acrossthepond
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I'm sorry it's so long but I wanted to share with you all, since so many people's stories here have helped me 
The day before going into labor, the hubby and I were determined to focus our energy on spending some quality time together and getting to a comfortable state of mind regarding our birth choices and our Birthing Center. I indulged that day in the spiciest Tex-Mex food I could get my hands on, all the left over pineapple in the fridge, a bit a walking (and some, ahem, intimate time with the hubby under midwifes orders) and a few big mugs of Raspberry Leaf Tea. We also attended an open house event at our chosen Birthing Center, which included meeting many of the nurses and touring the facilities in depth. As we left the Center I joked with my husband about how I thought I might go into labor now, seeing as I was finally way comfortable and even excited about the environment I was going to be giving birth in. Ha!
Well, one (or a perfect storm of all?) of those things must have done something, because at 3.10am that morning (at exactly 39 weeks) my water broke spontaneously! Id been experiencing quite the belly ache since that evening - not the usual period-like cramping or Braxton Hicks tightenings Id had on and off for a couple of weeks now - this was more like Id eaten something that didnt agree with me. From the top to the bottom of my belly, I was just really achey and uncomfortable. Unfortunately this discomfort kept me up until 2am so I was running on quite an empty tank by the time I had the shock of my waters going. I got up to go to the bathroom and was felt a small pop sensation, quickly followed by a slight but steady trickle down one leg to my ankle, of clear fluid. Admittedly, I did wonder for a moment if it was in fact my waters, as it wasnt the gush you tend hear about in movies. I suppose when it comes down to it, I sort of just had a sense that it was the real deal and decided to go from there.
I let the hubby know that I thought theyd gone and that I was going to be calling the midwife to let her know what was going on. The midwife advised me to go back to bed and sleep if I can, with the aim to come into the Birthing Center at 8am to be checked (unless contractions started and progressed before then). That was definitely my goal considering the late night Id had so far except, for some reason, I felt like I REALLY needed to finish packing the last few items in the hospital bag before I could settle down properly. Im glad I did. Ten minutes later my contractions started and while they were perfectly manageable, from the get go they were coming To begin with I pottered around the house checking things off my list, letting the dogs out, chatting to my Mum on the phone etc. The hubby got up and took a quick shower and the plan was for me to jump in after he was done to wash my hair and freshen up before the big event!
As he was showering I timed my contractions (still around the every one and a half to two minutes range and lasting for thirty to sixty seconds at a time) although now they were beginning to, slowly but surely, grow in intensity. Exciting, eh?! When my turn for a quick shower came I hopped in and less that a minute later felt a pressure. It was enough to freak me out and let my hubby know that, actually, Id like to head to the Birthing Center ASAP please. So we shifted gears and I lumbered out of the house with soaking wet hair at 4am (hello late October night air!) and we began the twenty five minute drive to the Center. The hubby called to let them know we were heading in sooner and during the drive my contractions continued to get more intense. I played my birthing playlist during the car ride and gently breathed through each one, feeling excitement build as I realized that this was really it!
Once we arrived, I was taken straight into Triage and given a not-so-comfortable hospital robe to put on whilst being assessed. When I went to get changed in the restroom I noticed a significant amount of blood in the toilet which worried me, though the nurse said it was very normal (I actually hadnt heard a lot about bleeding during labor, and was under the impression that it really only occurred after the fact. You live, you learn!) I was checked and I was at 5cm and 80% effaced. I had been 3cm and 80% effaced less than a week before at my 38 week midwife appointment, so things were progressing nicely! My blood pressure was a little high at this point (154/94, I think) and had been heading upwards for the last week, so we decided to fit an IV just in case and to continuously monitor it. That was as medicalized as it got for me which was more than I had been hoping for, but in the moment I was more comfortable taking the nurses advice and going ahead with fitting the IV - hey, youve got to be adaptable, right?
