I promised i'd add a birth story, so here it is!
My blood pressure hadn't been doing great for the past few weeks. Every time the midwife checked it was higher. Over the weekend i'd been hoping to go into labor naturally but all I got were some painful pre-labor contractions that I couldn't sleep through. After little to no sleep for 3 nights, I went in for my midwife appointment hoping for some good news on tuesday. Unfortunately I only got worse news.
My blood pressure was 140/100.
I knew that wasn't good. So, we started talking about my options. She said I had the option of waiting 2 days to see if I went into labor on my own... but that that was all she'd be willing to give me. I was completely exhuasted and it didn't seem probable that i'd simply go into labor when my body was clearly so not ready. I was only a centimeter dilated and still had no effacement. My cervix was getting slightly softer... but not much.
I asked her what my options were for an induction, since I still wanted to go as natural as possible. She said that pitocin was a last resort for her that she'd only use if either the other things didn't work, or if my blood pressure got too high during the process (because then i'd have to be put on anti-seizure meds). So we decided to start out with a foley catheter and go from there. If things didn't progress... we could always try breaking my water.
She inserted the catheter around 6 or 7pm after she finished out the rest of her appointments for the day. She also handed me the syringe she used to fill the catheter with just in case something went wrong and I felt the need to remove it. I shrugged and said i'd probably be fine, but took the syringe anyway. We both figured that i'd slowly dialate overnight and that i'd come in at 8am the next morning and check in at the hospital and go through a nice slow labor progression and have the baby sometime the next evening.
Well, once in the car I started having a few contractions that seemed similar to my pre-labor contractions. So I smiled and just figured i'd have more of these through the night and sleep right through them with the aid of Ambian CR. lol. We got to walgreens and put in my order for the pills around 8pm. In the parking lot before getting into the car I actually had a contraction and leaned over the car door to breathe through it. A guy in the parking lot was like "are you ok?" and I was like "yes, i'm fine" and he was like "are you sure?" and I was like "yeah, really, i'm fine". lol.
When we got home I sat down to write my husband an email and update him with what was going on. I got halfway through the email and bam, went into active labor. My contractions were suddenly just intense and only 1 minute apart. I was shocked! Suddenly I was breathing through contractions 30 seconds to 45 seconds long with only 15 second breaks inbetween. They were practically on top of each other. The pain was overwhelming and I didn't know what to do.
So, my mom stripped me and got me into the tub. The hot water felt amazing and I felt much better at first. I had less of a hard time working through the pain for sure. My mom started making phone calls right away and got the doula on her way over. She felt she could better manage with the doula there to help us through these contractions, plus my mom needed an extra hand. She also called up my sister and had her on her way over. She left for only a few minutes to go to the walgreens and pick up my prescription. But of course the tub was cooling quickly... and by the time she returned it wasn't doing anything for me anymore. The contractions were even more intense then. She wanted to get me out of the tub but couldn't get me up... and I didn't have the strength to get up either. So, she just emptied the tub and tried several more times to get me up once it was empty.
Next she tried using a hot pack on my lower belly while massaging my back. I breathed the best I could through the contractions... but the hot pack was doing nothing to help me at all. My mom suggested removing the catheter, since it was obviously over-effective. The first couple times she asked I said no... but finally the pain was just so much that I gave in and said to take it out. It wasn't long until the doula and my sister were both there. The doula started coaching me through contractions right from the start. My mom had the midwife on the phone, a second time by then. The first time, the midwife had just said that I was probably over-reacting and that the contractions were probably just like period cramping and that pretty soon it'd get less intense and i'd be able to take the pill and go to sleep. This of course was so not happening. lol. My contractions were much more intense than period cramps and I couldn't talk through them.
My mom suggested I try using my birth ball. We got the ball all set up with pillows next to it and a pillowcase over it for me to rest my head on. And then I got down and layed my head on it and my arms over it. The doula was behind me working on my back and coaching me through each contraction which progressively were getting much and much stronger. My mom and sister were scrambling around at that point... we were sure that we were heading to the hospital tonight instead. The doula got on the phone with the midwife and told her she was pretty sure I was in active labor, not early labor. So, the midwife agreed that we should check into the hospital. She still figured the labor would be nice and long and she'd just come in the morning and be around for a few hours before the baby would come. She called ahead to the hospital and warned them that we were coming.
