I was pretty new to this site when I gave birth, but I thought I'd post my birth story anyway.
Birth Story for John Charles
Born February 25, 2006
5:38pm
7 lbs 13oz.
20.5 inches long
My water broke on Friday morning, Feb. 24, 2006, and I had some mixed feelings as to whether I should go to the hospital or not. I knew the risk of infection would increase the longer I waited to go, but I also knew that I wasn't in labor yet. I had the feeling I would get to hospital, be 1cm dilated and have them pressuring me to get pitocin. But I went with what I thought would be best for baby and that was to go ahead and go to the hospital.
So I get there, and sure enough, my water was definitely broken; I was 1 cm dilated, and they wanted me to start pitocin. I was pretty upset because I just wanted my body to go into labor naturally so I basically told the doctor to shove it at first. Really, she was so caught off guard that she couldn't get out of the room fast enough. It wasn't until Leanne, an awesome midwife, came on shift that I decided to let them give me a small dose of pitocin. I held off for 12 hours after my water broke before giving in to the pitocin. My body had just started going into labor naturally, but it was just the beginning, and I knew it could be a very long time before the baby was born. So the risk of infection would have been great had I waited. I still feel I made the right choice, although it wasn't what I had really wanted.
I was adamantly against using any kind of pain medication so I ended up going into this zone for the remainder of the labor. It was actually so cool how I was able to go into this place deep down where I knew how to breathe through the contractions. I felt like I was in a little bubble the whole time with all of this stuff going on around me.
I do have to say that the whole hospital experience was not a pleasant one. Beeping, wires, people coming in and out, stuffy air, teeny tiny room, etc. were just awful. Seriously. I'm not sure many people are able to have a natural birth in that environment. It was honestly awful, and Bryan and I have already decided that we will pay out of pocket for a homebirth or a birthing center with the next one. Not that we didn't have a great outcome, of course,
but I just had to throw that in there about the hospital here at Ft. Hood.
So anyway, they started the pitocin, and I immediately started to feel effects of it. At the same time, there was a change over in the nursing staff, and I ended up with the worst, most unsympathetic nurse whom I think didn't really enjoy having to deal with a natural birth patient. Needless to say, I had her kicked out. I was not about to put up with that any longer. My wish was granted immediately, and I had great nurses from then on out. And I should mention how supportive Bryan was through the whole experience. He knew what I wanted and helped me communicate that to those around me.
About 3 hours into the pitocin, I was having contractions one on top of the other. Ouch.
Baby John wasn't doing that well on it since his heart rate started to drop so they took me off of it with hopes that my body would kick in naturally. It was such a nice break to get some sleep through the night, but unfortunately, my contractions reverted back to being 7-8 minutes apart so they started the pitocin up again. I was on it for pretty much the rest of the time until it was time to push, but they kept it at a really low dose instead of upping it. My labor progressed pretty well from there. I continued to stay in my zone. I was only comfortable sitting on the edge of the bed or rocking on my birthing ball that I brought. The transition point between 8-10 cm was definitely the most challenging at getting through the pain without any pain meds, but I had my mind made up that meds were not even an option so I got through it with the breathing and concentration.
After what seemed like an eternity, it was time to push. They had taken me off the pitocin about an hour beforehand, and I was having good contractions. I was even pushing some before they were "allowing" me to. So I pushed in all sorts of different positions, and it seemed to be going well until about the 6th contraction when John's heart rate dropped and didn't come back up for way too long. So they tried to make me get in some other positions, and it turned out that a modified version of Child's Pose (those of you who do Yoga will know what that is) was the best position for me and for John's heart rate. So I pushed like that for a while, but for some reason, my contractions started to get too short to make any progress, and after many pushes, John's heart rate fell again. That was it. They made me stop pushing. For those of you who've been in labor, you probably know how hard it is to NOT push when your body says push. I was able to hold back as best I could for most contractions, but there were some that I just couldn't control the pushing. Melanie, the new midwife on duty, told me it was okay and not to worry about it. In the meantime, they were all having a consult with the doctors and stuff, and they decided that my best bet was a vacuum assisted delivery. Of course, it wasn't what I really wanted, but I didn't care at that point. I just wanted John to come out safely. To do a vacuum delivery, however, I had to wait over an hour for the whole team to be on hand in case of an emergency c-section. That was agony once again.
For the Vacuum-assist, they wheeled me into one of those large, bright rooms. It was awful, and I was so tense and shaking from it, that I was unable to concentrate and not push. So the whole time they were getting ready, I was pushing uncontrollably. They also took this time to try to get me to get an epidural. But even at this point, I was adamant that I was NOT going to have any pain meds. So I refused, once again.
I was covered up, and they were finally ready. I screamed, "I'm pushing!"
The doctor comes over, takes a look, and yells, "Push! Push!" The baby's head was right there. Not quite crowning, but almost. So they quickly put in the vacuum. I pushed twice in one contraction, and out he came!!! It was weird feeling him come out of my body. I could see his head and still feel him inside me coming out. He came out screaming and peed right on the doctor. LOL! I did end up with a 4th degree tear from the delivery, but I didn't feel it, and it still doesn't really hurt at all.
He is perfect. Bryan and I decided right then to name him John Charles; John is my father-in-law's name; Charles is my dad's name. He was born at 5:38pm on Sat., Feb. 25, 2006, his original due date, 32 hours after my water broke. He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.
We were discharged on Monday, the 27th, and were so happy to bring him home. I'm already sleep deprived as we work on breastfeeding, but that's how it goes. I'm enjoying every minute I'm with him. He's so cute and sweet, and I can't believe he's my son.
