The birth of Madeline Rain…
I woke up to a cramp at about 7:30am Friday morning-thought to myself, well I should just get up and pee again, and then-gush...I soaked my jogging pants and filled the toilet. The water had a lot of yellow in it, so I called my midwife immediately and tried not to freak out. My waters never broke before and I knew it's not supposed to have merconim in it...but my midwife said it was fine if it wasn't green at all and to try and rest if I needed to and call back when contractions started. I called Mike, my friend Tracy who was acting as a doula and told Mom who's staying with me then sat on the toilet for a bit where I could feel the baby moving down. I went back to bed and talked to my sister Kendrah on the phone for an hour or so having minor contractions at weird times-5,8,3,10, etc. Tracy got there and massaged my legs and back and that made the contractions 3 minutes apart-but still not painful-just like period cramps. Then Mike (who was working nights) suggested we watch a movie, and he promptly fell asleep and my water started gushing again. By this time it was between 3-4pm and I was beginning to freak out that labor was never going to start. I knew I was GBS+ 5 weeks ago and didn't want my water to be brokne for over 18 hours. I called my midwife back a little after 4pm, and she could tell I was stressed so she headed over. I was having to breath through some contrations by this point, but still nothing regular or too intense. I kept thinking I had tons more work to do since everyone says dry labors are more painful than intact waters, but when midwife checked me I was at 7! I literally cried with relieve and went straight to my birthing pool. I have no idea if my contractions ever did get nice and orderly, but I labored in the pool with Tracy putting counter pressure on my lower back. I seem to always have back labor even though the baby had turned to my left and was in a great position. The counter pressure was amazing! I started to worry about Mike not being there and someone went to get him. He got in the tub after a couple contractions and I turned towards him and put my head on his chest and breathed, then moaned through the contractions. Midwife checked me again and said I had a tiny lip left and push when I was ready. I really started some primal groaning then and pushed for about 4 or 5 contractions and then I could feel her head coming out. Then the hardest part-the midwife needed to turn over to my back from my swatting-I honestly didn't think I could, but somehow managed. Next push, I reached for her head with my head and could feel it squeeze out. Then I have to wait for my next urge to push. I knew I needed to breath though the first of it and pushed from the middle to the end. Someone took a picture of her head out and under the water! Midwife checked for a cord, and gave me the ok to finish, so next push she slide out. Midwife put her right onto my chest and I just marveled at her-or at least I found out it was a her after I realized I needed to check. I was in shock that I didn't have a boy-we were all so sure. But it was a rainy day and with the middle name we picked, I did have some moments of wondering in early labor.
I did have problems delivering the placenta-even after I nursed Madeline, so after midwife had giving me everything natural she had-she gave me a shot of pitocin in the arm. Finally I got over my fear of pushing more-I really hurt at that point and just did it. I was running out of time before she'd have to transfer me to the hospital (1hr limit).
Then on to the exams-no tearing for me-yeah!
Madeline was over an hour old and had pooped already by this time, but was 10 lbs even. Her Apgars were also 10/10. She is 22 inches long. Her head is 36cms and her chest 39cm! She's so solid-she even lifted her head of my chest in the tub and looked around. It was so nice hanging out in there waiting for her cord to stop and then DH cut it with a special custom knife.
My girly parts feel the best ever after this one-I think she may have nicked a tiny piece with her hand because it was up on her head. I can't say that the rest of me feels great though-my back hurts and the after pains are hurting worse than the early labor. But my milks in and she's nursing as much as you would expect from a 10 lb baby-ALL THE TIME!
