After a 40 hour labor, 4 hours of pushing, and multiple attempts at vacuum extraction all with no medication, I ended up having a cesarean section. It wasn’t until they cut me open that the doctor realized that the reason she wouldn’t come out was that she was posterior and in brow position, which basically means that she had her neck cranked and was looking out the birth canal. Unfortunately the vacuum they had tried was pulling on her forehead instead of the crown of her head, and she came out with a gigantic purple bruise and a large scab in the middle of her forehead.

I was devastated, and spent the next year and a half mourning the loss of the natural childbirth I so desperately desired. When I got pregnant for the second time, less than a year later, I knew I had a lot of emotional healing to do. I was positive that I wanted to try for a VBAC, but I was actually scared to let myself believe that I could do it. I was terrified of getting my hopes too high and having my natural childbirth “stolen” from me like I felt it was the first time.

For this birth, I was lucky enough to find a team of doctors and midwives that work closely together and are highly supportive of VBAC. I was able to go with the primary care of the midwives, but still meet each of the doctors in case I would need their help. I also used hypnobirthing to help me let go of some of my biggest fears and prepare for a more positive experience.  I didn’t actually attend any hypnobirthing classes, but I found the CD’s and books extremely helpful.

At around 11 PM on March 2nd (I day past my due date), my practice contractions suddenly changed, and although they weren’t extremely intense, I could tell that I was in the early stages of labor. I made sure my husband went to bed right away, and I did the best I could to sleep that night. I was probably able to sleep about 5 hours throughout the night.

In the morning I squeezed in an appointment at the Chiropractor to help ensure that I was lined up and primed for birth. I went directly from the Chiropractor to the Midwives, who told me I was at 5 cm and 80% effaced.  She told me to go home and do lots of walking. I didn’t feel like a lot of walking was really necessary, so instead I took a nap, went on a brief stroll around the block, and made dinner for my family.

After dinner my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. Both my mom and husband were concerned and thought I should head in to the hospital. I was completely unconcerned about it because I was still able to do the dishes after dinner with brief pauses for each contraction. To appease my mom and husband, I called the midwife to get her opinion. She suggested getting in the bath and said that a warm bath would either speed up or slow down my labor depending on what my body was ready for.

After my bath and listening to some hypnobirthing, my contractions were 5 minutes apart, but much more intense. I still didn’t feel like it was time to go in, so I sat and chatted with my mom in the living room while my husband put our toddler to bed. After, I had him slowly pack up the car and get ready to go. When I finally decided I was ready to go in, we got in the car and I commented to my husband that I felt a little nauseous and shaky. My husband looked a little scared and said he was worried I was in transition already, although I claimed it was just the cereal I ate right before we left and the cold night air.

On the way to the hospital I listened to the hypnobirthing “birthing day affirmations” CD. Apparently, we hit every light green along the way and my husband never had to slow the car down. Interestingly enough, the birthing day affirmations CD ends by saying, “I am ready, I am ready, ready, ready….” It was exactly at that moment that my husband pulled into the parking spot at the hospital and turned off the car. Woah. I was in perfect control and very relaxed for the whole car ride, and for each contraction I had as I walked into the hospital. They checked me when I arrived at 10:15 and I was at 7 cm and 100% effaced.

It wasn’t until they were giving me an IV for GBS antibiotics that I started to feel a little like I was starting to lose control. The nurse that was admitting me was acting like a teenager just woken up from a long nap. I found her so obnoxious that it was hard for me to stay in a deep state of relaxation during contractions. Each one seemed longer and more painful, and I was extremely eager for her to leave the room so that I could regain control.

She finally left me and my husband alone with a birthing ball to do our own thing.  As soon as she left, I explained to my husband how I felt and told him I was worried since I “already” felt like I wanted an epidural. I was sure I had hours/days to go, just like last time. He reassured me, and also said that he didn’t think the nurse was that bad at all. However, when he looked at the monitor, he saw that my contractions really were getting more intense and lasting longer. HA! I had my proof. That nurse really DID make it impossible for me to control my contractions.

I got up to go to the bathroom, and my husband waited just outside the door for me. I wanted to go to the bathroom and then get back into my hypnobirthing groove.  While sitting on the toilet, I suddenly realized that I was about to have a bowel movement. I told my husband this, and he joked that I needed to be careful not to push a baby out too. I pushed a couple of times, which coincidentally happened to be at the same time as a contraction. I noticed that I was shaking uncontrollably as I pushed, but I was relieved and reassured when I actually DID have a bowel movement.

Part of me wondered just a little bit if this was IT. I was feeling the urge to push, but surely it was just because I was going to the bathroom, right? I couldn’t quite find the words to explain to my husband what I was thinking, but I hoped he was able to read my mind. Just to be sure that nothing else had started to come out as I had been pushing, I reached down to check. As my right hand was right below me, there was a sudden, and extremely loud popping sound, and a HUGE gush of water. My socks and my slippers were soaked. I immediately shouted out to my husband “water broke, need to push!” He must have been quick to push the button because it seemed like it was only two seconds later that my midwife was at my knees.

I definitely have a bit of a germ phobia when it comes to certain things, and I was SO embarrassed to have someone at my knees just after having a bowel movement. As she tried to ask me questions about what I was feeling, all I could do was apologize to her because I hadn’t even wiped or flushed yet! Once she realized how important that was to me, she got me some soapy wipes that I could clean up with quickly.

The next contraction happened before I could finish cleaning up all the way, and I told her I needed to push. She calmly told me not to push, or I would end up with a baby in the toilet. After that contraction ended, she and a nurse helped me off the toilet, but I quickly had to brace myself for yet another contraction as soon as I stood up. I put my hand on the frame of the door to support myself. As the nurse and midwife tried to coax me towards the bed in a calm yet frantically urgent way, all I could focus on was finding someone to clean my hand, and also the part of the door frame that I had touched. The thought of clear amniotic fluid on a doorframe that doesn’t get regularly cleaned really bothered me.

And then I felt HOT. Really, really hot. And frustrated. Why didn’t anyone understand how important it was for me to have my hair clip to get the hair out of my face? How come my husband couldn’t find it? The obnoxious nurse told me to forget about the hair clip because I was having a baby. What did she know? I wasn’t going to get on the bed like she demanded, because first I needed my hair clip. My midwife was somehow able to respectfully rip my hospital gown off of me, which immediately cooled me down.

