Birth Story

June 3rd (39 weeks) I woke up at 9 AM anticipating getting ready for my Dr's appointment at 10 AM. I went to the bathroom and after going I noticed a slight tinge of pink/red on the toilet paper and decided to call my Dr to see if she wanted me to come in earlier just because I was going to go in later anyway. The receptionist called me back and said the Dr was in the hospital and to just go to labor and delivery to meet here there to get checked out. I was feeling fine and I figured maybe this was just the start of a bloody show that would come later or something. I drove myself over to the hospital which is literally around the corner (my Drs office is in the same building just a different wing) I checked myself into labor and delivery. While I was being admitted I chatted with the nurse, struggled to figure out how to put on the hospital gown, and planned out my day in my head as I figured I was going to be going home since I was feeling fine and at my last appointment a week ago was only 1/2 cm dilated The nurse hooked up the monitors to track baby and my contractions. The whole time I was happy and chatty with her and she figured I would probably go home too since I didnt seem like I was in labor. She checked the monitors and said "oh your having a contraction did you feel that?" to which I said "No not a thing" Baby was looking fine as well. I waited for about 45 minutes for my Dr to show up. I had called Paul and my doula Claudia earlier to say I was going to labor and delivery but not to change their plans as I was sure Id go home soon. It was a boring 45 minute wait in the room alone and I kind of regretted not asking someone to come with me. Finally my Dr showed up. First she looked at the monitors and said "Oh yeah Im sure its just early labor if anything and youll be going home. Lets just check you and then youll be on your way" However when she checked me she saw that I was already 3 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and at -2 station. She said "Your in labor your staying" I had tested positive for Group B Strep so it was important for me to start the antibiotics so they admitted me, hooked up a saline drip as well as the antibiotics and I made my calls to Paul, Claudia, and family. Claudia arrived around 11 AM and Paul a little after that. I had to send him home first to finish packing our hospital bag as I had brought nothing with me since I honestly thought Id be going home. Then the wait began. I was allowed to walk around the ward, have a birthing ball, and a rocking chair. I used all of those at various times. I was checked again a while later and had moved to 5 cms. I still had not really felt a contraction at this point. At times it was a bit crampy but nothing I couldnt bear. A little later I was checked and I was still at 5 cm. I was disappointed as I thought everything was moving along well. My water had not broken yet and I was asked if I wanted them to break it to help labor along. I declined. I was getting hungry though as I had not eaten since the previous night not even eating breakfast when I left. They Dr said I could have some clears (liquids, jello) That was the best jello I ever ate to this day. I walked, rocked, bounced around some more chatting away with Paul and Claudia. A little later I was at 7 cm. Hooray! I was asked again about my water and I declined again. The day was passing by. At my next check I was at 7 cm still. This time I opted to have my water broken to help speed things along more. Contractions still were manageable at this time. After my water was broken I stayed mostly in the room as I was leaking everywhere and it was a gross gross feeling. After a while the contractions finally started to become a bit more painful. I moved to 8 cm within the hour but then stalled there again. The pain was starting to get a bit worse as well. I hit 9 cm at around 11 PM. I had been there now for over 12 hours. At 9 cm the contractions were bad. I relied heavily on Claudia and Paul. I dont know how to describe it but I had moments where I just felt out of sorts and would dash around the room in a panic. I found sitting on the toilet helped somewhat. I had hoped to take a shower but the hospital wouldnt let me. A little before midnight they checked again and I was still at 9 cm. At that point I was having a hard time and was so upset that the labor had stalled yet again. I had wanted to go natural but at this point I was in pain and I started asking for an epidural. My Dr and doula both knew I wanted to go natural so they tried to make sure I was sure. In my own mind I had wanted to ask at the latest possible moment hoping that if I asked real late there would be a chance that i would hit 10 cm and not need it but if I kept stalling at 9 cms for hours then I could get some relief as I wasnt sure how much longer I could go on like that. I asked for an epi after they checked and I was still stalled at 9 cm. They started the prep work for the epi and then at 12:15 AM my Dr checked me one more time and I was at 10 cm! I made it sans medication! Now it was time to push. The problem was I didnt feel like I had to push. I had heard from many people that after a while your body has this "urge to push" but I wasnt feeling that. I had asked the nurses hours earlier what the urge felt like and they ahd described it as a bowel moment feeling but I was not feeling like that at all. To top it off I wasnt feeling every contraction still. I had no idea what I was doing when they asked me to push and pretty much the first hour was the nurses and Dr trying to show me where to push and me pushing everywhere but where I was suppose to. That exhausted me even more then I already was, mind you I had been there for 15+ hours with no food. I had the hardest time holding up my legs as well since I was so tired. Needless to say I pushed and pushed and pushed and nothing seemed to be happening. This went on for hours. We were approaching 4 AM and I had been pushing since a little after midnight. I was so out of it. I slept in between contractions and was barely conscious during the pushing even. I had started to toy with the idea of a C-section as I wanted it to be over, I was tired and in pain and just wanted a break. Then Claudia told me something that sparked something inside of me. She told me that if I had a C-section I would have to recover from not only the pain I was having in my perineum area but also the C-section. That woke something inside of me and I knew I just had to push this bay out so I concentrated harder on trying to make it happen. A little after 4 Am the Dr noticed that the baby was facing the wrong way. Babies are suppose to come out face down but my baby was face up, OP or sunny side up they call it, and this is why I was having such a hard time pushing him out. He had been facing the proper way the week before so the Dr speculated that he somehow got turned during labor thus explaining why the pushing was taking so long. She said she was going to use a vacuum to help me out. Those words were music to my ears and at 19 minutes past 4 AM Drake Jonathan was pushed/vacuumed out into the world.

The short story about my labor is this. I had a wonderful labor up to about 8 cm. I never really felt any contractions and the ones I did weren't that bad. I attribute this to the fact that I have a horrible period with tons of cramps making my pain tolerance rather high I guess. My contractions were never really regular probably because I just didnt feel them all making it longer and harder for me to push as I didnt have to full strength of strong contractions to help me out. I never had that "urge to push" which made it very hard for me figure out what to do and where to push. Drake was a large baby, 8 lbs 8 ozs, on top of the fact that he was facing the wrong way making labor even more difficult. According to Baby Center, between 5 and 12 percent of babies are face-up at delivery, and the percentage is higher among first-time mothers. Mothers whose babies are face-up at birth tend to push longer, more commonly need Pitocin to stimulate contractions, and have a significantly higher risk of having an assisted vaginal delivery or a c-section. Those who do give birth vaginally to a baby who is posterior are more likely to have an episiotomy and severe perineal tears than moms whose babies are in the more favorable face-down position, even after you account for the higher rate of forceps and vacuum-assisted delivery. I was so out of during the pushing stage that I didnt even realize I was given an episotomy until after wards when they told me they were sewing it up. In the end though I managed to find a way to deliver him naturally as I had wanted, it was a hard labor at the end but he was certainly worth it.

The fruits of my labor

This picture was taken less then 24 hours after birth