Wow, I can't believe it's already been 3 and a half weeks since I welcomed my little boy Tomás in to the world - it just doesn't seem possible! He was born on when I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant, on December 23rd at 6:37 am . I want to start by saying if you are thinking of having an unmedicated birth, it makes all the difference to make sure you have the support you need (my midwifes were especially helpful in this department since most of my family and friends (although some were supportive) were skeptical about an unmedicated birth - "are you crazy?! There is no way you're going to be able to handle the pain!"). I felt completely at ease the first time I met them and now consider them family - they are beyond amazing!
I also want to say that I don't blame anyone who does get pain relief... It is so easy when you are in a position of pain and honestly, I can't say that if I had my little boy in the hospital and someone had offered me pain relief that I wouldn't have taken it. When you are in transition, I know atleast for me there were some contractions that came back to back and had someone offered me something for the pain I probably would have said yes. That's actually part of the reason I chose the birth center I did - because I knew there wasn't anything for the pain so it wasn't really an option.
My labor started on the dot at 6am on December 22, 2011. I woke up with a cramping sensation that felt like period cramps. My contractions were pretty regular from the beginning, 10-12 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. Honestly I was kind of in denial about being in labor... I figured it was probably false labor since I hadn't had any of the signs I associated with leading up to labor ( I didn't have a clear out, water stayed intact until right before I started pushing, my bloody show didn't appear until 2 and a half ours before I actually gave birth). So I went about my normal day and every time I had a contraction I would just kind of stop what I was doing and breath through it. I had a massage scheduled for that day and wasn't about to miss it! I went to my appointment at 3pm and got a wonderful hour and a half massage. It was so relaxing and I am VERY thankful I got it! Then I went and had dinner at Applebees with my mom and nana (<~~~grandmother). At that point my contractions were amost on the dot at every 10 minutes and lasting 45 seconds. Yep, was still in denial about being in labor!
I got home and spent some time with my hunny and he started timing my contractions around 10pm. This is when they picked up in intensity just a bit. My mom had lent me her tens unit so I decided to give it a try. I didn't really care for it at first but when I took it off I did notice the contractions seemed to be a bit stronger. After about an hour with the tens unit on I decided to get in the shower to see if it would help... BEST thing I ever did during my labor. The water was so great! I tried different positions through the contractions and finally ended up on my hands and knees rocking back and forth with the water beating down on me. I highly recommend this when you are in labor! Around midnight the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. I alternated laying on the bed with the tens unit on and getting in the shower.
I paged my midwife around 2am when the contractions were about 3 to 4 minutes apart because I was unsure where I was at in my labor...and it being my first wanted to just kind of see if this was real (yes, even at this point with very strong labor pains coming very close together, I still didn't fully believe I was going to have a baby that day). She listened to a couple of contractions as we talked and said she definitely thought I was in labor but that it might be a bit too early to come in and if we got there and she checked me and I wasn't very far along she would end up sending me home. I defintely didn't want to come back home after I got to The Birth Cottage so I decided to wait it out a little bit longer.
I lasted until 4am when the contractions were very sporadic, coming anywhere between a minute and a half to 3 minutes apart and lasting between a minute to a minute an a half. I went to the bathroon to pee and when I wiped I saw my bloody show... It wasn't much, just a little bit but then I KNEW it was time to go in. We called the midwife back around 4:30 to let her know and she said we'd meet there around 5am (we both live 20-25 minutes away from the birth center). This is when I had a little bit of a freak out session and realized I was actually going to have my little boy that day. I started telling my OH I was scared and I didn't know if I wanted to do this (lol, yeah... he told me I didn't have much of a choice at that point). We got the stuff in the car and got to the Cottage just after 5am.
As soon as we got there she asked if the student midwife could check me. When she did she said I was 3-4cm. I couldn't stand laying on the bed so I ended up in the bathroom. My mom and nana got there about 10 minutes after we arrived and I heard the midwife telling them I was still in the early stages and it was going to be a while (boy was she wrong!) I asked when I could get in the tub as I wanted a waterbirth and knew how much the water helped me at home but she told me normally they didn't want you to get in until about 7cm since it can slow labor down. This is the only part of the birth that I wasn't happy about - and next time I will insist I be allowed to labor in the tub since I didn't get the waterbirth that I wanted. Instead I ended up sitting on the toliet for most of my contractions.
I started getting this sensation like I needed to use the bathroom and then the feeling just kind of went to the front. The student midwife who was in there with me and my mom asked me if I was pushing. It was very apparent that I was but I told her 'no' lol... Then the midwife came in and asked me if I was pushing. I told her 'no, I'm not pushing' as well. She gave me a weird look and then I fessed up 'ok, maybe I'm pushing a little bit' haha. I'm pretty sure this is when my water broke. She told me that we should go to the bedroom so she could check me because if I was having the urge to push I might be close.