Overall it was more intense than my last water birth, but I was more inwardly focused and trusted myself more. I tried to remember that my contractions can't get bigger than me because they are me-something I had just read the day before. Tracy was a huge help reminding me to trust my body. Overall, it was emotional experience for me and when I let go of the fear that something was wrong, it was just amazing.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cnminves...elineRain11907
I woke up to a cramp at about 7:30am Friday morning-thought to myself, well I should just get up and pee again, and then-gush...I soaked my jogging pants and filled the toilet. The water had a lot of yellow in it, so I called my midwife immediately and tried not to freak out. My waters never broke before and I knew it's not supposed to have merconim in it...but my midwife said it was fine if it wasn't green at all and to try and rest if I needed to and call back when contractions started. I called Mike, my friend Tracy who was acting as a doula and told Mom who's staying with me then sat on the toilet for a bit where I could feel the baby moving down. I went back to bed and talked to my sister Kendrah on the phone for an hour or so having minor contractions at weird times-5,8,3,10, etc. Tracy got there and massaged my legs and back and that made the contractions 3 minutes apart-but still not painful-just like period cramps. Then Mike (who was working nights) suggested we watch a movie, and he promptly fell asleep and my water started gushing again. By this time it was between 3-4pm and I was beginning to freak out that labor was never going to start. I knew I was GBS+ 5 weeks ago and didn't want my water to be brokne for over 18 hours. I called my midwife back a little after 4pm, and she could tell I was stressed so she headed over. I was having to breath through some contrations by this point, but still nothing regular or too intense. I kept thinking I had tons more work to do since everyone says dry labors are more painful than intact waters, but when midwife checked me I was at 7! I literally cried with relieve and went straight to my birthing pool. I have no idea if my contractions ever did get nice and orderly, but I labored in the pool with Tracy putting counter pressure on my lower back. I seem to always have back labor even though the baby had turned to my left and was in a great position. The counter pressure was amazing! I started to worry about Mike not being there and someone went to get him. He got in the tub after a couple contractions and I turned towards him and put my head on his chest and breathed, then moaned through the contractions. Midwife checked me again and said I had a tiny lip left and push when I was ready. I really started some primal groaning then and pushed for about 4 or 5 contractions and then I could feel her head coming out. Then the hardest part-the midwife needed to turn over to my back from my swatting-I honestly didn't think I could, but somehow managed. Next push, I reached for her head with my head and could feel it squeeze out. Then I have to wait for my next urge to push. I knew I needed to breath though the first of it and pushed from the middle to the end. Someone took a picture of her head out and under the water! Midwife checked for a cord, and gave me the ok to finish, so next push she slide out. Midwife put her right onto my chest and I just marveled at her-or at least I found out it was a her after I realized I needed to check. I was in shock that I didn't have a boy-we were all so sure. But it was a rainy day and with the middle name we picked, I did have some moments of wondering in early labor.
I did have problems delivering the placenta-even after I nursed Madeline, so after midwife had giving me everything natural she had-she gave me a shot of pitocin in the arm. Finally I got over my fear of pushing more-I really hurt at that point and just did it. I was running out of time before she'd have to transfer me to the hospital (1hr limit).
Then on to the exams-no tearing for me-yeah!
Madeline was over an hour old and had pooped already by this time, but was 10 lbs even. Her Apgars were also 10/10. She is 22 inches long. Her head is 36cms and her chest 39cm! She's so solid-she even lifted her head of my chest in the tub and looked around. It was so nice hanging out in there waiting for her cord to stop and then DH cut it with a special custom knife.
My girly parts feel the best ever after this one-I think she may have nicked a tiny piece with her hand because it was up on her head. I can't say that the rest of me feels great though-my back hurts and the after pains are hurting worse than the early labor. But my milks in and she's nursing as much as you would expect from a 10 lb baby-ALL THE TIME!
Overall it was more intense than my last water birth, but I was more inwardly focused and trusted myself more. I tried to remember that my contractions can't get bigger than me because they are me-something I had just read the day before. Tracy was a huge help reminding me to trust my body. Overall, it was emotional experience for me and when I let go of the fear that something was wrong, it was just amazing.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cnminves...elineRain11907
I love big babies!