Luckily, she was able to coax me into a good position before the next contraction, because it was really time to push. I knew I was pushing, but I also knew I had a long time to go, so I was still thinking about where my hair clip might be, and why my husband couldn’t find it. My husband was talking about how he could see our baby’s head, but I was still thinking about my hair clip. The next pushing contraction seemed to happen right on top of the first one, and I remember saying, “oh THAT’S the burn that people talk about!” The nurse responded with, “Okay, I’m just going to suck her nose out.” I didn’t really get what she was saying until I heard crying.

THAT’S when I realized what was happening. THAT’s when I realized it was a dream. Or, surely I was just “visualizing” my birth using a hypnobirthing CD. I told my husband that it wasn’t fair, that it seemed too real, that it was a dream, right? With the next push my husband reached down and caught our baby. He handed her to me immediately, and I felt a surge of love come over me. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” I repeated to this beautiful baby girl over and over. Then I looked up and said, “What just happened?”

I walked into the hospital at 10:15. The nurse left us alone around 11:00. I had a baby in my arms at 11:24. But believe me, it felt a lot faster than that!

Looking back on it now, it’s clear that I was in denial during all of the more active parts of labor. My first birth took so painfully long, that it was hard for me to imagine it any other way, even though it was obviously what I wanted.

I see now that when I was in the car and felt nauseous and chilly, it wasn’t just the cereal and the cold night air. I understand that the obnoxious nurse wasn’t making me lose control of my ability to stay on top of my contractions, but rather that they actually were getting longer and harder. And, she probably wasn’t nearly as obnoxious as I thought. The pushing feeling I had on the toilet really was IT, and it was a coincidence that I happened to have a bowel movement at the same time. Not the other way around. And, even though I was anticipating at least 4 hours of pushing that would necessitate me taking care of hair issues, I am SO grateful that that’s not what I ended up with. However, now that I know the power of my push, I’m going to try and slow it down next time so that I don’t tear. Other than that one tear though, it really was a perfect birth.

Jen

Tuesday night I told Jon that we should go out on a date to get our minds off the waiting part. I was getting pretty cranky about the whole thing after being so chill for so long. So, after our 5 billionth walk around the neighborhood we went out to get some food and then went to see “The Hangover”, where at some point during the movie someone threw a pair of 3D glasses and hit me in the head. But, the movie was funny because: Mike Tyson… singing. Do I even need to mention at this point that I was having contractions? I had been having them so often all week I was pretty much just ignoring it. They would get stronger as soon as we left the house or went on a walk but then not much else would happen.

So, we went home and went to bed. And nothing happened. Wednesday when I woke up I just couldn’t bring myself to go into work and face everyone again. It felt weird to stay home though, because what if he didn’t come until the week after? how many days could I really cut work if he wasn’t coming soon?

I took the dogs for a walk first thing when I woke up. I’m sure I looked absolutely ridiculous all pregnant and huge and walking dogs around the neighborhood. Or at least evidently I did because people kept talking to me everywhere I went. Some men in the park asked me if I was “‘pregerated and walking two dogs”, which apparently to old men in the park (who may or may not have been drunk at 9am) is really hilarious. We walked and walked. And walked. Finally I gave up and came home. I called Jon and reported that I was having contractions. If you could consider being sweaty and tired contractions, which is to say, no. And I sat down to watch tv and mope.

Mid-mope, around noon I started having contractions again. Since Monday I had worried and worried, would I know when it was finally time? I was much further dilated than I could have expected and I worried about things progressing too fast. Even though I had been having contractions all week that were long and close together these seemed different. not painful but… different. they kept going every 3-4 minutes and by 2pm I called Jon and told him to finish up work and come home. He apparently took that to mean finish up stuff before you leave and take a long time, when really what I was saying was COME HOME NOW. And by the time he finally got there I had been starting to panic while pacing around the house.

So I paced. And he timed. I hadn’t showered after my hot and sweaty walk so around 4 I got in the shower while Jon gathered up all our bags and things. He was timing on the ipod touch with the labormate, which turned out to be totally fun. Every time I had a contraction I would yell GO! from the bathroom and then STOP! so he could do the timing while I washed up. Eventually that turned into “one’s coming!” and by the end I was just saying “it’s a one” and then, “one!” which turned into our sort of strange labor code for contractions for the rest of the night.

After that we figured it was probably time to call my doctor’s office. I couldn’t decide if it was really, you know… IT. Sure, I was having tough contractions every 3 minutes for a few hours. But, that had happened before. And technically the dr had said to call if they were closer than 5 minutes apart which we totally didn’t do. But, I just wasn’t miserable. I felt… fine. Especially in between. I figured it couldn’t really be it. When I did call the office they were no help at all. They just said they would call the hospital and have them pull my charts. I was still worried, because that’s the #1 Bradley rule- don’t go to the hospital too soon! So we waited another hour, maybe longer before we finally left.

When we went out to go to the car, between contractions, there was a dead snake in our yard. Apparently Bang had done battle with a little garden snake and somehow killed it. I still can’t believe it! Go Miss Bangerang! Feisty! We know it definitely wasn’t Nico because I one time saw him stand directly on top of a hissing pissed off snake and not even notice. He is oblivious to wildlife.

Back to our story. We headed off to the hospital which is only about 8 minutes from our house, no big deal. One contraction in the car. We got there, parked, and slowly walked up to check in. The woman at the triage desk kept trying to get me to sit down in a chair and fill out paperwork but I really NEEDED to be standing or walking at that point so I scribbled down whatever and then paced up and down the hall waiting to be “checked” to make sure I was really in labor and they weren’t going to send us home (yeah that was pretty unlikely at that point). I still don’t understand what all that paperwork I filled out and pre-registered with was for if I had to fill out more forms when I got there.

While we were waiting for a triage room we enjoyed the treat of some super-redneck people coming in looking for their girlfriend/daughter/friend wearing awesome oversized t-shirts with gangsta-chuckie on them. And then a huge family came in looking for a girl that had been transferred there from another hospital and they sent them all to the waiting room. When I was in getting checked out Jon said that they lost them ALL. All the family just… went somewhere. They went to tell them the girl was all settled in her room and they were gone. Did I mention that these same people RAN INTO ME when I was pacing in the hall during a contraction?? Had I been able to speak I would have yelled at them for sure, but that was not exactly high priority at the time.