I had my sister sit next to me in the back seat to help me through the contractions. I was too shaken up to think of trying to breathe through any of them alone. My sister did the best she could helping me breathe through the contractions not really knowing anything about them... but she was encouraging anyway. She put her hand on mine and gently massaged it as we were heading to the hospital 30 minutes away. My doula was following us in her truck and actually got pulled over for following us too closely!! It was kind-of amusing.
We got down to the area where the hospital was and then started looking for the hospital. We figured out where the general hospital was... but couldn't seem to locate the maternity center. We knew it was a brick building though... so we started looking for one. By this time my contractions were very very intense and I could barely bear them. Breathing through them on my own just wasn't working anymore. And then the next thing I knew I thought I felt my water break. I immediately went into a panic. For some reason I was convinced I was going to give birth in the car or just die of the pain I was feeling. I just started screaming and shrieking and hyperventilating. I think I probably freaked out the few people that were actually out on the street at that hour. We saw a sign that said emergency maternity entrance and my mom pulled up on the curb and ran to the doors... which were locked. Then figured out that the sign was pointing around the corner. So she hopped back in the car and drove around the block and sure enough, there was the maternity emergency entrance. She ran over to that door and used the buzzer, and in only seconds there were nurses out there with a wheelchair and helped me into it.
As soon as we got in the hospital I calmed right down (kinda opposite of what I was expecting since i'm afraid of hospitals!) and started breathing normally again. The contractions slowed down again... this time to about 3-4 minutes apart, and I was able to gain control of myself again.
In the triage I started having contractions that were bad enough to throw me into a little bit of a panic every time they started. But of course the doula was right there in my face and would snap me back to focusing on my breathing and relaxing. I'm not sure how long we were in triage for... maybe an hour or two. They had to kick half of my support crew out temporarily though because they had a few more women come in. Eventually they transfered me to my own room and actually had me walk there. They convinced me that standing was going to be one of the best positions for me to be in. At the time I didn't entirely agree but gave it a try.
We got to my room and tried different positions for laboring. I tried standing, I tried sitting. And then at some point they suggested the bathroom jacuzzi tub. So, I got into that and the water felt great. I had a much easier time relaxing through the contractions (with the doula's coaching). I got so hot though just sitting in there. So they kept bringing cold wash clothes over and putting them on my face. But they heated up so fast on my face that i'd feel hot all over again within minutes. Then the tub started cooling off and they had to refill it again. By this time the labor tub people were finally setting up my labor tub in my room. I stayed in the jacuzzi a little while longer... but started getting nervous because I just felt so hot and overwhelmed in the tub. And then my hands were freezing up with pain... and that alone freaked me out. I started to feel so hot that it felt like I couldn't breathe in the tub. I begged to be let out of it. They got me out and took me over to the bed again. They convinced me to try out standing again. I swayed on my feet holding onto my doula's neck. Unfortunately she was shorter than me and i had to really hang down.
My midwife finally showed up and got into some scrubs to come help out. I started feeling a lot of pressure at this point in my rear end. I told everyone that I felt like I was going to crap all over the place any second. They kept telling me that was great... that the baby was coming down. Of course I was just certain that this meant the baby was going to come out my ass instead! lol. I had a lot of trapped gas and was actually somewhat constipated at that point in time... so I really felt some extra discomfort.
We tried putting the birth ball on the bed and had me get on my hands and knees laying over it. The doula massaged my back some while coaching me hard through each contraction. The contractions were so close together and I was barely getting a break at all. They suggested I get into my labor tub, which was now ready. But I knew I wasn't allowed to birth in that tub in the hospital... and due to my new fear of hot water tubs... I refused to go anywhere near it! I didn't want to have to climb out of it again... and I was certain that i'd be giving birth any minute. Instead I just went back to standing again. This time the midwife agreed to hold me. She was much taller than my doula or me, so it was easy to hang off of her.
