The Birth Story

As you know, my for-real labor contractions started on Thursday night at 7 pm. I did a pretty good job breathing through them, and they kept me up all that night. It was terrible to lie down because I'd wake up for contractions, and they'd be so much more intense than if I were sitting or standing. The worst part was that they hurt so bad, I couldn't move to make it any less painful. We thought for sure we'd be at the birth center the next morning delivering the baby on my birthday.

When we called the birth center, they said we shouldn't come until the contractions were two to three minutes apart... for TWO hours!! I was really concerned we'd have to drive there during rush hour traffic, but the midwife assured me that with first-time moms, labor takes a lot longer and I shouldn't have to worry about that. Boy, was she ever right.

We called our doula who came over on Friday morning with birthday balloons for me (how sweet). We went walking up and down the stairwells in the apartment, walked around the block, and I did tons of laps in the pool trying to bring more regularity to these contractions. They were definitely getting stronger and closer together, but still no consistent pattern. I spent all night Friday in the bathtub - it was the only place I could get semi-comfortable. I'd drift off to sleep in between contractions. We sent our doula home around 5 am, and let her know we'd call when we were headed to the birth center, which hopefully wouldn't be too much later.

The next afternoon I called the birth center very frustrated. On Thursday I was only 1 cm, I had been in labor since then, with no consistent pattern, but one thing was for sure: I was completely exhausted and frustrated, and started to wonder if this baby would ever come out. The midwife on call was fabulous. She was very compassionate and understanding of my frustration. She recommended I eat foods with lots of protein and try to rest up as much as I could. She also said she'd be happy to see me at the center to talk about what else we could do. The midwife said I was between 3 and 4 cm dilated. I was so relieved to hear things were moving along that I started crying. I was sure she'd say I hadn't made much progress. The midwife recommended we focus on eating, drinking, and resting since she thought we'd be back later that night.

After we got home, we decided that we'd try watching something really funny on TV, since laughter is supposed to be helpful in opening things up in labor. The next thing I knew, I was having monstrous contractions. They were much stronger than any I'd experienced so far. Lane was helping me do lunges onto a chair during the contractions to get through them. We read about this pose in the Birth Partner book, which turned out to be very helpful. Since they were getting so much stronger and closer together, I asked Lane to call the Birth Center. No, the contractions weren't 2-3 minutes apart for 2 hours, but they were really close together and the contractions were long - like 2 minutes or more each. The midwife said she wanted to know about this also, because it could be an indication that things were going even faster. Not only this, I was dreading the 20 minute or so car ride over. We called the birth center, our doula, and gathered all our supplies together in between contractions. I even brought a towel in case my water broke on the way there, and a basin in case I threw up on the way. Thankfully, I didn't need to use either.

The birth center doesn't admit you unless you are 5 cm dilated. The first thing they did when I got there in the middle of Saturday night was examine me to announce I was 6 cm! She said 5 was the hardest to get to and it should be smooth sailing from then on out. I cried tears of relief for the second time in one day.

The midwife, Ebony, started filling up the gigantic jacuzzi tub, getting out candles, preparing the birthing ball, and our doula put on some music. They basically told me it was my show - I could do whatever I needed or wanted to throughout my labor. I felt so good about making my last minute switch to the midwives.

I was having a lot of back labor, which usually means that the baby is not in an ideal position for birthing. They suggested I get on my hands and knees in the tub to encourage her to move around. Our doula and Lane took turns resting and supporting me while I was in the bathtub. I'd try different positions, and things seemed to progress, but still not with any regular pattern. Finally, Ebony said that we might need to go to the hospital. She said that because I was almost 8 cm, and still didn't have a regular pattern of contractions, she didn't think it would happen on its own. I wasn't having any urges to push and she thought I might need a little pitocin to jump start labor.

By now it was probably 7 am on Sunday and I was totally open to the idea of going to the hospital. It wasn't at all what I envisioned for the birth, but neither Lane nor I had slept for three nights and I just needed to get that baby out! Before we headed out, Ebony had a talk with another midwife, Nora, who had an idea.

Nora suggested giving me some sterile water injections in my back. They work like acupuncture and not only would it relieve the back labor, she said that she'd never had a baby NOT turn into the proper position for delivery when using them. She also wanted to give me an IV with some fluids to give me a burst of energy. We went for it. The injections stung, but nothing like contractions, and the back relief was almost immediate. I was finally able to lay down and get a little rest while Lane massaged my arms and hands and our doula massaged my feet and legs. I got a second wind of energy and was excited to walk the halls and get labor jump started, but still no consistent contractions and still no urge to push.

We got in the car and followed a midwife to the hospital around 9 am on Sunday. When I got to my room I was immediately complimented on how wonderful my veins were, and then pricked 4 times unsuccessfully to get my IV going. That was special. They were going to give me a full blast of pitocin which makes the contractions come more frequently, and much more intense. I really struggled with whether or not I wanted to get an epidural. This whole time I'd been wanting a natural childbirth, but I never expected to be in labor for as long as I was, and I was exhausted. I decied to go for the epidural. They poked and prodded me a couple times before successfully injecting the epidural needle.

My spirits weren't so high after this. I had to get strapped with two different bands for constant fetal monitoring. They gave me oxygen for the baby, they broke my water bag, and after all this, were still having trouble seeing a consistent pattern with my contractions. Later they had to add an internal pressure monitor, not an internal fetal monitor, but something else to more accurately measure the strength of my contractions. It was kind of ironic that I ended up with practically every intervention I was hoping to avoid. The good news was that I was finally able to get some uninterrupted rest, and because of that, Lane was able to get in a good nap as well.

They finally checked me around 6 pm and we got the news we had been waiting for - I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Lane and I both got very teary eyed to hear this news.

I asked them to turn the epidural all the way down because I wanted to be able to feel and control my pushing. After the midwives prepared everything for the baby, they told me I could start pushing whenever I wanted, but that it was a good idea to do so along with the contractions. The midwife was totally awesome and calm. She'd give me tips in between pushes to help me continue to push as effectively as possible. I had Lane on one side of me, our doula on the other, and the midwives were there observing to make sure everything was okay. It took two hours of serious uterus squeezing and breath holding pushing to bring our little baby girl into the world.

When she *finally* came out, they immediately put her on my chest and rubbed her with blankets until she started crying. We just held her and looked at her, in complete disbelief that this was our daughter. She was perfect. The nurse told us not to worry about helping her to my breast to feed, and Gabriela found it and started sucking, with only a little assistance. They didn't weigh her or give her the standard antibiotics until more than an hour after she was born so we'd have plenty of time to bond with her.

In the end, I feel like I had the birth I wanted, and am not at all disappointed with how things resulted. I did all the hard work naturally, and look at it as just having a little break mid-way before starting to push. After three-plus days, I deserved it :) And we'd tried everything else. The most important thing was having a healthy baby, and that's exactly what we got.

And you win a prize if you read this entire post!