The Birth Story

I woke up on Thursday, 2/12 at about 4:00 a.m. having contractions. They were coming every five to eight minutes, and this continued for several hours before stopping. I had a 41 week appointment scheduled that morning, so I went to my appointment. The doctor said I was 90% effaced and four centimeters dilated. She stripped my membranes and said that I’d probably have the baby within 24 hours. I had several bouts of contractions over the next few days, but nothing that intensified to “real” labor. At about 12:30 Sunday (2/15) morning, I awoke to contractions. Doug said that I had been moaning in my sleep, and he figured I was having contractions. These contractions were painful enough that I decided to get up and get in the shower – the hot water felt good on my back. Doug began timing the contractions, which were coming about every two minutes. I had to breathe through them, as they were painful. Doug called our doula, Danielle, and she said she’d head over to our house. Doug also called my doctor. She said that labor and delivery was full and to stay at home as long as I could. The doula got to our house, and I continued to labor at home until about 3:30. The ride to the hospital was fuzzy for me, as I continued to have contractions every two minutes. I remember walking from the parking garage to labor and delivery – several hospital workers offered me a wheelchair, but I wanted to walk. I had several contractions leaning up against the walls in the hospital corridor. When we got up to labor and delivery, they completed my registration. (Luckily, most of my information was already in the computer, so I just had to confirm a few things.) Since my doctor knew I was already four centimeters dilated, she allowed me to be admitted without having to go through triage. I was group B strep (GBS) positive, so I needed to get an IV of antibiotics to protect the baby from contracting the illness during delivery. The nurse started me on the first bag of antibiotics immediately, and an intern came to check me. I was five centimeters and 100% effaced. The contractions were still coming every two minutes, which made it hard to recuperate between contractions. After my IV finished, I decided to get in the shower. I had the water as hot as it would go, but I was still chilly. Doug stood in the bathroom and held the shower curtain shut to keep the steam in. I was in the shower for about an hour and a half. I remember coming out of the shower and seeing the sun coming up. At this point, the doctor came in to check me again. I was six and a half to seven centimeters dilated, and the doctor said I probably had another four to five hours to go. She said she could break my water, which would speed things up, but would also make things more intense. I didn’t know what to do. At that point, I lost it. I began crying and saying I couldn’t do it for that much longer. Doug and Danielle got me to calm down, and Danielle told me to just try for another 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, I could reassess if I needed an epidural or pain medication. I agreed to that. I was still trying to decide if I should have the doctor break my water, but I ended up not having to make that decision. I stood up, and my water broke – all over Doug’s shoes! Since my water had broken, the doctor wanted me in the bed. I couldn’t stand being on my back, so I had the exercise ball on the bed, and I was on my knees using the ball for support for my upper body.
The next thing I knew, Danielle told me I had labored over two hours since my water had broken. I started saying that I felt like I had to poop. The doctor came in to check me, and I was 10 centimeters. She told me I could push. I stayed in the position on the ball on the bed and pushed with each contraction. Danielle had me squat backwards with each contraction, as that movement opened up my pelvis, allowing the baby to move through more easily. After pushing like that for 45 minutes to an hour, my knees were getting sore. The doctor had me flip over on my back. She told me that she could feel the baby’s head. She put her fingers in my vagina to help me know where I needed to direct my pushes, which I found very helpful. There was something very liberating about pushing, and I remember thinking that the more I put into it, the sooner my baby would be born. I remember her saying that I had about 25-30 minutes of pushing left, but then I saw everyone (nurses, etc.) coming into the room and them prepping for the baby. The doctor told me that the baby was crowning. I could feel the “ring of fire” I have heard many women describe, but I don’t recall it being as painful as I had anticipated. Next thing I knew, I felt relief and could feel the rest of the baby come out – sunny-side up, which is why I had so much back labor. Someone told the doctor that we didn’t know the sex of the baby, and the doctor said, “Oh – it’s a girl!” Kate didn’t even really cry. She checked out her surroundings and was very alert. Doug cut the umbilical cord, and they put Kate on my chest. She got a 9 on both of her Apgars. Doug went over to the warmer with the nurses and took a video of them cleaning Kate, weighing her, and doing her measurements. She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 8 pounds and .6 ounces. I remember delivering the placenta but didn’t realize that was what was happening until the doctor said that the placenta was out. My placenta had three nodes. The doctor said that my placenta was extremely healthy; however, she said that if she had broken my water, she could have caught one of the veins in the extra nodes, requiring an emergency c-section. I believe there was some sort of divine intervention for my water to break when it did so I didn’t have to make that decision and possibly face a c-section. The doctor stitched me up for about 30-45 minutes. (I had third degree tears.) I tried to nurse Kate after they cleaned her up, but she wasn’t latching. Shortly thereafter, we were taken to the recovery room. We stayed there for about two days, and then we were homebound with our beautiful daughter!