The day of my due date, I had contractions on and off throughout the day. Despite this, I felt great! I had been sick with a cold for almost 2 weeks, but by the time my due date came around, I was feeling much better, thank goodness! (I was really stressed about the possibility of going into labor while being sick!) Anyway, this day was slightly unusual because typically I had contractions in the evening and at night. It was a great day: we went on a big family outing to two different stores; I went on a long walk/run with Bubby; I made a nice dinner; we made sure the house was clean; Brian finished a big assignment for school; and we had a Star Trek-watching session before bed! I kept wondering throughout the day, "is today the day?" But I had been thinking that for weeks, so that day didn't feel very different from the others. I had been told that pumping (with a breast pump) may stimulate contractions... Even though I know most of the wive's tales for "inducing" labor are bogus, I tried this one! Actually, I had been doing it a little bit for a few days. Sometimes I would notice some contractions and cramping come on- when this happened I would stop and see if my body would do anything because I didn't want to do anything too intense. Anyway, I used the pump a little bit this night.
After getting ready for bed, I started to notice that contractions were still coming. We had started to keep track of them earlier that evening, but around midnight they definitely started to show a pattern. For an hour, we consistently tracked and timed contractions. They started out about 8-10 minutes apart and eventually became about 5 minutes apart. They started becoming more intense- not so intense that I couldn't move or talk at all, but intense enough where I had to breathe a little more deeply and where they were unquestionably distinguishable. At about 1 am, I called my midwife office to talk with the midwife on call. (I'll explain my decision to use midwives in another post soon! For now, I'll just say that at my midwife office the OBs and midwives work closely together and share office space. All the midwives are nurse practitioners with midwife credentials. All births, whether with an OB or with a midwife, are at the hospital.) After speaking with the midwife for a few minutes, Brian and I decided that we should go to the hospital. The midwife did tell me that I could wait a little longer at home, but advised that I should probably err on the side of caution and come in sooner rather than later. I tested positive for Group B Strep (this was also the case with Bubby); it is strongly recommended that in these cases, antibiotics get into the mother during early labor, particularly before her water breaks. Plus, since this was not my first baby, it was very possible that labor would go quickly (at least more quickly than the first time around). So, with the decision made, we got ahold of our friends who we had lined up for watching Bubby for us (they were amazing!) and within an hour or so we were at the hospital!
Early labor went pretty slowly. I was dilated to a 4 when we got in, but for some reason my contractions over the next few hours were not picking up very quickly. I was not on pitocin or an epidural, but I was hooked up to an IV for my first round of antibiotics (they give you a round every 4 hours- I had 3 total rounds during labor). Speaking of IV, the nurses had a hard time getting it in... Ow! I ended up having it in my hand. After a couple hours in the early morning of trying to rest, I tried walking around. This worked! I felt great walking around the labor and delivery unit and it seemed to help my contractions pick up. Around this time the midwife also broke my water.
After my water was broken, things really started to intensify! A position I found comfortable was sitting on a birthing ball. Finally, as my contractions really started to get painful and close together, I decided to try using the Jacuzzi tub. This felt nice, but during that time my contractions started to become almost unbearable. Once we got back to our room, the midwife checked me and I was dilated to a 7! I decided that I for sure wanted an epidural, and fast! Thankfully, the anesthesiologist was available right then, and I only had to endure 2 or 3 more contractions until the drugs kicked in. Oh my, that epidural was marvelous! I felt like a new person when that kicked in! And I was still able to feel some pressure and move my legs, but no pain! And that's how I felt through the rest of labor and through pushing. Plus, the epidural wore off so gradually afterward that I hardly noticed all the feeling coming back. I'll say it again: that epidural was amazing!!! :) I was even able to take a little nap!
It took about 2 more hours after the epidural was in to get to a 10. We were all happy that the epidural didn't slow labor down; in fact, my contractions kept picking up after I got the epidural! Once I was at 10 centimeters we tried pushing a few times. The midwife was able to feel that the baby was facing the right way (head-down)- not posterior- yay! (My first baby was posterior until the doctor flipped him with forceps.) After pushing a few times we decided we should let the baby descend on his own for a little longer to help make pushing easier. Another hour-ish of waiting, and I was ready to push! One cool thing about the pushing stage was that I was able to feel the urge to push. (I had not felt that with my first delivery because the epidural was so strong that my whole lower half was completely numb.) I felt an urge to push probably for about an hour or even more before I officially started pushing. This helped tremendously with the whole process! Little Man was born after about an hour of pushing. Everyone in the room commented on how huge his head was and on how much hair he had! I'll never forget that special moment we met this little boy for the first time. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love as he was placed in my arms- I felt like we had known each other forever!
Brian was amazing during this whole process. He was the perfect coach; he supported me on every decision and he was right there with me, letting me squeeze his hand off during the difficult contractions. It was beautiful to see Brian meet our little man for the first time; I could tell they had a connection and were happy to meet each other.
A few other things about this birth story:
---My hospital gives moms the option of being on the fetal and contraction monitor part-time, but I was required to be on them the whole labor and delivery because the baby's heart rate dropped randomly and suddenly three different times. (They don't want to take any chances when this happens; the baby needs to be monitored at all times. I think it's great that babies are monitored like this.) I was still able to move around and even use the Jacuzzi tub while having these on my belly. There is a device that allows you to walk around while being hooked up; it's small and attaches to the monitors. I carried this around my shoulder when I moved around.
---I had three total rounds of antibiotics. The penicillin hurt going into my hand unless it was pretty diluted with other liquid.
---When my water was broken, meconium (fetal poop) came out with it, which can sometimes be a sign of fetal distress. I was told that most of the time this doesn't turn into anything dangerous, but that a team from the nursery would be in the room when my baby came out, to check his breathing and to help get his lungs/airway clear. Our baby ended up being fine and the team was only in our room for a few minutes.
---I had an amazing experience! Even though it was intense, I'm glad I waited for the epidural for so long. It was liberating to be able to move! And even with the epidural, I was still able to feel my legs enough to change positions in the bed and hold my legs during pushing.
---The midwife was awesome! She was my advocate and extremely helpful. I liked that she was really involved in the whole process. My favorite part about using a midwife was her relaxed and flexible approach, especially with pushing. I was able to be in the position I wanted to be in during this stage. I feel like I got the best of both worlds- a birth in a great hospital where the baby and I were closely monitored, with awesome nurses, and with a relaxed approach where I got to be in control of as much as was possible and safe.
The postpartum recovery this time around had been amazing and not very eventful. I'll blog more about this phase later. :)
I feel incredibly blessed for the wonderful experience this birth was. We have a big, healthy baby and a healthy, happy mama. :) Our family feels more complete now with Little Man here. And to top it all off, Bubby is doing a great job at the whole big brother thing. Yay!!!
<3 Tycie
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