Whilst I was being assessed, the birthing pool I was so excited to sink into was being filled and my room was being prepared. I made my way down the hall to my room shortly afterwards and thankfully only had to stop a few times to ride out a contraction (which were becoming a fair bit more intense now, still showing up every two minutes or so but still totally manageable if I stayed calm and relaxed). I made my way to my hospital bed and we cracked on with monitoring my blood pressure and the babys heart rate for the next thirty minutes. Everything seemed to be ticking over nicely, although my BP was still a little on the high end. I was comfortable enough though and still more than capable of riding through each contraction using controlled breathing and some visualizations Id been working on for the last couple of months. My hubby popped on some more of my birthing music for me and the nurse went ahead and fitted my IV. Unfortunately it took more than one nurse, both my hands and a good three attempts to get it in correctly - apparently I have tricky veins... who knew!? Either way, it was placed eventually and by this time things were really starting to happen for me. It was around this time that the nurse offered for me to get into the birthing pool and as I stood to make the move sickness overwhelmed me, as did another gush of blood. Again, I was assured that this was normal. This consoled me slightly as I stood simultaneously vomiting, bleeding and riding out a contraction. It was around here that I suspected transition was imminent and my husband started to realize that we were in business!
The nurse did keep trying to offer me anti-nausea drugs (now that my IV was fitted it would be easy after all), but I have to say I was pretty comfortable with the infrequent bouts I was getting... after all, its nice and normal as your body gears up for the birth and I didnt find it too distracting. I made my way to the birthing pool, listening to my relaxation playlist and thinking This is it! Now is the point Ill get sooo much more comfortable. Shoot, I can just let go in the tub and enjoy this process! - well, turns out there really isnt a way of knowing what youll want in labor until youre in the throws of it. The music Id so carefully gathered to sway me through labor was, quite frankly, irritating the life out of me and the tub felt claustrophobic and too darn hot. I only lasted 20 minutes in the tub total, feeling overheated, awkward and not particularly soothed - go figure. It maybe didnt help that since my labor had progressed so quickly, the nurse found herself having to go through every (extensive) piece of hospital paperwork with me verbally... to this day I havent got a clue what I agreed to during that time. It was about now that I started telling the nurse that I felt I needed to be checked again. I really enjoyed my nurse. She was an extremely kind, approachable and knowledgable woman... but she didnt quite have the sense of urgency that I would have liked to have seen at that moment. After several more contractions and a bit of, well, flat out pleading, she helped me out of the tub and I made my way back to the bed. The contractions had really gotten going now and I was approaching that Hmmm, Im not sure how much longer I can take this headspace that, again, made me suspect that I may be in transition. I actually made a private pact with myself that, if she checked me and turned out to still be around the 6-7cm range, then I was going to let going of my birth plan and consider drugs. Obviously, things were indeed progressing. My tactic now was to breath steadily, visualize my peaceful place and to keep repeating my new mantra; This will pass. Relax. This will pass. Relax. These three things together did a decent job, but took quite a commitment of concentration - so much so that I dont remember a lot of what was going on around me at that time, just how I felt.
Eventually the nurse agreed to check me again and was shocked to find that I was fully dilated, 100% effaced and ready to start pushing (Note: This information was not a shock for me. I could have told her that something was seriously up and in fact had been trying for a good while. Hmph.) Sadly that left me in the not-so-fun, though thankfully short term position of trying not to push, whilst we waited for the midwife to arrive to deliver the baby. Ill be really honest here; labor is uncomfortable, shoot, even painful at times but nothing, NOTHING came close to the brutal sensations of trying to prevent my body from doing what it needed to do i.e. pushing NOW. The way I described it at the time (my ability to be articulate had left me at around 9cms) was that it made me feel like I wanted to tear my own skin off. Seriously. Oh, what the nurses (and the Hubster!) must have thought. But really, I knew in that moment that I was fighting a battle that I was essentially designed to lose and it felt, frankly, bloody awful. A shivery and shaky fifteen minutes later, my midwife arrived and the pushing finally began. I was only at it for thirty minutes or so in total, and after one or two initial tries I got the gist pretty quickly (with the help of some pretty spot-on instructions from the midwife.) Once I relaxed into it and admittedly submitted to the fact that this was really going to happen, it was all fairly straight forward and while physically taxing, doable.
Most of us have heard that mind-blowing moment when baby crowns described as the burning ring of fire. Well, thats not too far from the truth. It wasnt exactly the sensation that I was expecting though. The burning for me actually started a lot higher up than Id anticipated, starting above my pelvic bones and slowly searing downwards until little dude was out and taking that first awesome breath! That feeling of baby moving down the birth canal and finally entering the world was unbelievable. Yes it hurt (obviously) but its also a sensation that I hold quite a lot of positive emotion towards - ultimately, Ive attached a sense of achievement and power to it all. I AM MOM!
The midwife lifted our son onto my chest amid gasps of Oh my God! and a few teary glances that were exchanged between the Hubby, new little man and I, and our lives were instantly changed forever in the most wonderful of ways.
