(x-posted)
On Tues, I drug the whole family to the Mall of America to do some walking. I was determined to get something moving. We got there about 2: 30 and left at about 8pm (I thought I was gonna die about halfway thru the mall, but I had no choice at that point!).
We got home about 9pm. I noticed ctx coming pretty regularily by 10pm. Was sure it was labor by 11pm. Not exactly what I had in mind! I was hoping for a good nights sleep and wake up in labor! It worked a little better than I though it would!
By 1 am I was having strong ctx at least every 5 min, so I told the midwife to start heading over (she is an hour away and we were in the middle of a torrential rainstorm). By the time she got there it was about 2: 30/3:00 and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes with horrible back labor again. I didn't really mind too much though because I was SO happy that my labor was moving so fast this time! (I've usually been laboring a good 20 hours or so to get to this point.) At about 4: 30 or so (??) I decided to get in the pool. It felt wonderful! By 6am, I was feeling a little pushy, so I had the midwife check me (for the first time). I was complete with a buldging bag, baby at +1. I started pushing, hoping I'd get the bag to break and get this show really on the road, but it wasn't working quite so well, so I decided to have the midwife break it for me. I was expecting to have that baby pushed out in no time (my last 2 only took about 20-30 min). At least that's what I was hoping because I was having much more than just back labor by this point. I was having horrible nerve pain all across my lowerback and into my hips. And each time the contraction would start to end, that pain would just intensify. It was unbelievable.
Anyway, I continued to push for about 1.5 hours in the pool, trying a few different positions, but she just wasn't coming down. Her little noggin wouldn't go under my pubic bone for nothing. The midwife suggested getting me on the bed and trying some more positions. That was the longest walk of my life. I pushed a few times standing up, on the way over, I tried squatting, on my hands and knees, kneeling, on my side, on my back, you name it. After another hour and her still not coming down much, we started talking about other options. The baby was still doing great, but I could barely even move. Literally, I could not move my legs myself. I was so exhausted. And the nerve pain was sending me completely over the edge. At that point, there was nothing I wanted more than to be drugged and have the baby removed for me. However, I ran through in my mind what would be involved in a hospital transport, and it sounded like pure torture. So unless I was knocked out cold before being removed from my bed, there was no way I was going anywhere. I think making that decision gave me back a little energy (or determination anyway). Finally after another hour or so of pushing with way more than I had (that's 3.5 hours now, for whoever's counting
, Skyler Leigh came into this world. And what a surprise it was for the midwife. That little stinker never did rotate into either an OA position, or even an OP position. She was born OT (transverse). She has a lovely buldge on the *side* of her head. Evidentally, babies aren't usually supposed to be able to come out that way. The midwife said she's only seen it happen about 2 other times (out of hundreds and hundreds of both home and hospital births since the 70's). She was very impressed I was able to muscle her out like that. I was way too tired and in way too much pain (the back pain was still intense even *after* she was out!) to be impressed.
Here are the stats:
Skyler Leigh was born August 2nd at 9:29 am with a full head of thick hair.
8lbs even (my biggest baby!)
20" long
13 3/4" head
She latched on about a half hour after she was born and nursed nonstop for the next hour. She has been so mellow. She slept very well last night, waking a few times to nurse. She just about latches herself on. What a pro! Her brothers are so proud and completely facinated, with about a million questions. The dog can't figure out what's going on yet, but I think he's adjusting fine. I've felt like I've been run over by a mack truck. Every muscle fiber in my upper body feels like it's been pulled. I can hardly even lift my arms. I'll recover though.
On Tues, I drug the whole family to the Mall of America to do some walking. I was determined to get something moving. We got there about 2: 30 and left at about 8pm (I thought I was gonna die about halfway thru the mall, but I had no choice at that point!).
We got home about 9pm. I noticed ctx coming pretty regularily by 10pm. Was sure it was labor by 11pm. Not exactly what I had in mind! I was hoping for a good nights sleep and wake up in labor! It worked a little better than I though it would!
By 1 am I was having strong ctx at least every 5 min, so I told the midwife to start heading over (she is an hour away and we were in the middle of a torrential rainstorm). By the time she got there it was about 2: 30/3:00 and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes with horrible back labor again. I didn't really mind too much though because I was SO happy that my labor was moving so fast this time! (I've usually been laboring a good 20 hours or so to get to this point.) At about 4: 30 or so (??) I decided to get in the pool. It felt wonderful! By 6am, I was feeling a little pushy, so I had the midwife check me (for the first time). I was complete with a buldging bag, baby at +1. I started pushing, hoping I'd get the bag to break and get this show really on the road, but it wasn't working quite so well, so I decided to have the midwife break it for me. I was expecting to have that baby pushed out in no time (my last 2 only took about 20-30 min). At least that's what I was hoping because I was having much more than just back labor by this point. I was having horrible nerve pain all across my lowerback and into my hips. And each time the contraction would start to end, that pain would just intensify. It was unbelievable.
Anyway, I continued to push for about 1.5 hours in the pool, trying a few different positions, but she just wasn't coming down. Her little noggin wouldn't go under my pubic bone for nothing. The midwife suggested getting me on the bed and trying some more positions. That was the longest walk of my life. I pushed a few times standing up, on the way over, I tried squatting, on my hands and knees, kneeling, on my side, on my back, you name it. After another hour and her still not coming down much, we started talking about other options. The baby was still doing great, but I could barely even move. Literally, I could not move my legs myself. I was so exhausted. And the nerve pain was sending me completely over the edge. At that point, there was nothing I wanted more than to be drugged and have the baby removed for me. However, I ran through in my mind what would be involved in a hospital transport, and it sounded like pure torture. So unless I was knocked out cold before being removed from my bed, there was no way I was going anywhere. I think making that decision gave me back a little energy (or determination anyway). Finally after another hour or so of pushing with way more than I had (that's 3.5 hours now, for whoever's counting
, Skyler Leigh came into this world. And what a surprise it was for the midwife. That little stinker never did rotate into either an OA position, or even an OP position. She was born OT (transverse). She has a lovely buldge on the *side* of her head. Evidentally, babies aren't usually supposed to be able to come out that way. The midwife said she's only seen it happen about 2 other times (out of hundreds and hundreds of both home and hospital births since the 70's). She was very impressed I was able to muscle her out like that. I was way too tired and in way too much pain (the back pain was still intense even *after* she was out!) to be impressed.Here are the stats:
Skyler Leigh was born August 2nd at 9:29 am with a full head of thick hair.
8lbs even (my biggest baby!)
20" long
13 3/4" head
She latched on about a half hour after she was born and nursed nonstop for the next hour. She has been so mellow. She slept very well last night, waking a few times to nurse. She just about latches herself on. What a pro! Her brothers are so proud and completely facinated, with about a million questions. The dog can't figure out what's going on yet, but I think he's adjusting fine. I've felt like I've been run over by a mack truck. Every muscle fiber in my upper body feels like it's been pulled. I can hardly even lift my arms. I'll recover though.
:
A baby would have been better!
Awe Dena, I'm so happy for you!!! Wow, what a huge effort to birth that baby!!! From my experience in the hospital, I can say w/ 99% certainty that she probably would have been dragged out of you via forceps, vacuum, or c-section- you can feel very proud of yourself indeed (& it sounds like you had a patient & skilled midwife too). 