In the triage room they hooked me up to all the monitors and crap to make sure I was really in labor and then did a cervix check. I was 6cm and fully effaced and definitely in labor. the nurse was all psyched that we were going to have a natural birth and was sad that her shift was ending so she wouldn’t get to help. And they actually asked for our birth plan, and read it, and took copies and attached it to everything. She put in my heplock and then walked us over to our official birthing suite in the FANCY WING! YEAH! And briefed our nurse, Kelly, on the no drugs Bradley deal, and then… there we were:

They have two wings, the new one for uncomplicated births and the crappy side for people with complications or if the fancy side is full. We had our fingers crossed the entire time that we would end up on the nice side with the flat panel tv’s and ipod hookups and private bathrooms… score!

Kelly said we could do whatever we wanted, but I was excited and wanted to keep walking around to keep things progressing. So she got me some ice water in a big tub and we walked around the floor. We only had to come back every hour to check in on the monitors. We also found out that of course, the doctor on call from my OBGYN’s office was the ONE I HADN’T MET. Great. So for our first hour we walked. The walking made the contractions ramp up but it still really wasn’t that bad. After an hour we came back to check in and my doctor was there for our monitor session. I was immediately worried because she kept asking me over and over if I thought I was really in labor. apparently, I didn’t look like I was in enough pain for her. She just kept staring at me and asking about my pain levels. And I kept telling her, yeah, it’s intense, but it’s really not that bad. Which evidently was not a satisfactory answer. I tried to reassure her by telling her that I thought I was just a slow laborer, and she said she would come back to check on us later.

So we walked and paced and walked, and came back again to be monitored. The monitoring was the worst part. I think if I had to stay in the bed the entire time I can understand why people need pain medication. it just sucked to be in the bed and there was no way to move to get my mind off of it. But, Jude was doing fine in there so they didn’t have any worries. After that it was time for “Ghosthunters”, and thankfully the labor suites had cable. So, I bounced on the birth ball and we watched tv. I wasn’t a big fan of the ball so I switched to the rocking chair, and I ended up staying there for a few hours.

And so it went. At this point the contractions were getting pretty intense. I still wouldn’t say that they hurt but DUDE, those muscles are WORKING. Breath and rock and breath and rock. Jon sat very patiently near me and waited for “a one” and then reminded me to sit still and breath. I pretty much zoned out for a few hours while we watched roasts on comedy central. At one point Jon dashed out to get some food because he hadn’t eaten in a long time and brought back caffeine drinks and gas station snacks from around the corner.

I started to feel nauseous. And I told jon to go tell Kelly right away. She came in and told us where the towels and supplies and a tiny vomit-catching bucket were. And then, a few minutes later, oh boo, the vomit. I tried to vomit into the little cup, but I was vomiting waaaayyy too much vomit for it to contain and ended up overflowing it and continuing to throw up all over myself and the floor. And I thought to myself, I know that nausea is a sign of transition! But I doubted that I could have gone so far in so short a time. I didn’t want to get too excited. So Jon and Kelly got me into the shower. From this point on I was pretty much naked the entire time. I threw up all over my handy $10 black dress and having Kelly and the doctor see me naked was really not high on my list of concerns anymore. I was in the zone.

So I stood in the shower. And the contractions were rocking right along. I was doubting myself. I had to wear a bag over my hand so water didn’t get in my heplock. and I stood and swayed and Jon stood there and helped me.

And then my water popped in a big flood of liquid, and I told Jon to go get Kelly. By this time I had the shakes and I was freezing cold. So they got me some towels and Kelly asked if I wanted to be checked since my water broke, and I said sure. And I was 9 cm! All of a sudden! Yeah! I was relieved, but things were coming pretty fast. That was when we found out that Kelly had to go call the doctor BECAUSE SHE HAD GONE HOME. Apparently she thought my labor was so boring and not moving along so she went home. And now they had to call her back for my delivery.

I went back to the rocking chair, but during each contraction I would stand up and lean on Jon and sway back and forth, and he would remind me to relax and breath. And that went on for a long time. Another hour? More? I literally have no idea. At that point I was in my own foggy world. In between contractions I would sleep in the chair and then pop up and sway and then back down and sleep. When my doctor came back she was still totally freaked out that I wasn’t screaming and crying and whatever. So they all just watched me and let Jon and I do our own thing.

My body pretty much decided it was time to push and started pushing for me when I would stand up during contractions, and I let Kelly and Jon know. So sometimes I would push, and then rest, and then push. I was so glad that the doctor let me just do what my body wanted, so we continued by feel. No coaching and yelling and counting.

I had been fairly quiet in the beginning, like dead silent. But by this time I was vocalizing with the contractions, I just couldn’t help it. And after a while of that they suggested I try some different positions to get things going. So they got me up on the bed on all fours, and I pushed that way for a hour or so. At that point it hurt more to NOT push than it did to go ahead and push, there is no choice. So push and rest, and push and rest. And Jon was up by my head helping me breath calmly. Then they suggested side lying, so we tried pushing like that. And that felt much more productive.

They were getting all set up and my doctor could see his head. And she kept saying that he had no hair! I was sad because I thought maybe he would have hair because Jon and I both have lots of dark thick hair. So jon held my one leg and I pushed and pushed and at that point screamed and screamed. I actually thought about how funny it was that I was probably totally alarming everyone else on the floor with all my yowling. And then finally he was almost out, and it was the worst possible part, not because of the baby but because of whatever the doctor was doing down there with her hand to try to help his face come out. OUCH. And my contractions were slowing down to give me time to rest in between but I wanted to keep going and going and get it over with and it was so frustrating to wait for them to come and everything was running together.

And then we found out he was sunny side up. surprise!

And one more push and he was there.
And they lifted him up and put him on my belly.
And he was so healthy and pink and super awake.
And Jon and I held him and it was so quiet and awesome.

Born 9-3-09 at 3:33 am
8lbs, 6 oz · 20 3/4 inches

Jon cut the cord and we delivered the placenta. Apparently we had some kind of weird extra lobe on the placenta and the doctor was sad that there weren’t any medical students there to show. It was probably why early on they thought I might have had placenta previa. Jude was hungry, and I fed him, and he ate like a superstar. I had a small tear and she gave me a few stitches. So all in all it was about 15 hours. And I feel like this isn’t a very dramatic story, but well… it wasn’t really that dramatic I guess.

