried at the reversal of progress and the lack of my body doing anything to get labour going. I consented to stay and get induced but was clear I was refusing IV antibiotics. My hope was to get baby out before any infection developed.I started pitocin at 8:30pm. My body started responding fairly quickly with little contractions that got longer and stronger as they regularily turned it up. I was on the monitor most of the time but was promised I could come off it it more when my contraction pattern was better established and I was moved to my own room.
At 1:00am I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. The OB resident was discouraged which annoyed me but I was over the moon. It took me 24 hours of induction to gain 1 centimeter with Tobias and another almost full day to gain two more (and then I went from 4-10 in an hour
). My midwife and James and I just continued doing what we were doing and then they moved me to my own LDR room. At this point I was at their normal maximum amount for pitocin. The OB gave the OK to turn it up because I was still talking during contractions and laughing between contractions and I wasn't progressing quickly. In hindsight I am very annoyed by this because that is how I coped with my labour, and slow progress at first is apparently just what I do so I question the need to go up as high as they did. Once they went up more I wasn't allowed off the monitor at all except to pee and I was being constantly watched for rupture... good times.At 8:30 in the morning, 12 hours after starting pitocin I was 4cm dilated. There was some forewaters so the OB broke them to see if baby would move down more. I continued to labour, talking to the baby with every contraction and telling the baby how amazing we were doing, and to keep on going. In between I was still smiling and told the resident at one point when she commented yet again "Why wouldn't I laugh and smile? I'm about to have a BABY
"I was checked twice more and made no more change. I was getting discouraged by the time it was about 1:00pm because I knew I was on a clock and everything had gone so fast after 4cm last time. I told them at one point the contractions weren't stopping (though I was still talking/communicating with baby through every one) and my nurse started freaking about rupture. I told her it wasn't that kind of pain, but I needed to pee (really I wanted to get away from everybody, I was incredibly overwhelmed).
They took me off the monitor and I went to the bathroom. With noone in their with me I just talked to the baby and took some breaths. I could feel the baby was much lower and I suspected I wasn't the 4cm anymore
My nurse opened the door a few minutes later and says "Are you pushing??? " I said "Yes, No, Maybe... Not on purpose!" She hauled me off the toilet and dragged me back to the bed yelling "Don't push Don't push!"The OB had come back while I was in the washroom to check me (which is why the nurse came to get me) and he checked and said I was only 9cm don't push. I told him that wasn't an option and with my primary midwife right beside me talking me through what I was doing (not that my body needed much help knowing
) I birthed my baby into my own hands a few minutes later with everyone else standing there in shock Noone could believe I had no pain meds with the level of pitocin I was on. Honestly I never felt like I needed them. Communicating with the baby was KEY. Every single contraction was him and I working together, I never felt like it was being done to me, but rather with me and him working together to get him safely into my arms.
I wish I could say the after part went as well. After being exhausted from the ridiculous level of pitocin, my uterus held onto two clots and I hemmoraged badly because it couldn't clamp down for hours after the birth. When they finally passed they were together the size of the baby
: I passed out immediately after that but then felt *so* much better. I was offered a blood transfusion, which I declined because I knew I'd heal better at home and they'd want to keep me longer if I had it. We came home about 24 hours after he was born. Then four days postpartum I caught a gastro bug and had a puking toddler as well has having the puking/diarhea myself.Still I feel pretty good all things considered. Trying to take it easy and recover. He is here and he is perfect and even though it was far (far far far!) from my perfect birth (I had planned a homebirth) I feel like it taught me lots about myself and I feel empowered to have worked with my baby despite the circumstances and kept in tune with him and then recieved him into my own waiting hands.
Without further ado:
Linus Kenneth Neil
born Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 2:14pm
7lbs 13oz 19.75" long
Mama with her new baby
Daddy with his boys
Our family right after we got home together for the first time
Stack 'em up, Knock 'em out *wink*
Our first wrap job... nursing hands free as well *huge grin*
Didn't expect him to be here for the big game, but since he was... (and then our team won!)
hat a amazing birth story! Congrats!
