Massimo's Birth
On Tuesday, May 13th, I went for my 41 week check-up. 20 minutes
of
fetal monitoring showed the baby was doing very well, and that I was
having some pws (I had no idea). I had used the 20 min to get into
hypnosis, since I figured the doc would want to do an internal exam. I
was right, but she mentioned the “i” word even before checking me. At
this hospital, they like to induce at 41 weeks and 4 or 5 days. But
since that was a weekend, she wanted me to come in on Friday if the
baby hadn’t been born yet. Her internal exam determined that my cervix
was dilated 1/2cm and “wasn’t favorable,” though the baby’s head was
far down.
Now I should mention that doctors here (Estonia, in northern Europe)
really only deal with high-risk and overdue situations. I had only
been seeing my midwife until this point, and my pregnancy had gone
extremely smoothly. Naturally, I wanted to avoid inducing if at all
possible. I asked the doctor to write down the name of the tablets
(Cytotec) they use for inducing, and I’m so glad I did. I looked it up
first thing once I got home from the appointment and decided that if
they did induce me, it would NOT be with Cytotec. Also, the idea that
I’d induce on Friday so they could have a nice weekend is crazy.
I wasn’t at all worried about being “overdue,” but I was worried about
not having the birthing experience I desired. So, that day I went for
a walk or two, had lots of raspberry leaf tea, spent some time on my
birthing ball, and tried nipple stimulation with my manual breast pump
(15 minutes on each side, twice, with a 30 min break between). I also
made an appointment with an acupuncturist for the following morning.
Then I took a nap, and when I woke up I could feel that my stomach was
getting hard all over now and then. I assumed these were the pressure
waves everyone talks about (I hadn’t had any Braxton-Hicks). They were
really sporadic, and I didn’t feel anything more than a tightening. I
then took a trip to the bathroom and there it was �€" the mucus plug. I
didn’t take either of these two occurrences as evidence that I was
actually entering my birthing time, as I know some women have these
“symptoms” for days or weeks before giving birth.
The pressure waves continued on and off for the rest of the day and
night. They didn’t get stronger, so I didn’t take them too seriously
or time them. DH and I are night-owls and we went to bed around 1am. I
don’t remember if I slept at all, but by 2am the pressure waves had
gotten stronger and I wasn’t able to sleep. I got out of bed and spent
about an hour on the birthing ball in the living room, while listening
to Hypnotic Childbirth 1 and 2. At 3am, I woke my husband so he could
time the pressure waves. At that point, they were lasting close to a
minute each time and were 3 or so minutes apart, but they still
weren’t entirely regular. I thought I was in my early birthing time
still and that the baby would be born sometime in the evening (judging
from all the birth stories I’ve read and how long first births often
take). Around 4:30, DH called the midwife. She didn’t believe I was as
far along as I actually was, and she said that maybe we’d meet at the
hospital around 8am (and to call her again if things got more intense).
DH had arranged a huge stack of pillows from the sofa on the bed so
that I could lean over them and rock back and forth during the
pressure waves. He was really awesome with the hypnosis cues and
definitely kept me grounded. Still, I was so shocked to be in my
birthing time all of a sudden that I wasn't able to get into hypnosis
as I had intended. It was some time between 5 and 6 that I couldn’t
remember for the life of me why I had been so anti-epidural throughout
the pregnancy. The thought that I had many, many more hours of this
was not a pleasant one. The waves in all of my birthing muscles I
could handle and I don’t even remember feeling much there; it was the
entirely unexpected and intense feelings in my thighs that made me
think I might throw in the towel. But, once again, DH was encouraging
me that I was doing really great and that my body knew what to do.
DH was saying very encouraging things all along and got the shower
going for me. The hot water felt sooooooo great during the pressure
waves. Everything was getting more intense and the waves were closer
together. DH called the midwife again at 6 saying that he thought we
should head to the hospital. He wasn’t timing the waves still, but we
think they were around 2 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute
(consistently). Except for the calls to the midwife (at 4:30 and 6),
we entirely lost track of time. The plan all along had been to walk to
the hospital (we live very close), but we never expected things to
progress so quickly. DH called his brother for a ride (we don’t have a
car). I was frustrated because I hadn’t finished all of my packing
preparations (I couldn’t find my ponytail holder!) and I didn’t really
want my BIL to see me in my birthing time. After gathering our things,
we went downstairs to catch our ride, but he hadn’t arrived yet. I
didn’t want to wait, so I began to walk towards the hospital. I had to
pause every few minutes to deal with a pressure wave, but I found the
cool morning air really refreshing. DH caught up with me after a few
minutes (he really wanted to wait for the ride) and we were about a
third of the way to the hospital when my BIL picked us up. We arrived
at the hospital, walked in the door, and down to the floor I went. I
just HAD to be on my hands and knees during waves. DH went to the
registration desk and they were asking, “So, where is she?” I was
still in the hall on the floor. I got up when I was able. There was
another couple that arrived just before us, but the woman didn’t look
like she was even in her birthing time, so they had to wait. I had a
few more waves in the registration office (on the floor, again), and
because it was obvious that I was so far along, they decided to forgo
the usual steps and get me to a room right away. Fortunately, the room
with the birthing tub was free. I remember feeling annoyed that it
wasn’t already filled with water when we walked in!
Our midwife arrived and wanted to monitor the pws and do a quick
internal exam. She had to wait a bit because she wanted to check
between waves, and they were coming so close together. I was 7cm. I
got into the tub and things relaxed a bit. The pws stopped for a few
minutes, but then picked up with greater intensity. I was feeling
pushy, and the midwife removed the monitor straps. It was at this
point that I needed to be frequently reminded to relax and breathe.
The perineal massage didn’t feel anything like what I was feeling
then. After about 20 minutes of pushing (and an hour after arriving at
the hospital), at 8:15am on May 14th, Massimo Eli was born underwater.
Once his head was out, I was expecting his body to just slip out like
I’ve read about, but the rest of his body was almost as tough. Turns
out that he had a hand on his cheek and his chest and head measured
the same. DH caught and pulled him out of the water. After their
initial eye contact, our son turned his head and looked at me. DH
placed him on my chest. I don’t remember him crying, and he was alert
and calm. The midwife and DH helped me out of the tub and to the bed.
After waiting for the cord to stop pulsing, cutting the cord, birthing
the placenta, and getting one stitch, my husband and I spent the next
45 minutes alone with our baby. Then they did all the usual stuff, and
we discovered that he was 7lbs 11oz and just over 20 inches. Our
midwife commented on what a beautiful birth it was and that I
obviously had educated myself well. We spent one night in the hospital
and then walked home the next day.
While I wasn’t able to get into deep hypnosis, Hypnobabies definitely
worked for me. I didn’t feel a thing until I was quite far along AND
was able to give birth to my son without drugs (and without seriously
wanting any) AND had such a fast birthing time (about 6 hours in all).
I also credit Hypnobabies for having such a positive impact on my
pregnancy and during these post-natal weeks. He’s eating really,
really well and is already over 11 pounds. Everyone comments on what a
calm baby we have, plus my body has recovered super-quickly. Also, I
have felt so incredibly empowered by my birthing experience �€" I feel
like there’s nothing I can’t do!
I wouldn’t let DH leave my side during the birthing time, so we didn’t
get photos or videos until after Massimo was born. But, nonetheless,
you can see photos of our little guy here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjkg/collections/72157605508944781/
Cheers,
rachel
LittlerInch.com