gret the great
05-28-2003, 10:35 PM
We did it!!!!!!!!
My due date was April 5th, and I was getting impatient and worried I'd have a repeat of my 1st birth experience (2 weeks over due, planned homebirth turned into hospital transport-csection, water broke, no contractiosn for over 24 hours, no effacement/dilation- not a stitch of labor, etc)
So I was very excited when...
On Saturday the 12th I was outside with my 2 and a half year old son, Hugh at about 5 PM and chased after him as he was running toward the road...this gave me a few contractions which then came once in a while until 9 ish and they petered out. At 10 I took Franny for a walk and decided to speed walk! Hooray...contractions were then 10-15minutes apart. I tried to sleep but couldn't-I had to kneel during contractions. At 2 AM I decided to take a warm bath to see if they'd slow down so I could rest- I thought I should rest & sleep in case this went on for a long time. The tub felt great, but they got more intense and closer together... got out at 2:45 and Steve called Tracy our midwife at 3:15. She said to see how it goes for another hour and call back. by 3:45 they were 2-3 minutes apart and I had to be on hands and knees and breathing very deeply to manage, so we called again, and she said she'd meet us at the birth center. Steve called my sister to come watch Hugh then and packed the car. When Ingrid and David arrived we left. The car ride was awful! There are soo many potholes and sitting was not the position of choice.
We arrived and Tracey was there waiting for us. We went upstairs got settled and she checked me at 5 AM- I was at 4CM and she said my bag of waters was bulging. I was soooooo excited! My body knows how to do this!!! She left us alone and gave us a walkie-talkie thing to page her downstairs where she would be sleeping. I labored on hands and knees and at 7 we paged her to get the tub ready. I had tried
combs in my hands, the birth ball, lots of positions but between
contractions I couldn't get comfortable and in a position where I
could move to my knees easily. I got in the tub and it was heaven
(well-sort of) I could relax and rest between contractions and I felt so supported by the water. I labored in the tub for most of the day. Getting out to pee was really hard. At one point I tried laboring on the bed on my side but had to get back into the water. Tracy would appear every few hours to check the baby's heart and to tell me I was doing great. Her quiet presence was very nice and she really left Steve and me to do what we needed. I didn't really want to be touched or spoken to but I needed to see Steve between contractions- he slept on the bathroom floor a few times. One time I told him to go into bed, but within 5 minutes I ordered him back! At about 2? 3? Tracey
wanted to check me again. She said I was mostly open but the baby's head wasn't down, so I walked up and down the stairs a bunch of times. At 3:30 she said she could break my waters and see if that would get the head down. I said go for it!
So I got on the bed and she broke my water - it was dark green- I got really nervous and the doubt monster entered my head. I said to her "that isn't good is it?" and she said, "no, not what we want to see, but I want you to start pushing and we'll see how the baby does within the next hour..."
So with no urge to push I began to do so. Her head was not coming straight, but on the right side so she came out wider through the head. I am a fierce lion! I'm ferocious! . I am a strong woman I will push this baby out! I am not going to the hospital! I will not have a csection. This is my last chance to give birth the way I crave!...these were my internal mantras for the next 2.5 hours while I pushed and growled. I tried squatting, kneeling, going on all fours and eventually lying on my right side on the bed. On my side was the best position for me to really be strong. The heart rate was strong throughout. I had no idea where the baby was, but when Tracey told Steve "there's the head" I knew I could do it. When the baby crowned it hurt like mad, but I was soooo incredibly excited that the pain was minor. I knew I was almost there. Tracey told me that as soon as the head was out they'd be suctioning because of the meconium, but if I needed to push the shoulders out to do so. I reached down and felt the head between contractions. Steve was crying, and I was euphoric. Her head was out and then I pushed out her
little line backer shoulders out and the rest just slipped out. It
was incredible. She was blue for a bit but then started these
little cries & pinked right up. Steve lifted her leg and we saw that
we were the parents of a baby girl! She's so big, I said and Tracey nodded in agreement! As soon as I delivered the placenta, Tracey put Sylvia on my chest and it was the most incredible feeling in the world! Once the cord stopped pulsing Steve cut it.
As I lay there with my beautiful daughter on my skin and my husband next to me, I knew that my birthing dream had finally come true.
Tracey stitched up the tearing that occurred (she did everything to prevent tearing) and then left us alone for about an hour. When she returned we weighed Sylvia and were very impressed with her stats! 10 lbs 13 oz., 15 inch head, 14 inch chest, 23 inches long. Sylvia Ingrid was born April 13 at 6PM and we were at home by 10 PM.
She is now 6 weeks old and doing wonderfully. We are so blessed to have our two children. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world and soo empowered (although sore!) from my VBAC. My midwife is my HERO!
