I went in to L&D on thursday april 26th with painless but regular contractions that went from 6 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart and uncomfortable by the time we arrived at hospital. I had been told by my ob/gyn to go in at 10 minutes apart because of my previous fast labour, but they only started being regular at 6 minutes apart. Arrived around midnight and they got stronger for a couple of hours. Was checked when I arrived and was 3cm dilated, but cervix still very long. The doctor, Elizabeth, who was on was very rude and skeptical that I wasnt having bh. After a couple of hours I was at 4cm, still long. 4 hours later after walking the halls was still 4cm and contractions had pretty much stopped. Went home frustrated.
On Monday April 30th I had a regular ob/gyn appointment and when I told her what had happened and that I was at 4cm, she offered a sweep and I said yes. Still at 4cm and long and she said I had bulging membranes. This was at 3:30pm.
I started getting mild contractions almost immediately which I thought could just be bh. I had planned to make eggplant for dinner, but we decided to go out for fish and chips instead since I now wasnt feeling well.
I started timing contractions at 6pm. They were 7 minutes apart and lasting 30-75 seconds for an hour. Timed them again at 11:30 and they were 2-3 minutes apart lasting usually over a minute. I was hesitant to call my babysitter again to stay with my toddler because of the false alarm last time. There was a rainstorm outside which turned to hail and I thought this must be it, there was hail the day my daughter was born too. Got in the car to go to hospital around 1am.
Checked at hospital at 2am.Contractions were a little painful. At 5cm. cervix still long, but stretchy. Played scrabble on my phone for 2 hours while hooked up to the monitoring machine. A woman was screaming over and over in another room which was unnerving, but I was confident that I wouldnt be screaming since I didnt last time. The doctors and nurses all left. Apparently there was an emergency. Im guessing it was the screaming woman.
Checked again at 4am, 6cm. They moved me to a delivery room shortly after this since they said that they would not let me go home at 6cm even if contractions stopped and if they needed to make labor progress they could break my waters next time they checked me. I said Id think about it. 2 hours later no change, but still getting contractions, not painful. Went for a long shower. Talked to the doctors and nurses about different options for birthing positions and reducing the risk of tearing. Decided that I could try all fours and see how it goes. The doctor was super nice and offered to break my waters. I asked if this would mean that I would need induction if contractions stopped. She said they wouldn't stop, it would just speed up labour. It was around 6 am and she was off work at 8 and said I might have her to deliver if they broke the waters now. I asked who was coming on after her, (wanted to make sure it wasnt Elizabeth from Thursday. It wasnt). I declined, would rather wait a little longer to see if it happened on its own since I still wasnt in pain.
My nurse went home and I got a new one who was kind of irritating. She was very opinionated that I should be on my back for labour so that the baby would come slower and that way I wouldnt tear as much. ??? She was also critical of some of my other preferences. I asked her if she had any kids and she said both were by csection... So I wasnt confident that her opinion was relevant to me.
The doctor came back to check on me when she was ready to leave. Introduced the next doctor who was also super nice. I told the new doctor what the nurse said about me being on my back and she said she disagreed. I was relieved. I started getting pain right around then. Bad enough to lean on the counter when contractions came, but I could still talk though them. Was feeling lots of pressure with each one which they said was the bag of waters bulging.
They broke my waters around 8:30am because I was still only at 6cm after an hour of painful contractions. Right after that they realized that the cervix wasnt effacing because the babys head was turned the wrong way. They had me lean over the bed with my feet on the floor and move my bum back and forth to try to get baby to turn with each contraction. I think this went on for about 1/2 hour. The contractions got very painful and I was moaning and breathing through them.
My irritating nurse came back from her break and wouldnt shut up even when I was in pain. I wanted to tell her and dh to shut up, but I didnt. I needed to concentrate on breathing and they were distracting me. I asked her how long she thought it would take baby to turn and she said maybe 2 hours. I wanted to give up right then since I was in a lot of pain and couldnt imagine 2 hours more of it. Right in the middle of a contraction someone told my dh to rub my back and I said, dont touch me. I heard them explaining to him that some people don't like to be touched when they're in pain, probably thought I hurt his feelings. I'm pretty sure I didn't because I know he doesn't like to be touched when he's in pain either.
Shortly after that the nurse had me get on all fours on the bed which made the pain way worse. I didnt like that position, but felt like I couldnt move out of it because I hurt too much to move. It must have worked to get the baby to move because I suddenly felt a lot of pressure and told them that I might need to push. They said I still wasnt dilated and not to push. A couple of contractions later I yelled at them that I really needed to push and I dont think I can stop it any more. I started screaming from the pain because I started to panic and couldnt concentrate, (I knew I was pushing and couldnt stop it and I was afraid of making my cervix swell and needing a csection.) I told them I could feel him coming out. The doctor told me to turn over on my back so they could help me get my underwear off and check dilation. I cried that I couldnt move and they just said, yes you can. So I forced myself to turn over even though my arms felt like they were frozen in place and I was afraid of getting a contraction while I was moving. As soon as I turned over they checked me and said I was at 10. I said, tell me what to do. They still told me not to push, but my body did it anyway and he came out right away.
I did tear but it was only 1st degree and only needed a little bit of stitches so Im happy with that. Pushing stage was only 2 minutes which was awesome because it was more painful than last time.
Im glad he came at 38+4 because he was 7lbs 11oz and if hed stayed in longer he would have been bigger.
I'm very happy with my birth experience. Talking to the doctors and nurses about my preferences and concerns was very helpful since I felt way more in control. The shower was amazing, highly recommend it.