When we got in there I had 2 or 3 contractions that were right on top of eachother and had her hold off checking me until they were done. At this point I kind of started hyperventiliating because my contractions were so close together it was hard for me to catch my breath. She actually brought out an oxygen mask. I asked her if I could go in the tub but she told me no because I wasn't breathing right it might put the baby in distress and if that happened it would be easier to work on him if I wasn't in the tub (I think if I had been in the tub I would have been able to control my breathing better as it would have helped me relax a little bit).
When she did check me she told me she could see his hair and that I could start pushing whenever I felt ready. I waited for a few more contractions before I really felt a strong urge to push. Right before I started pushing I didn't realize what I was doing but OH was holding my hands/arms and I bit him... The midwife told me 'no biting!' haha, oops. As he was crowning my mom exclaimed 'oh my gosh Caitlin, he has so much hair!' I literally stopped mid contraction, looked at the end of the bed where she was standing and told her to 'SHUT UP!' (sorry mom! haha) I was concentrating on what I was doing and just wanted complete silence. Between contractions my OH did tell me 'you are doing great baby' and 'I am so proud of you' which was nice to hear... Yes talking in between contractions is ok... just not when the actual pushing is going on. He was out in just 5 pushes... Born at 6:37 am.
I was so worried about the pushing stage before I had him... 'Am I going to tear? If I do tear will I feel it and will it hurt?' Honestly it was such a relief to push. The contractions spaced back out to about 3 minutes apart so I could breath again and to me the pushing didn't hurt at all (and I have a pretty low pain thresh hold). I think being unmedicated really does help because you can feel exactly how hard you are pushing and can feel the progress of your baby coming out which motivates you. The midwife 'caught' the baby and told me to reach down and grab him. I tried but couldn't quite get my hands on him and told her 'just get him out (even though in my head I knew he was already out). She put him on my chest and I was in complete awe.
He was beyond perfect and after all the reading I had done on birth, I finally really understood what they were talking about when they say you are on a natural high. He was so alert and had his eyes open immediately. Didn't really cry, just kind of looked around and suprisingly, he lifted his little neck up a bit when he was looking for my breast. He latched on right away and had his first feed about 10-15 minutes after he was born.
Delivering the placenta was in my opinion harder than the pushing stage to get him out. I felt kind of numb because of natural high and really couldn't tell you if I was still contracting to get the placenta out. She told me to push just a bit and it took about 10 minutes to deliver the placenta. Let me just warn you of one thing that no one ever told me about... After you deliver the placenta (not right after, but a few minutes later), they push on your stomach to make sure there are no pieces left in there.... They did this about 3 or 4 times before I left (I stayed a total of 4 hours after he was born). The first 2 times hurt a lot, the last 2 times were fine though. They waited until the cord stopped pulsing and then OH cut the cord.
I was supposed to have brought a high protein meal to eat after the birth because they won't release you until you've eaten but my mom who was going to prepare the meal had planned on making it that day. So with the suggestion of my midwife, my OH went and got us some food from Whataburger (a sausage, egg, and cheese buscuit with hash brown sticks and an orange juice to drink - Yum!) I ate while daddy got to hold our little one.
After I was done eating the midwife asked to examine me and said I had a small tear that would need to be stitched. We went in to the exam room and this part scared me a bit. I am REALLY not good with needles I even tend to pass out when I get my blood drawn if I don't lay down. My mom came with me to hold my hand. It was a few small pricks for the anestetic to be put in and then the stitches went pretty smoothly (except there was one place that was sensitive when she was stitching and actually made me jump the first time she hit it.) The other midwife finished up the stitching and we were all done.
She then had me get a shower and after that they did all his measurements - 7lb 6 oz and 21 inches long. They also went over what was normal and what was not for the first 48 hours. Daddy got to hang the 'It's a Boy' sign outside the cottage and we took a few pics. Then we got our stuff in the car and headed home.
My labor from the first contraction lasted 24 and a half hours. I had about 6 and a half hours of hard labor. From the time I got to The Birth Cottage to the time I had him was only an hour and 37 minutes. And we left The Birth Cottage at 10:30am.
I feel so blessed to have my sweet angel in my arms now! I always said I only wanted 2 kids... and honestly the only reason I wanted 2 was because I was an only child and always wanted a brother or sister. I didn't want to have to go through the pain of child birth more than I had to. But because I had such a positive experience, honestly I think I want atleast 3, possibly 4 kids total. It was the most empowering thing I have done in my life and now I get to share my world with this amazing baby. I am loving life right now and wish I was going to be able to take off more time with him ( I will go back to work when he is about 2 months old). I will try and post some pics in a bit.
If you actually read all of this... Wow! Honestly I made it this detailed because I want to be able to look back and read this and not forget a thing. After just 3 and a half weeks it's already a bit hazy. This is such a wonderful website and I'm so glad I found it to be able to communicate with others who are going through the same thing. What a wonderful extended family!
