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Hi Moms, I just want to share my birth story. Sorry it's so long. My friend 'theRN' has been getting a lot of negative feedback for posting my birth story. First of all, she had my permission to do so. Second, while she calls it the UC from hell, I must admit she's not too far off. I was 'inspired', I guess you could say, to have a natural childbirth by 'theRN'. I was about 2 months pregnant when she had her baby totally natural and drug-free. I believe I had too many hormones flowing at the time, because all I was seeing was the 'beauty' in that natural birth lol. I began to research drug-free child birth and came to the conclusion to have an UC. I made my OB-GYN well aware of what my plans were. She was very un-supportive; I quickly learned though, that there was no one on my side when it came to telling them my desire to have an UC. My friends and family BEGGED me to give birth at a hospital; they soon realized I was unwavering in my decision. 'theRN' finally gave in when it came to trying to convince me to have a hospital birth, but she begged me to at least have a midwife present. I read a lot of literature, read many stories, and over the months mentally prepared myself for my UC. It really hit home when I bought the tools for the birth. 'theRN' was finally convinced that I planned on doing everything unassisted, but she pleaded with me to at least call her when I went into labor. I had a very easy pregnancy, no complications (except the 'mommy battle scars' of stretchmarks). My fundal height would always measure a week or two ahead, but I didn't make much fuss about it. 'theRN' reassured me that that was okay; a week or two bigger wasn't cause for concern. As I got farther along in the pregnancy (about the 3rd trimester) I started to really focus on the breathing techniques I learned and readied myself for labor. I began to read more and more birth stories and felt knowledgeable on the task at hand. By the time my due date came and went I was totally 'crunchy'. My way of thinking became skewed; if I went beyond my due date that was okay, because going to a hospital would cause unnecessary intervention. At the same time I held this belief, my OB-GYN and 'theRN' were constantly flooding me with what I felt was 'unnecessary medical information'. The fact that 'theRN' was also friends with my OB-GYN kind of helped fuel the fire that if anything were to go wrong and I had to be transferred to a hospital, 'theRN' would be helping my OB-GYN make a quick buck. Looking back on it, I know it was really dumb. I was so against an induction, even though 'theRN' was constantly throwing out stats and percentages and telling me how uncommon it was to have one. When I was almost 42 weeks my OB-GYN called asking if would like to schedule an induction. I quickly told her no and hung up the phone. As soon as I hit 42 weeks 'theRN' called me daily asking if I felt any labor pains; it was always a no. I really started to get annoyed with all the 'medical professionals' butting in to my birthing plan; I know they meant the best, but I felt like my body was made for birthing a baby. I felt like baby would come when he was ready; and I didn't need any pitocin moving him along. When I hit 43 weeks 'theRN' was practically screaming at me to go get induced. She told me everything that was wrong with being so far overdue, she highlighted parts of her medical book about going beyond the due date. She told me that my baby was the the right age according to my U/S. She begged me to go get a stress test. She finally got to the point where she was begging and pleading with me to at least do castor oil. I refused and ignored her. I knew that U/S weren't always accurate, so her being a 'certified sonographer' didn't phase me (especially since her specialty had been cardiac sonography anyways). I finally went into labor on my own at 45 weeks exact at about 8 p.m. or so (or I guess I finally noticed I was in labor lol). The contractions were light and over 5 minutes so I just relaxed, drank some tea, and watched T.V.; I went to bed at about 10. I would wake up occasionally through the night when a strong contraction hit, but other then that I slept fairly well. At about 6 in the morning, the contractions were getting a little stronger, so I drank some tea and relaxed with a heating pad. I began to do my breathing exercises and read a book to calm me down. I started walking around and tried to do some light yoga. Finally I decided to go get in the bath tub. By this time it was about 10:30 and I was really uncomfortable. I sat in the water and focused on my breathing. I began clitoral masturbation to try to reduce the pain and redirect my focus. I was really at the point where I was about to give up and go check myself into a hospital, because the pain was so unbearable. My phone was in the bedroom, but I needed to call 'theRN'. I was feeling an intense pressure in my bowels and on my bladder and decided that maybe it was time to push. I got on my knees and hung over the side of the tub. I gave a little push as I contracted, but I read that pushing increases your chances of tearing, so I had to stop myself even though it felt so good to push. I started doing my breathing exercises again and I knew I had to get to my phone. I stood up and made it half way across the bathroom. I stopped and held onto the sink for support as I got into a squating position. I wanted to push and had to mentally talk to myself into not doing it. I could feel Ryan in my birth canal and I knew I was either going to have him right on the floor or make it to the phone. I got into a crawling position and crawled to the bedroom. I supported my upper body on the bed and breathed through the contractions. Some how through tears I managed to call 'theRN' and tell her Ryan was on his way. My heart was racing when I realized I was going to give birth by myself and started crying harder. Ryan was pressing on my bowels and bladder really hard and the pressure and discomfort was unimaginable. I felt the intense urge to pee, but I was holding back. I was too uncomfortable to get up, but I didn't want to birth him in a puddle of urine. I was still crying in frustration when I felt his head began to crown. I'm not sure, but I think the whole time I must have been bleeding. I knew to expect the 'ring of fire', but I never thought it would be that intense. It was like an out of body experience after that. I could feel the my vagina stretching to its limit and burning as if it had been doused in gasoline and I'm guessing that's probably when I started tearing. 'theRN' arrived sometime during this and I could hear knocking on the door, but I just wanted the baby out of me. I looked down and could see his head was out, so I knew the shoulder were the only thing that was left. I don't know how long it took for the shoulders to come out. I looked down again and noticed that they were out so I just pulled him the rest of the way. The rest of it was like blur and a surreal experience. I know at some point I must have went to the door to let 'theRN' in. She immediately called 911 when she saw the size of the baby and the amount of blood. I just remember sitting down naked on the couch and she just held me and cried and then I guess her nursing skills kicked in and she went to go find some towels and a blanket for me and Ryan. The ambulance and EMTs came and were astonished to see the size of the baby. They got me on the stretcher, but by this time I was bleeding like a slaughtered pig lol. Eventually I got to the hospital and was taken care of from there. I had lost a considerable amount of blood so they gave me some of theirs lol. I also got stitched up. I tore pretty severely; I had a torn cervix (which was probably the cause of all the bleeding)a 3rd degree and fourth degree tear along with a skid mark or two. Then again since I popped a 15 lbr out I'm not surprised lol. I had a 3 day hospital stay, mainly so that they could observe Ryan and patch me up. I don't want to deter or scare anyone who chooses to have an UC, but please don't be stubborn about going past the due date! I'm def an extreme example at 45 weeks, but I would much rather be induced then literally push out a watermelon again lol.
Late June or early July.
