I was due on April 3rd. Contractions started when I was 40+6 on Friday April 9th.
I started to have contractions on friday night from the castor oil I had taken. Ben my boyfriend was sure that Reeve would be born that night because of it. Things weren’t in a good pattern and contractions were 2 minutes apart but only 30 seconds at 8:30 p.m. We waited around for another hour before I decided to call the midwife. I knew they would tell me it was up to me but I was convinced I was going to need some help. Reeve was not in the right position and I had felt he had wanted to get out for the last week. I decided to go in and we got to the hospital around 10:30 p.m. Things were still the same but they put me on a monitor and the midwife on call Sandy checked me. I was at 3 cm throughout and around 60%. It was enough to keep me and they got us set up in a delivery room. It was about 1 or so when we were finally settled and had another strip going. Things were easy and I tried to keep myself going but was chatty and laughing throughout. Sandy tried to pull my belly up to get Reeve to get into a better position but he wasn’t having it. Around 5 a.m. I knew things weren’t going along and I was tired so we went to sleep. Woke up around 7 a.m. with no contractions. I was really discouraged and started to become afraid of c/s. Our neighbor who was watching the kids through the night called and said they couldn’t watch them anymore cause they had things to do so Ben took them to his brothers. I started to have sporadic contractions (thankfully! I was really not sure that I would even restart on my own!) while he was gone and he got back around 12. Something that was interesting is that whenever I would talk to him on the phone while he was gone my contractions would be stronger and pick up more. When he got back the new midwife Sam came to talk about what to do about the slow down. There was cervidil to ripen the cervix, breaking my water or Pitocin. After struggling with what to do I decided on pit. They started it around 2 p.m. Things started to get more painful around 3 and I was sick of the hospital bed! It was hurting my butt and the birth ball didn’t support my back. I was strapped to the monitors so I couldn’t go far. Around 4:30 p.m. (12 hrs since last check) I had only gotten to a 5 or 6 and 90% (was 4 and 60 before I think). It was something at least. I decided then to have the pit taken out. I didn’t want them to get beyond my control to fast and the contractions still felt wrong. After they got me off the pit I wanted to get in the shower. Ben joined me even though he was going to freeze cause I wasn’t sharing the hot water. I labored in the shower for a long time. Squatting and moaning through contractions. They were about 3 minutes apart and 30-70 seconds long. Still squeezing me sideways. I asked for a shower chair but they had a birth stool which was even better. I was able to get off my feet and tried to let the hips open more. When the shift changed again around 7 I had the midwife Fran. They checked me again and I was at a solid 6. She said that we needed to get things going better and said we could break my water or go back to pit. I got out of the shower and Fran stood with me while I had a contraction and Ben behind me. She really encouraged me by mimicking me and letting me know I was doing a good thing and squatted with me to get through that contraction. We got to the bed and she broke my water. There wasn’t a huge gush but it was clear and good. The contractions definatly got stronger after that and I was having a hard time finding a comfortable place to be. I tried the birth stool but felt like I couldn’t relax between contractions. Ben would sit behind me but I felt like I was going to slide off the birth stool. While I was there she checked me again and I was at an 8. I felt like it could take forever to get to 10 and even then Reeve still needed to shift. I was frustrated and still felt scared. While on the birth stool I was feeling a lot more pressure and was feeling that he was getting closer to that pushy spot even though I wasn’t ready to push. I said I was uncomfortable and Ben pushed me to get onto the bed and side lay so that I could rest better. I had given up ever figuring out something to really be comfortable so I did. The contractions were getting harder to deal with and at one point I had tensed up so badly during a contraction that I screamed "let go let go let go" to myself. Poor Ben thought I meant him. I was resisting the pushy sensation and knew I needed to let go of the fear. Mentally I thought "i need a break" and almost immidiatly my contractions slowed down. Fran mentioned something to me and i said "i need a break" and she left it alone. After just a few minutes I felt better. As soon as contractions picked up again it seems like really suddenly reeve shifted into a fantastic position and before I even knew it myself I was bearing down REALLY hard. I remember Fran asking “are you pushing? You are…slow down on the pushing” while she went to round up nurses and stuff. I tried to slow down. I didn’t want to tear. Ben held my right leg up with his arm under my thigh and wrapped around my back so he was facing me. I really liked having him close and I didn’t have to hold any part of myself up. Everyone was arranged really quickly even though I didn’t really care and I started pushing. It seems like I was pushing so hard and he wasn’t coming out. I kept using what I thought was very load moans and groans and saying OOOOWWWW through every push. I couldn’t be quiet in this birth. I was pulling on Bens arm as leverage and squeezing really hard to try and keep my pushes going. After several pushes I was yelling at Fran to “cut me, just cut it…he isn’t coming out!” and she told me to keep going. Ben told me to keep going. I could hear him crying through the words. I just had one more push (yeah right I thought). Finally I pushed and when I thought I was done I pulled harder on Bens arm and pushed MORE and he came out all at once! No waiting for the shoulders! His head came out and a gush of water and his shoulders came out and another gush of water. I swear I gave birth to a swimming pool. He screamed bloody murder as soon as he could and continued to scream for at least another minute. I was in utter shock that he was out. The helped me turn over very quickly and put him on my tummy. His cord was very very short and he only could lay on my tummy. I didn’t say a word. I was in shock. I know I didn’t look happy at all but I just stroked his butt while his cord finished pulsing and then stroked his hand as he was on my breast. He was to interested in nursing and wanted to look around. I just stared.
Reeve was born at 9:14 p.m. just over 25 hours after the first crappy contractions but only 5 hrs after the pit started weighing 7 lbs 14.8 oz and 20 inches long.