I tried to download the pics from the day he was born but they weren't cooperating... Will try to upload those later. The pics that I posted are from Christmas day - 2 days after he was born
I also want to say that I don't blame anyone who does get pain relief... It is so easy when you are in a position of pain and honestly, I can't say that if I had my little boy in the hospital and someone had offered me pain relief that I wouldn't have taken it. When you are in transition, I know atleast for me there were some contractions that came back to back and had someone offered me something for the pain I probably would have said yes. That's actually part of the reason I chose the birth center I did - because I knew there wasn't anything for the pain so it wasn't really an option.
My labor started on the dot at 6am on December 22, 2011. I woke up with a cramping sensation that felt like period cramps. My contractions were pretty regular from the beginning, 10-12 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. Honestly I was kind of in denial about being in labor... I figured it was probably false labor since I hadn't had any of the signs I associated with leading up to labor ( I didn't have a clear out, water stayed intact until right before I started pushing, my bloody show didn't appear until 2 and a half ours before I actually gave birth). So I went about my normal day and every time I had a contraction I would just kind of stop what I was doing and breath through it. I had a massage scheduled for that day and wasn't about to miss it! I went to my appointment at 3pm and got a wonderful hour and a half massage. It was so relaxing and I am VERY thankful I got it! Then I went and had dinner at Applebees with my mom and nana (<~~~grandmother). At that point my contractions were amost on the dot at every 10 minutes and lasting 45 seconds. Yep, was still in denial about being in labor!
I got home and spent some time with my hunny and he started timing my contractions around 10pm. This is when they picked up in intensity just a bit. My mom had lent me her tens unit so I decided to give it a try. I didn't really care for it at first but when I took it off I did notice the contractions seemed to be a bit stronger. After about an hour with the tens unit on I decided to get in the shower to see if it would help... BEST thing I ever did during my labor. The water was so great! I tried different positions through the contractions and finally ended up on my hands and knees rocking back and forth with the water beating down on me. I highly recommend this when you are in labor! Around midnight the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. I alternated laying on the bed with the tens unit on and getting in the shower.
I paged my midwife around 2am when the contractions were about 3 to 4 minutes apart because I was unsure where I was at in my labor...and it being my first wanted to just kind of see if this was real (yes, even at this point with very strong labor pains coming very close together, I still didn't fully believe I was going to have a baby that day). She listened to a couple of contractions as we talked and said she definitely thought I was in labor but that it might be a bit too early to come in and if we got there and she checked me and I wasn't very far along she would end up sending me home. I defintely didn't want to come back home after I got to The Birth Cottage so I decided to wait it out a little bit longer.
I lasted until 4am when the contractions were very sporadic, coming anywhere between a minute and a half to 3 minutes apart and lasting between a minute to a minute an a half. I went to the bathroon to pee and when I wiped I saw my bloody show... It wasn't much, just a little bit but then I KNEW it was time to go in. We called the midwife back around 4:30 to let her know and she said we'd meet there around 5am (we both live 20-25 minutes away from the birth center). This is when I had a little bit of a freak out session and realized I was actually going to have my little boy that day. I started telling my OH I was scared and I didn't know if I wanted to do this (lol, yeah... he told me I didn't have much of a choice at that point). We got the stuff in the car and got to the Cottage just after 5am.
As soon as we got there she asked if the student midwife could check me. When she did she said I was 3-4cm. I couldn't stand laying on the bed so I ended up in the bathroom. My mom and nana got there about 10 minutes after we arrived and I heard the midwife telling them I was still in the early stages and it was going to be a while (boy was she wrong!) I asked when I could get in the tub as I wanted a waterbirth and knew how much the water helped me at home but she told me normally they didn't want you to get in until about 7cm since it can slow labor down. This is the only part of the birth that I wasn't happy about - and next time I will insist I be allowed to labor in the tub since I didn't get the waterbirth that I wanted. Instead I ended up sitting on the toliet for most of my contractions.
I started getting this sensation like I needed to use the bathroom and then the feeling just kind of went to the front. The student midwife who was in there with me and my mom asked me if I was pushing. It was very apparent that I was but I told her 'no' lol... Then the midwife came in and asked me if I was pushing. I told her 'no, I'm not pushing' as well. She gave me a weird look and then I fessed up 'ok, maybe I'm pushing a little bit' haha. I'm pretty sure this is when my water broke. She told me that we should go to the bedroom so she could check me because if I was having the urge to push I might be close.
When we got in there I had 2 or 3 contractions that were right on top of eachother and had her hold off checking me until they were done. At this point I kind of started hyperventiliating because my contractions were so close together it was hard for me to catch my breath. She actually brought out an oxygen mask. I asked her if I could go in the tub but she told me no because I wasn't breathing right it might put the baby in distress and if that happened it would be easier to work on him if I wasn't in the tub (I think if I had been in the tub I would have been able to control my breathing better as it would have helped me relax a little bit).
