Baby Jo was born on July 7 at 6:15 pm, weighing 6 lb 12 oz and 19.5 inches long. All natural childbirth in a hospital, accompanied by an obstetrician and a doula. 6 hours of labor total, for a first baby! I'll be living in the hospital parking lot when I'm pregnant with the next baby...
I was 38 weeks and 3 days on July 7, and that morning I went in for my check-up. My doctor checked me and found that I was 2 cm dilated, and she also did a membrane sweep (ahem, without telling me what she was going to do/asking me if she could...luckily it turned out all right, but I still wish she had given me some warning).
Two hours later at noon, I was back at home eating lunch on the couch when I felt a little pop and a trickle of fluid. I got up and went to the bathroom and peed, but it felt like I couldn't stop the pee...which is when I realized my waters must be breaking. At that point I decided that the most important thing would be to finish my lunch, since who knew when I would get another chance to eat! I took my plate of leftovers from dinner the previous night (two delicious stirfries and some rice
into the dry bathtub with me and sat there and finished my lunch!
Then I got up, cleaned up a bit, and called my OB's office, my doula Diana, and my husband. My doctor said that she'd give me till about 6 pm to start contractions on my own before she would ask me to go to the hospital; my doula also encouraged me to stay home for a while. So then I decided to take our 2 dogs for a walk to see if that would help get contractions going.
Off we went, and sure enough, about 20 minutes into the walk, I started to feel some mild but regular cramping. I'd say the cramps were only about 5 minutes apart from the get-go. By the time I was headed home, when I was still about a block away, they were fairly strong--I had to stand still and sway through them.
Back at home, I called my husband again to tell him that things seemed to be progressing quickly and that he'd better head home from work! I swept the kitchen and living room, and then started to time my contractions. They were only about 2 minutes apart and lasted about 50 seconds each--but I couldn't quite believe that things were moving that fast--I thought I somehow must be making a mistake! I called my doula again anyway to say that things seemed to be going quite quickly, but she didn't seem particularly impressed, since I could still sort of talk through the contractions.
A little later, maybe around 2:30 pm now, my husband got home. Very soon after that, the contractions became quite a bit more intense. He timed them for me, and they were definitely only two minutes apart. I needed to groan and moan my way through them, standing and leaning on my husband. In between contractions, he tried to rush around and put the last few items in our hospital bag.
I was mid-contraction when my doula arrived, and she immediately got me set up with a TENS unit. I liked the low level of stimulation, but when it kicked up into "boost mode" when a contraction got going, it almost felt like it made the contraction MORE intense...and yet, it was still sort of distracting, so I sort of liked it anyway. Pretty soon, it felt like I wasn't getting much of a break between contractions, and the doula said that it wouldn't be long before we should head to the hospital. I made the call that we should go around 4 pm, and I hobbled out to the car. I got in the front seat facing backward on my knees, with my arms wrapped around the chair back. I was moaning pretty much constantly, since contractions were very painful, and I also had a lot of pressure in between them.
I HATED the car ride; it was in some ways the worst part of labor for me, since I couldn't get in a more comfortable position and I felt like I wasn't in control of the situation. My husband kept saying that I should put my seat belt on; I'm not sure if I just moaned loudly in response or if I actually swore at him...poor guy.
At the hospital, the nurses took one look at me and admitted me to a L&D room. They checked me and I was 5 cm. Which didn't feel like much at the time, although given that I had only been in labor for 4 hours, I guess I should've been happy. I promptly tore off the lower half of the cute labor outfit I had planned (a knee length stretchy jersey skirt and a tank top) and went in to the bathroom to labor. I was NOT doing well at that point, and was extremely unhappy when the nurse insisted that I needed to be on the monitors for 20 minutes. The wireless monitors weren't working, so I had to get back in bed to do it, and the belt that they used to strap the monitors on my belly felt really tight and uncomfortable. But baby seemed to be doing well through my contractions, so they took off the monitors eventually. In some ways, being in the bed was helpful; I suddenly was able to force myself to relax in the 30 seconds or so that I had between contractions, by melting into the bed a bit and breathing slowly.
At one point, during an odd moment of clarity, I turned to my husband and said "This is just barbaric!" Everyone in the room laughed. Which I think sort of annoyed me at the time...I wasn't joking! But looking back, I guess it was sort of funny.
I started to grunt during contractions, so they checked me again, and I was 8 cm; it was 5:30, so I had progressed 3 cm in an hour! I really started to feel like I wanted to push, but they told me to try to pant through the contractions so that I wouldn't push. It was very very hard not to push; I suspect that I dilated those last couple centimeters within a couple of contractions, but I waited until the doctor came back in and checked me again and said that I could push. I don't know how long that took, though--I was pretty out of it! I started pushing on all fours, for a few contractions, until the doctor suggested rolling over and trying to do sit ups during pushes, grabbing my ankles. That worked quite well. Pushing felt FABULOUS compared to the contractions. During the last few contractions, when her head was coming out, I felt an incredible burning sensation, and yet it didn't really hurt. It just felt great.
And then, at 6:15 pm, there she was, slipping out and delivered onto my chest! She had a full head of brown hair, which surprised us (my husband is Chinese, so we assumed she'd have black hair). She was just beautiful, with the most perfect little rosebud mouth and plump little body.
I had a second degree tear which the doctor said needed to be repaired. Having attended one other natural childbirth, I knew that the injections of local anesthetic can be quite painful, so I asked the doctor to do those injections right away, while I was still a little numb from the pressure of the delivery. He did what I asked, and I think it really helped--it didn't hurt much, even though I'm usually the type who gets tears in her eyes just from local injections at the dentist!
