Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sorry Jake!
Just reading through the birth story and realized I forgot to include Jake!!! He was there throughout the whole labor and was a huge comfort to me during contractions. I remember him telling me I was beautiful, that I smelled nice (probably a lie!), breathing with me through contractions (a HUGE help), rubbing my back and holding my hand. He caught Henry himself and cut the cord. He was just a trooper! I will always remember what a strength he was to me during labor.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Henry Dee's Birth Story :D
5/6/09
Started having contractions around midnight on May 6th. Were ten minutes apart and weak so I went to bed at 1am. I woke up at 3:30am with a bad contraction :0. They were strong enough that I couldn't fall back asleep and nothing I did made them better. I went to the bathroom to take a bath at 4am and noticed I was spotting/bleeding. Started timing the contractions and they were coming every 5 minutes on the dot which kind of freaked me out since that's when they say you're supposed to go in. Called my midwife around 5am and was told to come into her office that morning unless they get really horrible. I went in and was checked at 10am. I was 1cm and 90% effaced. She told me it could be false labor but she expected to see me in the next few days. After this it seemed like the contractions kind of tapered off.
I went home bummed to take a nap at 11 am. Woke up at 12pm to Benjamin crying. I was lying there trying to decide if I should get up and help him or go to sleep when a contraction started. All of a sudden I felt/heard a POP! I knew my water had broke and sure enough as soon as I stood. . . . . . . gush! Called the midwife and she said to come in again to be checked and she'd probably send me to the hospital. So me and DH started running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We finally got to her office at 4pm and she confirmed my water had broke but suggested I stay at home till the contractions were really bad. She said if I didn't have the baby by 9am tomorrow she would start pitocin (drug that make contractions stronger).
So we went home and relaxed. The contractions were getting stronger at this point but were all over the place. 10 min apart then 5 then 7 then 12 then 5. And sometimes they were excruciating other times pretty weak and short.
5/7/09
My doula came over and finally around midnight we decided to go into the hospital because some of the contractions had become excruciating and we could not figure out what was going on with my labor. We got to the hospital and they checked me and I was STILL 1cm and 90% effaced. !!???!!! (at this point I was surprised they didn't wheel me off for a csec) My midwife hypothesized that I was tense and exhausted and therefore my contractions were ineffective. So they gave me a dose of morphine around 3 and I slept till 6.
Unfortunately due the morphine by morning my labor had completely stopped. The doctor came in and said he wanted to do a csec because he thought I just couldn't dilate and my water had been broke so long. Luckily I was still under my midwife's jurisdiction so at 10am she put me on pitocin and antibiotics as a last attempt to get my labor going and effective. I love my midwife because she took the time to start at 1cc and work up so by the time it up to 3cc of pit I was already having effective contractions and didn't end up with too much pit (aka really really painful contractions). They recommended I consider and epidural as it might help me relax and progress more effectively. I decided to wait until she checked me before I decided on the epi. I was checked around 11am and was 4cm!! This motivated me to know that my contractions were becoming effective so I held out on the epi.
By 1:30 pm I was in a LOT of pain and by 2pm I was getting to the point of what I now call "wild woman"! I was no longer in control! I was moaning and wailing and saying/chanting all sorts of crazy stuff. So the midwife checked me around 2:15pm and I was 7cm. I was so discouraged to think I had 3 MORE cm when I felt half crazy with pain. Fortunately the urge to push came around 2:40pm. And like the crazy wild woman I had become I climbed up onto the bed and on my hands and knees pushed Henry out in four contractions. At 2:47pm I pushed his entire head and body out in ONE contraction (two pushes). It was intense. Unfortunately I ripped in three places because of that. :( But I could NOT for the life of me have stopped pushing. I still remember how it felt. It was the most amazing and overwhelming experience to push out our baby. I think some women don't know what they're missing by getting the epi.