I kept feeling the urge to push and the midwife encouraged me to do so... and so that's what I kept doing. It wasn't long before I started pushing out the amniotic fluid sac and I felt it slipping out of me. I was like "something is coming out of me! What is it?!" and she checked and was like "that would be your water sac..." and handed me off to the doula... and just after that the sac popped all over her shoes. The doula was like "hey! you just didn't want to get your feet wet!" to the midwife. lol. I remember that my transitional contractions didn't really hurt... they were pushing... whether I liked it or not!
After my water broke, the midwife decided it was time to get me on the bed so they could get me in position for birth. I was so worn out at that point, we just went for the side laying position. My friend held my left leg, while my mother in law steadied my right foot on the bed. I pushed and pushed for what felt like forever... but was only actually a few minutes time. They kept telling me the baby's head was getting closer and closer to coming out. I was like "yeah right" cus it certainly didn't feel that way to me! I felt like I was trying my hardest to take a crap but just couldn't get it out. I knew then that there was just no way that I wasn't going to tear... there would be a tear or two... I knew that. Eventually I felt her head just at the lip and was pushing and yelling and grunting trying my hardest to get her to pop out of that lip. I finally pushed her head out and they suctioned her and got her all ready to go. And then they asked me to push out the shoulders. I felt like I didn't have the energy... but in two more pushes she was out!
They placed her right on top of me right away. She was pooping like crazy and pooped all over me. They wiped her off... only for her to poop some more! It took them till after everyone left to figure they needed a diaper on that girl! lol. She kept popping for several changes after that. I started calling her the poopy queen. lol. While she was laying on me only 5 mins after she was born my DH called from the ship. He'd gotten word that I was in labor, and called finding out just then that she had been born. He was so happy! The midwife stitched me up soon after. I had 3 tears... two needed stitches but were still only small tears.
She was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.
It was a very exhausting birth experience... and unfortunately I didn't get much sleep afterward even. I just couldn't get comfortable! And the first night alone with her I nearly broke down in tears just trying to feed her so she'd sleep. I finally figured out that she mostly just really wanted to sleep next to me. She slept next to me for part of the night last night too. She just really likes to be close to mommy i guess.
I have a few pics up right now if you click on the link in my signature. I have to get on my mom's computer to go get the rest of the pics for everyone.
My blood pressure hadn't been doing great for the past few weeks. Every time the midwife checked it was higher. Over the weekend i'd been hoping to go into labor naturally but all I got were some painful pre-labor contractions that I couldn't sleep through. After little to no sleep for 3 nights, I went in for my midwife appointment hoping for some good news on tuesday. Unfortunately I only got worse news.
My blood pressure was 140/100.
I knew that wasn't good. So, we started talking about my options. She said I had the option of waiting 2 days to see if I went into labor on my own... but that that was all she'd be willing to give me. I was completely exhuasted and it didn't seem probable that i'd simply go into labor when my body was clearly so not ready. I was only a centimeter dilated and still had no effacement. My cervix was getting slightly softer... but not much.I asked her what my options were for an induction, since I still wanted to go as natural as possible. She said that pitocin was a last resort for her that she'd only use if either the other things didn't work, or if my blood pressure got too high during the process (because then i'd have to be put on anti-seizure meds). So we decided to start out with a foley catheter and go from there. If things didn't progress... we could always try breaking my water.
She inserted the catheter around 6 or 7pm after she finished out the rest of her appointments for the day. She also handed me the syringe she used to fill the catheter with just in case something went wrong and I felt the need to remove it. I shrugged and said i'd probably be fine, but took the syringe anyway. We both figured that i'd slowly dialate overnight and that i'd come in at 8am the next morning and check in at the hospital and go through a nice slow labor progression and have the baby sometime the next evening.
Well, once in the car I started having a few contractions that seemed similar to my pre-labor contractions. So I smiled and just figured i'd have more of these through the night and sleep right through them with the aid of Ambian CR. lol. We got to walgreens and put in my order for the pills around 8pm. In the parking lot before getting into the car I actually had a contraction and leaned over the car door to breathe through it. A guy in the parking lot was like "are you ok?" and I was like "yes, i'm fine" and he was like "are you sure?" and I was like "yeah, really, i'm fine". lol.
