Quinlan's Birth

Quinlan was born on Labor Day, September 4^th, 2006 at 6:49 pm. He was 6 lbs 11 oz. and 19 ½ inches long.

It all began the night before with my water breaking at about 9:30 pm. My husband Brady and I had only been in bed a few minutes and were talking and laughing about something when I felt this huge gush. I said, “I think my water just broke!” and my husband and I just started laughing more. We were so excited that this was finally “it.” I was about a week before my guess date but I’d known all along I wouldn’t go that long.

We called my parents to come and pick up our 4 year old son since we knew it would take them at least an hour to arrive. We also called our Doula, Sindea to let her know what was going on.  I think I took a shower at this point. I remember how great the warm water felt and stayed in for quite a while. Contractions started about an hour later. I was doing quite well and relaxing through them, using my finger-drop technique and shutting off, then going to center afterward. By about midnight they were getting stronger and I was starting to feel some pain way down low that I couldn’t relax through, no matter how hard I tried. It wasn’t bad but it definitely wasn’t pain-free either. My husband thought we ought to call the hospital and at least see if they thought we should come in. Since my water had broken they thought I should come in but no need to rush since my contractions were erratic.

When we arrived at the hospital I was still doing quite well. I’d listen to my affirmations in the car. They checked me in, asked for a urine sample, monitored the baby for about a half an hour and checked my dilation – I think I was at 2 or 3 when I first got there. I wasn’t surprised, I knew I had a ways to go. I asked if I could get in the Jacuzzi tub even though my water had broken and was surprised to hear that I could! I got in and was able to relax so much that I slept for a while. My contractions would sort of wake me up but I fell immediately back to sleep when they ended.

I continued to labor relatively easily, though with some pain until about 4 or 5 am when we finally decided to ask our doula to come. Before she arrived I asked my husband to get me something to eat. The nurse told him I could have Jello , a popsicle or juice. I was hungry! I wanted some food. I told my husband that I’d sign whatever they wanted me to sign but I needed to eat something. He went back and told the nurse and she came in and “let” me have a bowl of cereal. Ridiculous policy but I was happy enough with just that.

After Sindea arrived things just slowly moved along. They monitored the baby every hour. They only checked my dilation once or twice more and I was ever so slowly progressing. I did a lot of walking the halls with my husband supporting me in front during contractions and my doula rubbing my back. I tried to sit or lay down occasionally and listened to a couple of my Hypnobabies CD’s but found that I was just a lot more comfortable when I was standing or walking. The birth ball, which I thought I’d love, proved to be the most uncomfortable position of all.

By about 5 pm my contractions were really starting to get painful. I figured I was probably in transition when a contraction ended and I looked at my husband, thought how much I loved him, how great he was doing supporting me and started to cry. I was so emotional and just could not stop crying and it had nothing to do with the pain at all. Every time I would feel a contraction coming on I would tense up and get ready for it and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t make myself relax through it. I do think Hypnobabies helped me to relax more in the beginning and as things got harder I was probably less tense than I might have been otherwise. Anytime I would think, I can’t do this, I would remind myself that I was doing it – I’d made it this far I can go a little farther. I figured it wouldn’t be too much longer since I was probably in transition. I think they checked me at this point and I was at about a 7.  I kept reminding myself that women can go from 7 to 10 in minutes. J

At this point it was harder to walk so I just sat on the edge of the bed. My doula suggested trying to labor on the toilet as that position might help to open things up. I really visualized my cervix opening easily throughout my labor. The toilet must’ve worked because after a short time in there I felt tremendous pressure and knew the baby was about to be born. I told my husband and he went into action pressing the call button for the nurse and pretty soon there were a bunch of people in the room preparing for the delivery. A nurse was telling me not to push and to move to the bed. I was pretty much screaming at this point and trying to tell her to wait a moment, that I couldn’t move just yet. She kept telling me I had to and after the worst of the contraction was over I somehow managed to make it to the bed. I let her check to make sure I was complete and it was so bad that I literally just screamed at her to “Get Out!” She did shortly and told me I was ready and to push. I didn’t really feel that overwhelming urge to push that I’ve heard so much about and was actually a little afraid that it might hurt more when I pushed. Knowing that was the only thing that would get me my baby though I did and was happy that it didn’t hurt more. Well, at least until he crowned. Thankfully I only needed to push for 12 minutes and then after his shoulders were out the doctor told me to reach down and pull my baby out. I had no idea this was coming but thought it would be great, so I did. How amazing!  I held my baby and after a little while Brady cut the cord.

Not the pain-free birth I had hoped for but I was so glad I was able to do it without any pain medications. It was really only the last 2 hours that were so hard that I thought I might want to get some pain medication. I actually asked for it just before he was born, even though I knew at this point it was way too late. So why did I not have a pain-free birth? I don’t really know for sure. I listened to my CD’s almost every night. I did not practice my finger drop or moving my anesthesia techniques as much as I should have but I did practice. I used my Peace cue. I used my hypnosis and CD’s right from the start. I really wanted to believe that I could have a pain free birth but I guess I always had some doubt that it would actually work for me. I think it was still a worthwhile thing to do to prepare for the birth. My husband thinks it helped me to relax more than I realize. I know I tried to relax more than I otherwise would have which did probably make it easier for me.

Joyce