This has long been my favorite section, now it's my turn to contribute! 
So I had an epidural with my first in 2010 and I hated the fact that I couldn't feel a single thing. I also felt like I had pushed wrong, resulting in a painful and chronic anal fissure that lasted for 2 years.
So this time I was determined to have a natural birth. On saturday February 14, at 37w5d I went to my local library to get a book about natural birth. I figured I had 2 weeks ahead of me to prepare. I had been on mat leave since 35 weeks but I had been too busy with paperwork and with preparing baby's arrival to do any reading.
That same evening I made a hamburger soup but felt like I wasn't digesting it right, so I went for a 30 minute walk at about 8pm. Got back home, felt better and watched a bit of TV. OH and DD went to bed and I stayed up until midnight. The second I went to lay down I heard a small plop and felt a little trickle in my pants. I stood up and immediately felt a huge gush. My waters! Hooray! I had been hoping to go early but wasn't actually counting on it. I woke OH up and told him it was time to go. I decided to take a cab to the hospital. My aunt was going to babysit DD (she'll be 5 next month) but I didn't want to wake her at 1am without knowing how long I was going to take to dilate. While I was waiting for the cab, my contractions began very suddenly and painfully.
By the time I made it to the hospital, my contractions were between 5and 2 mins apart. The nurse in triage checked me, I was at 4cm just an hour after losing my waters! This gave me the confidence to continue epidural free. I then called my aunt because we were quite sure my labour was going to be short. Unfortunately I couldn't reach her (turns out she was out of town for 5 days). I didn't want OH to come over with DD because my contractions were rapidly getting very strong and I knew DD would be traumatized to see her mama in such pain. My nurse was very helpful and she helped me manage the pain by using accupressure and by telling me how to breath and moan in lower tones (as opposed to yelling). At about 2am I got into the pool. It helped at first, but after about 30 minutes I was in agony and nothing was helping. Contraction were coming 2 in a row, lasting about 2 mins in all, with less than a minute in between. At this point I literally thought I couldn't continue. It was by far the worst pain I had ever experienced, much worse that I thought it could be. With DD I had taken the epidural at 2cm, not really because of the pain but because I had been too tired after 30 some hours of slow labour.
So anyway at this point it is past 3am and the nurse says she is going to check me. I thought I would possibly continue drug free if I was past 8cm. Anything less and I was taking the epi because i could not fathom another 3 or 4 hours of agony. I was at 6 cm. I told them to give me the epi. The anesthesiologist came along in less that 5 minutes. While I had hated getting it inserted last time, this time I almost welcomed the pain, which felt like a mosquito bite next to the contractions I had been feeling. The epi kicked in in less than 10 minutes. Pure heaven! For a couple of hours I just relaxed and waited. At 6 am I was checked again and was at 9cm. At this point I called OH and told him to come with DD. The nurse said DD could hang at the nurses' station while I pushed. We could also wait for OH to arrive before starting to push even if I was fully dilated (as long as baby's heart wasn't in distress). While waiting for OH to arrive I started to feel anal pressure which would come and go. Doctor said this was because I was fully dilated and ready to push. For about 45 minutes we waited for OH to arrive. When he finally got there the nurse said the baby's head was right there and that the pushing stage would be really short. Sure enough I pushed for a total of 20 minutes. And unlike with my first delivery, the epidural did not cut off all sensation. I could feel light contractions telling me when to push, and I felt the head crowning and the baby coming out. This was the scariest part of all, and I remember pleading with them to hike up my epi, but it was obviously too late. I'm happy though, because although it was a very intense couple of minutes, I feel like I have fully experienced the process of giving birth.
Baby girl was born at 7:23 am on February 15. Her shoulder got stuck a bit and someone had to vigorously push on my tummy to help her out, but nothing is broken or dislocated. She looks exactly like her big sister did at birth. I am so in love. I'm loving the newborn stage and I think I even appreciate it more than with my first because I know how fast they grow. My recovery was much quicker this time, I was up and walking less that an hour after being stitched up. My tears are minor and I had no rectal pain this time. Baby does have a bit of jaundice which has to be monitored, but she's taken to the breast wonderfully and is gaining weight nicely.
Thanks for reading. I know it's kind of long and detailed but I wanted to write everything down for myself.
