I had a great pregnancy up until 34.5 weeks. My son was in the perfect head down position until I started having "preterm labor" at 34.5 weeks. I question whether it was really preterm labor or braxton hicks contractions. My midwife hooked me up to a monitor, and I was having contractions every 5 minutes for about the hour she monitored me. However, she was also getting ready to go out of town and acted conservatively (admittedly) and put me on Terbutaline and bed rest. I compare my actual labor contractions to the supposed preterm labor and think that it probably was BH. The preterm labor contractions were like a very deep squeezing and hardening of the upper belly. They could take my breath away. Anyway, I think the week and a half of bed rest is what caused a posterior presentation towards the end of my pregnancy. I went to the chiropractor weekly in my last trimester, but I admit I was lazy about sitting properly towards the end as I got really uncomfortable. I am a short lady and short waisted so my son's foot was always in my ribs and leaning back helped. I feel doubt regarding the bed rest and Terbutaline. I think if I really was in labor that maybe my body knew it should birth the baby then. I think he would have been fine, he was already 7 or more pounds. However, my midwife was concerned that the lungs weren't fully developed yet because I wasn't past the 36 week mark. I wish I hadn't taken the terbutaline and let it all happen naturally. However, if I had gone into labor then I would have had to go to the hospital.
I went into labor 5 days past my due date. I started laboring at 2am and was unable to sleep and felt like I had to be moving every time I had a contraction despite a warm bath and shower. So I labored until about 7am and then my doula arrived at my home. I labored until about 10am at home and then headed up to the birth center so my midwife could check progress before she had to go to a funeral. Since I was 4 cm she went ahead to the funeral and I stayed at the BC to avoid another car ride. I was handling labor fine, but honestly I was terrified of the pain to come and probably held back a lot. I had a lot of back labor due to a posterior presentation. So when my midwife arrived back at the BC, I had dilated to a 6-7 and walked around and squatted a lot. It became very painful at this point especially when squatting and I vomited a 2nd time. So when my midwife checked me again, I was dilated at 9 cm and I was so happy to know that I was getting through the difficult part and would soon be pushing. My midwife suggested we break my water at this point but I was unsure. Really because I was just so afraid of the pain to come. She broke my water and there was a lot of merconium and the labor got so much worse, totally painful back labor. I have no idea what time it was. However when she checked me again, I had regressed back to 7 cm. My midwife says it was because the bag of water was pushing open the cervix. She decided to do a procedure to help push open my cervix. Total HELL!!!! We did this twice. She suggested Stadol at some point and an IV. I agreed after the agonizing pain of transition never ending. Then around 9pm she said she thought I should go to the hospital for an epidural because I was not progressing and in so much pain. I agreed reluctantly but relieved at the same time. The car ride was pure agony. I had to wait at the hospital while they asked me the most RIDICULOUS questions to register me. I waited for an hour before I got an epidural. Sweet relief when the epidural kicked in. Then it stopped working after 30 min and I was back in the labor, only the edge was taken off. Then my baby's heartbeat either dropped or increased, I can't remember for sure. This was after they started pushing pitocin. I had no will to argue and no real back up. My doula and husband were there but I didn't know what to do anymore since everything had gone so unaccording to plan and I couldn't think clearly anymore. My natural labor and delivery was quickly fading away and my fears were being realized. I didn't prepare for this at all and I had absolutely believed that I would never have a c-section. I ended up having a c-section after 24 hours of labor. After all this my son was born a healthy 8 lbs 9 oz. The doctor thought I had plenty of room to birth him, however he never turned nor did I progress past a 7.
Could I have had a vaginal delivery if I had not allowed my water to be broken, could my son have been vaginally delivered in caul? I know my fear held us back too.
Thank you for any info or input!
I can't believe he will be a year old in a little over a week!
I went into labor 5 days past my due date. I started laboring at 2am and was unable to sleep and felt like I had to be moving every time I had a contraction despite a warm bath and shower. So I labored until about 7am and then my doula arrived at my home. I labored until about 10am at home and then headed up to the birth center so my midwife could check progress before she had to go to a funeral. Since I was 4 cm she went ahead to the funeral and I stayed at the BC to avoid another car ride. I was handling labor fine, but honestly I was terrified of the pain to come and probably held back a lot. I had a lot of back labor due to a posterior presentation. So when my midwife arrived back at the BC, I had dilated to a 6-7 and walked around and squatted a lot. It became very painful at this point especially when squatting and I vomited a 2nd time. So when my midwife checked me again, I was dilated at 9 cm and I was so happy to know that I was getting through the difficult part and would soon be pushing. My midwife suggested we break my water at this point but I was unsure. Really because I was just so afraid of the pain to come. She broke my water and there was a lot of merconium and the labor got so much worse, totally painful back labor. I have no idea what time it was. However when she checked me again, I had regressed back to 7 cm. My midwife says it was because the bag of water was pushing open the cervix. She decided to do a procedure to help push open my cervix. Total HELL!!!! We did this twice. She suggested Stadol at some point and an IV. I agreed after the agonizing pain of transition never ending. Then around 9pm she said she thought I should go to the hospital for an epidural because I was not progressing and in so much pain. I agreed reluctantly but relieved at the same time. The car ride was pure agony. I had to wait at the hospital while they asked me the most RIDICULOUS questions to register me. I waited for an hour before I got an epidural. Sweet relief when the epidural kicked in. Then it stopped working after 30 min and I was back in the labor, only the edge was taken off. Then my baby's heartbeat either dropped or increased, I can't remember for sure. This was after they started pushing pitocin. I had no will to argue and no real back up. My doula and husband were there but I didn't know what to do anymore since everything had gone so unaccording to plan and I couldn't think clearly anymore. My natural labor and delivery was quickly fading away and my fears were being realized. I didn't prepare for this at all and I had absolutely believed that I would never have a c-section. I ended up having a c-section after 24 hours of labor. After all this my son was born a healthy 8 lbs 9 oz. The doctor thought I had plenty of room to birth him, however he never turned nor did I progress past a 7.
Could I have had a vaginal delivery if I had not allowed my water to be broken, could my son have been vaginally delivered in caul? I know my fear held us back too.
Thank you for any info or input!
I can't believe he will be a year old in a little over a week!
