Well, let's see how much I can manage to remember about the birth of my first baby.....
Before the birth: At around 40 weeks, my doctor was concerned because my fundal height was over 44 cm and my pelvis was unusually small (surprise for me since I have wide hips) also, Miles was expected to be around 9 or 10 lbs. My doctor is very good about the mother making the decisions, but I could tell she was leaning toward a c-section. I had discussed my choices with her throughout my pregnancy, so she was careful about what she said, but she basically scared me out of my wits when I went in for my 40-week visit. Anyway, she told me to make a decision about it by the time my 41-week visit came. "This baby will only grow bigger, and he's not dropping anytime soon." I really didn't want to do an elective surgery, and told her that I would at least like to labor before deciding anything rash. She is a good doctor and realized that an induction would be a stupid choice, since he was still way up at a -3 station.
Labor: Well, I went into labor at around 40 weeks, 2 days, (Sept. 28th) while out to dinner at the nicest restaurant in town with my co-workers (they were celebrating the pregnancy with me) and I labored mostly outside. DH and I walked around and around the neighborhood all night long. At around 5 am I decided to go into the hospital to be admitted. (I could have stayed at home longer, but who knows with their 1st?) They admitted me and put me in a funny little room since all the LDR's were full (full moon) I was only dilated to a 1, and my DH and I were disappointed, but kept in good spirits. Oddly enough, my appointment with my doctor was that morning at 8:30, and so that's when she came to check on me. By the time she came, I was dilated to a 4, so I was very pleased with my progress at that point. She broke my water, since she said that my lower pelvis was filled with water and that's why the baby couldn't descend. They moved me into a nicer room at that point, and set me up with an IV since I was GBS+ and had to get the antibiotics. I walked and walked around the room and listened to Enya and other stuff on my Ipod. It wasn't too bad. I was really glad that my DH was there to coach me and hang out. My mom and 17 yr old sister came later and stayed until I started pushing. (They felt it wasn't "modest" for them to stay)
Well, I was dilated to an 8 or so and my doctor came to check me. I could hear her talking to some nurses about prepping the room for a section, and then she ordered an epidural. I had discussed the epidural with her, and she knew I wasn't going to have one, but in this case, she was planning a section and wanted to have me ready. At this point, I hadn't really had to be that much of an advocate for myself. My nurses were great, and DH knew exactly what I wanted. However, I reasoned that I would do anything to avoid a section, and that probably meant it would be long, and I would be on pitocin at some point, so I didn't want to do that without some pain relief. Plus, my back felt like it was going to break in half. So I didn't say anything, and at that point, was looking forward to some pain relief. However, the epidural never worked, except to numb my legs, which was SO annoying! So much for that! So I sat there in the bed, laboring in a very uncomfortable position with my weight on my tailbone. I reached 10 cm by about 3:00 pm, and the baby was still WAY up there! At that point, they had me sit for 1 hour before attempting to push to let my uterus do the work of pushing him down. I think this was smart of my doctor because I would have been pushing in vain and would have been SO exhausted by the time Miles was born.
Pushing: At around 4:30, I wanted to push really bad, and I was starting into a sort of state of delusion or something that had sort of been there since transition. I could hardly see or hear, and was just sort of drawing into myself. (I'm sure those of you who know more would know fancy names for all this) I was on my 3rd nurse at this point, and she was 5 mos. pregnant. I felt bad for her! I pushed until 9:10 pm, and was in so much pain! I didn't think that it would be so bad, but I don't really remember what it felt like anymore, except that it was bad. My doctor stretched me for almost an hour (since the top of his head was down for like 2 hrs, while the rest of him was still at like a -2) but I still tore quite a bit. The sad part is, I don't really remember anything past about 5pm. This is all just from my DH. He was 8 lbs. 6 oz., and 21 in. so I don't put much stock in the ultrasounds that said he'd be 9 or 10 lbs. He had a full head of brown hair and looked just like I did when I was born. I don't remember him being born, though I have pics of me holding him soon after birth. The amniotic fluid had a lot of meconium in it, so he had to spend some time in the nursery being monitored, but DH stayed with him and had a good time washing his hair. When they brought him to me in the postpartum room, I was surprised at how alert he was and how much he wanted to nurse! I wish I had been able to nurse him, but I couldn't latch him on because of flat nipples. He was so frustrated, the poor little thing! (The nursing is going better now; we just have to deal with horribly cracked nipples now)
Anyway, sorry this is so long, it was good trying to remember all of this, since it has been almost 5 weeks, and I haven't had a normal amount of sleep. He is now doing well, and is 12 ½ lbs. and 24 in!
I hope to be able to have a more natural birth next time, especially since I now know that epidurals don’t work on me anyway, and I know that I can do it.