The doctor kept telling us she was really impressed. She said I should teach a natural birthing class because I did it like a pro. And she was amazed that he was posterior because I didn’t have any back labor and I pushed him out all on my own. I still can’t believe we made it. To be honest, I really don’t think it was that bad until the end, and by that time it was way too late for medications. The best part was afterward, how I could get up and walk around, and go to the restroom and clean up, and jude was so awake and ready to hang out. And they put me in a wheel chair and took us to recovery after about an hour of just being together. One of my favorite parts was that Jon was out by the nurses station and they have these big tv’s with the status of every patient up on them, and he said every one said either “epidural” or “pitocin” except mine, which said “NATURAL” in big letters. I’m not going to lie guys, it feels totally surreal that we made it and I feel pretty proud.

Jamie
www.grumblesandgrunts.com

Once I started cleaning, signs began to appear!  Bloody show?  Check.  Mucus plug? Check.  Nesting?  The baseboards looked great!

By around 11pm my contractions were about 10 minutes apart and felt like really strong menstrual cramps with a little bleeding.  I called my doula who told me that I was probably in early labor and that I should try to get some sleep because my baby was probably going to be born the next day.

I tried to lay down in bed to rest, but lying down made the contractions more intense and I couldn’t sleep through them, so I sat on the toilet for the first half of the night and later on my birthing ball and rested on against my bed while my husband slept.  I felt the contractions very strongly in my lower abdomen and upper legs.  Laying down was the worst, so I spent the entire night sitting on my birthing ball or the toilet.  I did that while listening to Hypnobabies “Easy First Stage” on repeat until about 5:30am, when I decided it was time to wake my hubby.  At that point my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart.

Our doula arrived at 7am and at that time my contractions had slowed to about 6-7 minutes apart (my doula told me it is not uncommon for contractions to slow in the morning).  She was there while I labored by my bed.  Taking deep breaths at the beginning of the contractions and then mooing (yes, mooing) as the contraction peaked helped the best.  I vomited a couple of times but it didn’t bother me at all–I had been drinking flavored Vitamin Water, so it didn’t taste all that bad coming up.

At 10:15a my water broke with a monster contraction – it didn’t hurt (it was intense!), but I do think I sounded like some sort of animal in the woods as it passed.  At that point our doula said it was time to head to the hospital, which we did. The drive wasn’t too bad, I think I was in that “resting” period that comes before pushing.  It was a 30 minute drive to the hospital (thanks in part to Chicago traffic) and when we arrived at check-in I had decided that humming in the waiting from was the best way to deal with my post-broken water contractions.

When they checked me I was fully dilated, so they sent me up to L&D (with one of those kits on the gurney for in case I delivered in the elevator.  I began pushing as soon as I got to the room, on my hands and knees.  The doctor wanted me to turn and lay on my back (mostly because I was not positioned well on my hands and knees–I kept straightening my legs), but I still did not want to lay down, so I told him no way and my doula and the nurse helped me get into a better hands-knees position.

I pushed with each contraction that came (2 or 3) and my son was born in 15 minutes.  I was not at all prepared for what pushing would feel like, I don’t know how to describe it – overwhelming?  Otherworldly? It didn’t hurt, no ring of fire, but, wow, to feel a baby come through my pelvis.  Weird.  I felt his head, shoulders, and then his body slid out and I was done!  Incredible.

They placed his 8 pounds, 12 oz body on my belly.  It was pretty cool.  They delayed clamping his cord and I was only separated from him while they stitched my tear (he came out so fast!) but his dad held him skin-to-skin while the doctor tended to me.  My delivery was so fast that the attending physician did not make it to the room in time, and they pulled in a resident who was on his way to another delivery in to my room to catch my baby.

As I only spent 15 minutes in the hospital before delivering, my birth was completely drug free.  I even missed the antibiotics for my GBS, but the doctors weren’t concerned because baby’s delivery was so soon after my water broke.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about delivering in the hospital, but I was really happy with the doctors and nurses who assisted me, and my doula was indispensable, my husband and I couldn’t have done it without her. (My husband was awesome, too, especially when he told the resident not to give my a cervical check–they had already determined that I was complete downstairs–my husband told him that we wanted to limit the hands in my vagina).  Also, I really liked the Hypnobabies preparation.  At the time I was convinced I wasn’t doing it “right”, but in retrospect I think it worked perfectly.

Laboring at home was key, I felt very comfortable there and suspect that if I had been at the hospital I may have been a little more on edge and progressed a little slower.  My doula said that I could have done the whole thing at home, and next time I just might!

Yay, new baby!

Danielle

This method does not work well if you want a natural childbirth in a hospital. With Hemi I arrived too early to the hospital and “failed to progress” according to their schedule. As a result of my naiveté, all my fear and self-doubt buttons were pushed. I consented to four procedures (including an epidural) before Hemi was born.

In hindsight, and after reviewing the medical literature, none of these procedures were medically necessary to producing a healthy outcome. They were just things the hospital could bill insurance for.

So with Jack I read more on natural childbirth and reviewed the medical literature before blindly accepting what doctors or nurses said. The biggest help was “Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way” by Susan McCutcheon. In addition to not fighting contractions by tensing up, the most important thing you learn in this book is the emotional signposts of labor, which are far more telling than physical signposts (# centimeters dilated, position of baby, etc) of when the baby will arrive.

I had never heard of these. The first is excitement… “today’s the day!”. The second is seriousness… a woman can not be distracted, she need to full concentration to get through contractions and relax in-between. The final signpost is self-doubt… you don’t think you can do this.

My prenatal doctor is really a low-key and practical woman. Her biggest suggestion to have a natural childbirth was to stay home as long as possible, get most of the labor done at home and avoid the whole hospital scene. The plan was to go in when my contractions were about three minutes apart and at least a minute long (and in the serious emotional signpost).

On Wednesday, 23 September 2009, I was having strong but brief contractions throughout the night. When I woke in the morning, I went to work. While at work, I had more strong but brief contractions about eight minutes apart. It was not a bother.

I went home for lunch around 1:00pm. I decided not to get back to work at 1:30pm, my contractions were six minutes apart and only 30 seconds long. No sweat. I even “facebooked” that today might be the day. EMOTIONAL SIGNPOST: Excitement.

