I haven't posted very regularly here lately, but I lurk quite a bit and am interested to see how things turn out for everyone. Even though I don't post much I thought I'd post my birth story anyway, just because I know I enjoyed reading as many as I could especially during those last days before birth.
I was due by u/s dates on Sept 25-27 but usually go late, and decided to join the Oct DDC.
Stats ~
Grant James born on Sept 30 at 8:32am
Weighed 8lbs 2oz, 20 1/2" long
Birth Story ~
On Mon Sept 29 while taking a late afternoon nap I noticed a few crampy type contractions. They were not painful but different than the bh ones I'd had so far. They continued off and on irregularly and pretty spaced out for the rest of the evening, maybe every 15-30min and didn't require any breathing through. I went about my business and mostly blew them off thinking it was just the start of a few days of off and on prelabor, since that's what I usually do. I also was having frequent loose stools all evening but didn't think much of it, just thought it was something I ate.
At 2am on the 30th I started feeling more contractions. These were getting my attention unlike the ones earlier had. I decided to time a few. They were every 5-10min. I lost my mucus plug which was a little blood streaked. I was kind of excited, but I was getting incredibly tired and kind of wanted it to not be the real deal, so I could get some sleep. I tried to go to bed around 2:30 but quickly realized I wasn't going to be sleeping through these.
At 2:45 dh and I headed downstairs, and I got into the shower on my birth ball(HEAVENLY). Dh started timing contractions. They were feeling incredibly strong like transition almost, but they were only 5-8min apart. I was having horrid back pain at the peak of each one and was pretty sure baby was posterior. All during the last part of the pregnancy he had been flipping from ROA to ROT to ROP. I had tried and tried to get him to go LOA to no avail. He was just too comfy being on my right side I guess. I thought I might be in for a long labor if he stayed posterior and tried to brace myself mentally for that possibility. I focused on leaning forward as much as I could and staying upright, swaying to encourage him to turn.
At 4am I got out of the shower and spent the next couple of hours walking around downstairs. During contractions I would lean on my birth ball or dh. I was trying so hard to relax, but the back pain was SO INTENSE. It was much harder than any of my other labors. The pain continued to intensify and around 4:45am I started having tons of blood tinged mucus. I was sure at this point that this was real labor. Contractions were still 5-6min apart.
At 5:50am I started feeling weepy, discouraged and having chills. I wanted it to be over so badly because of the intense back pain but was so afraid of still having many hours left. Dh took this as a sign to call the mw, because he thought I was probably heading into transition. I didn't think so, because the contractions were still 5-6min apart. I was puzzled as to why they weren't getting closer together yet they hurt so badly. I agreed to call the mw seeing how she had a long drive, but inside I felt a little afraid that she'd get here and I'd only be dilated 3-5cm or something. It'd a good thing we called when we did, because I was in transition.
At 6am I got back into the shower in a desperate attempt to take the edge off the HORRID back pain. It helped and allowed me to catch some rest between contractions and recharge my energy. I was so, so sleepy at this point. I had been sipping Gatorade and water and trying to nibble on protein bars and honey throughout to keep my strength up, but I was pretty nauseated so it was hard to get anything down. I kept daydreaming of an epidural.
At 7am I got out of the shower and paced around some more and started feeling pressure and bulginess down really low. I had a few more extremely hard contractions and then around 7:45 felt an urge to push and noticed the contractions were all of a sudden MUCH easier to deal with and was pretty sure I was probably completely dilated. Dh started scrambling around getting the birth kit out just incase the mw didn't make it in time. I was able to hold off on pushing and enjoyed a renewed sense of energy while waiting for the mw to arrive.
The mw showed up and checked me around 8:15, and sure enough I was completely dilated, baby was at 0 station, with a huge bulging bag of water almost hanging outside of me. The mw offered to break the water and said baby would come flying out, but I thought it would be cool if baby was born "in the caul" so declined her offer. She said that was great, whatever I wanted, and that it might just take a little longer but was certainly fine to do. I just let the contractions come and go and kind of did deep downward breathing with them. I enjoyed this part of the labor. The intense back pain was gone, and I knew we were almost there. We laughed and chatted during the next 10min or so until I couldn't resist the urge to bear down any longer. I decided to kneel down and lean onto the futon for the birth. My water broke like an exploding cannonball once I pushed. Got dh totally soaked, as he was catching the baby. Baby came out quickly at 8:32am and without trouble. I felt great, no tearing. He did have a nuchal cord, but it was loose and long, no problem. It felt so GOOD to have him out and safe in my arms. The placenta came out easily about 15min later, and then I hopped into the shower to clean up as ds had pooped all over me right after he was born. Dh got to hold him while I did this, and the mw got busy cleaning up. I think this was possibly my messiest birth, and the shower felt so good! We got all nice and snuggled into bed, and ds promptly latched on and nursed like a pro. We had a great morning bonding, making phone calls, eating a good breakfast made by oldest dd, and then settled down for a nice long nap once ds hit his sleepy spell.
Ds is doing good and nursing like a champ. It's day 2 postpartum, and my milk is already coming in. I'm feeling good too, and we're all so thankful for our precious little bundle.
