I keep putting this off but I think it will be good to share. I woke up early on Saturday morning (7/1) after a very uncomfortable night. At first, I thought I had bad gas and needed to go potty. It didn't take me too long to realize that wasn't the case. I was in early labor. I waited a while (it was 4 am) to wake up dh and tell him. He actually woke up on his own at about 6 or 6:30. And I told him I was in early labor. We decided to spend some time alone together IYKWIM, because it would be a while before we could do that again, plus maybe it would move things along. Light contractions came and went all day, usually about 15 minutes apart. A photographer came to our house to do our pregnancy photos, talk about waiting till the last minute. We just hung out all day and finished up some last minute errands. We went to dinner with my parents, went to Walmart to buy a couple things. Then, I was feeling tired and wanted to go home. Things were picking up a little. Emma and I took our last bath, just the two of us. We all went to bed. I was feeling a little worried about how long it would go on like this. Contractions spaced out through the night. I got sleep in 30 minute to an hour chunks between contractions. About 4 am, I started to breathe hard with contractions. I didn't want to wake Emma or dh. For the next couple of hours, I got in and out of the tub and worked on my own. About 6 or so, I tried to lay back down, but couldn't. I ended up waking dh up. I had started to feel a little lonely and pretty emotional with contractions. Things went on for a while. Contractions got stronger but not really closer. I checked myself a couple of times and could tell things were changing but wasn't at the right angle to judge dilation. At about 9:30, contractions got to be about 6 minutes apart. Dh felt like it was time to go as I was also getting prertty loud. I didn't quite think we should go yet, but I said ok. My mom had come to be with Emma. So we left. When we got to the hospital, I was 3-4 cm and 80% effaced. I was excited. This is where I was 2 hours before Emma was born. My contractions had spaced out again. We walked and walked. A little after lunch, the midwife checked me again and said baby was lower and I was 4.5 but stretched to 5 cm. They moved me to a l&d room and I got in this wonderful jacuzzi tub. We walked more and got in the tub more and walked more. The midwife checked me and I was 4 cm, baby had backed off. I wanted to cry. I thought she was never coming out and I was tired. The midwife tried to break my water but couldn't get it to break. My parents came up with emma. They stayed for a while and then things started to get intense. My noises scared emma. We told her i was ok and she accepted that but it was time for them to leave. I got back in the tub. It was getting pretty hard. I had to get out of the tub and on the monitors for a while, so I had the nurse check me again. I was only at 5 cm. I was so discouraged. After a bit,
I got back in the tub. The contractions were so hard and i was starting to feel really overwhelmed. I couldn't believe I was only 5 cm. I told dh I didn't think i could do it anymore without help. I was exhausted and overwhelmed. We talked about it and I decided to get a little stadol so I could rest a bit. I hated doing that, but I felt like I couldn't go on any longer. I still tear up thinking about it. I got out, got the stadol and rested between contractions. I swore it wasn't working. I still hurt so much. But it's not really pain relief, it's a sedative. It helped for me to get rest. It wasn't long before I needed to push. The midwife told me to go ahead. Good thing, cause I think I was. It went pretty quick from there. I pushed for 5 minutes and Mattie was born into her daddy's hands. Pushing her out hurt quite a bit. It felt like she was coming out of my rectum, like it was tearing or something. It still hurts. I did have a little tear on my perineum, but not as bad as last time. I hated that I took the stadol and I still am dealing with that a bit. It's kinda like I wimped out. I kinda feel like I may not have progressed if I hadn't given my body a chance to rest. I was getting pretty tense with contractions and I think maybe I was holding myself back. So in the end I think I probably did need it to help me along. I may have ended up with pitocin. My baby went straight to my arms and stayed there for a while. My placenta came easily after the cord pulsated for a while. There was a strange red vein or something on the outside of the umbilical cord for a couple inches. So they sent the placenta to pathology to see what it was. It will be interesting to find out. Overall, the birth was great. And of course, my beautiful girl was totally worth it. Somehow i have to work through my choice to have stadol, but i really believe it was the right choice. I just hate it. Recovery is going well. I'll be back later to correct my errors. Babies are in need now. Thanks for letting me share. I know I probably should have put this in the birth stories section, but I really wanted to share it with all you guys that have been with me on this journey. Thanks.
I got back in the tub. The contractions were so hard and i was starting to feel really overwhelmed. I couldn't believe I was only 5 cm. I told dh I didn't think i could do it anymore without help. I was exhausted and overwhelmed. We talked about it and I decided to get a little stadol so I could rest a bit. I hated doing that, but I felt like I couldn't go on any longer. I still tear up thinking about it. I got out, got the stadol and rested between contractions. I swore it wasn't working. I still hurt so much. But it's not really pain relief, it's a sedative. It helped for me to get rest. It wasn't long before I needed to push. The midwife told me to go ahead. Good thing, cause I think I was. It went pretty quick from there. I pushed for 5 minutes and Mattie was born into her daddy's hands. Pushing her out hurt quite a bit. It felt like she was coming out of my rectum, like it was tearing or something. It still hurts. I did have a little tear on my perineum, but not as bad as last time. I hated that I took the stadol and I still am dealing with that a bit. It's kinda like I wimped out. I kinda feel like I may not have progressed if I hadn't given my body a chance to rest. I was getting pretty tense with contractions and I think maybe I was holding myself back. So in the end I think I probably did need it to help me along. I may have ended up with pitocin. My baby went straight to my arms and stayed there for a while. My placenta came easily after the cord pulsated for a while. There was a strange red vein or something on the outside of the umbilical cord for a couple inches. So they sent the placenta to pathology to see what it was. It will be interesting to find out. Overall, the birth was great. And of course, my beautiful girl was totally worth it. Somehow i have to work through my choice to have stadol, but i really believe it was the right choice. I just hate it. Recovery is going well. I'll be back later to correct my errors. Babies are in need now. Thanks for letting me share. I know I probably should have put this in the birth stories section, but I really wanted to share it with all you guys that have been with me on this journey. Thanks.
