The CDs worked! I had my natural, drug-free birth! ...although I did beg for them at one point...
We are so excited to announce the arrival of our second child, Liam Gregory. He was born on Thursday, April 3, 2008 @ 5:56 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. & 20¾ in. long. Perfectly healthy!!! My labor with Liam was actually quite short (only 15 hours), especially when compared to my labor with Jack (58 hours). We almost had a homebirth as we arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half before Liam was born. My contractions began (for real) around 1 am. I spent most of the day just lying on the couch listening to my Hypnobabies CDs and trying to relax between contractions. My biggest concern this time around was resting and having the strength to endure the labor process. I was totally surprised by how exhausting labor is when I had Jack and it was exhaustion, not pain, that caused me to ask for the epidural with Jack. I really wanted to be successful with a natural, drug-free birth this time. I took a bath and a couple of showers when the pain was too much. We set up both carseats in the car around 3ish and then went for a walk to try to move my labor along. I was feeling quite discouraged as I didn’t think I was progressing quickly. Everything I had read about contractions and the later stage of labor said I wouldn’t be able to talk through them. Although several times I did cry through them, I was never really in uncontrollable pain. But again I think I cried more because I was feeling discouraged than anything. The pain I was having didn’t even seem as bad as my first labor so that is why I thought I wasn’t progressing. We called the doctor right after our walk around 3:30 and she wanted us to come in and just get checked since my contractions were 5-7 mins apart and this was my second child. We got to the office around 4ish. I prayed the whole way she would say 4 cm…please don’t say 1 cm as what happened the first time. I had a few bad contractions there while she checked me. 8-9cm! WHAT!? Are you kidding me? I started crying. I couldn’t believe I was that far along. She sent me upstairs and I was admitted. My contractions got pretty bad. I really only felt comfortable lying partially on my side…not a good position for birthing. Everyone was trying to get me to start pushing but I couldn’t relax my body enough. I was begging for drugs…I just couldn’t get my legs to relax; they were all clinched and tense. My doctor told me it was too late…all I remember is asking for just a little bit, not the whole dose…just something to take the edge off…I laugh now b/c I sounded like a crackhead. This went on for what felt like an eternity but at most it was 15 minutes. Then all of a sudden my body took over and the baby just started coming out all on his own. It was the most alien feeling b/c I felt like I had no control; it was just this unbelievably overwhelming need to go to the bathroom. Then three pushes later, Liam was born and I finally heard the words…“It’s a…boy!” I am so happy.
Jack is really great with his little brother. He loves to give him kisses and “gentle” touches although his touches are far from gentle. He gets upset sometimes when he is tired and he wants to be held by whoever is holding Liam. But mostly he is adjusting well.
Breastfeeding is going okay. He has a very shallow latch that we are trying to correct. He has ripped me up pretty good but it is not nearly as painful as it was with Jack. I’m hoping by the weekend we will be all set and Liam will be a pro.
Well here are some pics…
http://www.babyhomepages.net/babyb2/index.php
I just feel yucky.