Reeve
I started to have contractions on friday night from the castor oil I had taken. Ben my boyfriend was sure that Reeve would be born that night because of it. Things weren’t in a good pattern and contractions were 2 minutes apart but only 30 seconds at 8:30 p.m. We waited around for another hour before I decided to call the midwife. I knew they would tell me it was up to me but I was convinced I was going to need some help. Reeve was not in the right position and I had felt he had wanted to get out for the last week. I decided to go in and we got to the hospital around 10:30 p.m. Things were still the same but they put me on a monitor and the midwife on call Sandy checked me. I was at 3 cm throughout and around 60%. It was enough to keep me and they got us set up in a delivery room. It was about 1 or so when we were finally settled and had another strip going. Things were easy and I tried to keep myself going but was chatty and laughing throughout. Sandy tried to pull my belly up to get Reeve to get into a better position but he wasn’t having it. Around 5 a.m. I knew things weren’t going along and I was tired so we went to sleep. Woke up around 7 a.m. with no contractions. I was really discouraged and started to become afraid of c/s. Our neighbor who was watching the kids through the night called and said they couldn’t watch them anymore cause they had things to do so Ben took them to his brothers. I started to have sporadic contractions (thankfully! I was really not sure that I would even restart on my own!) while he was gone and he got back around 12. Something that was interesting is that whenever I would talk to him on the phone while he was gone my contractions would be stronger and pick up more. When he got back the new midwife Sam came to talk about what to do about the slow down. There was cervidil to ripen the cervix, breaking my water or Pitocin. After struggling with what to do I decided on pit. They started it around 2 p.m. Things started to get more painful around 3 and I was sick of the hospital bed! It was hurting my butt and the birth ball didn’t support my back. I was strapped to the monitors so I couldn’t go far. Around 4:30 p.m. (12 hrs since last check) I had only gotten to a 5 or 6 and 90% (was 4 and 60 before I think). It was something at least. I decided then to have the pit taken out. I didn’t want them to get beyond my control to fast and the contractions still felt wrong. After they got me off the pit I wanted to get in the shower. Ben joined me even though he was going to freeze cause I wasn’t sharing the hot water. I labored in the shower for a long time. Squatting and moaning through contractions. They were about 3 minutes apart and 30-70 seconds long. Still squeezing me sideways. I asked for a shower chair but they had a birth stool which was even better. I was able to get off my feet and tried to let the hips open more. When the shift changed again around 7 I had the midwife Fran. They checked me again and I was at a solid 6. She said that we needed to get things going better and said we could break my water or go back to pit. I got out of the shower and Fran stood with me while I had a contraction and Ben behind me. She really encouraged me by mimicking me and letting me know I was doing a good thing and squatted with me to get through that contraction. We got to the bed and she broke my water. There wasn’t a huge gush but it was clear and good. The contractions definatly got stronger after that and I was having a hard time finding a comfortable place to be. I tried the birth stool but felt like I couldn’t relax between contractions. Ben would sit behind me but I felt like I was going to slide off the birth stool. While I was there she checked me again and I was at an 8. I felt like it could take forever to get to 10 and even then Reeve still needed to shift. I was frustrated and still felt scared. While on the birth stool I was feeling a lot more pressure and was feeling that he was getting closer to that pushy spot even though I wasn’t ready to push. I said I was uncomfortable and Ben pushed me to get onto the bed and side lay so that I could rest better. I had given up ever figuring out something to really be comfortable so I did. The contractions were getting harder to deal with and at one point I had tensed up so badly during a contraction that I screamed "let go let go let go" to myself. Poor Ben thought I meant him. I was resisting the pushy sensation and knew I needed to let go of the fear. Mentally I thought "i need a break" and almost immidiatly my contractions slowed down. Fran mentioned something to me and i said "i need a break" and she left it alone. After just a few minutes I felt better. As soon as contractions picked up again it seems like really suddenly reeve shifted into a fantastic position and before I even knew it myself I was bearing down REALLY hard. I remember Fran asking “are you pushing? You are…slow down on the pushing” while she went to round up nurses and stuff. I tried to slow down. I didn’t want to tear. Ben held my right leg up with his arm under my thigh and wrapped around my back so he was facing me. I really liked having him close and I didn’t have to hold any part of myself up. Everyone was arranged really quickly even though I didn’t really care and I started pushing. It seems like I was pushing so hard and he wasn’t coming out. I kept using what I thought was very load moans and groans and saying OOOOWWWW through every push. I couldn’t be quiet in this birth. I was pulling on Bens arm as leverage and squeezing really hard to try and keep my pushes going. After several pushes I was yelling at Fran to “cut me, just cut it…he isn’t coming out!” and she told me to keep going. Ben told me to keep going. I could hear him crying through the words. I just had one more push (yeah right I thought). Finally I pushed and when I thought I was done I pulled harder on Bens arm and pushed MORE and he came out all at once! No waiting for the shoulders! His head came out and a gush of water and his shoulders came out and another gush of water. I swear I gave birth to a swimming pool. He screamed bloody murder as soon as he could and continued to scream for at least another minute. I was in utter shock that he was out. The helped me turn over very quickly and put him on my tummy. His cord was very very short and he only could lay on my tummy. I didn’t say a word. I was in shock. I know I didn’t look happy at all but I just stroked his butt while his cord finished pulsing and then stroked his hand as he was on my breast. He was to interested in nursing and wanted to look around. I just stared.
Reeve was born at 9:14 p.m. just over 25 hours after the first crappy contractions but only 5 hrs after the pit started weighing 7 lbs 14.8 oz and 20 inches long.
Reeve
