Ok, now that I have some time to sit and write, I thought I'd share my birth story
It all started last Wednesday when I went into the doctors for my regular appointment. I was 37 weeks 1 day. I ended up being sent to the hospital to L&D to be monitored because Emma's baseline heart rate was much lower than normal and kept decreasing below the 110 beats that's considered within normal range. It would go down to 98-109 and come up again and then kept repeating. Everything ended up being ok with her but the do for saw my contractions were about 10 min apart and I was 3-4 cm dilated and still 70% effaced. She said I was in early labor and should go into active labor soon. So DH stayed with me the rest of the day in case I needed to be brought back as neither of us felt comfortable with me being home by myself at this point.
I ended up being in early labor, or what I was later told was prodromal labor, for 3 days. I was having intense early labor contractions but after getting to 5 cm dilation my body stopped dilating and the contractions wouldn't regulate more for active labor to take over. It was so tiring and I got so frustrated.
So Thursday I rested all day, DH was at his internship all day and he was to be done the next day with his 8 week internship. He came home late that night and I found out he was dismissed from his internship. Apparently they thought it was unprofessional of him to leave to be with me on Wednesday at the hospital when I was told I could have an emergency c-section if her heart rate was t recovering well or if it was staying too low. He handled it in a very professional manner but they needless to say thought he should've just stayed there and finished his day. So that was very stressful to handle.
On to Friday, I've decided to make a day of it out and get some errands done. I needed to walk to try to get the contractions to regulate more. We were out all day but we really enjoyed our time together. I started getting contractions more regularly and lost a large amount of mucus (TMI) again.
Saturday morning at 130 am, I woke to some pretty strong contractions. Almost like bad period pains and tightenings. I was very uncomfortable. So since I couldn't sleep I decided to get a shower to see if they dissipated or kept up. After about 2-3 hours and they were continuing every 6-8 min i woke DH and told him what was going on. So we then headed to the hospital at 330-4 am. Once I got there I was told I was 4 cm and 70% effaced which was a change from just the day before!
I was excited because I thought wow this is really it!
After being monitored for 3 hours in L&D triage and my cervix making change at each of my three checks, I was admitted by the on call doctor. I was so excited that I called my doula and let her know since it was a 1 1/2 hour drive for her and I was already 5 cm 70%. With my past two deliveries, they went rather quickly and I didn't want her to miss it. She got to the hospital around 8 am. We started walking the halls and the contractions started coming more regular and more intense. I was allowed off the monitor for 45 min at a time and had to be put back on for 20-30 min increments to monitor Emma. They are a very mother/baby friendly hospital but I wish I didn't have to be put on the monitor so much so my body could've done what it needed to. Well by 1 pm, I had absolutely NO CHANGE in my cervix whatsoever. I was saddened and was given the option to be discharged so I could eat, walk and do what I wanted instead of being stuck in a hospital or stay and continue to monitor and see what happens.
I ended up choosing to leave and my awesome doula (whose also a good friend I've known for years) told me she was staying with me until my baby was born.
We left and went to olive garden for lunch, which at this point I was starving. The contractions were still coming every 8-10 min. After lunch we headed to our indoor mall to walk....the dark clouds were coming in and it was starting to rain. The length of one floor at the mall is about 1/4 mile. We walked the bottom floor and top floor four times each!!
Then we decided to go to our house so I could shower, bounce on the birthing ball (which the hospital wouldn't allow due to liability), and rest. I was so exhausted by this point and kept doubting myself and my body. Wondering why it wouldn't progress and why I was in this early stage of labor for so long and stalled progress
I took a much needed hour nap, showered, and bounced...then we headed to Walmart which is right around the corner from our house. We walked and walked inside Walmart, it was 9 pm by this point so most stores were closed. We ended up eating McDonald's for dinner while walking around Walmart. That was not easy haha it came to a point where we sat in an area to discuss where to go from there. We were all so exhausted and I was so discouraged and wondering why it wasnt going anywhere. Though the contractions did increase to every 3-4 min for a few hours at the end. I was so worried I would go back into the hospital and no progress would be made.
So after a short deliberation and many options voiced, we decided I would head back in. If I had no cervical change, then obviously she wasn't ready yet and we would go home, but it there was any change at all, we would discuss options with the nurse.
We got to the hospital at 11pm, and I was checked. All that walking and everything I was doing yeilded a 1/2 cm dilation!!!!
I was so upset. I just couldn't believe that's all that happened. I started crying, I was discouraged and questioned myself and my choices in my birth plan.
After discussing why I originally had some of the things in my plan was due to fear of history repeating itself from my last labor, she understood and asked what I wanted and if I would allow medical intervention. At that point I was already hoping they'd break my waters as I was so exhausted and discouraged I wasn't being picky. And I'm not upset about that decision now at all. The nurse came back after speaking with my doctor and said he would admit me, watch me over night to see what the contractions were doing. If there was still no change to my cervix, he'd break my water and start a low dose pitocin (if I was ok with it). I was relieved!
I didn't sleep well. I was so over-tired, and had such anxiety after the past 3 days, I was sick mos of the night. Never fails I end up vomiting while in labor
finally though after getting IV zofran, Zantac, and phenergan, and a hot shower, I was able to fall asleep around 3-4 am. I woke up around 730-8 am to the nurse (very nice btw) and she told me the doctor was headed in to break my water and she was starting the pitocin. I asked about the contractions and she said they weren't regular and were registering 2-10 min apart. There was absolutely no change to my cervix
only 20-30 min later the contractions had regulated to 3-4 min apart and the pain was God awful! The hypnobirthing I was so happy to try and took classes for I ended up throwing out the window (not literally). I was begging for pain meds. They paged the anesthesiologist and asked him to see me first, even though he had a scheduled c-section to attend. The guy was so nice. He got there rather quickly too! And with being in that much pain and thinking he got there quickly, it must've been lightening speed! He was really quick at putting in the epidural. I only felt an initial pinch, some pressure and slight burning initially like a bee sting. On e the epidural started working, I began to feel a lot of pressure. This was only after 15 min. The nurse checked me and I was 7 cm and 90% effaced Emma was +2 station. Not 10 min later I was complete and ready to push! My husband had gone down to the cafe to get a soda when I was 7 cm so I was relieved when he got back. I pushed for 15-20 min and I delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl
So once my body actually did what it was suppose to I was only in labor for 2 1/2 hours. I progressed very quickly. I had a small tear that needed 2 stitches. My doula stayed for a couple hours after she was born and had to head out because she had another mom in labor who ended up delivering around 4 pm.
Emma was born at 9:34 am weighing 7 lbs 5 oz
I love her so incredibly much!!!!
I will post a picture when I'm on the desktop. I'm posting from my phone. Hope it wasnt too long.
I thought it was supposed to feel like a bowling ball between your legs.
