Had our baby on Sunday morning (October 15th). One day after his due
date. He weighed 7.11 lbs. and was 20" long. I had a super FAST
delivery!
11:05 pm -first contraction
12:00 pm - woke up dh
12:45 pm - headed to hospital
1:00 am - admitted
1:09 - Eddison born
I had been dilated to a 5 for the last 3 weeks. Saturday I was pretty
bummed that I hadn't had any regular contractions. Just a few BH like
everyday for the last month. We walked around the mall in the evening
and I was so tired when we got home. I actually though maybe it's a
good thing the baby isn't coming today - I'm way too tired to deal
with it tonight. I laid down at 11 and at 11:05 had a contraction -
but it just felt like another bh. I fell asleep but kept being woken
up every 10 minutes by another contraction. At 12pm my 5th and 6th
contractions felt really strong and I really had to breath and relax
during them. I woke up dh and said I think we need to get ready to go
to the hospital. I thought we were still in for a long haul - my
midwife said to come in when they were 5 minutes apart. I started to
get my toiletries packed and all the little things I couldn't pack in
advance. The contractions were getting more and more intense. So I
laid on the couch and directed dh and my mom about what needed to be
packed. I was getting very uncomfortable - I kept telling myself this
must be transition because it can't get any worse. And I kept trying
to relax and breath through each contraction.Finally we got in the car and headed for the hospital. We only live 10 minutes away and I think dh was speeding. I told my mom to time my contractions so I would know what to tell the nurse when we got there. The first ones were 1min 15 sec. apart, the next was 1 min. apart, after that we gave up timing. We pulled into the emergency exit and they brought out a wheelchair! Uhg - I couldn't believe I had to sit - I had been reclining in the car and the last 2 contractions I had felt a little pushy. They wheeled me in to be admitted and the nurse started asking me questions (dh had to park the car). I was ok with all the yes and no questions but when she asked when my last menstrual period was I just yelled "I have no idea". That's when a big pushing contraction hit and my water broke. It kind of felt good for a second - warm water, relieved pressure. They started running me down the hall to the elevator and up to L&D. In the elevator I told dh to hold up my leg up because it felt like his head was starting to come out.
As soon as we got to my room I got out of the chair and on the bed asap! It was so much better to lay down! I yelled "get these clothes off of me". They stripped me down and I pushed twice while dh held my leg up and his head was out. That push seemed so long but dh said it really wasn't. A second push and he was all the way out and started to cry. They laid him on my tummy and I felt so much better!
He looks like his brother did. And ds is so proud of him. So far no
sign of jealousy - we'll see how long that lasts. Baby did have some
problems with a heart murmur and and low oxygen and spent some time
in NICU but it resolved fairly quickly.
My midwife got there about 10 minutes after he was born so I just had
the doctor who was there. She started to clamp the cord as soon as
he was on my belly and I said "don't clamp it until it stops
pulsing". She paused for a second and then said "it's already
stopped". I looked at it and didn't really know what I was looking
for. I couldn't see any movement so I let her clamp it. Then she
started to pull on it to remove the placenta and I told her to not to
pull just to let it come out naturally. I think she was a little
exasperated with me. My midwife walked in before they started to
talk about pitocin and she told the doctor that I only wanted pitocin
if I started hemoraging - which I didn't. So that was nice. Also I
didn't have to have an IV or hep-lock which I was very glad to have
avoided.
I was so thirsty after I laid down on the bed and my mom
was holding my water bottle. But when I asked for a drink they
said "sorry, no drinking until the baby is out". As soon as he was
out I got that drink! I was really wishing I had thought to take
another drink in the car!
Lastly, as he was crowning I didn't have a
compress to hold on my perinium - I especially wanted one in front.
I kept reaching down to try to hold myself and they kept removing my
hand - I guess because of germs. My mom said one of the nursed ran
to get a warm rag but he was just born too fast and the doctor was
massaging/streching towards the back. I did tear a little bit "all
the way around". So I'm not exactly sure how many stitches I got. I
think maybe one in front, 3 in the back. It was so hard to relax my
legs for the stitches because everything was so tender/sensative. I
wanted to clamp my legs together and never open them again. My
hypnobabies helped there and my dh reminded me to go to my safe
place.
Dh was great. He only had a crash course a few days before but
hearing his voice telling me to relax and go deeper was so
comforting - both in the elevator and in the delivery room. I only
wish I could have heard him better - there were about 6 nurses/dr.,
etc. in there trying to get things ready before he popped out - so it
was loud. I probably should have been listening to my CD's while
trying to pack but I needed both hands to pack and when a wave would
hit I needed to get down on the floor, couch or bed. If I'd known
how fast it was going I wouldn't have bothered with the packing.
As far as p***, it did hurt and there was a LOT of pressure. I
started doing this ridiculous sounding "Pphhhhhh" while I breathed
and it seemed to help me get through the waves, stay relaxed and not
hyperventalate. But it was so fast and I really have to think to
remember the p***. I kept relaxing instead of clenching my bottom
and tried to focus everything downwards. I have to say it really took
away my fear of childbirth. I have a new confidence that I could do
this alone if I had to (but wouldn't want to obviously).
Thanks for all the support I got here. This was a great experience
for me especially after my first birth - with epidural, pushing for 5
hours, foceps, and episiotomy. Even though that one was pain free
I'd still choose this birth any day of the week!