Malcolm's Birth Story
My 'guess date' was Sept 2, 2007. Since around August 20th, I'd been
having more intense pressure waves than the Braxton Hicks ones I've
felt for quite awhile. I'd declined all internals from my doc so I
never knew if they were effacing/dilating my cervix at all, but I
assumed they were a bit.
I lost some mucous plug on August 24th - not a lot, but it was
noticeable. By Thursday the 30th, I was definitely feeling more
cervical changes - I actually took it easy that day and the next
(mostly b/c our wedding anniversary was the 31st!). But Brian and I
were able to go out for a nice anniversary dinner downtown at a
swanky restaurant and he was convinced I would go into labor that
night. More pressure waves, but not the 'real deal'. The next day,
I had a spicy chicken sandwich for lunch and on the way home from
errand running, threw up. Threw up again about an hour later so
again Brian was convinced it was going to happen soon. I didn't
quite think it would, but I knew my body was gearing up for it.
Sunday we had a bunch of family over for brunch and then that
afternoon while our toddler Dylan napped, we had 'eviction sex' to
see it that would stir anything up. Monday morning we repeated and I
walked on the treadmill a bit (I wasn't really anxious to get the
baby out, but I also didn't want to be induced if I went too late).
We went to the mall that afternoon to walk around a bit and that
evening we had MIL over for a BBQ (it was Labor Day). Around 1 am on
the 4th, I woke up for one of my frequent potty breaks and noticed A
LOT more mucous plug and had a couple pressure waves - nothing
intense so I didn't bother timing and just went back to sleep.
At 2 am, I woke up to a small gush and knew my water broke - asked
Brian to get a clean towel and I hobbled to the bathroom to clean
up. I didn't lose much - maybe like a 1/2 cup and his head must have
sealed it off again. We called the hospital to let them know and
took our time getting ready. Had some cereal and finishing packing
things up. We headed to the hospital around 3:15 am. I told Brian
not to drop me off just park the car and I'd walk - I was having
pressure waves, but nothing too intense. For childbirth prep this
time around, I was doing the Hypnobabies home study course - I
listened to one of the tapes on the way to the hospital (Birth Day
affirmations) and was very relaxed (though excited!). We got there
and went to maternity - they took me to a triage room to be assessed.
The nurse there put me on the monitor and got a swab to verify it was
amniotic fluid. That swab didn't show anything, so they had to use a
speculum and get a better sample - she said she could see a lot of
fluid, but it wasn't turning the pH paper the correct color so they'd
need to check it under the microscope. While they were doing that, I
listened to more of my tapes (Birth Guide 1) and chatted with Brian.
The monitored showed pressure waves about every 4 minutes, but they
weren't intense at all - just pressure. The nurse came back and
confirmed it was fluid and they were going to admit me. She said she
needed to do an internal and asked what I was at my last one. I said
I didn't really want one since my water had broken and I didn't want
to risk infection, but it was required. I told her I hadn't had any
yet and she asked me what I thought I was at - I said maybe 2 or 3 -
I figured as a second time mom the cervix stretched easier and since
I'd been feeling pressure for awhile some action had taken place.
She said to prepare to be surprised - I was at 5 cm and pretty much
completely effaced. Baby was at a zero station already.
She offered to get a wheelchair to take me to the delivery wing, but
I told her I wanted to walk and let gravity help things along. Once
in my room, we met the l&d nurse and she said I'd have to be on the
monitor for about 20 minutes before I could get up and walk. We gave
her our birth plan (and a box of chocolates to take to the nurses
station!) and I settled down to be monitored and listen to my MP3
player (this time I chose 'Deepening'). pressure waves were there,
but not intense at all. I had to stop in the middle of the
monitoring to go to the bathroom (body cleaning itself out for
delivery) and went back on - it took over a half hour to get a good
enough strip for them to let me off the monitor. Around 5:30 am, the
doctor on call came in and asked how I was doing. I said great - no
p**n, just pressure - she said it didn't appear I was in active labor
and they'd have to talk about putting me on pitocin. I told her I'd
already discussed that with my doctor and I wanted to wait til 24
hours after membrane rupture before they did that and wanted to walk
and get things going naturally.