Just four and a half hours after my water broke, two became three and life has never stopped being exciting since.
The day before going into labor, the hubby and I were determined to focus our energy on spending some quality time together and getting to a comfortable state of mind regarding our birth choices and our Birthing Center. I indulged that day in the spiciest Tex-Mex food I could get my hands on, all the left over pineapple in the fridge, a bit a walking (and some, ahem, intimate time with the hubby under midwifes orders) and a few big mugs of Raspberry Leaf Tea. We also attended an open house event at our chosen Birthing Center, which included meeting many of the nurses and touring the facilities in depth. As we left the Center I joked with my husband about how I thought I might go into labor now, seeing as I was finally way comfortable and even excited about the environment I was going to be giving birth in. Ha!
Well, one (or a perfect storm of all?) of those things must have done something, because at 3.10am that morning (at exactly 39 weeks) my water broke spontaneously! Id been experiencing quite the belly ache since that evening - not the usual period-like cramping or Braxton Hicks tightenings Id had on and off for a couple of weeks now - this was more like Id eaten something that didnt agree with me. From the top to the bottom of my belly, I was just really achey and uncomfortable. Unfortunately this discomfort kept me up until 2am so I was running on quite an empty tank by the time I had the shock of my waters going. I got up to go to the bathroom and was felt a small pop sensation, quickly followed by a slight but steady trickle down one leg to my ankle, of clear fluid. Admittedly, I did wonder for a moment if it was in fact my waters, as it wasnt the gush you tend hear about in movies. I suppose when it comes down to it, I sort of just had a sense that it was the real deal and decided to go from there.
I let the hubby know that I thought theyd gone and that I was going to be calling the midwife to let her know what was going on. The midwife advised me to go back to bed and sleep if I can, with the aim to come into the Birthing Center at 8am to be checked (unless contractions started and progressed before then). That was definitely my goal considering the late night Id had so far except, for some reason, I felt like I REALLY needed to finish packing the last few items in the hospital bag before I could settle down properly. Im glad I did. Ten minutes later my contractions started and while they were perfectly manageable, from the get go they were coming To begin with I pottered around the house checking things off my list, letting the dogs out, chatting to my Mum on the phone etc. The hubby got up and took a quick shower and the plan was for me to jump in after he was done to wash my hair and freshen up before the big event!
As he was showering I timed my contractions (still around the every one and a half to two minutes range and lasting for thirty to sixty seconds at a time) although now they were beginning to, slowly but surely, grow in intensity. Exciting, eh?! When my turn for a quick shower came I hopped in and less that a minute later felt a pressure. It was enough to freak me out and let my hubby know that, actually, Id like to head to the Birthing Center ASAP please. So we shifted gears and I lumbered out of the house with soaking wet hair at 4am (hello late October night air!) and we began the twenty five minute drive to the Center. The hubby called to let them know we were heading in sooner and during the drive my contractions continued to get more intense. I played my birthing playlist during the car ride and gently breathed through each one, feeling excitement build as I realized that this was really it!
Once we arrived, I was taken straight into Triage and given a not-so-comfortable hospital robe to put on whilst being assessed. When I went to get changed in the restroom I noticed a significant amount of blood in the toilet which worried me, though the nurse said it was very normal (I actually hadnt heard a lot about bleeding during labor, and was under the impression that it really only occurred after the fact. You live, you learn!) I was checked and I was at 5cm and 80% effaced. I had been 3cm and 80% effaced less than a week before at my 38 week midwife appointment, so things were progressing nicely! My blood pressure was a little high at this point (154/94, I think) and had been heading upwards for the last week, so we decided to fit an IV just in case and to continuously monitor it. That was as medicalized as it got for me which was more than I had been hoping for, but in the moment I was more comfortable taking the nurses advice and going ahead with fitting the IV - hey, youve got to be adaptable, right?
Whilst I was being assessed, the birthing pool I was so excited to sink into was being filled and my room was being prepared. I made my way down the hall to my room shortly afterwards and thankfully only had to stop a few times to ride out a contraction (which were becoming a fair bit more intense now, still showing up every two minutes or so but still totally manageable if I stayed calm and relaxed). I made my way to my hospital bed and we cracked on with monitoring my blood pressure and the babys heart rate for the next thirty minutes. Everything seemed to be ticking over nicely, although my BP was still a little on the high end. I was comfortable enough though and still more than capable of riding through each contraction using controlled breathing and some visualizations Id been working on for the last couple of months. My hubby popped on some more of my birthing music for me and the nurse went ahead and fitted my IV. Unfortunately it took more than one nurse, both my hands and a good three attempts to get it in correctly - apparently I have tricky veins... who knew!? Either way, it was placed eventually and by this time things were really starting to happen for me. It was around this time that the nurse offered for me to get into the birthing pool and as I stood to make the move sickness overwhelmed me, as did another gush of blood. Again, I was assured that this was normal. This consoled me slightly as I stood simultaneously vomiting, bleeding and riding out a contraction. It was around here that I suspected transition was imminent and my husband started to realize that we were in business!