Sometime afterward I drifted into the serious emotional signpost. At 3:20 my husband called the doctor as we had to make sure there was a bed available at our preferred hospital. My contractions were 5 minutes apart and a minute long (below my threshold for going in). The doctor said we could come see her, stay home, or go to the hospital. I chose to go see her.

Before getting in the car, I had get my shoes on and stuff between contractions which had suddenly jumped to two minutes apart. I didn’t think I could do this. EMOTIONAL SIGNPOST: Self doubt. I knew I was getting wishy-washy, we called the doctor back and said we were going straight to the hospital.

The hospital is a 20 minute drive away. About 5 minutes into the ride, I began to have a pushing contraction. It was a tremendous urge… like your body wanting to push the biggest bowel movement ever out of your body. I thought I had “pooped” when the contraction was over and announced to my husband that I had… but then I felt wet everywhere and the sting of salty water.

I had pushing contractions all the way to the hospital, but I didn’t tell my husband as he would have freaked and anyway I was too busy trying to relax between contractions. I was too busy to recall what door we were supposed to go to so we pulled up to the emergency entrance. A volunteer was by the door with a wheelchair. I got in. The emergency room was on the opposite end of the hospital from the maternity ward.

All the way I was having strong pushing contractions. During one I felt my legs pull apart, I reached down and could feel a head. I announced, “I can feel a head!” as we approached the maternity ward. The nurse at the station said “She’s in Room 6.” “I don’t think we are going to make it to Room 6!” “Call a doctor!” “Doctor!” I was wheeled in to room 6, weakly stood up, pulled down my pants and pushed a 7.3 pound son out at 4:00pm! Amazing, only 3.5 hours of labor, including only 20 minutes of pushing!

Victoria

Around 7:15 the night before Easter I started having contractions, but figured they were just more braxton hicks b/c I get them ALL the time. I took my son on a walk hoping it might turn them into something more or make them go away. . . they kept building, but nothing too bad. I got my son his bath and put him to bed, got his Easter basket out, and did some laundry and dishes. I figured if I WAS in labor, I didn’t wanna come home to a stinky, dirty house.

The friend who was gonna drive me to the hospital came over, and we decided to watch a movie, but ended up leaving in the middle of it. . . I got to the hospital around 1215. My contractions weren’t regular, but they were bad enough I knew it was time to go anyways. The l&d nurses weren’t so sure, hooked me up to the monitors, and were debating whether to keep me there or send me home.

Around 2 am, they said they’d check me in about half and hour and see if i’d made any progress, then decide. After telling me that, the nurse asked if my water her broken or anything, and RIGHT THEN, as she asked, it broke. . . I wasn’t sure b/c it was just a trickle, and I’ve had times before where that happened and it turned out I’d peed myself, so I said that. She said we’d be able to tell on the next contraction, and sure enough, it all just came gushing out. There was ALOT more than I’d expected, but at least then I knew they were keeping me and I was having Scott.

They checked me and said I was at 6 cm and 80% effaced, and that I had another water bag in there! They said something about a forebag, so I assumed that’s what had broken and the main bag was still in tact and asked them not to break it.

We got a message to Jon (he was deployed at the time) to call b/c I was in labor, so I got to talk to him for a little while until I started having back labor and had to really focus to get through the contractions. That was around 3:30 or a little after, maybe. Another friend had shown up shortly after I got to the hospital, so I asked her to do some counter pressure on my lower back to relieve the pain from the contractions and it helped SO much! I’d had back labor with Trevor too, but it wasn’t that bad and I didn’t think to have anyone do any counter pressure. I wish now I had, it was a huge help in dealing with the pain.

I started to feel like I needed to push a little, but not like I COULDN’T stop it, so I asked to be checked. I was at 8 cm, but the nurse said that 2nd bag was what was making me feel the urge to push. It wasn’t terrible, so I figured it would only be an hour or so till I was fully dilated. well, 3 hours later, I was still there – they checked me and I was STILL at 8 cm. I was completely exhausted at that point, it was just after 7 am and I hadn’t gotten any sleep. They said if I let the doctor break the forebag, I’d probably be done much faster.

I realized then that i’d gotten confused at first – I thought they said my forebag had broken when really it was the main one that broke. I told them definitely go for it then, break it and get it over with. The doctor came in and broke it, and there was another huge gush – even the doctor was surprised by how much fluid was in there (explains why I was SO huge though). . . 2 contractions later, I was fully dilated and screaming for them to get the doctor back in there because I was pushing and there was no stopping it. The nurse told me not to make her deliver the baby and I told her I wasn’t making her any promises. . .

The doctor came in right about then and they let me start pushing (not that I wasn’t pushing before, I just had their permission at that point). . . He was doing counter pressure to help keep me from tearing, but it was so distracting that I couldn’t push effectively at all. I kept telling him to stop, but I think everyone though I meant to make the contractions stop because they just ignored me and kept saying “you’re almost done, just push, you’re doing great!” Finally, I kicked the doctor and said “You! Stop it!” He did, and after that, I pushed 3 times and Scott was born at 7:49 am on April 12, 2009 (Easter morning)! He weighed 7 lbs., 15.4 oz. and was 20 inches long.

The first thing the doctor said as he put him on my chest was “Congratulations, now you can eat anything you want!” (I’d had gestational diabetes) my one friend was offering me chocolate almost immediately. . .  I didn’t want it quite then, but I thought it was kinda funny.

The new baby already knew his mama though – when they took him away to weigh him and a couple other little things, he screamed his little head off, but as long as he was with me, he was a happy little boy. I was able to nurse him for about half an hour before they had to take him to the nursery, so I was over the moon about that.

I didn’t tear, but I had to get 2 small stitches b/c my skin stretched and wasn’t fitting together EXACTLY the way I was supposed to. best part though, was that I felt so much better throughout the whole thing. Even when they weren’t letting me push yet, I was able to talk and laugh and joke in between contractions like nothing was going on at all, and I did it w/out any drugs.

The l&d nurses, as well as my nurses in the maternity ward kept telling me I was a “rockstar” and asking why I didn’t have him at the birthing center (apparently that’s an option, but no one ever told me. . . I couldn’t have though; since I was on diabetes meds for my gd, I was considered high risk enough I had to be in the hospital). Anyways, within an hour after having him, I was up and walking around on my own, I felt great! by the next day, I hardly noticed any soreness, and the 2nd day, when I left the hospital, I felt more like I was 2 or 3 WEEKS postpartum, not just 2 days.