About 20min old, while I was in the shower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...sed/003-10.jpg
About 45min old, snuggled into bed next to mama getting ready for side lying nursing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ssed/005-9.jpg
2 days old
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lessed/046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ssed/019-7.jpg
I was due by u/s dates on Sept 25-27 but usually go late, and decided to join the Oct DDC.
Stats ~
Grant James born on Sept 30 at 8:32am
Weighed 8lbs 2oz, 20 1/2" long
Birth Story ~
On Mon Sept 29 while taking a late afternoon nap I noticed a few crampy type contractions. They were not painful but different than the bh ones I'd had so far. They continued off and on irregularly and pretty spaced out for the rest of the evening, maybe every 15-30min and didn't require any breathing through. I went about my business and mostly blew them off thinking it was just the start of a few days of off and on prelabor, since that's what I usually do. I also was having frequent loose stools all evening but didn't think much of it, just thought it was something I ate.
At 2am on the 30th I started feeling more contractions. These were getting my attention unlike the ones earlier had. I decided to time a few. They were every 5-10min. I lost my mucus plug which was a little blood streaked. I was kind of excited, but I was getting incredibly tired and kind of wanted it to not be the real deal, so I could get some sleep. I tried to go to bed around 2:30 but quickly realized I wasn't going to be sleeping through these.
At 2:45 dh and I headed downstairs, and I got into the shower on my birth ball(HEAVENLY). Dh started timing contractions. They were feeling incredibly strong like transition almost, but they were only 5-8min apart. I was having horrid back pain at the peak of each one and was pretty sure baby was posterior. All during the last part of the pregnancy he had been flipping from ROA to ROT to ROP. I had tried and tried to get him to go LOA to no avail. He was just too comfy being on my right side I guess. I thought I might be in for a long labor if he stayed posterior and tried to brace myself mentally for that possibility. I focused on leaning forward as much as I could and staying upright, swaying to encourage him to turn.
At 4am I got out of the shower and spent the next couple of hours walking around downstairs. During contractions I would lean on my birth ball or dh. I was trying so hard to relax, but the back pain was SO INTENSE. It was much harder than any of my other labors. The pain continued to intensify and around 4:45am I started having tons of blood tinged mucus. I was sure at this point that this was real labor. Contractions were still 5-6min apart.
At 5:50am I started feeling weepy, discouraged and having chills. I wanted it to be over so badly because of the intense back pain but was so afraid of still having many hours left. Dh took this as a sign to call the mw, because he thought I was probably heading into transition. I didn't think so, because the contractions were still 5-6min apart. I was puzzled as to why they weren't getting closer together yet they hurt so badly. I agreed to call the mw seeing how she had a long drive, but inside I felt a little afraid that she'd get here and I'd only be dilated 3-5cm or something. It'd a good thing we called when we did, because I was in transition.
At 6am I got back into the shower in a desperate attempt to take the edge off the HORRID back pain. It helped and allowed me to catch some rest between contractions and recharge my energy. I was so, so sleepy at this point. I had been sipping Gatorade and water and trying to nibble on protein bars and honey throughout to keep my strength up, but I was pretty nauseated so it was hard to get anything down. I kept daydreaming of an epidural.
At 7am I got out of the shower and paced around some more and started feeling pressure and bulginess down really low. I had a few more extremely hard contractions and then around 7:45 felt an urge to push and noticed the contractions were all of a sudden MUCH easier to deal with and was pretty sure I was probably completely dilated. Dh started scrambling around getting the birth kit out just incase the mw didn't make it in time. I was able to hold off on pushing and enjoyed a renewed sense of energy while waiting for the mw to arrive.
The mw showed up and checked me around 8:15, and sure enough I was completely dilated, baby was at 0 station, with a huge bulging bag of water almost hanging outside of me. The mw offered to break the water and said baby would come flying out, but I thought it would be cool if baby was born "in the caul" so declined her offer. She said that was great, whatever I wanted, and that it might just take a little longer but was certainly fine to do. I just let the contractions come and go and kind of did deep downward breathing with them. I enjoyed this part of the labor. The intense back pain was gone, and I knew we were almost there. We laughed and chatted during the next 10min or so until I couldn't resist the urge to bear down any longer. I decided to kneel down and lean onto the futon for the birth. My water broke like an exploding cannonball once I pushed. Got dh totally soaked, as he was catching the baby. Baby came out quickly at 8:32am and without trouble. I felt great, no tearing. He did have a nuchal cord, but it was loose and long, no problem. It felt so GOOD to have him out and safe in my arms. The placenta came out easily about 15min later, and then I hopped into the shower to clean up as ds had pooped all over me right after he was born. Dh got to hold him while I did this, and the mw got busy cleaning up. I think this was possibly my messiest birth, and the shower felt so good! We got all nice and snuggled into bed, and ds promptly latched on and nursed like a pro. We had a great morning bonding, making phone calls, eating a good breakfast made by oldest dd, and then settled down for a nice long nap once ds hit his sleepy spell.
Ds is doing good and nursing like a champ. It's day 2 postpartum, and my milk is already coming in. I'm feeling good too, and we're all so thankful for our precious little bundle.
About 20min old, while I was in the shower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...sed/003-10.jpg
About 45min old, snuggled into bed next to mama getting ready for side lying nursing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ssed/005-9.jpg
2 days old
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lessed/046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ssed/019-7.jpg
:
: He's an absolute sweetie.
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