Baby is super healthy and besides a sore bottom and the usual after pains I feel great. HURRAY for a supportive midwife and doula! The doctor wanted to do a repeat csection but my midwife fought for me and without my doula there, there is no way I could have managed my pain. Part of me still can't believe I did it but I'm so grateful things worked out the way they did.
Started having contractions around midnight on May 6th. Were ten minutes apart and weak so I went to bed at 1am. I woke up at 3:30am with a bad contraction :0. They were strong enough that I couldn't fall back asleep and nothing I did made them better. I went to the bathroom to take a bath at 4am and noticed I was spotting/bleeding. Started timing the contractions and they were coming every 5 minutes on the dot which kind of freaked me out since that's when they say you're supposed to go in. Called my midwife around 5am and was told to come into her office that morning unless they get really horrible. I went in and was checked at 10am. I was 1cm and 90% effaced. She told me it could be false labor but she expected to see me in the next few days. After this it seemed like the contractions kind of tapered off.
I went home bummed to take a nap at 11 am. Woke up at 12pm to Benjamin crying. I was lying there trying to decide if I should get up and help him or go to sleep when a contraction started. All of a sudden I felt/heard a POP! I knew my water had broke and sure enough as soon as I stood. . . . . . . gush! Called the midwife and she said to come in again to be checked and she'd probably send me to the hospital. So me and DH started running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We finally got to her office at 4pm and she confirmed my water had broke but suggested I stay at home till the contractions were really bad. She said if I didn't have the baby by 9am tomorrow she would start pitocin (drug that make contractions stronger).
So we went home and relaxed. The contractions were getting stronger at this point but were all over the place. 10 min apart then 5 then 7 then 12 then 5. And sometimes they were excruciating other times pretty weak and short.
5/7/09
My doula came over and finally around midnight we decided to go into the hospital because some of the contractions had become excruciating and we could not figure out what was going on with my labor. We got to the hospital and they checked me and I was STILL 1cm and 90% effaced. !!???!!! (at this point I was surprised they didn't wheel me off for a csec) My midwife hypothesized that I was tense and exhausted and therefore my contractions were ineffective. So they gave me a dose of morphine around 3 and I slept till 6.
Unfortunately due the morphine by morning my labor had completely stopped. The doctor came in and said he wanted to do a csec because he thought I just couldn't dilate and my water had been broke so long. Luckily I was still under my midwife's jurisdiction so at 10am she put me on pitocin and antibiotics as a last attempt to get my labor going and effective. I love my midwife because she took the time to start at 1cc and work up so by the time it up to 3cc of pit I was already having effective contractions and didn't end up with too much pit (aka really really painful contractions). They recommended I consider and epidural as it might help me relax and progress more effectively. I decided to wait until she checked me before I decided on the epi. I was checked around 11am and was 4cm!! This motivated me to know that my contractions were becoming effective so I held out on the epi.
By 1:30 pm I was in a LOT of pain and by 2pm I was getting to the point of what I now call "wild woman"! I was no longer in control! I was moaning and wailing and saying/chanting all sorts of crazy stuff. So the midwife checked me around 2:15pm and I was 7cm. I was so discouraged to think I had 3 MORE cm when I felt half crazy with pain. Fortunately the urge to push came around 2:40pm. And like the crazy wild woman I had become I climbed up onto the bed and on my hands and knees pushed Henry out in four contractions. At 2:47pm I pushed his entire head and body out in ONE contraction (two pushes). It was intense. Unfortunately I ripped in three places because of that. :( But I could NOT for the life of me have stopped pushing. I still remember how it felt. It was the most amazing and overwhelming experience to push out our baby. I think some women don't know what they're missing by getting the epi.
Baby is super healthy and besides a sore bottom and the usual after pains I feel great. HURRAY for a supportive midwife and doula! The doctor wanted to do a repeat csection but my midwife fought for me and without my doula there, there is no way I could have managed my pain. Part of me still can't believe I did it but I'm so grateful things worked out the way they did.
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