Some pictures of Samuel Malcolm Joseph
https://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/535590_3341521850403_1039403535_33023957_914066110_n.jpg
https://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/523922_3336401922408_1039403535_33022228_444631395_n.jpg
https://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/577700_3334502514924_1039403535_33021367_1465218161_n.jpg
On Monday April 30th I had a regular ob/gyn appointment and when I told her what had happened and that I was at 4cm, she offered a sweep and I said yes. Still at 4cm and long and she said I had bulging membranes. This was at 3:30pm.
I started getting mild contractions almost immediately which I thought could just be bh. I had planned to make eggplant for dinner, but we decided to go out for fish and chips instead since I now wasnt feeling well.
I started timing contractions at 6pm. They were 7 minutes apart and lasting 30-75 seconds for an hour. Timed them again at 11:30 and they were 2-3 minutes apart lasting usually over a minute. I was hesitant to call my babysitter again to stay with my toddler because of the false alarm last time. There was a rainstorm outside which turned to hail and I thought this must be it, there was hail the day my daughter was born too. Got in the car to go to hospital around 1am.
Checked at hospital at 2am.Contractions were a little painful. At 5cm. cervix still long, but stretchy. Played scrabble on my phone for 2 hours while hooked up to the monitoring machine. A woman was screaming over and over in another room which was unnerving, but I was confident that I wouldnt be screaming since I didnt last time. The doctors and nurses all left. Apparently there was an emergency. Im guessing it was the screaming woman.
Checked again at 4am, 6cm. They moved me to a delivery room shortly after this since they said that they would not let me go home at 6cm even if contractions stopped and if they needed to make labor progress they could break my waters next time they checked me. I said Id think about it. 2 hours later no change, but still getting contractions, not painful. Went for a long shower. Talked to the doctors and nurses about different options for birthing positions and reducing the risk of tearing. Decided that I could try all fours and see how it goes. The doctor was super nice and offered to break my waters. I asked if this would mean that I would need induction if contractions stopped. She said they wouldn't stop, it would just speed up labour. It was around 6 am and she was off work at 8 and said I might have her to deliver if they broke the waters now. I asked who was coming on after her, (wanted to make sure it wasnt Elizabeth from Thursday. It wasnt). I declined, would rather wait a little longer to see if it happened on its own since I still wasnt in pain.
My nurse went home and I got a new one who was kind of irritating. She was very opinionated that I should be on my back for labour so that the baby would come slower and that way I wouldnt tear as much. ??? She was also critical of some of my other preferences. I asked her if she had any kids and she said both were by csection... So I wasnt confident that her opinion was relevant to me.
The doctor came back to check on me when she was ready to leave. Introduced the next doctor who was also super nice. I told the new doctor what the nurse said about me being on my back and she said she disagreed. I was relieved. I started getting pain right around then. Bad enough to lean on the counter when contractions came, but I could still talk though them. Was feeling lots of pressure with each one which they said was the bag of waters bulging.
They broke my waters around 8:30am because I was still only at 6cm after an hour of painful contractions. Right after that they realized that the cervix wasnt effacing because the babys head was turned the wrong way. They had me lean over the bed with my feet on the floor and move my bum back and forth to try to get baby to turn with each contraction. I think this went on for about 1/2 hour. The contractions got very painful and I was moaning and breathing through them.
My irritating nurse came back from her break and wouldnt shut up even when I was in pain. I wanted to tell her and dh to shut up, but I didnt. I needed to concentrate on breathing and they were distracting me. I asked her how long she thought it would take baby to turn and she said maybe 2 hours. I wanted to give up right then since I was in a lot of pain and couldnt imagine 2 hours more of it. Right in the middle of a contraction someone told my dh to rub my back and I said, dont touch me. I heard them explaining to him that some people don't like to be touched when they're in pain, probably thought I hurt his feelings. I'm pretty sure I didn't because I know he doesn't like to be touched when he's in pain either.
Shortly after that the nurse had me get on all fours on the bed which made the pain way worse. I didnt like that position, but felt like I couldnt move out of it because I hurt too much to move. It must have worked to get the baby to move because I suddenly felt a lot of pressure and told them that I might need to push. They said I still wasnt dilated and not to push. A couple of contractions later I yelled at them that I really needed to push and I dont think I can stop it any more. I started screaming from the pain because I started to panic and couldnt concentrate, (I knew I was pushing and couldnt stop it and I was afraid of making my cervix swell and needing a csection.) I told them I could feel him coming out. The doctor told me to turn over on my back so they could help me get my underwear off and check dilation. I cried that I couldnt move and they just said, yes you can. So I forced myself to turn over even though my arms felt like they were frozen in place and I was afraid of getting a contraction while I was moving. As soon as I turned over they checked me and said I was at 10. I said, tell me what to do. They still told me not to push, but my body did it anyway and he came out right away.
I did tear but it was only 1st degree and only needed a little bit of stitches so Im happy with that. Pushing stage was only 2 minutes which was awesome because it was more painful than last time.
Im glad he came at 38+4 because he was 7lbs 11oz and if hed stayed in longer he would have been bigger.
I'm very happy with my birth experience. Talking to the doctors and nurses about my preferences and concerns was very helpful since I felt way more in control. The shower was amazing, highly recommend it.
Some pictures of Samuel Malcolm Joseph
https://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/535590_3341521850403_1039403535_33023957_914066110_n.jpg
https://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/523922_3336401922408_1039403535_33022228_444631395_n.jpg
https://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/577700_3334502514924_1039403535_33021367_1465218161_n.jpg
Great Birth story , Thanks for sharing and Congratulation you baby boy is Beautiful
