With my first little one who is now 21 months old, I didn't do a very good job writing up his birth story. It's still partially done. I decided I'd go ahead and write up my experience with my second little one who was born just under a week ago.
After my last labor, I was happy with the care I received and the overall experience, but I still wanted some things to be different, and after experiencing it that time, I felt I knew more what to expect and could plan a bit better. I felt more empowered that I could make the decisions rather than being lead in a particular direction.
The major thing I wanted to be different was that I wanted to avoid medical interventions and medications. I wanted this with my first, but it didn't work out that way and after reflection, I felt that I had gotten so stressed out by the traffic in and out of my room during labor and the constant emphasis on time. I was hoping for less stress and less traffic. I actually got that!
After a pretty uneventful pregnancy (I lucked out and had nausea, severe heartburn, and backaches in the later stages but otherwise I avoided a number of other normal pregnancy discomforts), I neared the due date with a sense of calm and relaxation. I was in no rush to have the baby and I felt I had all the time in the world. it actually took my father-in-law visiting for a week and getting on my case to get things done like pack the hospital bag and get the baby clothes ready. I also had been reading HypnoBirthing, a book I borrowed from a friend, to try to gain some skills to keep myself less stressed during my labor and help me tune out the traffic in and out of my room. Inspired by that book and a few other factors, I wrote up my birth preferences (which I had not done with my previous baby) and printed out a copy to take with us. Among my preferences I listed the desire for a heparin block (vs. fluids) and intermittent monitoring so I could move around and change position during labor; reduced lighting, traffic, and checks during labor and delivery; no to limited medical interventions; breastfeeding immediately after the birth; weight checks, evaluations, and other newborn procedures to take place in my presence; avoid taking the baby to the nursery if at all possible; return the placenta to me for donation; and a few others.
My labor started on Friday afternoon. I was getting contractions throughout the day and in the afternoon I noticed they were getting a bit more frequent. Duration and spacing were not in a regular pattern, however. I called my in-laws (both nurses) to let them know I had started getting contractions. They were going to come and watch our older one while we were at the hospital and needed advanced notice since they live about 5 hours away. The rest of the evening was low key. I took a nice long shower and my husband kept our 21 month old from climbing on me too much. I gathered up the rest of the items I wanted to bring with us to the hospital. My husband went and picked up dinner for us to eat and I headed to bed a little early. I wasn't feeling very tired, but I lay down anyway, watched a bit of television and continued to monitor my contractions and practice the relaxation techniques I had read about. My in-laws arrived while I was resting. From about 10:45-11:30 they were coming fairly regularly with almost all of them being about 4 minutes apart. We decided we'd go ahead and pack up and head out.
We arrived at the hospital and checked in around midnight. We went to the triage area where I was hooked up to monitors and we filled out paperwork. My husband handed the nurse my list of birth preferences which she copied and placed in my chart, but barely looked at it. I was a little bit worried, but since I knew my preferences I figured we'd discuss it all as it came up. My contractions continued to be every 4 minutes and I was dilated to 3 cm. We were moved to a labor and delivery room where we filled out more paperwork. With a bit of difficulty, I was able to receive a heparin block rather than being hooked up to fluids and we then settled in for the night. It was a long night. I tried to rest, but it was difficult with the contractions and my very active little boy that didn't seem to like being squished. Eventually, with the help of my MP3 player, I did get intermittent sleep. When the morning came, things seemed to have slowed down some which was a bit unsettling. My new nurse came in and the first thing she told me was that she had read my birth preferences and everything looked great. She asked if I wanted to get up and take a walk, which I was more than happy to do to see if we could get things moving along. We took a stroll around the labor and delivery area but I didn't really feel any different. Around 10, the doctor came in to see how things were going and he check my progress. My contractions were really spread apart and so I wasn't progressing much at all. I had only dilated 1 more centimeter since we had arrived. He talked to me about various augmentation options which I told him I'd prefer to delay some more and see if we could get labor started up again naturally. He suggested I walk around for an hour or so (briskly) and he'd check me again in a few hours. My nurse told me no strolling that she wanted me to come back huffing and puffing and told us we could go further than just the labor and delivery unit. Off we went to wander the hospital - briskly.
We returned after an hour and continued the monitoring. My husband headed out to grab lunch and returned shortly after. When the doctor returned after 12 to check me, I hadn't made much progress. The doctor spoke again of possible interventions that were available to help move things along. Despite his assurance that this kind of intervention is "normal" for obstetrics today, I still was very hesitant to have anything done because I feared the snowball effect that seems to happen and had happened during my previous labor. Eventually, I opted to let him break my water and see if labor would progress some more - after all, it's the least detrimental of the interventions they can do and your water has to break at some point anyway. My nurse suggested that after he broke my water, we could wait a bit and then take a walk around to help things move along some more. This time, we needed to stay a bit closer. We walked around the unit and I was feeling more contractions which was great. We returned to our room where we relaxed for a bit. I sat on my exercise ball some, but eventually decided to lay back down in the bed. My contractions started to pick up and were not only more frequent, but were also stronger. I could feel them throughout my entire abdomen. I was able to incorporate the breathing techniques that I had read about and tried to keep in a relaxed state between them which seemed to work well. The contractions were far from the easy painless ones that I had before.
