So, here it is. Going from my PP hazed memory, but hopefully it's just about accurate.
On Friday the 14th my prenatal got cancelled since someone else was in labor. I was annoyed since I hadn't been seen since the 4th. And felt like I would be pg forever and that they expected that as they didn't set up another prenatal. I had a lot of mucusy discharge and random ctx that day. On Sat. the 15th I had sporadic ctx all day and more abundant mucus and when I went to bed some bloody show. I was feeling hopeful. On Sunday, the 16th, more bloody show and ctx all day but nothing I felt I had to time. Then more show in pm and painful ctx all night that night. I slept like crap! On Mon. morning, the 17th, I told Mark that I didn't think he should go to work that day as things seemed to be picking up and I was exhausted. He took the kids to the mall for an outing and I stayed home and went into full-on nesting mode. I started to time the ctx and they ranged from 5-8 minutes apart but I was still managing fine. I had a lot more bloody show. I decided to call my midwife to check in. She agree to come on over around 1 pm. Dh and kids came back. I couldn't eat at all, felt nauseous, excited, and really really tired.
My midwife showed up at 1 and checked me. I had previously decided that I didn't want to be checked at all before or during labor so as not to be disappointed by lack of progress. But she convinced me that it would let us know if I was in active labor or not. I was shocked to be 4 cm with a bulging bag, 70% effaced with baby Sullivan at -1 station. She declared me to be in labor - hooray! She asked if I wanted her to stay at my house or stay close by and check in with me in a few hours. I wanted her to leave since I was managing fine on my own. I tried to get in our swimming pool with the kids and dh but it didn't feel warm enough and the ctx were distracting me. My midwife called back and I told her I felt things were heating up and she agreed to come on back. I called my good friend Kim to come on over (and had a ctx while on the phone) as she was the birth photographer. Then I called my friend Jenny to come over (and again had a ctx while on the phone that I couldn't talk thru). I began to feel weepy and overwhelmed with emotions then as it was really happening!
As the pictures show, I pretty much labored the rest of the day pacing around my house, dropping to the ground during ctx, and trying to get some sort of rest. The ctx got closer together and stronger but weren't picking up as much as I felt they should be. It seemed to be taking a long time to really get going and I was soooo tired. I felt discouraged but wasn't sharing that with anyone. I just kept on laboring. Bedtime came and went for the kids and they were disappointed he wasn't here yet but we promised them they would be woken up when he was about to be born. It seemed so quiet and nice in my home now. Around 10, my midwife checked me and I was only at a 5 but 100% effaced and my cervix had moved forward. She said I could either try and lie down for a bit or she could break my water and it would happen very quickly. I really wanted my labor to go at its own pace, so I decided to try and rest. I lied down on my bed but couldn't relax much with the ctx coming so often. The midwives, Amelia (our kids' birth buddy), Kim, and Mark were either watching TV, reading, or resting on couches. I got up after about an hour and paced around some more.
A short time later, I announced that I felt ready to get in the birth pool. I labored there for about an hour alternately contracting and sort of sleeping between them. I then felt like I really wanted to pee before I gave birth. So I got out to pee and sorta pushed a bit on the toilet trying to break my water or see if it felt right. It immediately made me have a huge ctx that dropped me to the ground with a loud moan. I came out and wanted to lie on the tile floor and Mark helped me out with the hot pads and rubbing my back. My moans were becoming louder and I was feeling major pain from the ctx so I got back into the pool. About 10 minutes later, a transition ctx transformed into a pushing one. I could hear everyone snap to attention - midwives donning gloves, people scurrying to get the kids, and photos being taken. I pushed SO VERY HARD to get this big-headed guy out. None of my other kids' pushing phases required such extreme effort. It felt like forever but he crowned (with his head still in the bag) after about 10 minutes of pushing. Then I was surprised to still have to work to get the rest of his body out (my other kids bodies had simply slid out). Then he was here! What sweet relief and what a lovely big baby boy! He had a lot of sticky vernix on him (looks yellow in the pics) and those big sucking blisters on each hand. But he was here and it (the ardurous labor) was over. Born 8-18-09 weighing 8 lbs 10 ozs, 20 inches long, and a 14.65 inch head. Welcome to the world sweet Sullivan! Oh and his cord was really really fat (it took DD1 a long time to cut thru it) which they said was due to being really well-nourished in-utero. That's my story!
