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I know a lot of you are curious about Liam’s birth – all 27 hours of it. Labor started simply enough on Wednesday night. Things progressed through the night and by morning I was having contractions about 8 minutes apart. At about 4 AM, Doug and I got up & showered, figuring that things were picking up. While I was in the shower, the contractions picked up to every 3 minutes. The birth center did not have up come until we hit the 3-1-1 mark, so I went back to bed to see if they kept progressing. The contractions slowed back down to between 5 and 8 minutes apart. More waiting. This irrigular pattern continued throughout the day, except the intensity of the contractions kept getting stronger. I got into the tub again about 3:00 PM. By the time the contractions had no pattern, but I was in a lot of pain. After each real contraction, I would continue to have intense pressure in my pubic bone. It was like the contractions never stopped. We called the midwife again and she told us to come on it.<br><br>
When we got to the birth center I was 5 cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby was at +2. They wrapped me in a Rebozo to ease the pubic pain. I finally was able to get into the tub at 8 cm. Stayed there through for hours. At one point the midwife told me that I could push if I wanted, then a little later I was told to stop because I wasn’t fully dilated and my cervix was beginning to swell. Later the midwife checked me again and gave me the go to push as I was fully dilated. After about an hour of pushing in the tub, things weren’t progressing, so they had me get out and sit on a birthing stool. The midwife checked me again and found that I have an anterior lip. She had me push while she held back the lip. By the time I was actively pushing to get Liam out I was in such a daze that I barely remember it, but he made it.<br><br>
So, I had the natural birth, but not without a complication. I tore through my labia and also tore a small artery. They didn’t know about the artery until the midwives began to stitch me up and it kept spurting. After some long discussion I finally asked to be transferred to the hospital to have someone fix the tear. I technically hemorriged because of the artery tear, but it was really OK. So, I’ve been home since Friday recovering and learning the schedule of this new little one. He had some initial bf problem, but seems to have gotten it. It’s been trying, but well worth it.
When we got to the birth center I was 5 cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby was at +2. They wrapped me in a Rebozo to ease the pubic pain. I finally was able to get into the tub at 8 cm. Stayed there through for hours. At one point the midwife told me that I could push if I wanted, then a little later I was told to stop because I wasn’t fully dilated and my cervix was beginning to swell. Later the midwife checked me again and gave me the go to push as I was fully dilated. After about an hour of pushing in the tub, things weren’t progressing, so they had me get out and sit on a birthing stool. The midwife checked me again and found that I have an anterior lip. She had me push while she held back the lip. By the time I was actively pushing to get Liam out I was in such a daze that I barely remember it, but he made it.<br><br>
So, I had the natural birth, but not without a complication. I tore through my labia and also tore a small artery. They didn’t know about the artery until the midwives began to stitch me up and it kept spurting. After some long discussion I finally asked to be transferred to the hospital to have someone fix the tear. I technically hemorriged because of the artery tear, but it was really OK. So, I’ve been home since Friday recovering and learning the schedule of this new little one. He had some initial bf problem, but seems to have gotten it. It’s been trying, but well worth it.