Before the birth: At around 40 weeks, my doctor was concerned because my fundal height was over 44 cm and my pelvis was unusually small (surprise for me since I have wide hips) also, Miles was expected to be around 9 or 10 lbs. My doctor is very good about the mother making the decisions, but I could tell she was leaning toward a c-section. I had discussed my choices with her throughout my pregnancy, so she was careful about what she said, but she basically scared me out of my wits when I went in for my 40-week visit. Anyway, she told me to make a decision about it by the time my 41-week visit came. "This baby will only grow bigger, and he's not dropping anytime soon." I really didn't want to do an elective surgery, and told her that I would at least like to labor before deciding anything rash. She is a good doctor and realized that an induction would be a stupid choice, since he was still way up at a -3 station.
Labor: Well, I went into labor at around 40 weeks, 2 days, (Sept. 28th) while out to dinner at the nicest restaurant in town with my co-workers (they were celebrating the pregnancy with me) and I labored mostly outside. DH and I walked around and around the neighborhood all night long. At around 5 am I decided to go into the hospital to be admitted. (I could have stayed at home longer, but who knows with their 1st?) They admitted me and put me in a funny little room since all the LDR's were full (full moon) I was only dilated to a 1, and my DH and I were disappointed, but kept in good spirits. Oddly enough, my appointment with my doctor was that morning at 8:30, and so that's when she came to check on me. By the time she came, I was dilated to a 4, so I was very pleased with my progress at that point. She broke my water, since she said that my lower pelvis was filled with water and that's why the baby couldn't descend. They moved me into a nicer room at that point, and set me up with an IV since I was GBS+ and had to get the antibiotics. I walked and walked around the room and listened to Enya and other stuff on my Ipod. It wasn't too bad. I was really glad that my DH was there to coach me and hang out. My mom and 17 yr old sister came later and stayed until I started pushing. (They felt it wasn't "modest" for them to stay)
Well, I was dilated to an 8 or so and my doctor came to check me. I could hear her talking to some nurses about prepping the room for a section, and then she ordered an epidural. I had discussed the epidural with her, and she knew I wasn't going to have one, but in this case, she was planning a section and wanted to have me ready. At this point, I hadn't really had to be that much of an advocate for myself. My nurses were great, and DH knew exactly what I wanted. However, I reasoned that I would do anything to avoid a section, and that probably meant it would be long, and I would be on pitocin at some point, so I didn't want to do that without some pain relief. Plus, my back felt like it was going to break in half. So I didn't say anything, and at that point, was looking forward to some pain relief. However, the epidural never worked, except to numb my legs, which was SO annoying! So much for that! So I sat there in the bed, laboring in a very uncomfortable position with my weight on my tailbone. I reached 10 cm by about 3:00 pm, and the baby was still WAY up there! At that point, they had me sit for 1 hour before attempting to push to let my uterus do the work of pushing him down. I think this was smart of my doctor because I would have been pushing in vain and would have been SO exhausted by the time Miles was born.Pushing: At around 4:30, I wanted to push really bad, and I was starting into a sort of state of delusion or something that had sort of been there since transition. I could hardly see or hear, and was just sort of drawing into myself. (I'm sure those of you who know more would know fancy names for all this) I was on my 3rd nurse at this point, and she was 5 mos. pregnant. I felt bad for her! I pushed until 9:10 pm, and was in so much pain! I didn't think that it would be so bad, but I don't really remember what it felt like anymore, except that it was bad. My doctor stretched me for almost an hour (since the top of his head was down for like 2 hrs, while the rest of him was still at like a -2) but I still tore quite a bit. The sad part is, I don't really remember anything past about 5pm. This is all just from my DH. He was 8 lbs. 6 oz., and 21 in. so I don't put much stock in the ultrasounds that said he'd be 9 or 10 lbs. He had a full head of brown hair and looked just like I did when I was born. I don't remember him being born, though I have pics of me holding him soon after birth. The amniotic fluid had a lot of meconium in it, so he had to spend some time in the nursery being monitored, but DH stayed with him and had a good time washing his hair. When they brought him to me in the postpartum room, I was surprised at how alert he was and how much he wanted to nurse! I wish I had been able to nurse him, but I couldn't latch him on because of flat nipples. He was so frustrated, the poor little thing! (The nursing is going better now; we just have to deal with horribly cracked nipples now)
Anyway, sorry this is so long, it was good trying to remember all of this, since it has been almost 5 weeks, and I haven't had a normal amount of sleep. He is now doing well, and is 12 ½ lbs. and 24 in!
I hope to be able to have a more natural birth next time, especially since I now know that epidurals don’t work on me anyway, and I know that I can do it.
