Sorry this took me so long!
Ok, here’s my story.
On June 24th, I woke up at 4:00am and felt my water break (just a trickle). I ran into the bathroom to make sure… and wasn’t 100% positive, but I was pretty sure. So I went back to bed, and got a nice, strong contraction. Then 20 minutes later I got another one. I tried to listen to my Hypnobabies and fall back to sleep, but I was too excited to sleep. I was finally in labor!!! And yes, it was my water that I felt.
I started timing contractions around 5:00, and for an hour they were 6 minutes apart. Not long after that, Brett woke up, and I told him my water broke (he said he hasn’t seen me that happy since I found out I was pregnant). He tried to go back to sleep, but he was too excited too I think. Around 6:45, my contractions were still nice and strong (but I was definitely able to relax through them with no problems), and still 6 minutes apart. I then called my midwife to let her know. She said she’d shower and make her way over. In the meantime, my father-in-law picked up Colin. Colin was gone and the midwife (Susan) was here by about 7:45 or so. We sat and talked a little bit (and I finished my breakfast) and contractions were still 6 minutes apart and still very manageable. I had to relax and breathe through them, and if I was up doing something I’d have to quick sit down to be able to relax enough, but they weren’t bad at all. Around 8:15 Susan wanted to check baby’s position and make sure he was still in a good position. He was! His heartrate was also good. She asked if she could check to see how dilated I was, to get an estimate, since I was GBS+ and she wanted to get the IV started if I was progressing pretty well. I agreed, she checked me, and to my surprise, I was 5-6 cm already! I had only made it to 4 cm with Colin before the epidural, and these contractions were NOTHING like they were with Colin (they were Pitocin induced with Colin, that’s why), and I would’ve guessed maybe 3 cm. That made me happy!
So she decided it was a great time to start the IV. She tried on my left side (my good side usually for sticks), and that didn’t work, so she tried my right side…. That didn’t work. Nuts! She decided to call the nurse (who lives 5 minutes away), who works in L&D come over to do it. So she was here maybe around 9am. At this point, my contractions started picking up, getting stronger and closer together. She kept trying to look at my veins and see which one would be best. I kept having contractions (I wasn’t timing, but I know there wasn’t more than a minute in between), making it hard. It felt best to be sitting, and they had me on my bed trying to get the IV in, laying down, so it made it harder to get through them. Finally, she tried to get the IV in and THAT didn’t work. I finally just asked if we could forget about the IV, because I was getting too distracted with them trying to put the IV in and the contractions were getting hard to get through. I had finally had two contractions that I couldn’t relax for, and was grabbing ahold of Brett, kind of yelling, screaming, or whatever, that it hurt. He was “trained” by me to tell me it was just pressure and tightening that I felt (Hypnobabies program), and I yelled at him “YES IT DOES HURT!” Poor guy. He did great though. Such a good support, telling me the whole time how great I was doing.
Susan asked if she could check me again, because she was going to send the nurse back home until it was close to delivery time. She checked me and I was complete!!!! Two contractions at this point that were not manageable to just relax through! And I might add that the contractions I felt at this point were exactly what I felt at 4cm with Pitocin with my first! Pitocin IS awful, I would NEVER get it again! Anyway, I asked if I could FINALLY get in the pool, and of course she said yes. I RAN out to the living room, taking off my tank top and throwing it, and JUMPED into the pool. It felt SO good! Brett came out right behind me, and sat behind me. All of a sudden my body started pushing. I had NO control over it, it just happened. While pushing through the first contraction, I reached down to see if I felt anything, and his head was right there! The midwife and nurse were both away from the pool, obviously not thinking I’d get to crowning this quickly. So I yelled “Head!” and they both came over. I got another contraction, and there went my body again, pushing baby out. I kept my hand down there, pushed his head out inch by inch, then finally his head was out, and the rest of him came out with just a bit of pushing. 8 minutes total is what my midwife guessed it to be. What relief!!! I tried not to push too hard, because I really didn’t want to tear, but at the same time, I was just going with my body, following its lead. The midwife pulled him up onto my chest for me. He didn’t make a sound at first and his heart rate was a bit slow, so they gently rubbed him and he pinked up immediately and cried just a bit. Brett was just so emotional and amazed. Oh, and I remember while I was pushing, I was yelling/screaming/moaning or something, and my dog, who was downstairs, started barking. He was quite concerned.