When we got home I sat down to write my husband an email and update him with what was going on. I got halfway through the email and bam, went into active labor. My contractions were suddenly just intense and only 1 minute apart. I was shocked! Suddenly I was breathing through contractions 30 seconds to 45 seconds long with only 15 second breaks inbetween. They were practically on top of each other. The pain was overwhelming and I didn't know what to do.
So, my mom stripped me and got me into the tub. The hot water felt amazing and I felt much better at first. I had less of a hard time working through the pain for sure. My mom started making phone calls right away and got the doula on her way over. She felt she could better manage with the doula there to help us through these contractions, plus my mom needed an extra hand. She also called up my sister and had her on her way over. She left for only a few minutes to go to the walgreens and pick up my prescription. But of course the tub was cooling quickly... and by the time she returned it wasn't doing anything for me anymore. The contractions were even more intense then. She wanted to get me out of the tub but couldn't get me up... and I didn't have the strength to get up either. So, she just emptied the tub and tried several more times to get me up once it was empty.
Next she tried using a hot pack on my lower belly while massaging my back. I breathed the best I could through the contractions... but the hot pack was doing nothing to help me at all. My mom suggested removing the catheter, since it was obviously over-effective. The first couple times she asked I said no... but finally the pain was just so much that I gave in and said to take it out. It wasn't long until the doula and my sister were both there. The doula started coaching me through contractions right from the start. My mom had the midwife on the phone, a second time by then. The first time, the midwife had just said that I was probably over-reacting and that the contractions were probably just like period cramping and that pretty soon it'd get less intense and i'd be able to take the pill and go to sleep. This of course was so not happening. lol. My contractions were much more intense than period cramps and I couldn't talk through them.
My mom suggested I try using my birth ball. We got the ball all set up with pillows next to it and a pillowcase over it for me to rest my head on. And then I got down and layed my head on it and my arms over it. The doula was behind me working on my back and coaching me through each contraction which progressively were getting much and much stronger. My mom and sister were scrambling around at that point... we were sure that we were heading to the hospital tonight instead. The doula got on the phone with the midwife and told her she was pretty sure I was in active labor, not early labor. So, the midwife agreed that we should check into the hospital. She still figured the labor would be nice and long and she'd just come in the morning and be around for a few hours before the baby would come. She called ahead to the hospital and warned them that we were coming.
I had my sister sit next to me in the back seat to help me through the contractions. I was too shaken up to think of trying to breathe through any of them alone. My sister did the best she could helping me breathe through the contractions not really knowing anything about them... but she was encouraging anyway. She put her hand on mine and gently massaged it as we were heading to the hospital 30 minutes away. My doula was following us in her truck and actually got pulled over for following us too closely!! It was kind-of amusing.
We got down to the area where the hospital was and then started looking for the hospital. We figured out where the general hospital was... but couldn't seem to locate the maternity center. We knew it was a brick building though... so we started looking for one. By this time my contractions were very very intense and I could barely bear them. Breathing through them on my own just wasn't working anymore. And then the next thing I knew I thought I felt my water break. I immediately went into a panic. For some reason I was convinced I was going to give birth in the car or just die of the pain I was feeling. I just started screaming and shrieking and hyperventilating. I think I probably freaked out the few people that were actually out on the street at that hour. We saw a sign that said emergency maternity entrance and my mom pulled up on the curb and ran to the doors... which were locked. Then figured out that the sign was pointing around the corner. So she hopped back in the car and drove around the block and sure enough, there was the maternity emergency entrance. She ran over to that door and used the buzzer, and in only seconds there were nurses out there with a wheelchair and helped me into it.
As soon as we got in the hospital I calmed right down (kinda opposite of what I was expecting since i'm afraid of hospitals!) and started breathing normally again. The contractions slowed down again... this time to about 3-4 minutes apart, and I was able to gain control of myself again.
In the triage I started having contractions that were bad enough to throw me into a little bit of a panic every time they started. But of course the doula was right there in my face and would snap me back to focusing on my breathing and relaxing. I'm not sure how long we were in triage for... maybe an hour or two. They had to kick half of my support crew out temporarily though because they had a few more women come in. Eventually they transfered me to my own room and actually had me walk there. They convinced me that standing was going to be one of the best positions for me to be in. At the time I didn't entirely agree but gave it a try.