Baby was healthy and nursing well, and I was on my way to recovery, so we were discharged home the next night. I haven't been sleeping much the last few days while we've gotten breastfeeding established, but somehow I seem to be doing OK. We're just in love with our new daughter! A picture of me and and baby right after delivery is attached
I was 38 weeks and 3 days on July 7, and that morning I went in for my check-up. My doctor checked me and found that I was 2 cm dilated, and she also did a membrane sweep (ahem, without telling me what she was going to do/asking me if she could...luckily it turned out all right, but I still wish she had given me some warning).
Two hours later at noon, I was back at home eating lunch on the couch when I felt a little pop and a trickle of fluid. I got up and went to the bathroom and peed, but it felt like I couldn't stop the pee...which is when I realized my waters must be breaking. At that point I decided that the most important thing would be to finish my lunch, since who knew when I would get another chance to eat! I took my plate of leftovers from dinner the previous night (two delicious stirfries and some rice
into the dry bathtub with me and sat there and finished my lunch!Then I got up, cleaned up a bit, and called my OB's office, my doula Diana, and my husband. My doctor said that she'd give me till about 6 pm to start contractions on my own before she would ask me to go to the hospital; my doula also encouraged me to stay home for a while. So then I decided to take our 2 dogs for a walk to see if that would help get contractions going.
Off we went, and sure enough, about 20 minutes into the walk, I started to feel some mild but regular cramping. I'd say the cramps were only about 5 minutes apart from the get-go. By the time I was headed home, when I was still about a block away, they were fairly strong--I had to stand still and sway through them.
Back at home, I called my husband again to tell him that things seemed to be progressing quickly and that he'd better head home from work! I swept the kitchen and living room, and then started to time my contractions. They were only about 2 minutes apart and lasted about 50 seconds each--but I couldn't quite believe that things were moving that fast--I thought I somehow must be making a mistake! I called my doula again anyway to say that things seemed to be going quite quickly, but she didn't seem particularly impressed, since I could still sort of talk through the contractions.
A little later, maybe around 2:30 pm now, my husband got home. Very soon after that, the contractions became quite a bit more intense. He timed them for me, and they were definitely only two minutes apart. I needed to groan and moan my way through them, standing and leaning on my husband. In between contractions, he tried to rush around and put the last few items in our hospital bag.
I was mid-contraction when my doula arrived, and she immediately got me set up with a TENS unit. I liked the low level of stimulation, but when it kicked up into "boost mode" when a contraction got going, it almost felt like it made the contraction MORE intense...and yet, it was still sort of distracting, so I sort of liked it anyway. Pretty soon, it felt like I wasn't getting much of a break between contractions, and the doula said that it wouldn't be long before we should head to the hospital. I made the call that we should go around 4 pm, and I hobbled out to the car. I got in the front seat facing backward on my knees, with my arms wrapped around the chair back. I was moaning pretty much constantly, since contractions were very painful, and I also had a lot of pressure in between them.
I HATED the car ride; it was in some ways the worst part of labor for me, since I couldn't get in a more comfortable position and I felt like I wasn't in control of the situation. My husband kept saying that I should put my seat belt on; I'm not sure if I just moaned loudly in response or if I actually swore at him...poor guy.
At the hospital, the nurses took one look at me and admitted me to a L&D room. They checked me and I was 5 cm. Which didn't feel like much at the time, although given that I had only been in labor for 4 hours, I guess I should've been happy. I promptly tore off the lower half of the cute labor outfit I had planned (a knee length stretchy jersey skirt and a tank top) and went in to the bathroom to labor. I was NOT doing well at that point, and was extremely unhappy when the nurse insisted that I needed to be on the monitors for 20 minutes. The wireless monitors weren't working, so I had to get back in bed to do it, and the belt that they used to strap the monitors on my belly felt really tight and uncomfortable. But baby seemed to be doing well through my contractions, so they took off the monitors eventually. In some ways, being in the bed was helpful; I suddenly was able to force myself to relax in the 30 seconds or so that I had between contractions, by melting into the bed a bit and breathing slowly.
At one point, during an odd moment of clarity, I turned to my husband and said "This is just barbaric!" Everyone in the room laughed. Which I think sort of annoyed me at the time...I wasn't joking! But looking back, I guess it was sort of funny.
I started to grunt during contractions, so they checked me again, and I was 8 cm; it was 5:30, so I had progressed 3 cm in an hour! I really started to feel like I wanted to push, but they told me to try to pant through the contractions so that I wouldn't push. It was very very hard not to push; I suspect that I dilated those last couple centimeters within a couple of contractions, but I waited until the doctor came back in and checked me again and said that I could push. I don't know how long that took, though--I was pretty out of it! I started pushing on all fours, for a few contractions, until the doctor suggested rolling over and trying to do sit ups during pushes, grabbing my ankles. That worked quite well. Pushing felt FABULOUS compared to the contractions. During the last few contractions, when her head was coming out, I felt an incredible burning sensation, and yet it didn't really hurt. It just felt great.
And then, at 6:15 pm, there she was, slipping out and delivered onto my chest! She had a full head of brown hair, which surprised us (my husband is Chinese, so we assumed she'd have black hair). She was just beautiful, with the most perfect little rosebud mouth and plump little body.
I had a second degree tear which the doctor said needed to be repaired. Having attended one other natural childbirth, I knew that the injections of local anesthetic can be quite painful, so I asked the doctor to do those injections right away, while I was still a little numb from the pressure of the delivery. He did what I asked, and I think it really helped--it didn't hurt much, even though I'm usually the type who gets tears in her eyes just from local injections at the dentist!
Baby was healthy and nursing well, and I was on my way to recovery, so we were discharged home the next night. I haven't been sleeping much the last few days while we've gotten breastfeeding established, but somehow I seem to be doing OK. We're just in love with our new daughter! A picture of me and and baby right after delivery is attached
