Sarah Anne's Birth

I think I'd better get this written down before all the details escape me.  Already it seems like the birth was a lifetime ago, even though she's only 4 weeks old (1 month today!).

 

**note:  I use the word contraction throughout my story.  I had a hard time using a substitute word and not feeling silly about it.  In my mind contraction is not necessarily pain related, I think of it more like a bodily function, like the contractions of your muscles, heart and digestive system, as they go about doing their jobs.**

 

At 4:30 in the morning on January 13th, I woke up needing to use the bathroom.  Upon returning to bed, I tried to go back to sleep, only to realize I was having a fairly strong contraction.  My BH waves had actually decreased a bit over the last few weeks (once the stress of the holidays was over!) so I figured that it was just my body gearing up for birthing time, as I was due the following week (Jan 19th).  After the 3rd or 4th contraction in rapid succession, I decided to get up and take a shower.  I figured the water would relax me, and if these were just practice waves, they'd slow down a bit and taper off.  My dh came into the bathroom a few minutes later wanting to know what was going on.  I'm a night owl, so hearing me in the shower at 4:45 AM, he knew something was up.  I told him that he should go get ready.  He asked if he should call my mom, and I told him I didn't think so yet.  During my shower, I kept poking my head out to check the clock, and kept thinking that I must be really tired still, because I was having problem doing the math.  After all, I couldn't be having contractions 3 minutes apart, could I?  It was a little overwhelming at first, since I went from being asleep to having contractions 3 minutes apart that I needed to stop and focus through (apparently I skipped right over early labor!).  When dh came in a few minutes later I told him to go call my mom, and have her come NOW.  I got a little freaked out at the intensity while in the shower, and thought "what was I thinking?, I can't do this!"  Luckily, I realized I was panicking, thought of some affirmations and gave myself a mental pep talk, and that really helped.

 

My parents live only about 20 minutes away, but by the time I got out of the shower, I was starting to worry a bit that we needed to get on the road or risk an unplanned homebirth, and debated calling my friend that lives just down the street (our emergency contingency plan).  Luckily, my mom was there soon, just in time to find all the kids wide awake at 6:15 AM!  They must have heard us getting ready, and once the older boys (8 and 9 1/2) realized what was happening, they were too excited to go back to sleep.  Our 2 year old didn't quite understand what was happening, he just knew everyone was up and ready to play!  I called the OB on call and told them we were coming in.  Since this was our 4th birth, they didn't question me when I told them "this is it!".  We were soon on our way to the hospital, around 20 minutes away.  We listened to the Birthing Day Affirmations in the car on the way to the hospital.  It was soothing and relaxing as we drove, which was helpful as the roads were icy and we drove through a slushy, sleeting, snowy mess to get there.  We arrived at the hospital just before 7:00 AM, and checked into triage.  Sitting still to do the 20 minute monitoring strip was uncomfortable, so I decided to use my MP3 player and start the Birth Guide CD.  I wasn't sure how I would want to listed to my CDs, but in triage, listening to them outloud was not appealing, so I was really glad I packed the MP3 player and headphones.  I never actually took them off until I started pushing!  The nurse watched me have a few contractions and I got the feeling she didn't think I was that far along because I was so calm, but I saw her eyebrow raise when she checked the monitor, and then heard her call the resident to come and do a check because this "was the real thing" and they needed to get me admitted.  After the check, the resident said I was 5 cm, with a bulging bag of water.  She warned that sometimes dilation slows down or even reverses a bit after the water breaks, since it's not putting as much pressure on the cervix.  I remember thinking that as soon as my water broke, the baby was going to come, no matter what that resident thought!

 

I was anxious to get into my room, as I was starting to feel like if they didn't hurry, I might have the baby in the hallway!  We were moved to the Birth Center Unit at 8:00 AM.  It was a very long walk, but dh and the nurse were great about stopping and waiting when I needed to stop.  Once in the room, our new nurse asked what seemed like a million questions, but it was actually somewhat nice to be a little distracted by talking.  I kept my headphones on with the birth guide playing, but just turned it down a little bit so I could hear her.  The nurse had already read my birth plan and was great about following my wishes.  We had asked to have things ready early (our last birth went really quick at the end, and we wanted to be ready), so once I was all checked in, she brought in the mirror I wanted, and the squatting bar.  When she was done she asked what I wanted to do - walk around, get in the tub, etc.  I said "the tub!"  I made it as far as the toilet, which is where I spent the next hour.  The birthing guide cd was extremely helpful at keeping me focused during this time.  I never quite felt as if I had mastered the whole anesthesia concept, but did try to breathe it to where I needed it, and sometimes it just focused me and helped me deal with the intensity, and sometimes it completely took the intensity away.  Throughout my birthing time, I was amazed by how short the contractions seemed.  I'm not sure if they actually were short or not, since we never actually timed the length of them.  Once a contraction was over, I was able to resume complete relaxation and stay focused.  The suggestions on the cd seemed to come at the right time.  Reminders to "open" and especially statements about how this was a great gift I was giving my baby were inspiring and really kept my mind in a positive state.  It was very uplifting and focusing to me.  At one point my dh turned on some soft music in the room (James Taylor, one of our favorites) but I could not tolerate that and asked that it be turned off.  I intended on getting in the tub, and kept thinking, "after this next contraction, I'll get in, and that will help me relax" but after each one, it took me a minute to get centered again, and then before I knew it, another contraction would start, and I would need to wait that one out as well.  In the end, I guess I just needed to sit and focus.  The nurse was great, after I told her I wasn't coming out of the bathroom (she wanted to do a heartrate check), she went and got the portable doppler, and would just check the baby occasionally with that. 