The nurse did keep trying to offer me anti-nausea drugs (now that my IV was fitted it would be easy after all), but I have to say I was pretty comfortable with the infrequent bouts I was getting... after all, its nice and normal as your body gears up for the birth and I didnt find it too distracting. I made my way to the birthing pool, listening to my relaxation playlist and thinking This is it! Now is the point Ill get sooo much more comfortable. Shoot, I can just let go in the tub and enjoy this process! - well, turns out there really isnt a way of knowing what youll want in labor until youre in the throws of it. The music Id so carefully gathered to sway me through labor was, quite frankly, irritating the life out of me and the tub felt claustrophobic and too darn hot. I only lasted 20 minutes in the tub total, feeling overheated, awkward and not particularly soothed - go figure. It maybe didnt help that since my labor had progressed so quickly, the nurse found herself having to go through every (extensive) piece of hospital paperwork with me verbally... to this day I havent got a clue what I agreed to during that time. It was about now that I started telling the nurse that I felt I needed to be checked again. I really enjoyed my nurse. She was an extremely kind, approachable and knowledgable woman... but she didnt quite have the sense of urgency that I would have liked to have seen at that moment. After several more contractions and a bit of, well, flat out pleading, she helped me out of the tub and I made my way back to the bed. The contractions had really gotten going now and I was approaching that Hmmm, Im not sure how much longer I can take this headspace that, again, made me suspect that I may be in transition. I actually made a private pact with myself that, if she checked me and turned out to still be around the 6-7cm range, then I was going to let going of my birth plan and consider drugs. Obviously, things were indeed progressing. My tactic now was to breath steadily, visualize my peaceful place and to keep repeating my new mantra; This will pass. Relax. This will pass. Relax. These three things together did a decent job, but took quite a commitment of concentration - so much so that I dont remember a lot of what was going on around me at that time, just how I felt.
Eventually the nurse agreed to check me again and was shocked to find that I was fully dilated, 100% effaced and ready to start pushing (Note: This information was not a shock for me. I could have told her that something was seriously up and in fact had been trying for a good while. Hmph.) Sadly that left me in the not-so-fun, though thankfully short term position of trying not to push, whilst we waited for the midwife to arrive to deliver the baby. Ill be really honest here; labor is uncomfortable, shoot, even painful at times but nothing, NOTHING came close to the brutal sensations of trying to prevent my body from doing what it needed to do i.e. pushing NOW. The way I described it at the time (my ability to be articulate had left me at around 9cms) was that it made me feel like I wanted to tear my own skin off. Seriously. Oh, what the nurses (and the Hubster!) must have thought. But really, I knew in that moment that I was fighting a battle that I was essentially designed to lose and it felt, frankly, bloody awful. A shivery and shaky fifteen minutes later, my midwife arrived and the pushing finally began. I was only at it for thirty minutes or so in total, and after one or two initial tries I got the gist pretty quickly (with the help of some pretty spot-on instructions from the midwife.) Once I relaxed into it and admittedly submitted to the fact that this was really going to happen, it was all fairly straight forward and while physically taxing, doable.
Most of us have heard that mind-blowing moment when baby crowns described as the burning ring of fire. Well, thats not too far from the truth. It wasnt exactly the sensation that I was expecting though. The burning for me actually started a lot higher up than Id anticipated, starting above my pelvic bones and slowly searing downwards until little dude was out and taking that first awesome breath! That feeling of baby moving down the birth canal and finally entering the world was unbelievable. Yes it hurt (obviously) but its also a sensation that I hold quite a lot of positive emotion towards - ultimately, Ive attached a sense of achievement and power to it all. I AM MOM!
The midwife lifted our son onto my chest amid gasps of Oh my God! and a few teary glances that were exchanged between the Hubby, new little man and I, and our lives were instantly changed forever in the most wonderful of ways.
Just four and a half hours after my water broke, two became three and life has never stopped being exciting since.