We got to my room and tried different positions for laboring. I tried standing, I tried sitting. And then at some point they suggested the bathroom jacuzzi tub. So, I got into that and the water felt great. I had a much easier time relaxing through the contractions (with the doula's coaching). I got so hot though just sitting in there. So they kept bringing cold wash clothes over and putting them on my face. But they heated up so fast on my face that i'd feel hot all over again within minutes. Then the tub started cooling off and they had to refill it again. By this time the labor tub people were finally setting up my labor tub in my room. I stayed in the jacuzzi a little while longer... but started getting nervous because I just felt so hot and overwhelmed in the tub. And then my hands were freezing up with pain... and that alone freaked me out. I started to feel so hot that it felt like I couldn't breathe in the tub. I begged to be let out of it. They got me out and took me over to the bed again. They convinced me to try out standing again. I swayed on my feet holding onto my doula's neck. Unfortunately she was shorter than me and i had to really hang down.
My midwife finally showed up and got into some scrubs to come help out. I started feeling a lot of pressure at this point in my rear end. I told everyone that I felt like I was going to crap all over the place any second. They kept telling me that was great... that the baby was coming down. Of course I was just certain that this meant the baby was going to come out my ass instead! lol. I had a lot of trapped gas and was actually somewhat constipated at that point in time... so I really felt some extra discomfort.
We tried putting the birth ball on the bed and had me get on my hands and knees laying over it. The doula massaged my back some while coaching me hard through each contraction. The contractions were so close together and I was barely getting a break at all. They suggested I get into my labor tub, which was now ready. But I knew I wasn't allowed to birth in that tub in the hospital... and due to my new fear of hot water tubs... I refused to go anywhere near it! I didn't want to have to climb out of it again... and I was certain that i'd be giving birth any minute. Instead I just went back to standing again. This time the midwife agreed to hold me. She was much taller than my doula or me, so it was easy to hang off of her.
I kept feeling the urge to push and the midwife encouraged me to do so... and so that's what I kept doing. It wasn't long before I started pushing out the amniotic fluid sac and I felt it slipping out of me. I was like "something is coming out of me! What is it?!" and she checked and was like "that would be your water sac..." and handed me off to the doula... and just after that the sac popped all over her shoes. The doula was like "hey! you just didn't want to get your feet wet!" to the midwife. lol. I remember that my transitional contractions didn't really hurt... they were pushing... whether I liked it or not!
After my water broke, the midwife decided it was time to get me on the bed so they could get me in position for birth. I was so worn out at that point, we just went for the side laying position. My friend held my left leg, while my mother in law steadied my right foot on the bed. I pushed and pushed for what felt like forever... but was only actually a few minutes time. They kept telling me the baby's head was getting closer and closer to coming out. I was like "yeah right" cus it certainly didn't feel that way to me! I felt like I was trying my hardest to take a crap but just couldn't get it out. I knew then that there was just no way that I wasn't going to tear... there would be a tear or two... I knew that. Eventually I felt her head just at the lip and was pushing and yelling and grunting trying my hardest to get her to pop out of that lip. I finally pushed her head out and they suctioned her and got her all ready to go. And then they asked me to push out the shoulders. I felt like I didn't have the energy... but in two more pushes she was out!
They placed her right on top of me right away. She was pooping like crazy and pooped all over me. They wiped her off... only for her to poop some more! It took them till after everyone left to figure they needed a diaper on that girl! lol. She kept popping for several changes after that. I started calling her the poopy queen. lol. While she was laying on me only 5 mins after she was born my DH called from the ship. He'd gotten word that I was in labor, and called finding out just then that she had been born. He was so happy! The midwife stitched me up soon after. I had 3 tears... two needed stitches but were still only small tears.
She was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.
It was a very exhausting birth experience... and unfortunately I didn't get much sleep afterward even. I just couldn't get comfortable! And the first night alone with her I nearly broke down in tears just trying to feed her so she'd sleep. I finally figured out that she mostly just really wanted to sleep next to me. She slept next to me for part of the night last night too. She just really likes to be close to mommy i guess.
I have a few pics up right now if you click on the link in my signature. I have to get on my mom's computer to go get the rest of the pics for everyone.
:
