Kelly M
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Our boy Carter was born December 2nd weighing 8 lbs and measuring 20.5 inches long. This is the story of his birthing into the world. This is long so sorry but I wanted to tell it all.
At 38 weeks + 3 I started having a lot of strong braxton hicks in the evening. I didn't think much of it because this has been happening all week long and I had already spent a whole day timing them at 37 weeks just to be disappointed. I tried timing them again and they were so irregular and not painful so I brushed it aside and tried to get some sleep. At 3:15 am, as soon as I laid down and turned of the contraction timing app I had going on my laptop, I felt two distinct pops that were actually audible. I felt below to see if I was wet and I just felt sweaty, nothing out of the ordinary. But, just incase, I went the bathroom to check because I just had a feeling at that point. Sure enough, as I got on the toilet a huge gush of pink water came out. I called the dr. and as I was on the phone with them I had another huge gush of bright red blood. The dr. said because of all the blood I needed to go in right away so we headed to the hospital. After awhile at the hospital my contractions picked up and we walked the halls trying to get things moving. They remained irregular and since my water broke already I couldn't be checked to see how I was dilating. So I labored on and on dealing with contraction naturally. I was really hoping for a natural birth. Hours and hours later, the dr. checked my cervix and I was only 5 cm. I was so disappointed to hear that. Immediately after she checked me my contractions became so painful I screamed for drugs! It was by far the worst pain in my life and I never ever want to experience that pain again. It felt like a knife being twisted around in my stomach and back and thighs. The epidural couldn't come fast enough. I began sobbing that I was a failure for getting one but they all assured me it was ok to have one, 97% of women do and the other three percent are mostly people who can't have one due to spinal issues, being too far gone, and a small percent of them are super women. I commend anyone who can do a natural childbirth.
Anyway, the baby's head was a bit crooked which was slowing my labor so I had to be given pitocin since infection could soon set in and my temperature was rising. I began to vomit from the epidural as my blood pressure dipped and that was not fun since I couldn't move my legs and just puked up on myself. I was given ephedrine twice to combat my blood pressure dip and felt better after that.I hated not being able to control my legs and having to just wait things out in bed but not feeling that pain was an amazing trade off I'd take any day. I began to make peace with my decision, labored on in bed for hours and hours more and finally at around 11:15 pm I was ready to push. I didn't feel any pain with the epidural and had no trouble figuring out how to push. His head had straightened out by then and I pushed for about 1 hour and a half and he was born at 12:43 am. I had a second degree tear which is not too fun now as it hurts to sit but we are soooo in love with our little man (and so sleep deprived). However, it was all so worth it! I spent two more days in the hospital and couldn't sleep a wink while I was there even when baby was sleeping. I guess just too much adrenaline and hormones and being a new environment with people coming in and out all night/day made it hard. I am now running on about 7 or 8 hours over the last five days but I still have trouble napping. My life is so turned upside down! But in the best way possible. So happy with my birth even though it didn't turn out as I planned because either way it ended with a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
At 38 weeks + 3 I started having a lot of strong braxton hicks in the evening. I didn't think much of it because this has been happening all week long and I had already spent a whole day timing them at 37 weeks just to be disappointed. I tried timing them again and they were so irregular and not painful so I brushed it aside and tried to get some sleep. At 3:15 am, as soon as I laid down and turned of the contraction timing app I had going on my laptop, I felt two distinct pops that were actually audible. I felt below to see if I was wet and I just felt sweaty, nothing out of the ordinary. But, just incase, I went the bathroom to check because I just had a feeling at that point. Sure enough, as I got on the toilet a huge gush of pink water came out. I called the dr. and as I was on the phone with them I had another huge gush of bright red blood. The dr. said because of all the blood I needed to go in right away so we headed to the hospital. After awhile at the hospital my contractions picked up and we walked the halls trying to get things moving. They remained irregular and since my water broke already I couldn't be checked to see how I was dilating. So I labored on and on dealing with contraction naturally. I was really hoping for a natural birth. Hours and hours later, the dr. checked my cervix and I was only 5 cm. I was so disappointed to hear that. Immediately after she checked me my contractions became so painful I screamed for drugs! It was by far the worst pain in my life and I never ever want to experience that pain again. It felt like a knife being twisted around in my stomach and back and thighs. The epidural couldn't come fast enough. I began sobbing that I was a failure for getting one but they all assured me it was ok to have one, 97% of women do and the other three percent are mostly people who can't have one due to spinal issues, being too far gone, and a small percent of them are super women. I commend anyone who can do a natural childbirth.
Anyway, the baby's head was a bit crooked which was slowing my labor so I had to be given pitocin since infection could soon set in and my temperature was rising. I began to vomit from the epidural as my blood pressure dipped and that was not fun since I couldn't move my legs and just puked up on myself. I was given ephedrine twice to combat my blood pressure dip and felt better after that.I hated not being able to control my legs and having to just wait things out in bed but not feeling that pain was an amazing trade off I'd take any day. I began to make peace with my decision, labored on in bed for hours and hours more and finally at around 11:15 pm I was ready to push. I didn't feel any pain with the epidural and had no trouble figuring out how to push. His head had straightened out by then and I pushed for about 1 hour and a half and he was born at 12:43 am. I had a second degree tear which is not too fun now as it hurts to sit but we are soooo in love with our little man (and so sleep deprived). However, it was all so worth it! I spent two more days in the hospital and couldn't sleep a wink while I was there even when baby was sleeping. I guess just too much adrenaline and hormones and being a new environment with people coming in and out all night/day made it hard. I am now running on about 7 or 8 hours over the last five days but I still have trouble napping. My life is so turned upside down! But in the best way possible. So happy with my birth even though it didn't turn out as I planned because either way it ended with a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
xxx
