Hi, I figured it's more fun to share since I love seeing all the pics you ladies post and I'm a sucker for birth stories.
It was an ideal birth for me and went amazingly exactly as hoped it would. My water started leaking about 10:00 am on Thursday and I knew it was leaking because it had that all too familiar sweet smell of amniotic fluid. My older children were at school, and we dropped my three yr old off with my sister. We then took the trip up to the midwife practice at the hospital so I could be checked out. I had no contractions at the time and I was a little nervous that I was going in too early. I knew for sure it was fluid and that I would be staying. As we drove, I only experienced a couple short irregular contractions and I was praying that they would intensify. I arrived at the practice around 12 pm, and while waiting for the midwife to come in the examination room, my water broke full force with a gush. I smiled and turned to my husband, and said there is no doubt now. Once the midwife came in, I asked her to check me and I was 4-5 cm and cervix was ready.
She called over to maternity and told them that I would be coming down. As I was walking through the hospital more and more fluid was gushing and I was very embarassed that I would leak on the floor. Once there, I got settled into my room and I told the nurse that my birth plan was enclosed in my file that we brought over. The nurse was very nice and had to ask me a ton of questions...luckily there were no contractions yet so I was able to be answer them. She put me on the monitor for the first 45 minutes and the baby's heart rate was very fast and tacky. She explained that if baby's heart rate didn;'t drop below 160 then she would have to give me fluids via IV since it meant I was probably dehydrated. At that mention, I told my husband to grab two huge jugs of water and I began to drink and drink.....luckily her heart rate dropped and I was taken off the monitor and no IV (just hep lock). They brought in a birthing ball and I began to pace the room and rock on the ball. I was soooo fearful that I was there too early and that contractions wouldn't kick up a notch. They were very minor and irregular at that point. I just kept talking to the baby inside and telling her it was ok to come.
A little after 3 pm, I started getting some more "noticeable" contractions that I had to breathe through. They were every 4-5 minutes apart, the midwife came in the room and asked me if I wanted to be checked and I told her not yet. She mentioned getting into the shower, and that is where I went. She left and jokingly told me not to push without her. As a matter of fact, I was glued to that bathroom and found myself sitting on the toilet in the dark with only the light of the shower turned on in the room for some of the rushes. The shower definitly took the edge off with the hot water, but also kicked them into gear. At this point I was contracting with more pressure every 2-3 minutes. After about 5 or 6 rushes, my legs were shaky but I hummed and breathed through each contraction. Finally I decided that I better get out of the shower and have her check me before the next rush. So I called the nurse, she came in and called for the midwife. I was on the bed at this point and very rapidly found myself lost in Laborland...she checked me and told me I was 9 cm and I smiled (yes I was even still smiling between rushes). Then I had a BIG, LONG one and she said well I think that took care of that last little lip of cervix and sure enough I started feeling the urge to bear down. My husband was my rock and he just rubbed my head and fed me ice water in between contractions. They were never back to back and I pushed with each one towards the end of each rush.....it was amazing to be so in control of how I pushed my baby out. I won't lie it hurt like nothing I have ever felt in my life, and I growled and wailed through each push. But I came out the other side, and she arrived after maybe 5 pushes and 5 hrs of very active (but manageable) labor.
I am so happy that I stuck to my guns in the hospital, and I felt I was in control in a controlled enviroment with knowing what to expect and how to make my preferences known. I gaged my birth and was fully supported by the nurse and midwife. My recovery has been so much better and different too. I never quite got the feeling that I couldn't make it, and when it hit the peak it was time to push.
Here's the link to some pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30877351@N07/
It was an ideal birth for me and went amazingly exactly as hoped it would. My water started leaking about 10:00 am on Thursday and I knew it was leaking because it had that all too familiar sweet smell of amniotic fluid. My older children were at school, and we dropped my three yr old off with my sister. We then took the trip up to the midwife practice at the hospital so I could be checked out. I had no contractions at the time and I was a little nervous that I was going in too early. I knew for sure it was fluid and that I would be staying. As we drove, I only experienced a couple short irregular contractions and I was praying that they would intensify. I arrived at the practice around 12 pm, and while waiting for the midwife to come in the examination room, my water broke full force with a gush. I smiled and turned to my husband, and said there is no doubt now. Once the midwife came in, I asked her to check me and I was 4-5 cm and cervix was ready.
She called over to maternity and told them that I would be coming down. As I was walking through the hospital more and more fluid was gushing and I was very embarassed that I would leak on the floor. Once there, I got settled into my room and I told the nurse that my birth plan was enclosed in my file that we brought over. The nurse was very nice and had to ask me a ton of questions...luckily there were no contractions yet so I was able to be answer them. She put me on the monitor for the first 45 minutes and the baby's heart rate was very fast and tacky. She explained that if baby's heart rate didn;'t drop below 160 then she would have to give me fluids via IV since it meant I was probably dehydrated. At that mention, I told my husband to grab two huge jugs of water and I began to drink and drink.....luckily her heart rate dropped and I was taken off the monitor and no IV (just hep lock). They brought in a birthing ball and I began to pace the room and rock on the ball. I was soooo fearful that I was there too early and that contractions wouldn't kick up a notch. They were very minor and irregular at that point. I just kept talking to the baby inside and telling her it was ok to come.
A little after 3 pm, I started getting some more "noticeable" contractions that I had to breathe through. They were every 4-5 minutes apart, the midwife came in the room and asked me if I wanted to be checked and I told her not yet. She mentioned getting into the shower, and that is where I went. She left and jokingly told me not to push without her. As a matter of fact, I was glued to that bathroom and found myself sitting on the toilet in the dark with only the light of the shower turned on in the room for some of the rushes. The shower definitly took the edge off with the hot water, but also kicked them into gear. At this point I was contracting with more pressure every 2-3 minutes. After about 5 or 6 rushes, my legs were shaky but I hummed and breathed through each contraction. Finally I decided that I better get out of the shower and have her check me before the next rush. So I called the nurse, she came in and called for the midwife. I was on the bed at this point and very rapidly found myself lost in Laborland...she checked me and told me I was 9 cm and I smiled (yes I was even still smiling between rushes). Then I had a BIG, LONG one and she said well I think that took care of that last little lip of cervix and sure enough I started feeling the urge to bear down. My husband was my rock and he just rubbed my head and fed me ice water in between contractions. They were never back to back and I pushed with each one towards the end of each rush.....it was amazing to be so in control of how I pushed my baby out. I won't lie it hurt like nothing I have ever felt in my life, and I growled and wailed through each push. But I came out the other side, and she arrived after maybe 5 pushes and 5 hrs of very active (but manageable) labor.
I am so happy that I stuck to my guns in the hospital, and I felt I was in control in a controlled enviroment with knowing what to expect and how to make my preferences known. I gaged my birth and was fully supported by the nurse and midwife. My recovery has been so much better and different too. I never quite got the feeling that I couldn't make it, and when it hit the peak it was time to push.
Here's the link to some pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30877351@N07/
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