So I had an epidural with my first in 2010 and I hated the fact that I couldn't feel a single thing. I also felt like I had pushed wrong, resulting in a painful and chronic anal fissure that lasted for 2 years.So this time I was determined to have a natural birth. On saturday February 14, at 37w5d I went to my local library to get a book about natural birth. I figured I had 2 weeks ahead of me to prepare. I had been on mat leave since 35 weeks but I had been too busy with paperwork and with preparing baby's arrival to do any reading.
That same evening I made a hamburger soup but felt like I wasn't digesting it right, so I went for a 30 minute walk at about 8pm. Got back home, felt better and watched a bit of TV. OH and DD went to bed and I stayed up until midnight. The second I went to lay down I heard a small plop and felt a little trickle in my pants. I stood up and immediately felt a huge gush. My waters! Hooray! I had been hoping to go early but wasn't actually counting on it. I woke OH up and told him it was time to go. I decided to take a cab to the hospital. My aunt was going to babysit DD (she'll be 5 next month) but I didn't want to wake her at 1am without knowing how long I was going to take to dilate. While I was waiting for the cab, my contractions began very suddenly and painfully.
By the time I made it to the hospital, my contractions were between 5and 2 mins apart. The nurse in triage checked me, I was at 4cm just an hour after losing my waters! This gave me the confidence to continue epidural free. I then called my aunt because we were quite sure my labour was going to be short. Unfortunately I couldn't reach her (turns out she was out of town for 5 days). I didn't want OH to come over with DD because my contractions were rapidly getting very strong and I knew DD would be traumatized to see her mama in such pain. My nurse was very helpful and she helped me manage the pain by using accupressure and by telling me how to breath and moan in lower tones (as opposed to yelling). At about 2am I got into the pool. It helped at first, but after about 30 minutes I was in agony and nothing was helping. Contraction were coming 2 in a row, lasting about 2 mins in all, with less than a minute in between. At this point I literally thought I couldn't continue. It was by far the worst pain I had ever experienced, much worse that I thought it could be. With DD I had taken the epidural at 2cm, not really because of the pain but because I had been too tired after 30 some hours of slow labour.
So anyway at this point it is past 3am and the nurse says she is going to check me. I thought I would possibly continue drug free if I was past 8cm. Anything less and I was taking the epi because i could not fathom another 3 or 4 hours of agony. I was at 6 cm. I told them to give me the epi. The anesthesiologist came along in less that 5 minutes. While I had hated getting it inserted last time, this time I almost welcomed the pain, which felt like a mosquito bite next to the contractions I had been feeling. The epi kicked in in less than 10 minutes. Pure heaven! For a couple of hours I just relaxed and waited. At 6 am I was checked again and was at 9cm. At this point I called OH and told him to come with DD. The nurse said DD could hang at the nurses' station while I pushed. We could also wait for OH to arrive before starting to push even if I was fully dilated (as long as baby's heart wasn't in distress). While waiting for OH to arrive I started to feel anal pressure which would come and go. Doctor said this was because I was fully dilated and ready to push. For about 45 minutes we waited for OH to arrive. When he finally got there the nurse said the baby's head was right there and that the pushing stage would be really short. Sure enough I pushed for a total of 20 minutes. And unlike with my first delivery, the epidural did not cut off all sensation. I could feel light contractions telling me when to push, and I felt the head crowning and the baby coming out. This was the scariest part of all, and I remember pleading with them to hike up my epi, but it was obviously too late. I'm happy though, because although it was a very intense couple of minutes, I feel like I have fully experienced the process of giving birth.
Baby girl was born at 7:23 am on February 15. Her shoulder got stuck a bit and someone had to vigorously push on my tummy to help her out, but nothing is broken or dislocated. She looks exactly like her big sister did at birth. I am so in love. I'm loving the newborn stage and I think I even appreciate it more than with my first because I know how fast they grow. My recovery was much quicker this time, I was up and walking less that an hour after being stitched up. My tears are minor and I had no rectal pain this time. Baby does have a bit of jaundice which has to be monitored, but she's taken to the breast wonderfully and is gaining weight nicely.
Thanks for reading. I know it's kind of long and detailed but I wanted to write everything down for myself.
xx