His apgars were 6 and 10. But she said that it’s normal for a waterbirth baby to get a lower 1 minute score, which she had warned us about ahead of time. The placenta followed a quick 3 minutes later, with barely a push from me. We got out of the tub, she checked me (two or three skid marks, they weren’t bleeding, no stitches!!!), and I moved my way over to the couch. He licked around my nipple for the first 20 minutes or so, then latched on for about 30 minutes. The nurse and midwife stayed for two hours then left us alone. I had a post-partum home visit the next day with my midwife, and all is great.
He is absolutely wonderful. Big brother loves him… he’s a bit rambunctious all of a sudden, testing us a bit, but is very gentle with the baby. My skid-marks never bothered me, my bleeding is down to just some light spotting already, and I feel absolutely wonderful! The afterpains were a bit surprising, as I didn’t really get them with my first. But after the second day they weren’t bad. But the first day, they felt just like the contractions I was getting when I was about 5-6 cm! My milk came in yesterday morning, no more meconium, and he’s sleeping in nice stretches at night for me so far (knock on wood). He’s a spitter-upper, just like his older brother (bummer). My nipples are a bit sore, but no more than they were with my first, and that went away after the first week or so. His latch looks ok, and he’s already had 4 poopie and wet diapers today, so I’m sure he’s getting enough. Anyway, that’s my story.
Hudson Levi
6/24/08 9:33am
7lb 4oz 20in long
Here's some pics!
Belly pics from my due date, June 21st:
http://i32.tinypic.com/333jsld.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2anozc.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/2znv0g5.jpg
DH and I on my due date(birth bead necklace on, that I forgot to wear during the birth!):
http://i29.tinypic.com/11adgd3.jpg
Last pic of me and my son, about 1 hour and 45 minutes before he became a big brother:
http://i25.tinypic.com/2s1162u.jpg
Hudson Levi:
http://i25.tinypic.com/rkr21j.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/2z6fo08.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/2071bba.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2nvgnjb.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/2hxc1mc.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2yzh3zc.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/rk2bz6.jpg
Ok, here’s my story.
On June 24th, I woke up at 4:00am and felt my water break (just a trickle). I ran into the bathroom to make sure… and wasn’t 100% positive, but I was pretty sure. So I went back to bed, and got a nice, strong contraction. Then 20 minutes later I got another one. I tried to listen to my Hypnobabies and fall back to sleep, but I was too excited to sleep. I was finally in labor!!! And yes, it was my water that I felt.
I started timing contractions around 5:00, and for an hour they were 6 minutes apart. Not long after that, Brett woke up, and I told him my water broke (he said he hasn’t seen me that happy since I found out I was pregnant). He tried to go back to sleep, but he was too excited too I think. Around 6:45, my contractions were still nice and strong (but I was definitely able to relax through them with no problems), and still 6 minutes apart. I then called my midwife to let her know. She said she’d shower and make her way over. In the meantime, my father-in-law picked up Colin. Colin was gone and the midwife (Susan) was here by about 7:45 or so. We sat and talked a little bit (and I finished my breakfast) and contractions were still 6 minutes apart and still very manageable. I had to relax and breathe through them, and if I was up doing something I’d have to quick sit down to be able to relax enough, but they weren’t bad at all. Around 8:15 Susan wanted to check baby’s position and make sure he was still in a good position. He was! His heartrate was also good. She asked if she could check to see how dilated I was, to get an estimate, since I was GBS+ and she wanted to get the IV started if I was progressing pretty well. I agreed, she checked me, and to my surprise, I was 5-6 cm already! I had only made it to 4 cm with Colin before the epidural, and these contractions were NOTHING like they were with Colin (they were Pitocin induced with Colin, that’s why), and I would’ve guessed maybe 3 cm. That made me happy!