Scott nurses like a pro, although I had to use a nipple shield at first because he’s got such a narrow, high palette that I got blisters even when he latched 100% correctly. It’s helped a ton, and I was able to stop using it before he was a month old.

AND even though Jon wasn’t able to be there, he got home the following Monday (when Scott was 8 days old) – for good! Yay!

Evelyn

39 week appointment I was dilated to a 1-2, 50 effaced & baby was at a -1/-2 station. I had my membranes stripped and… nothing happened. I walked my 1.5 miles each day & got some contractions but nothing to interesting. Dr Spoon set up my induction appointment for Wednesday 10th @ 1PM.

It was really difficult because I had a time table to have the baby. I really wanted to go into labor on my own and have the baby without medication. I knew that if I had to be induced my chances of no medical interventions would most likely not happen.

So I went in at my 40 week appointment. I was dilated to 3-4, thin, & -1/-2 station. He stripped my membranes again. This time I was feeling more pressure but nothing too big. At this appointment I grew a whole new appreciation for my OB/Gyn Dr Spoon. I discussed my concerns with inductions and how I really wanted as natural a child birth process as possible. He really listened to my concerns and addressed them. Together we came up with a birth plan that he felt was safe and I felt like would work for me. First and foremost was the importance of having a healthy baby. Las Vegas tends to be a very “medical” (for lack of a better term) place to have a baby so that fact that he was willing to work with me is awesome.

Monday night Dec 8 we went to the Ethel M chocolate factory to walk around & look at the lights, the festival of lights in Henderson, and Bass Pro Shops to see Santa. DH took off the next day and that night we went on a walk. I figured it was my last chance to go into labor before getting induced the next day. So we did a fast walk. I got some pretty good contractions, but again nothing to say this is labor. I went to bed thinking; well tomorrow I will be having a baby.

That night Marshall came into our room to cuddle with me around 2:30AM. At around 3:30AM the contractions were uncomfortable enough I took him back to his room. At 4:30AM I woke up DH to tell him, “I’m having contractions about 10 min apart, but don’t get too excited because this may not be it.” Over the course of the next couple of hours the continued to become closer & more intense.

DH gave me a blessing of comfort. I felt much more calm about the labor and peace that everything was going to go OK. I had felt some apprehension about the labor & whether I would be able to do it naturally, but after the blessing I felt more confident that my body knew what it needed to do. By trusting in Heavenly Father and relying on my husband for support I could do this.

We had planned to take the kids to my good friend Cathy’s house before the induction but she said I could bring them earlier if I needed to. So at 7AM we called my mom to come & take the kids to Cathy’s. I wanted to wait to call but the kids were waking up & I needed him to help me through my contractions. My mom came & took the kids to Cathy’s house and the contractions were coming about 2-3 minutes apart.

The contractions were getting really intense. During the early stages of contractions I would just walk during the contractions to get through them. As they continued to get more intense I no longer could walk during the worst part, & would lean against the counter with DH putting counter pressure (massaging) my lower back. DH was a super star husband support coach through out my labor. He was always there supporting me, comforting me, & giving me positive reinforcement. “Jen you are doing awesome. I know you can get through this. You are so strong. I am so proud of you” I am so grateful that I have a husband that was willing to support me in a natural birth even though he would rather have had me had pain medication so I wouldn’t be in pain. (Though he has changed his mind after my experience). He just hated to see me in pain & not be able to do anything about it.

At this time my mom & DH really thought we should go to the hospital (something about not having the baby in the Tahoe…) so off we went to the hospital. We got to the hospital & things had slowed down with sitting in the car. We walked up to labor & delivery and see Dr Spoon as we walk in. He tells the nurses that I deliver fast so if I am here just to admit me and there was no need to triage me. So he asked what room they wanted me in & walked me to my room. As we were walking to the room he told the nurse my orders (no IV only a heploc, intermitted external monitoring (20 minutes every hour), no pain medication unless I ask ~ do not offer, “Jennifer would really like to have as natural birth experience as possible”) Then he checked me… dilated 5-6, 100% effaced, +1 station.

My nurse, Linda was a traveling nurse from Michigan and was just awesome!! Since she was from back East she was used to the natural thing so she had no problem with anything I wanted to do and felt completely comfortable with it. When we got to the room Casey gave them my birth plan. So she gets me set up on the monitor, answer a million questions. By being on my back my contractions really slowed down (which really made me frustrated). Then around 9:30AM Linda breaks my water and get up and start doing my walking. The pediatric nurse, Amber, came in to discuss my plans for after the baby came. Based on the assumption that everything was going to go fine I wanted… to hold the baby immediately after she was born and have the baby cleaned on me, nurse immediately , and wait to do the bath, no eye antibiotics, etc… for as long as possible. She was wonderful. She said she was more than willing to do everything and was so sweet about it.

Back to laboring… I walked a little down the hallway, but by this point DH had to hold me up during the climax of the contraction because of how intense it was. Then it was time to put my heploc in & monitor. While she was getting everything ready, she put me on the bed and because of how intense the pain asked it I was feeling pressure.

At this point I was dilated 10, ready to go. She tells them to call the Dr (who was getting ready for a c-section at the other hospital, Mountain View) & get him back over. At this point they tell me not to push. Umm yeah OK. That sucks!! Linda tried to do a heploc but my vein ended up blowing out. At that point there wasn’t time to try again. There was so much pressure, I finally told them ~ OK probably yelled back at them, “I can’t help it, I have to push.” So then they tell me, “You have to stop pushing so hard or you are going to rip.” So it took all my strength but I tried to control my pushing.

At this point Linda puts on gloves because the baby was coming though they were still telling me not to push. (Yeah whatever). I then yelled, “Get it out, Get it out” because the baby was crowning. So the baby’s head came out. Then Linda yelled at me to not push so she could check to make sure the cord wasn’t around the baby’s neck. At this point Dr Spoon walks in and goes to put on gloves. The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck a couple of times and Linda tried to release (pull it over the baby’s head) it. She couldn’t get it over  & every time I had a contraction the baby started loosing color.

All this time everyone is yelling at me, “Jennifer you have to stop pushing. If you keep pushing it will hurt the baby. Pant, Pant, Pant. So DH & my mom are in my face… Saying pant, pant, pant… it was pretty scary. My body wanted to push so much but I knew I couldn’t. It took everything in my power to stop pushing. Then Dr Spoon told Linda to just cut the cord (he was still getting sterile) from around the baby’s neck. At this point I pushed her the rest of the way out.