My due date was April 5th, and I was getting impatient and worried I'd have a repeat of my 1st birth experience (2 weeks over due, planned homebirth turned into hospital transport-csection, water broke, no contractiosn for over 24 hours, no effacement/dilation- not a stitch of labor, etc)
So I was very excited when...
On Saturday the 12th I was outside with my 2 and a half year old son, Hugh at about 5 PM and chased after him as he was running toward the road...this gave me a few contractions which then came once in a while until 9 ish and they petered out. At 10 I took Franny for a walk and decided to speed walk! Hooray...contractions were then 10-15minutes apart. I tried to sleep but couldn't-I had to kneel during contractions. At 2 AM I decided to take a warm bath to see if they'd slow down so I could rest- I thought I should rest & sleep in case this went on for a long time. The tub felt great, but they got more intense and closer together... got out at 2:45 and Steve called Tracy our midwife at 3:15. She said to see how it goes for another hour and call back. by 3:45 they were 2-3 minutes apart and I had to be on hands and knees and breathing very deeply to manage, so we called again, and she said she'd meet us at the birth center. Steve called my sister to come watch Hugh then and packed the car. When Ingrid and David arrived we left. The car ride was awful! There are soo many potholes and sitting was not the position of choice.
We arrived and Tracey was there waiting for us. We went upstairs got settled and she checked me at 5 AM- I was at 4CM and she said my bag of waters was bulging. I was soooooo excited! My body knows how to do this!!! She left us alone and gave us a walkie-talkie thing to page her downstairs where she would be sleeping. I labored on hands and knees and at 7 we paged her to get the tub ready. I had tried
combs in my hands, the birth ball, lots of positions but between
contractions I couldn't get comfortable and in a position where I
could move to my knees easily. I got in the tub and it was heaven
(well-sort of) I could relax and rest between contractions and I felt so supported by the water. I labored in the tub for most of the day. Getting out to pee was really hard. At one point I tried laboring on the bed on my side but had to get back into the water. Tracy would appear every few hours to check the baby's heart and to tell me I was doing great. Her quiet presence was very nice and she really left Steve and me to do what we needed. I didn't really want to be touched or spoken to but I needed to see Steve between contractions- he slept on the bathroom floor a few times. One time I told him to go into bed, but within 5 minutes I ordered him back! At about 2? 3? Tracey
wanted to check me again. She said I was mostly open but the baby's head wasn't down, so I walked up and down the stairs a bunch of times. At 3:30 she said she could break my waters and see if that would get the head down. I said go for it!
So I got on the bed and she broke my water - it was dark green- I got really nervous and the doubt monster entered my head. I said to her "that isn't good is it?" and she said, "no, not what we want to see, but I want you to start pushing and we'll see how the baby does within the next hour..."
So with no urge to push I began to do so. Her head was not coming straight, but on the right side so she came out wider through the head. I am a fierce lion! I'm ferocious! . I am a strong woman I will push this baby out! I am not going to the hospital! I will not have a csection. This is my last chance to give birth the way I crave!...these were my internal mantras for the next 2.5 hours while I pushed and growled. I tried squatting, kneeling, going on all fours and eventually lying on my right side on the bed. On my side was the best position for me to really be strong. The heart rate was strong throughout. I had no idea where the baby was, but when Tracey told Steve "there's the head" I knew I could do it. When the baby crowned it hurt like mad, but I was soooo incredibly excited that the pain was minor. I knew I was almost there. Tracey told me that as soon as the head was out they'd be suctioning because of the meconium, but if I needed to push the shoulders out to do so. I reached down and felt the head between contractions. Steve was crying, and I was euphoric. Her head was out and then I pushed out her
little line backer shoulders out and the rest just slipped out. It
was incredible. She was blue for a bit but then started these
little cries & pinked right up. Steve lifted her leg and we saw that
we were the parents of a baby girl! She's so big, I said and Tracey nodded in agreement! As soon as I delivered the placenta, Tracey put Sylvia on my chest and it was the most incredible feeling in the world! Once the cord stopped pulsing Steve cut it.
As I lay there with my beautiful daughter on my skin and my husband next to me, I knew that my birthing dream had finally come true.
Tracey stitched up the tearing that occurred (she did everything to prevent tearing) and then left us alone for about an hour. When she returned we weighed Sylvia and were very impressed with her stats! 10 lbs 13 oz., 15 inch head, 14 inch chest, 23 inches long. Sylvia Ingrid was born April 13 at 6PM and we were at home by 10 PM.
She is now 6 weeks old and doing wonderfully. We are so blessed to have our two children. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world and soo empowered (although sore!) from my VBAC. My midwife is my HERO!