Hey mamas,
We had a boy!
![]()
:
Vincent Asher
9 lbs. 5 oz.
April 13, 2009
1:24 pm
hospital induction
natural birth (but not by choice
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)
As many of you know from my previous posts I had an induction scheduled for Sunday night due to the ambiguous beginnings of pre-eclampsia. I had waffled about whether or not I was jumping the gun with this induction or if it was a good idea.
Upon check in, the nurses all checked out my cankles and agreed it was time to get this baby out. It felt nice to have my intuition validated. The nurse checked me and I was 2 cm and 50% effaced (a welcome change from the 1cm and 0% effaced I was on Thurs). We started Cervadil at 7:00pm and after two hours was allowed to eat dinner and go to sleep.
About 5am, I got on the birth ball because I was getting irritable contractions from the cervadil. At 7am, they removed the cervadil and found I was now 4cm. Very good news. I got a quick shower and we started the pitocin at around 8am. My nurse was familiar from my last birth and also a homebirth midwife, so very hands on and supportive. My doula got there around 9 or 9:30am.
Between the doula, homebirth midwife nurse, and my awesome DH, I had 3 sets of hands working on me almost constantly. They rubbed my back, applied pressure, and so on. Even so, the birth got intense quickly. I told them that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible and they promised they would get it, but said I should wait until I was 6cm so the baby could be felt better, check the head sutures to see it was aligned properly etc. They were concerned that since he was at a -2 station getting the epidural too early could cause him to drop into my pelvis in an unfavorable position.
Meanwhile, I was cursing, yelling, and bawling my eyes out. I told them I didn't care and I wanted the epidural regardless. My nurse actually went to lunch quickly thinking I was just at 4cm and she would quickly eat and come back so she could be there for the birth. I didn't know this (thought she was just in the hall). She told me she would check me in 30 mins. and if I was close to the 6cm goal, they would give me the epidural. About 10 mins. after I left, things went totally crazy. My water broke, he slammed into my pelvis, and I threw up all over the bed. I screamed again for the epidural and my doula kept telling me that I had to wait for my nurse to get back. Finally after I yelled for the zillionth time that I didn't care which nurse did it, but I wanted someone to call the anaesthesiologist, my nurse came back. She checked me and found I was complete and that there was no time for the epidural and I needed to push him out.
I know this might be many people's ideal birth, but I was pretty pissed off at the time. I yelled in between pushes that I didn't want to do it this way and that I was "so mad at them." Luckily, he was in a good position and I pushed him out in an intense 15 minutes. No tearing. 9 lbs. 5 oz. (with his hand by his face). I have no clue how I managed not to tear with that little preparation and that chunky a monkey.
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In the end, alls well that ends well. I'm proud of myself for having a natural birth after a pitocin induction. There's a small part of me that feels a little conflicted about it, because in many ways I feel I was not listened to during my birth. But I also realize that no one could have predicted I would go from 4cm to complete in 30 mins. My sweet sweet doula apologized profusely saying she "promised she didn't try and trick me."
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I know they both had the best intentions because clearly its easier on them if I had the pain relief rather than having to support a woman with her head spinning through a labor. He was born at 1:24pm (3 hours after the intense active labor started). I will NEVER again assume that quick births are necessarily easier. While I'm grateful it was quick, it was quite a shock to the system.
After the birth, I asked for pain relief (i.e. Darvocet) and that nurse started explaining to me the wonders of homeopathic Arnica. It was everything in me to not scream "for god's sake, enough is enough. give me some freakin meds."
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I mean, I planned a homebirth with my DD and I respect natural birth, but I planned a hospital birth for a reason. KWIM?
My birth was unexpected in so many ways. I have to admit a renewed confidence in my body (after having PIH TWICE) that I actually CAN birth a baby well (even if I need a little induction help).
Anyhow, Vincent is here and doing beautifully. Vincent means "to conquer" and Asher means "happy and blessed." It pretty much sums up how it feels to meet this little one.
DH was wonderful as always. Supportive during the birth, wrote a 5 page birth story afterwards, and has done all the diapers, swaddling, and bringing him to me to nurse. He's still getting the coordination down, but nursing is going well.
DD loves her little brother already. She's been very helpful since we've been home, but we're working a little on her "volume control" since everything he does causes her to squeal and scream with giggles. This guy better get used to taking naps in loud conditions
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We are home now and Vincent's sleeping peacefully as I write this. Now I'm off to catch up on this DDC and see who else has arrived since we've been at the hospital.
