About 8am on Monday, October 17th I woke up having contractions. Not sure if I woke up because of them or it was a coincidence. I tend to get up about 8am any way. They were pretty regular to start, about three to five minutes apart, but they were short in duration 30 seconds to a minute. In relative terms they didn't hurt that much either. I felt them mostly in my back, having terrible lower back pain in between the contractions. That was worse than the contractions themselves. I was able to eat some toast for breakfast. At about 10:30 am I had a yogurt and some coffee that came back up. I think the toast stayed down though.
By 12:30 pm my contractions were feeling more regular, so we called the doctor and they had us come in. One thing I didn't know is if the clinic is open they see us in the clinic and not at the hospital. It was nice to be able to go to my regular doctor (who was in). She checked me and I was only at 2cm, but fully effaced.They hooked me up to do a non stress test to make sure the baby was doing okay. She was, so home we went. We thought about walking around, but all I wanted to do is cuddle up on the couch with the heating pad to help my back. That gave me some relief. I was able to catch up on some DVR before we were scheduled to come back in to the clinic before it closed for the day. I had a feeling even before she checked me at 4pm nothing had changed and that was the case. Home again we went.
Again I sat on the couch with my heating pad. I remember trying to watch Monday Night Football and Diner's, Drive In's, and Dives. I tried to eat some soup. As the contractions got more intense that came up though. I also remember using Guy Frier's hair to focus on through my contractions. At about 7pm is when the contractions got too intense for me and at 7:30 I told H to call the hospital. The timing and the duration of them never really changed from 8am that morning, but the intensity sure did. I could no longer focus through them. The pain had also switched off my back and more towards the front.
The ride to the hospital was traumatic, luckily we only live 15 minutes away. By 8:30 they checked me again and I was at six cm! No wonder I was in so much pain. I wanted an epidural so bad just to get some relief. They walked me back to a room and the anesthesiologist came in. He turned me on my side to clean my back. The nurses checked me again, I was at eight cm. Then my water broke. The baby's heart rate started to drop during contractions. They had me get on all fours. I was at ten centimeters and starting to feel the urge to push. It was too late for me, like it or not I was having a natural child birth. I can tell you I defiantly did not like it, but proud I did it.
Her head wasn't in quite the right position. I remember them talking about using a vacuum to help and her heart rate kept dropping during contractions, so they talked about possibly doing a c-section as well. The whole room was a blur of people and pain. I am glad I can't see well with out my glasses. In the end none of those extra things ended up happening. After about six contractions, maybe 15 to 20 minutes of pushing she was out. She was healthy and I was relieved it was over. H didn't have a chance to even park the car and the grandparents didn't get called.
Hailey was born at 9:48pm. She was 7lbs, 10 ounces, 22 inches long. All ten fingers and toes accounted for.
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| Hailey going home |
A big congrats to you and your family! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my God if I read another birth story about a "dropping" heart rate requiring a vacuum or c-section I'll scream. Don't they know that a dropping heart rate means baby's head is being squeezed as it comes through the birth canal and that it's a healthy, normal sign that baby is healthy and responsive and will be born soon? IDIOTS! Use a midwife next time! Great story and you should be very proud about your med-free birth!!
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