DH leaned in and whispered, “It’s a girl!” Yeah a little girl. How exciting to find out the sex this way. They put her immediately on my stomach. The baby was really alert and kept looking around. They dried her off while I was holding her (apgar scores 9 at 1 minute & 10 at 5 minutes) and I tried to nurse her.

Dr Spoon then checked me out (no tearing and no need for stitches, wooo hooo) and delivered the placenta. They ended up giving me some pitocin (by a big ol needle in my leg) to make sure I didn’t hemorrhage. I was able to hold DD2 for a half hour and just love her. It was just awesome. Then they took DD2 to do her bath and get her measurements. 7 lbs 7 oz 18 in long. I then got up & walked to the bathroom, went pee and got ready to move to the next room.

I felt pretty tired but so happy. We moved over to post partum & felt really good. That night my mom brought the kids in to see their new sister. We had Costco pizza. DD1 was so happy to have a baby sister that she calls Sleeping Beauty. DS2 was so cute. When we saw her he said, “ahhhhh, cuuuue. Baby”. They were both too cute.

That night I was sick of sitting in the hospital bed so I did some laps around the post partum unit. There was an older couple visiting their daughter I passed in the hall. The man wished me good luck on having my baby. His wife then told him, “I think she already had her baby:” “ No her belly is still big, she is still pregnant” “No I don’t think so”. So I went & told DH, well I still look pregnant. Oh well what can you do.

The pediatrician did not want to let us go home at 24 hours because of my gestational diabetes (standard 48 hours check) but couldn’t find anything wrong in order to keep us. I couldn’t wait to get home & not have nurses coming in all the time to check my vitals. So we were able to leave the next day after getting mine & DD2’s clearance.

I feel so grateful to have everything have turned out so well with this pregnancy. There seems like there were some big obstacles but I just wanted a healthy baby. The Lord has truly blessed our family and I am so happy. You could feel a heavenly presence in the delivery room that I felt so much more this time. God has sent this beautiful little girl to brighten our lives. She is wonderful & I hope that I can be what she needs me to be as her mom.

Jennifer

When we there they couldn’t find the Nitrazine strips to test the fluid to see if it was amniotic or urine. So she put me on a monitor, and did an internal I was 2cm and and confirmed that my water did break. She called to Fargo to let them know what was going on and they said to go ahead and send me. We went back by the apartment to let the friend know that we were going to go to Fargo and kiss Steven III and Jordan and get last minute stuff.

On the way to Fargo my contractions were coming every 3-4 minutes lasting from 30-60 seconds each. By the time we got to the hospital, an hour later, they were strong but not too strong to the point where I couldn’t walk. Our Doula Jill showed up and we all were escorted up to the birthing center. I was put on monitors for 20 minutes and was checked. I was 3cm and the fetal readings were good so they took me off the monitors so I could move around.

The first thing I wanted to do was try out the birthing ball. It was ok but didn’t really do anything. By this time the contractions were getting pretty strong. Next I tried the rocking chair but that was annoying so I then headed to the bed to lay on my side. With my contractions I was shaking really bad like I was cold, the only way I could get through them was with lots of moaning. When the nurses noticed the shaking they decided to check my dilation again and I was at 7cm, that’s when they started the water for the tub.

As soon as I hit the water I had another contraction. After I was finally able to get situated OH MAN that water was so comforting until my contractions came. Up until this point I didn’t have any type of medication for pain. All of a sudden I had about two contractions that made me want to push and just before the second one I asked for IV meds and my doula Jill said that at this point it would only make me sleepy and possibly irritate the baby, that was a great save because I was really wanting meds at this time but it was too late. The second contraction came and I couldn’t help but to push. They, Jill,  a Nurse, and Steven got me out of the tub and dried me off and got me back into bed. I could barely get out on my own I was in so much pain. In the meanwhile the midwife came in with the baby warmer and stuff.

I sat on the edge of the bed and was still contracting what felt like every minute on the minute. By now I have my eyes closed but I glanced around and I see the midwife and it was the male midwife who was on call, who he hadn’t left yet. I get situated in the bed and no one is saying anything and the lights are dimmed just like I asked. He, the midwife, let me instinctively push, and no one was counting or anything which was soo nice. In the middle of pushing I kept thinking ‘what in the heck is wrong with me, I had the chance to get drugs and now here I am with a kid coming out of me and I can feel EVERYTHING…………..’ at that moment I knew I wouldn’t purposely get pregnant again for a couple years at least.

So I kept pushing and yelling and screaming, then all of a sudden his head was out then the rest of him slide out and the midwife put the baby on my chest and the first thing my newborn son does is pees everywhere but mainly on me. He was very quiet after he was born, the midwife let the cord pulsate until it stopped clamped it and Steven cut the cord. The baby only made little grunting noises but never really cried until they took him to the warmer.

On the way to the hospital Steven was telling me that he still wasn’t sure about the babys first name which we had up until that morning agreed would be Isaiah. So I told him you can pick out the first name since I got to pick out his middle name.

I chose the middle name Robinson in honor of my father. He never knew who his father was and was given his mothers maiden name at birth. He went on to have three daughters, Mary, Carol, and myself. The last name Robinson stops at him. After Jordan was born and we were talking about having more kids I decided that if the next child we have is a boy I wanted him to have my dads last name as a middle name.

Erian Robinson was born November 3, 2008 at 6:18 am weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long. We left the hospital the next day, November 4th, and are now home and nursing is going GREAT!!!

Tiffany

I was so miserable with all night long contractions that I was getting desperate.  Monday July 20th I was 38 weeks and had a 9 am appointment, I asked my doc to strip my membranes, then went to the park with D, my husband, to do some serious walking.  We spent 2 hours there, but got nothing but a sore back and lots of contractions.  I gave up.  I tried my best to remember that he would come when he was ready.

The next couple days were quiet and uneventful.  I had my 10 year class reunion coming up on Saturday and figured maybe baby would wait till it was over.  I really wanted to be able to attend, huge belly and all.

He had other plans.