The nurse bought in a birth ball like I requested and said we could
shower and even use the jacuzzi if I wanted (I thought it was off
limits b/c my water broke, but the doc said it was OK). I found the
ball too uncomfortable, I didn't really want to walk (though I knew I
should) and just went back to the bathroom - I declined getting an IV
and they just put a heplock in so I was drinking lots and lots of
fluids. I know it sounds a bit gross, but sitting on the toilet was
the most comfortable position for me. Brian suggested we walk - I
stood up and found it uncomfortable - tried the ball and bed again,
but those didn't work. I was feeling lots of pressure but not really
at steady intervals - it was pretty much constant. He got me some
Gatorade and red raspberry leaf tea and I drank that. Swayed with
him a bit and he was so great at giving me positive feedback and
keeping me relaxed. I went back in the bathroom - I was cold and put
the heat lamp on, no light, and back on the toilet - sitting straight
up and way back helped the most. Brian tried to get me to lean into
him so he could rub my back, but it didn't feel good. I began to
panic a bit - figured if I wasn't even in active labor and couldn't
find my 'balance', how would I get through the rest? Again, Brian
reminded me that I *was* getting through it and that I had practiced
so hard and went over the reasons why we wanted a natural birth. He
repeated some of the birth prompts we'd practiced (both from the home
study course and ones we'd come up with on our own) - it was really
helpful and calming.
By this time, I felt an incredible urge to poop (sorry, can't think
of a way to sugarcoat it!). Although we both knew that was a classic
sign of being complete, we figured there was no way since both the
doctor and nurse said I wasn't in active labor yet. I figured my
body just hadn't cleansed itself out enough (I struggled with
constipation my entire pregnancy) so I asked the nurse if I could get
an enema or suppository. She decided to check me and I let her - I
was still sitting down and she said she could do it there - she was
stunned - said she couldn't feel any cervix and asked if I could get
into bed so she could do a better check. I did and she confirmed I
was complete and ready to push. She kept telling me I was amazing -
she'd never seen anyone go through transition without any outward
signs. She paged the doctor and urged me not to push yet.
As luck would have it, it was right around shift change. The next on-
call doc wasn't there yet and the other doc was on her way to the
office. They kept paging both and asking me not to push - the new
nurse came in (and she had another nurse with her - it was that
nurse's first day of work at this hospital). My current nurse
explained why I wasn't hooked up to monitors and that she and Brian
were just helping to encourage me not to push quite yet. The doctor
from the night before came back in around 7:40 am and said I could
start pushing - she checked and baby was at a +2 station. I had the
nurse install the squat bar to the bed - I would squat and push
during the pressure waves to help bring him down to the perinium.
That position felt great - gravity was helping out and I could feel
him move down the birth canal. With one of the first pushing
contractions, I guess the nurse started doing the standard counting
and Brian requested that she stop - he explained I wanted to
do 'mother directed pushing' rather than 'purple pushing' (I had my
headphones on at the time listening to the 'pushing' track from the
home study course). After a bit, both the headphones and the gown
annoyed me so I lost them both. I was joking with the nurses and doc
when Brian took a pic in between pressure waves that we were using it
for our Xmas photo. Once baby was at a +5 station, I switched
pushing positions to sort side laying using my feet against the squat
bar to get more 'oomph' with pushing. They bought in the birth
mirror so I could watch him crown. I probably could have pushed him
out faster, but I was hoping to avoid too much tearing so I went
slower. I also pushed between pressure waves. Brian had done
perinial massage during the last month of pregnancy (it helped me
practice my relaxation techniques) and we like to think that helped a
bit (though the fact it was a second birth probably helped more!).
With a lot of effort and encouragement, Malcolm Blake S. came into
the world at 8:13 am - they put him right on my chest so we could
snuggle and love on one another.
I had arranged to publicly donate the cord blood and the nurses and
doc had barely had a chance to review the collection information so
they did that while Brian and I fawned over our long awaited boy
(with Dylan I had used the Red Cross, but our local bank no longer
accepted donations so I found a national one).
Brian cut the cord and they collected and luckily got great volume so
it would be accepted to the bank. The nurse asked if I wanted
pitocin to help deliver the placenta but I requested to forgo it
unless it was necessary. It took a bit, but I got the placenta
delivered (Malcolm was nursing by then and I think that that natural
oxytocin helped). I did end up with a small distal tear - the doctor
said it was from his nose coming out and it was interior so it would
be a lot easier to heal than the tearing I had with Dylan. After the
placenta was delivered, they said my uterus was still boggy and I
consented to pitocin to help firm things up.
We had the nurses delay the rest of the newborn 'stuff' so that we
could nurse and bond. After about an hour, they weighed and measured
him - 8 lb 2 oz (though I bet if they did it right away it would have
been a tad more - he had his first bowel movement on me). 20 inches
long - apgars were 9/9.
I really couldn't have asked for a better birthing experience (well,
other than to have delivered at home or at a birth center, but that
wasn't really an option for me). Brian was such a fantastic coach
and all the months of home study really paid off - labor really was
an enjoyable experience and of course the 'prize' at the end is
amazing.
Hypnobabies rocks!