 

Around 9:30 or so she asked how I was doing, and I told her I was fine, but then immediately changed my mind and told her I thought I felt a little pushy.  She said I should probably come out of the bathroom and she'd go get the Dr. for a check.  At the next contraction, I felt very pushy and asked where the Dr. was.  She had paged the Dr. and then the resident, but then just did the check herself when I started involuntary pushing.  I was complete and ready to go!  The Dr. asked if I wanted my water broken, since I had outlined in my birthing plan that I didn't want that.  I originally declined, but after pushing through one more contraction, the pressure was incredible, but the pushing didn't seem to relieve it, and I asked if she thought breaking the water would take away some of the pressure.  The Dr. smiled and said "not entirely!" but that it was probably the only thing holding the baby back, as the bag was really bulging.  I asked for them to go ahead and break my water, and was surprised that only a trickle came out.  With the next contraction, I could feel the baby's head move right down the birth canal, and I remember saying a soft "help!" since I couldn't think of how else to articulate what was happening.  The doctor, who had kind of stepped back after breaking the water was then scrambling to get ready as the baby was already crowning.  One or two pushes later and the baby was out!  As the baby was coming out, the nurse reminded the Dr. that DH wanted to announce the sex of the baby.  Once the baby was out, they asked him what it was - but he couldn't tell!  After turning the baby around and getting the cord untangled from in between her legs, he said "it's a girl!"  It was kind of funny, and I'm glad he waited and didn't say the wrong thing!  After having 3 boys, having a girl as our last baby was a really special surprise!  She was born at 9:50 AM, just a little over 5 hours from my first contraction.

 

The Dr. was great about following our birth plan regarding cutting the cord (which DH did - for his first time, on our 4th baby!), and waiting for the placenta.  The OB did not want to put the baby on my chest until after the cord was cut due to wanting to keep the baby at or lower than the level of the placenta.  I had researched this a bit prior to birth, since all the OBs in the office seem to feel this way, so it was not unexpected.  I asked to have the baby up by my side so I could hold her, and we laid that way for a few moments until the cord stopped pulsing and was ready to be cut.  Soon after the birth, we put our daughter to the breast, but she wasn't quite sure what to do.  She was very alert though and really taking things in, and over the next few hours got the hang of nursing.  She was my biggest baby by far, by a pound, weighing in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces.  Even being the biggest, this was the easiest delivery and recovery with no tearing at all.  With my 7 1/2 pound babies, I had an episiotomy with #1, a small frontal tear requiring 2 stitches with #2, and no tearing but some abrasions/"skid marks" with #3.  I did have some pretty significant lower back pain following delivery, but it was manageable and subsided over the first few days post partum.  I'm not sure if the rapid decent bruised my tailbone or what happened, but I've experienced this in some way with all of my births.

 

My dh was awesome at encouraging me through the pushing stage and reminding me that my body knows what to do and to just let it.  I felt like I didn't involve him as much in this birth during the middle part (which was really only for an hour), but I just felt the need to sit in quiet and that worked.  It was nice knowing he was there if I needed him, and he sprung into action once he realized I was ready to push the baby out, and used the relax cue and reminders to just do what my body was telling me to do.  It was all over so quickly that it felt a little bit unreal.  I was quite surprised that I didn't lose focus during transition, or even actually realize that I was in transition until it was over.  With my last birth, that was when I started to doubt my ability to do this, and while this time I had some doubts right at the beginning (due to the fast onset of very strong and regular contractions), I never had those thoughts again during the whole birthing time!  It was an incredibly intense experience, but overall manageable using the relaxation techniques I had learned - and this from someone who didn't quite "get" the whole hypnosis aspect of Hypnobabies.  I learned enough to give me the birth experience I wanted, although I still think that there's a whole other, deeper level that is probably reached by some women.  I'm not sure if more practice would have helped, or if this is just my own way of interpreting things.  Either way, it was a great birthing experience. 

 

This birth ended up being quite different from what I had visualized and planned for.  I never made it into the tub, and even though they got the mirror and squatting bar ready, there was no time to grab either once I started pushing.  I had also planned on using alternate pushing positions, but once my body took over and got ready to push the baby out, I don't think I was able to shift positions - birthing the baby took every ounce of my focus, and changing positions never even crossed my mind.  I ended up birthing half on my side and half on my back.  I guess that worked for me, since it was quick and I didn't tear at all, and it just felt like how I needed to be at the time.  My daughter had the cord wrapped around her neck twice, but didn't suffer from any deep decelerations, and had apgars of 9 and 9, which was reassuring.  She cried intently for a few minutes, and then had a very quiet and alert period for most of the first hour.  She's been a very content baby and has settled into our family routine quite nicely!  She's nursing like a champ, and is a good sleeper, which has made the transition a little smoother. 

 

I will say that this is the first birth where afterward the nurse actually thanked me for letting her participate in our birth.  It really felt like "our" birth, with us calling all the shots, and that was important to me - and it IS possible, even in a hospital setting with an OB!  The nurse did ask me afterward what I was listening to.  I briefly explained it, but honestly did not ever worry about the hospital staff being "on board" with Hypnobabies, it was just something we were doing for ourselves, and we left the hospital staff to do their own thing, guided by our birth plan.

 

Thanks Hypnobabies for a wonderful experience!

 

Tammy
www.TimetoChangetheDiapers.com
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