Lorelie Siobhan was born this morning (August 16) at 12:38 am, after 51 hours of labor, including at work, on trial, and in the subway. I achieved the birth I wanted -- a drug-free mama and a drug-free baby -- but it was a struggle, including going mano-a-mano with my midwife when I got "stalled" at 8 cm. After I thought I was all done with transition! Best part about it was the jacuzzi and DH's awe of me. There was one intervention for which I was grateful -- I got an IV drip for hydration, since I couldn't keep anything down since pretty early into labor (glad I had read about that possibility in Adventures in Natural Childbirth and seen it on "House of Babies") -- I could walk with the IV and I definitely needed the sugar after 24 hours. Also, for early labor, get yourself a chin-up (that goes in the door jam) bar from which to hang -- it felt great -- almost as good as the poles in the subway! Things I would have wished I had done: talked through all possible permutations of birthing contingencies more thoroughly with my MW beforehand (I was shocked that she doesn't PERMIT Pitocin without an epidural -- not that I wanted or had either, but it was jarring to find that out for the first time when it was on the table). Afterward she said I was the most stubborn person she had ever met and more committed to natural childbirth than anyone she had seen in 39 years of catching babies (she said that in a "she's crazy" way to DH) but also that I was magnificent. I will write more later, but my personal take-away is that labor does hurt, is hard, and takes too long, and immediately thereafter I was like, "Let's do this again!" The pushing thing isn't painful but isn't intuitive either -- it took me 2 hours and 8 minutes. I think once I have a chance to process it I will feel triumphant. Now I feel just so in love with her. She found her thumb already and knows how to soothe herself -- my MW thinks that that's what the shooting pains in the vagina toward the end were! SHe has an extremely strong sucking reflex. She is seven pounds of perfection. I really should get some more sleep while she is sleeping...
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It's a Girl!
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8/16/07 at 5:36pm
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8/16/07 at 6:05pm
It sounds like you had a wonderful birth. Enjoy your babymoon! 
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