Here are a few pictures:
Vincent Asher
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent008.jpg
Proud big sister
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent021.jpg
Sibling love
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent022.jpg
And this is a picture of Milena showing you how tiny Vince's cheeks are:
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent027.jpg
XOXO
Beth
We had a boy!
Vincent Asher
9 lbs. 5 oz.
April 13, 2009
1:24 pm
hospital induction
natural birth (but not by choice
As many of you know from my previous posts I had an induction scheduled for Sunday night due to the ambiguous beginnings of pre-eclampsia. I had waffled about whether or not I was jumping the gun with this induction or if it was a good idea.
Upon check in, the nurses all checked out my cankles and agreed it was time to get this baby out. It felt nice to have my intuition validated. The nurse checked me and I was 2 cm and 50% effaced (a welcome change from the 1cm and 0% effaced I was on Thurs). We started Cervadil at 7:00pm and after two hours was allowed to eat dinner and go to sleep.
About 5am, I got on the birth ball because I was getting irritable contractions from the cervadil. At 7am, they removed the cervadil and found I was now 4cm. Very good news. I got a quick shower and we started the pitocin at around 8am. My nurse was familiar from my last birth and also a homebirth midwife, so very hands on and supportive. My doula got there around 9 or 9:30am.
Between the doula, homebirth midwife nurse, and my awesome DH, I had 3 sets of hands working on me almost constantly. They rubbed my back, applied pressure, and so on. Even so, the birth got intense quickly. I told them that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible and they promised they would get it, but said I should wait until I was 6cm so the baby could be felt better, check the head sutures to see it was aligned properly etc. They were concerned that since he was at a -2 station getting the epidural too early could cause him to drop into my pelvis in an unfavorable position.
Meanwhile, I was cursing, yelling, and bawling my eyes out. I told them I didn't care and I wanted the epidural regardless. My nurse actually went to lunch quickly thinking I was just at 4cm and she would quickly eat and come back so she could be there for the birth. I didn't know this (thought she was just in the hall). She told me she would check me in 30 mins. and if I was close to the 6cm goal, they would give me the epidural. About 10 mins. after I left, things went totally crazy. My water broke, he slammed into my pelvis, and I threw up all over the bed. I screamed again for the epidural and my doula kept telling me that I had to wait for my nurse to get back. Finally after I yelled for the zillionth time that I didn't care which nurse did it, but I wanted someone to call the anaesthesiologist, my nurse came back. She checked me and found I was complete and that there was no time for the epidural and I needed to push him out.
I know this might be many people's ideal birth, but I was pretty pissed off at the time. I yelled in between pushes that I didn't want to do it this way and that I was "so mad at them." Luckily, he was in a good position and I pushed him out in an intense 15 minutes. No tearing. 9 lbs. 5 oz. (with his hand by his face). I have no clue how I managed not to tear with that little preparation and that chunky a monkey.
In the end, alls well that ends well. I'm proud of myself for having a natural birth after a pitocin induction. There's a small part of me that feels a little conflicted about it, because in many ways I feel I was not listened to during my birth. But I also realize that no one could have predicted I would go from 4cm to complete in 30 mins. My sweet sweet doula apologized profusely saying she "promised she didn't try and trick me."
After the birth, I asked for pain relief (i.e. Darvocet) and that nurse started explaining to me the wonders of homeopathic Arnica. It was everything in me to not scream "for god's sake, enough is enough. give me some freakin meds."
My birth was unexpected in so many ways. I have to admit a renewed confidence in my body (after having PIH TWICE) that I actually CAN birth a baby well (even if I need a little induction help).
Anyhow, Vincent is here and doing beautifully. Vincent means "to conquer" and Asher means "happy and blessed." It pretty much sums up how it feels to meet this little one.
DH was wonderful as always. Supportive during the birth, wrote a 5 page birth story afterwards, and has done all the diapers, swaddling, and bringing him to me to nurse. He's still getting the coordination down, but nursing is going well.
DD loves her little brother already. She's been very helpful since we've been home, but we're working a little on her "volume control" since everything he does causes her to squeal and scream with giggles. This guy better get used to taking naps in loud conditions
We are home now and Vincent's sleeping peacefully as I write this. Now I'm off to catch up on this DDC and see who else has arrived since we've been at the hospital.
Here are a few pictures:
Vincent Asher
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent008.jpg
Proud big sister
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent021.jpg
Sibling love
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent022.jpg
And this is a picture of Milena showing you how tiny Vince's cheeks are:
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...vincent027.jpg
XOXO
Beth