So she decided it was a great time to start the IV. She tried on my left side (my good side usually for sticks), and that didn’t work, so she tried my right side…. That didn’t work. Nuts! She decided to call the nurse (who lives 5 minutes away), who works in L&D come over to do it. So she was here maybe around 9am. At this point, my contractions started picking up, getting stronger and closer together. She kept trying to look at my veins and see which one would be best. I kept having contractions (I wasn’t timing, but I know there wasn’t more than a minute in between), making it hard. It felt best to be sitting, and they had me on my bed trying to get the IV in, laying down, so it made it harder to get through them. Finally, she tried to get the IV in and THAT didn’t work. I finally just asked if we could forget about the IV, because I was getting too distracted with them trying to put the IV in and the contractions were getting hard to get through. I had finally had two contractions that I couldn’t relax for, and was grabbing ahold of Brett, kind of yelling, screaming, or whatever, that it hurt. He was “trained” by me to tell me it was just pressure and tightening that I felt (Hypnobabies program), and I yelled at him “YES IT DOES HURT!” Poor guy. He did great though. Such a good support, telling me the whole time how great I was doing.
Susan asked if she could check me again, because she was going to send the nurse back home until it was close to delivery time. She checked me and I was complete!!!! Two contractions at this point that were not manageable to just relax through! And I might add that the contractions I felt at this point were exactly what I felt at 4cm with Pitocin with my first! Pitocin IS awful, I would NEVER get it again! Anyway, I asked if I could FINALLY get in the pool, and of course she said yes. I RAN out to the living room, taking off my tank top and throwing it, and JUMPED into the pool. It felt SO good! Brett came out right behind me, and sat behind me. All of a sudden my body started pushing. I had NO control over it, it just happened. While pushing through the first contraction, I reached down to see if I felt anything, and his head was right there! The midwife and nurse were both away from the pool, obviously not thinking I’d get to crowning this quickly. So I yelled “Head!” and they both came over. I got another contraction, and there went my body again, pushing baby out. I kept my hand down there, pushed his head out inch by inch, then finally his head was out, and the rest of him came out with just a bit of pushing. 8 minutes total is what my midwife guessed it to be. What relief!!! I tried not to push too hard, because I really didn’t want to tear, but at the same time, I was just going with my body, following its lead. The midwife pulled him up onto my chest for me. He didn’t make a sound at first and his heart rate was a bit slow, so they gently rubbed him and he pinked up immediately and cried just a bit. Brett was just so emotional and amazed. Oh, and I remember while I was pushing, I was yelling/screaming/moaning or something, and my dog, who was downstairs, started barking. He was quite concerned.
His apgars were 6 and 10. But she said that it’s normal for a waterbirth baby to get a lower 1 minute score, which she had warned us about ahead of time. The placenta followed a quick 3 minutes later, with barely a push from me. We got out of the tub, she checked me (two or three skid marks, they weren’t bleeding, no stitches!!!), and I moved my way over to the couch. He licked around my nipple for the first 20 minutes or so, then latched on for about 30 minutes. The nurse and midwife stayed for two hours then left us alone. I had a post-partum home visit the next day with my midwife, and all is great.
He is absolutely wonderful. Big brother loves him… he’s a bit rambunctious all of a sudden, testing us a bit, but is very gentle with the baby. My skid-marks never bothered me, my bleeding is down to just some light spotting already, and I feel absolutely wonderful! The afterpains were a bit surprising, as I didn’t really get them with my first. But after the second day they weren’t bad. But the first day, they felt just like the contractions I was getting when I was about 5-6 cm! My milk came in yesterday morning, no more meconium, and he’s sleeping in nice stretches at night for me so far (knock on wood). He’s a spitter-upper, just like his older brother (bummer). My nipples are a bit sore, but no more than they were with my first, and that went away after the first week or so. His latch looks ok, and he’s already had 4 poopie and wet diapers today, so I’m sure he’s getting enough. Anyway, that’s my story.
Hudson Levi
6/24/08 9:33am
7lb 4oz 20in long
Here's some pics!
Belly pics from my due date, June 21st:
http://i32.tinypic.com/333jsld.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2anozc.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/2znv0g5.jpg
DH and I on my due date(birth bead necklace on, that I forgot to wear during the birth!):
http://i29.tinypic.com/11adgd3.jpg
Last pic of me and my son, about 1 hour and 45 minutes before he became a big brother:
http://i25.tinypic.com/2s1162u.jpg
Hudson Levi:
http://i25.tinypic.com/rkr21j.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/2z6fo08.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/2071bba.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2nvgnjb.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/2hxc1mc.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2yzh3zc.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/rk2bz6.jpg