Here's the pics link: http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.t.r...gE&feat=email#
On Friday the 14th my prenatal got cancelled since someone else was in labor. I was annoyed since I hadn't been seen since the 4th. And felt like I would be pg forever and that they expected that as they didn't set up another prenatal. I had a lot of mucusy discharge and random ctx that day. On Sat. the 15th I had sporadic ctx all day and more abundant mucus and when I went to bed some bloody show. I was feeling hopeful. On Sunday, the 16th, more bloody show and ctx all day but nothing I felt I had to time. Then more show in pm and painful ctx all night that night. I slept like crap! On Mon. morning, the 17th, I told Mark that I didn't think he should go to work that day as things seemed to be picking up and I was exhausted. He took the kids to the mall for an outing and I stayed home and went into full-on nesting mode. I started to time the ctx and they ranged from 5-8 minutes apart but I was still managing fine. I had a lot more bloody show. I decided to call my midwife to check in. She agree to come on over around 1 pm. Dh and kids came back. I couldn't eat at all, felt nauseous, excited, and really really tired.
My midwife showed up at 1 and checked me. I had previously decided that I didn't want to be checked at all before or during labor so as not to be disappointed by lack of progress. But she convinced me that it would let us know if I was in active labor or not. I was shocked to be 4 cm with a bulging bag, 70% effaced with baby Sullivan at -1 station. She declared me to be in labor - hooray! She asked if I wanted her to stay at my house or stay close by and check in with me in a few hours. I wanted her to leave since I was managing fine on my own. I tried to get in our swimming pool with the kids and dh but it didn't feel warm enough and the ctx were distracting me. My midwife called back and I told her I felt things were heating up and she agreed to come on back. I called my good friend Kim to come on over (and had a ctx while on the phone) as she was the birth photographer. Then I called my friend Jenny to come over (and again had a ctx while on the phone that I couldn't talk thru). I began to feel weepy and overwhelmed with emotions then as it was really happening!
As the pictures show, I pretty much labored the rest of the day pacing around my house, dropping to the ground during ctx, and trying to get some sort of rest. The ctx got closer together and stronger but weren't picking up as much as I felt they should be. It seemed to be taking a long time to really get going and I was soooo tired. I felt discouraged but wasn't sharing that with anyone. I just kept on laboring. Bedtime came and went for the kids and they were disappointed he wasn't here yet but we promised them they would be woken up when he was about to be born. It seemed so quiet and nice in my home now. Around 10, my midwife checked me and I was only at a 5 but 100% effaced and my cervix had moved forward. She said I could either try and lie down for a bit or she could break my water and it would happen very quickly. I really wanted my labor to go at its own pace, so I decided to try and rest. I lied down on my bed but couldn't relax much with the ctx coming so often. The midwives, Amelia (our kids' birth buddy), Kim, and Mark were either watching TV, reading, or resting on couches. I got up after about an hour and paced around some more.
A short time later, I announced that I felt ready to get in the birth pool. I labored there for about an hour alternately contracting and sort of sleeping between them. I then felt like I really wanted to pee before I gave birth. So I got out to pee and sorta pushed a bit on the toilet trying to break my water or see if it felt right. It immediately made me have a huge ctx that dropped me to the ground with a loud moan. I came out and wanted to lie on the tile floor and Mark helped me out with the hot pads and rubbing my back. My moans were becoming louder and I was feeling major pain from the ctx so I got back into the pool. About 10 minutes later, a transition ctx transformed into a pushing one. I could hear everyone snap to attention - midwives donning gloves, people scurrying to get the kids, and photos being taken. I pushed SO VERY HARD to get this big-headed guy out. None of my other kids' pushing phases required such extreme effort. It felt like forever but he crowned (with his head still in the bag) after about 10 minutes of pushing. Then I was surprised to still have to work to get the rest of his body out (my other kids bodies had simply slid out). Then he was here! What sweet relief and what a lovely big baby boy! He had a lot of sticky vernix on him (looks yellow in the pics) and those big sucking blisters on each hand. But he was here and it (the ardurous labor) was over. Born 8-18-09 weighing 8 lbs 10 ozs, 20 inches long, and a 14.65 inch head. Welcome to the world sweet Sullivan! Oh and his cord was really really fat (it took DD1 a long time to cut thru it) which they said was due to being really well-nourished in-utero. That's my story!
Here's the pics link: http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.t.r...gE&feat=email#
I couldn't get the pics to work, either - can you repost the link?
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