Aengus Cade was born this morning after 17 hours of hard labor and 3 hours of pushing. Will update with birth story later--I'm exhausted!
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Birth Story Update!
On Thursday I woke up at 3 to use the bathroom and said "either I just peed myself or my water broke". Well, I was pretty sure it was the water, but I knew i needed sleep, so DH and I went back to bed....and stared at the ceiling. We finally got back to sleep by 6 or so and DH called into work. We were so excited, but I wasn't really having any contractions. At 9 I called my MW and was only having random irregular contractions despite little gushes of fluid throughout the day, so she told me to maybe go on a walk to get things started. I stalled and stalled all day and she came over to check the baby and me. Everything was good, and she wasn't really convinced my water had broken. She said it could still be urine due to the pressure on my bladder, but that she still thought it would be tonight. Meanwhile, the baby was perfectly poised and ready to come out-in the best position he had been in all 3rd trimester.
By 5:30pm I was having regular strong contractions every 5 minutes. They kept getting stronger, longer, closer together--you know the drill. Bouncing on the birth ball was awesome at this point. I was still feeling really upbeat and coping well. I called the MW and asked her to come around 9 or 10. At that point, I was at 6cm and had a bulging bag of water! So...no water before? Well, contractions continued about 2 mins apart all night. I took a bath to relax at 4am and slept between contractions.
DH, the MW apprentice, and I went on a walk at 5am to hopefully get things going more. After that didn't do much, I asked her to check me again and we talked about maybe breaking the water bag if it looked favorable. I was at 7cm at 6:30 (and 13 hours or so) and the water bag was still bulgy. I said, just go ahead--I want my baby. The bag was so thick, the amnio hook just about couldn't get it open--no wonder I wasn't really getting anywhere!! Water broke and the pressure was relieved and it felt amazing until transition hit me like a freight train. It was really rough, but my labor support was amazing. DH was my rock-and the midwives (the apprentice also works as a doula and was amazing) were so wonderful.
By 7:30 I was pushing and it felt great. On all fours, the toilet, etc. The birth stool that I thought I wanted felt terrible and I can't understand still why I didn't like it but liked the toilet. After 1 or so hours of pushing, I was getting so exhausted, they suggested I lie back on the bed and pull my legs back as I push--finally, some progress! I could see the top of his head peek out with a mirror and it was unbelievable. But, his head was having a terrible time getting out. (Apparently, I have a longer perineum than most women?) My MW was trying to help him along by doing some technique stretching around his head with his fingers and I really thought she was going to kill me. It hurt terribly, but I just kept pushing. They pulled my bottom off the
Suddenly, during a hard push I felt relief and they said "his head is out!". I immediately pushed again as hard as possible and his little body shot right out. His cord was short, but they put him on my belly. He had other plans. He started crawling up to my chest immediately, and raised is head up and looked over at DH. I cannot describe the feeling of seeing his face for the first time. I only had a tiny tear despite the head issues.
Aengus Cade was 6lb 13oz and 19.5in at birth. He immediately started nursing perfectly and doesn't want to be too far from the breast at all. Pics are on the facebook group.
----
Birth Story Update!
On Thursday I woke up at 3 to use the bathroom and said "either I just peed myself or my water broke". Well, I was pretty sure it was the water, but I knew i needed sleep, so DH and I went back to bed....and stared at the ceiling. We finally got back to sleep by 6 or so and DH called into work. We were so excited, but I wasn't really having any contractions. At 9 I called my MW and was only having random irregular contractions despite little gushes of fluid throughout the day, so she told me to maybe go on a walk to get things started. I stalled and stalled all day and she came over to check the baby and me. Everything was good, and she wasn't really convinced my water had broken. She said it could still be urine due to the pressure on my bladder, but that she still thought it would be tonight. Meanwhile, the baby was perfectly poised and ready to come out-in the best position he had been in all 3rd trimester.
By 5:30pm I was having regular strong contractions every 5 minutes. They kept getting stronger, longer, closer together--you know the drill. Bouncing on the birth ball was awesome at this point. I was still feeling really upbeat and coping well. I called the MW and asked her to come around 9 or 10. At that point, I was at 6cm and had a bulging bag of water! So...no water before? Well, contractions continued about 2 mins apart all night. I took a bath to relax at 4am and slept between contractions.
DH, the MW apprentice, and I went on a walk at 5am to hopefully get things going more. After that didn't do much, I asked her to check me again and we talked about maybe breaking the water bag if it looked favorable. I was at 7cm at 6:30 (and 13 hours or so) and the water bag was still bulgy. I said, just go ahead--I want my baby. The bag was so thick, the amnio hook just about couldn't get it open--no wonder I wasn't really getting anywhere!! Water broke and the pressure was relieved and it felt amazing until transition hit me like a freight train. It was really rough, but my labor support was amazing. DH was my rock-and the midwives (the apprentice also works as a doula and was amazing) were so wonderful.
By 7:30 I was pushing and it felt great. On all fours, the toilet, etc. The birth stool that I thought I wanted felt terrible and I can't understand still why I didn't like it but liked the toilet. After 1 or so hours of pushing, I was getting so exhausted, they suggested I lie back on the bed and pull my legs back as I push--finally, some progress! I could see the top of his head peek out with a mirror and it was unbelievable. But, his head was having a terrible time getting out. (Apparently, I have a longer perineum than most women?) My MW was trying to help him along by doing some technique stretching around his head with his fingers and I really thought she was going to kill me. It hurt terribly, but I just kept pushing. They pulled my bottom off the
Suddenly, during a hard push I felt relief and they said "his head is out!". I immediately pushed again as hard as possible and his little body shot right out. His cord was short, but they put him on my belly. He had other plans. He started crawling up to my chest immediately, and raised is head up and looked over at DH. I cannot describe the feeling of seeing his face for the first time. I only had a tiny tear despite the head issues.
Aengus Cade was 6lb 13oz and 19.5in at birth. He immediately started nursing perfectly and doesn't want to be too far from the breast at all. Pics are on the facebook group.
now get some rest!
. Congratulations!