When she did check me she told me she could see his hair and that I could start pushing whenever I felt ready. I waited for a few more contractions before I really felt a strong urge to push. Right before I started pushing I didn't realize what I was doing but OH was holding my hands/arms and I bit him... The midwife told me 'no biting!' haha, oops. As he was crowning my mom exclaimed 'oh my gosh Caitlin, he has so much hair!' I literally stopped mid contraction, looked at the end of the bed where she was standing and told her to 'SHUT UP!' (sorry mom! haha) I was concentrating on what I was doing and just wanted complete silence. Between contractions my OH did tell me 'you are doing great baby' and 'I am so proud of you' which was nice to hear... Yes talking in between contractions is ok... just not when the actual pushing is going on. He was out in just 5 pushes... Born at 6:37 am.
I was so worried about the pushing stage before I had him... 'Am I going to tear? If I do tear will I feel it and will it hurt?' Honestly it was such a relief to push. The contractions spaced back out to about 3 minutes apart so I could breath again and to me the pushing didn't hurt at all (and I have a pretty low pain thresh hold). I think being unmedicated really does help because you can feel exactly how hard you are pushing and can feel the progress of your baby coming out which motivates you. The midwife 'caught' the baby and told me to reach down and grab him. I tried but couldn't quite get my hands on him and told her 'just get him out (even though in my head I knew he was already out). She put him on my chest and I was in complete awe.
He was beyond perfect and after all the reading I had done on birth, I finally really understood what they were talking about when they say you are on a natural high. He was so alert and had his eyes open immediately. Didn't really cry, just kind of looked around and suprisingly, he lifted his little neck up a bit when he was looking for my breast. He latched on right away and had his first feed about 10-15 minutes after he was born.
Delivering the placenta was in my opinion harder than the pushing stage to get him out. I felt kind of numb because of natural high and really couldn't tell you if I was still contracting to get the placenta out. She told me to push just a bit and it took about 10 minutes to deliver the placenta. Let me just warn you of one thing that no one ever told me about... After you deliver the placenta (not right after, but a few minutes later), they push on your stomach to make sure there are no pieces left in there.... They did this about 3 or 4 times before I left (I stayed a total of 4 hours after he was born). The first 2 times hurt a lot, the last 2 times were fine though. They waited until the cord stopped pulsing and then OH cut the cord.
I was supposed to have brought a high protein meal to eat after the birth because they won't release you until you've eaten but my mom who was going to prepare the meal had planned on making it that day. So with the suggestion of my midwife, my OH went and got us some food from Whataburger (a sausage, egg, and cheese buscuit with hash brown sticks and an orange juice to drink - Yum!) I ate while daddy got to hold our little one.
After I was done eating the midwife asked to examine me and said I had a small tear that would need to be stitched. We went in to the exam room and this part scared me a bit. I am REALLY not good with needles I even tend to pass out when I get my blood drawn if I don't lay down. My mom came with me to hold my hand. It was a few small pricks for the anestetic to be put in and then the stitches went pretty smoothly (except there was one place that was sensitive when she was stitching and actually made me jump the first time she hit it.) The other midwife finished up the stitching and we were all done.
She then had me get a shower and after that they did all his measurements - 7lb 6 oz and 21 inches long. They also went over what was normal and what was not for the first 48 hours. Daddy got to hang the 'It's a Boy' sign outside the cottage and we took a few pics. Then we got our stuff in the car and headed home.
My labor from the first contraction lasted 24 and a half hours. I had about 6 and a half hours of hard labor. From the time I got to The Birth Cottage to the time I had him was only an hour and 37 minutes. And we left The Birth Cottage at 10:30am.
I feel so blessed to have my sweet angel in my arms now! I always said I only wanted 2 kids... and honestly the only reason I wanted 2 was because I was an only child and always wanted a brother or sister. I didn't want to have to go through the pain of child birth more than I had to. But because I had such a positive experience, honestly I think I want atleast 3, possibly 4 kids total. It was the most empowering thing I have done in my life and now I get to share my world with this amazing baby. I am loving life right now and wish I was going to be able to take off more time with him ( I will go back to work when he is about 2 months old). I will try and post some pics in a bit.
If you actually read all of this... Wow! Honestly I made it this detailed because I want to be able to look back and read this and not forget a thing. After just 3 and a half weeks it's already a bit hazy. This is such a wonderful website and I'm so glad I found it to be able to communicate with others who are going through the same thing. What a wonderful extended family!
I tried to download the pics from the day he was born but they weren't cooperating... Will try to upload those later. The pics that I posted are from Christmas day - 2 days after he was born
