My water broke at 3:00 am. We tried to go back to sleep, but I'm too excited! I'm having some mild contractions, but very manageable. I have my weekly appointment at the birth center at 10:30 am.
I'm 39 weeks, 1 day. I can't wait to meet my son!
***He's here!!***
Ansel Irwin Shonle
7 lbs, 3 oz, 19 1/2 inches long
Born on June 17 at 4:26 PM, partial waterbirth at the Birth Center. His head was out while I was still in the water, then they had me stand up because his shoulder was stuck behind my pubic bone. I was resisting standing so the whole crew swooped in and lifted me up. The whole thing is pretty blurry in my head now. I wish I could remember more of it...not the pain but all of the other details.
When I went to my 10:30 appointment at the birth center, they didn't feel that my labor had established much of a pattern yet and my dilation wasn't quite at 2, so they sent me home with instructions to drink castor oil and do nipple stimulation. They were anxious to get me into more active labor by 3:00, which would be 12 hours after my water broke. My husband and I went to my sister's house, very close to the birth center, where my mom was (she just got into town the night before) and my sister and mom fed us lunch and were supportive and encouraging as I breathed through my contractions. My mom worked on some acupressure points which were supposed to help keep labor active, and I reluctantly drank some of the castor oil, but not as much as was prescribed. I had none of the laxative effects at all, but I did throw some of it up later.
I had an acupuncture appointment at 2:00, and I called ahead to speak with my acupuncturist about my status and she encouraged me to come in anyway just in case I wasn't in "active labor" enough for the birth center yet. My contractions were getting much more intense by 2:00, so it's possible that I may have already been in transition before she even got the needles in. My lunch came up while I was in her office, egh! She specializes in pregnancy acupuncture, and she used to be a homebirth midwifery assistant, so she was absolutely awesome during the whole visit.
We rushed from her office back to the birth center where I again threw up. The midwife came in and said they needed to get an external monitor on me to check the baby. So we went into one of the exam rooms to do that. I was really starting to feel the urgency of my labor at this point, and while I had the monitor on I could hardly understand what anyone was saying around me. I also had to keep rolling over toward hands and knees position whenever a contraction hit. Finally I told her I was feeling pressure and she said, "oh, okay, maybe we should check you." Yeah, Maybe!!! I was at 9 already. Everyone shifted gears and we got back into the birthing suite. They filled the tub quickly and in I went. My husband was in the tub with me. By now it was probably about 3:40 pm. I was pushing fairly quickly after we got in the tub. My sister kept saying, "You are so strong! Like a bull!" I was just delirious and loud. Next was the part I mentioned above- his head was out. The midwife asked me to stand. I didn't think I could, and my answer was something like, "WHAT?!?!" Next there were extra legs in the tub and I was lifted onto my feet. Next thing I knew the midwife was handing me this incredible little beauty. His face was a little blue, but not for long.
We were only at the center until about 9:30 that night, so we got to sleep in our own bed, which was lovely. Before I left I did have to get stitches and yow, they did some massage on my uterus which was extremely unpleasant. But the nurses and midwives were all so supportive and considerate. Nobody took the baby from us for vitals and such unless we asked them to. It was really a wonderful environment.
Thanks for all of your nice comments after my original post! I can't wait to catch up on the new posts since Tuesday to see who else has been able to meet their babes!
I'm 39 weeks, 1 day. I can't wait to meet my son!
***He's here!!***
Ansel Irwin Shonle
7 lbs, 3 oz, 19 1/2 inches long
Born on June 17 at 4:26 PM, partial waterbirth at the Birth Center. His head was out while I was still in the water, then they had me stand up because his shoulder was stuck behind my pubic bone. I was resisting standing so the whole crew swooped in and lifted me up. The whole thing is pretty blurry in my head now. I wish I could remember more of it...not the pain but all of the other details.
When I went to my 10:30 appointment at the birth center, they didn't feel that my labor had established much of a pattern yet and my dilation wasn't quite at 2, so they sent me home with instructions to drink castor oil and do nipple stimulation. They were anxious to get me into more active labor by 3:00, which would be 12 hours after my water broke. My husband and I went to my sister's house, very close to the birth center, where my mom was (she just got into town the night before) and my sister and mom fed us lunch and were supportive and encouraging as I breathed through my contractions. My mom worked on some acupressure points which were supposed to help keep labor active, and I reluctantly drank some of the castor oil, but not as much as was prescribed. I had none of the laxative effects at all, but I did throw some of it up later.
I had an acupuncture appointment at 2:00, and I called ahead to speak with my acupuncturist about my status and she encouraged me to come in anyway just in case I wasn't in "active labor" enough for the birth center yet. My contractions were getting much more intense by 2:00, so it's possible that I may have already been in transition before she even got the needles in. My lunch came up while I was in her office, egh! She specializes in pregnancy acupuncture, and she used to be a homebirth midwifery assistant, so she was absolutely awesome during the whole visit.
We rushed from her office back to the birth center where I again threw up. The midwife came in and said they needed to get an external monitor on me to check the baby. So we went into one of the exam rooms to do that. I was really starting to feel the urgency of my labor at this point, and while I had the monitor on I could hardly understand what anyone was saying around me. I also had to keep rolling over toward hands and knees position whenever a contraction hit. Finally I told her I was feeling pressure and she said, "oh, okay, maybe we should check you." Yeah, Maybe!!! I was at 9 already. Everyone shifted gears and we got back into the birthing suite. They filled the tub quickly and in I went. My husband was in the tub with me. By now it was probably about 3:40 pm. I was pushing fairly quickly after we got in the tub. My sister kept saying, "You are so strong! Like a bull!" I was just delirious and loud. Next was the part I mentioned above- his head was out. The midwife asked me to stand. I didn't think I could, and my answer was something like, "WHAT?!?!" Next there were extra legs in the tub and I was lifted onto my feet. Next thing I knew the midwife was handing me this incredible little beauty. His face was a little blue, but not for long.
We were only at the center until about 9:30 that night, so we got to sleep in our own bed, which was lovely. Before I left I did have to get stitches and yow, they did some massage on my uterus which was extremely unpleasant. But the nurses and midwives were all so supportive and considerate. Nobody took the baby from us for vitals and such unless we asked them to. It was really a wonderful environment.
Thanks for all of your nice comments after my original post! I can't wait to catch up on the new posts since Tuesday to see who else has been able to meet their babes!
Good luck, I'm so excited for you!! 