Around 3, the doctor returned to check me again. He had seen that my contractions had picked up so he was pleased with that. I had dilated another couple of centimeters and was now at 6. I have to admit, this news was disappointing to me. I really had hoped I was further along. I began to stress out a bit because I didn't want them to start talking to me about more interventions. Luckily, despite the "slow" progression, the doctor was happy to continue to watch and wait since I was making some progress. While this made me feel a bit better, I was still a bit on edge. My nurse asked if we wanted to walk around again, but at this point, I really didn't feel like it, so I decided to stay where I was. I did sit on my exercise ball again and leaned up against the bed when the contractions came along. Another nurse came in to check on me because the monitors were not reading as well when I was on the ball, but my nurse came in and said it was fine since the baby had been doing well and I could stay on the ball as long as I was comfortable. The contractions were getting stronger and I really wanted to get back in the bed. My nurse came back in and let me know that if I laid on my side and switched from time to time it might help things progress. I liked this idea since the firm bed was uncomfortable and laying on my side/stomach would be more comfortable. It was, except when I had a contraction.
My nurse was definitely right. Laying on my side/stomach definitely made things pick up and the contractions came stronger and longer. I also started experiencing back labor. I breathed through the contractions and tried to stay calm which was not very easy at all, but I managed. My husband started massaging my back which made a huge difference and really helped me get through the contractions. After a bit, I wanted to switch sides. We called my nurse in since the monitors were not reading well as I had been laying in that position so she readjusted them when I turned over. Again, the contractions picked up. Stronger and longer. The back pain was horrible. I felt I couldn't make it though a contraction without my husband rubbing my back. I'd tell him as each contraction came up. He decided he needed to run to get something to eat since things were starting to speed up. While he was gone, it seemed like an eternity. The contractions were so bad and I had fleeting thoughts of asking for meds as I tried to breathe through them. Each time they subsided, I tried to recenter myself and calm down again, but they came so quickly it was hard to do. I felt the slightest urge to push during one contraction but ignored it. The next few contractions, I felt the urge again and it was getting stronger. My husband returned (and, poor guy, got a not-so-happy me complaining that he was gone too long and I really needed him to massage my back - that he should have brought the food back instead of eating away from the room). After another few contractions, the urge to push was so strong I couldn't ignore it any more. I told him - mid-contraction - that I needed them to come in and check me because I was feeling the urge. He said it was too early, which I agreed, but there it was and I needed them to check me. He tried to leave, but since I was in the middle of a contraction, I wouldn't let him go just yet to get them. When that one was over, he went to get the nurse and another contraction started almost as soon as he left. I was feeling the urge to push so badly. Apparently, despite both of us thinking it was too soon, it wasn't and I was ready to go. I was begging to push but they kept telling me not to. I needed to change positions so they could de-construct the bed and get things ready. I was so close to crowning and they had to rush. The doctor came in right around then and before I knew it, it was go time.
It was all of three pushes, if even that, and they told me to look down which I did and there he was. I couldn't believe he was out already. I heard a nurse call out 6:31 as his time of birth. They placed a very blue, very fussy baby on my stomach and I heard the doctor repeating to the nurses to be careful because the cord was short. The little guy was screaming, which I instinctively tried to calm while my husband was in my ear telling me he needed to cry to get oxygen. I watched as the precious blue little baby cried on my stomach and eventually started to get pinker. When the cord stopped pulsing, they cut it. I had torn some which the doctor repaired and then shortly thereafter, I delivered the placenta with an easy push.
The nurses proceeded to bustle around and clean up as I held my new little baby taking it all in. They weighed and measured him: 8lbs. 5 oz., 19 1/4 in long and returned him to me to hold and nurse. He latched on right away and we had our first nursing session with my champion nurser.
My husband proceeded to make calls letting everyone know the baby had been born. Before too much longer, my in-laws arrived with our older son and bringing supper for me. I was so elated to see my little man whom I had been missing all day long. He was fascinated with the baby and proceeded to point out body parts, like nose, eye, hands, feet. It was such a beautiful moment.
We were moved to the recovery wing and settled in for the night. There were a few more visits from the nurses to check on the baby and me. Throughout the night we had only a few interruptions for checking vitals, etc. which was a nice change from my previous labor and, according to the nurses,can be credited to my birth plan which indicated a calm, low traffic environment. We spent two nights in the hospital and returned home Monday morning to start our new life as a family of four.
Welcome to the world my new little baby boy!