My water broke just before 1 pm on Thursday, July 23rd just as I was getting ready to take a shower with my now 3 yr old, L. He laughed at me and said “mommy you peed on the floor” it took me a few more gushes to realize that it was not pee. I called D, and my mom, both of them were at work, then took my shower. Because she was closer, Mom picked us up and we were at the hospital at around 1:45.  She was so afraid that I would have the baby at home that she made what would have usually been 45 minutes of driving take 30.

We got there and did the initial assessment.  I got hooked up to some monitors and the nurse checked me.  I told her my wishes for a natural birth, and no IV.  I was 3 cm, but I already knew that I was more than that because doc had checked me on Monday. This nurse only was with me for admit, then her shift was over. In walked the nurse from my 35 week L&D visit, whom I didn’t really like.

I wasn’t contracting, so the doc said I had an hour before we would discuss pit. I was disappointed, but then my nurse reminded me that I had the right to refuse any treatment that I didn’t want. I was instantly relieved because I felt like she already knew how I wanted this to go and was willing to help me get there. About 5 minutes later I got some pretty good contractions, so I was in the clear anyway.

An hour after admit, around 3, I was checked again and I was a 4 almost 5 and 75%, which is where my doc had me on Monday, but I didn’t say anything, it looked like progress to them, and allowed me to do what I wanted. I didn’t dilate much for the next couple hours, but baby was moving down pretty well. They also started talking about antibiotics, because my doc wasn’t sure how long the ped on call would want before starting them.  I had 24 hours, so I had no worries.

I had done a lot of reading of the Bradley method and some books by Ina May Gaskin, and felt really empowered  and calm during this labor.  I pretty much just joked around with Mom and D and walked the hall, sat on the ball, or leaned against the tray table watching tv and rocking my hips. Labor wasn’t too bad really, but I was comparing it to the pit induction that I had last time. I kept saying, ”this should be getting worse pretty soon”.

My nurse was awesome at coming to remind me to change positions, and I was able to keep myself pretty relaxed.  I found that making moaning noise during contractions really helped.  I only had to be in bed periodically for monitoring, but then could be back out.

Before I knew it I was 7 cm, only because of a little lip of cervix in the front, otherwise I was complete. I figured I could move this along if I got up and walked down the hall.  I got to the end farthest from my room and all of a sudden I felt this pop and baby moved down, I almost fell down it was such a weird, powerful sensation. The doc and a bunch of nurses came running because they thought I was about to have the baby in the middle of the hall. With them all holding me up, I made it back to the room and was happy to find that I was completely dilated, and we were going to set up to push.

It was shift change time so I had to change nurses, and that was kind of hard, you work with one for so long and get comfortable, then have to get used to someone else, but the new nurse was a sweetheart, and a good nurse also, probably better for this stage of labor anyway.

I kept saying all night that it should be getting worse and this is were it got hard.  By the time I got back into the bed I had the urge to push.  I started to push at 11:15. I tried sitting on the edge of the birthing bed, but my cervix would close up in this position. I moved around and tried laying back, and pushed for a little while on my side, but couldn’t get comfortable.  I finally pushed in a semi reclining, almost sitting position with Mom and D holding my feet. Baby did really well during this whole stage.   With my first son I only pushed for 15 minutes because the pitocin caused his heart rate to drop,  he was then vacuum assisted out, so I was happy that this baby was doing ok.

I felt really uncoordinated during pushing, like I just wasn’t doing it right or wasn’t in the right position, I thought it felt different with my first birth, but figured I wasn’t remembering right. The doc kept telling me how much he was moving down, and I kept saying, “that’s all?, he should be farther by now.” I kept forgetting that baby moves slowly to a certain point.  3 forward 2 back until they get under the pubic bone.

Finally, after about an hour, things started to feel more productive. I felt like my pushes were doing something.  I was getting really tired, and frustrated because I had not expected it to be this much work. I was also really hot, and stripped off my gown, my Mom laid it across my chest to cover me up some, but at that point I didn’t care.

I kept asking how much of his head they could see.  Mom and D were both watching, and I could see the excitement in D’s eyes, and hear it in his voice, when he could see the baby moving down.  One minute all she could see was his scalp, and the next minute, 12:50 am, July 24th 2009, he was crowning and slipping into her lap all at once. She had wanted my to stop pushing so my bottom would stretch, and she could have a chance to suction him once his head was out.  My body had taken over, and there was no way I was going to be able to wait for anything before I pushed him out. Because of this, I ended up with a 2nd degree tear, and broken blood vessels all over my face and neck, I looked like I had freckles for a week.

The most amazing feeling was seeing him slide out of me and into the docs lap. I still want to cry remembering it. D didn’t want to cut the cord, so my doc asked Mom to do it.  I wanted him on my belly right away, but the doc was concerned because he was kind of juicy and floppy, so he went to the warmer to get checked out and suctioned well.  I was yelling at my mom, “get your camera!” she was too excited to remember to get pictures.

His apgar was only 6 at 1 minute and the same at 5 minutes, so  I only got to hold him for a few minutes. This was something that bothered me, because the same had happened with my first son, and I didn’t want to spend any time apart. He and daddy went to the nursery while I got stitches and cleaned up. My uterus was tired out and not contracting and I was bleeding quite a bit.  I got a shot of pit, then methergen when that didn’t work.  Being massaged internally and externally was horrible, I wanted to kick the doc, even though I was a bit scared and knew she needed to do it.

Daddy and baby S came back about 20 minutes later and it was then apparent why it took so long to push. His head was molded and bruised badly on one side. He was trying to come out crooked. It was so badly swollen that his head measured over 16 inches at birth.  Otherwise he was perfectly healthy.   7lbs 2oz, and 20.5 inches.  I was too tired to remind D that I didn’t want them to bathe him and put that stinky J&J lotion on him, so he came back smelling foreign. It didn’t really matter any more, I had my beautiful little boy safe in my arms. As soon as I got him back we tried nursing, it was like he knew exactly what to do.  He latched on and nursed for 20 minutes.

I felt great after he was born, I joked that if my tailbone didn’t hurt so much I wouldn’t know I had a baby.

We had jaundice issues with our first son because of ABO incompatibility. We spent a couple extra days this time, because of the same problem.  We wanted to avoid a level of 24 like his big bro had. After a day under the lights he was doing great and we went home.

I am so surprised at the differences between births, and children.  I keep realizing how much this baby is nothing like the last.

S was born at 12:50am on July 24th 2009
7lbs 2oz 20.5 inches

Heidi