WooHooo! I DID IT!
My last post on here was about my apprehension about a tentative induction on Dec 1.
Weeeelll...I went into labor at 3am today and did it all sans pain meds and now have a beautiful healthy daughter!
I'll give more details when I have time in this thread...but had 2 share.
Am soooo happy!
Weeeelll...I went into labor at 3am today and did it all sans pain meds and now have a beautiful healthy daughter!
I'll give more details when I have time in this thread...but had 2 share.
Am soooo happy!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cindy Lerner on -
We are so happy for you. There was nothing to worry about, huh?
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Permalink Reply by Katie on -
So proud of you!!! Congratulations and enjoy that beautiful little girl of yours!!
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Permalink Reply by ABP on -
Here's the story:
Woke up at 3am with possible conx. Was excited because I'd been going nuts as you know. But didn't want to jump the gun and wake up DH just yet...just in case they went away. Got up to test them out...felt like period cramps which I'd had randomly here and there for a couple weeks. But this time they were coming in waves, regularly. Using my cell phone clock it seemed they were the right distance apart, but again didn't want to get my hopes up.
Sat in the living room w/laptop and read more on active labor to compare. Continued to time the cnxs and they were 5 min or less apart. So at 4am, I woke up DH to tell him and then called the OB on call and he said to go ahead and go in if they got too uncomfortable... We decided to stay home a bit longer and didn't go to the hospital till 6am.
At 7am they checked me and I was dilated to 7 cm! I was elated that I was that far and only had some more to go. Conx were NOT fun but doable and I never felt like I was gonna die without meds or anything. At their worst they made me curse a couple times and once I was nauseated briefly.
I originally thought Id want to try the jacuzzi, but once in my room it seemed like too much work to change out of my gown, get in, get out--no longer appealed to me one bit. Toward the end laying down in bed with hubby rubbing my back was all I wanted.
By about 9 am I had gotten to 10 cm and was told to let them know when I felt the urge to push. Well...I wanted to feel the urge because I wanted it over with but no urge for several conx. Then I wasn't sure and they let me practice and then we just kept with it. Pushing was FAR worse than the labor--for me. It was much harder and more exhausting than I imagined. I had thought I'd want to try pushing on hands and knees but once I got started in the traditional position the thought of changing just didn't sound good--but doc was totally okay with whatever I had in mind.
Anyway it was hard and I wasn't that good at it which made me think I would have been useless had I had an epidural. But who knows?
Doc let me know that he could use a vacuum if I felt I was runnin' out of steam. Well we didn't get to that until the very last conx...she was SOO close and he figured that was just the help I needed. I didn't argue :) and found it to be a wonderful help.
Oh and my water never broke on its own. Not till I was at 10 cm did the doc break it...nurse couldn't even find my water sac previously. There was meconium in the fluid so...that meant some risk to baby. The Ped doc told me that when her head came out I'd need to stop pushing and let the OB suction her nose and mouth before I pushed out her body. Also if she didn't cry right away upon exiting then she might need more major suctioning, etc.
Anyway, pushing took me nearly 2 hours and when her head came out DH (who was a FABULOUS pushing coach!) put my glasses on and it was just the craziest thing to see! Luckily she cried upon full body exit and she scored an 8 on the APGAR because she was a wee bit blue, but then in 90 seconds she got a 10.
I did have to have an episiotomy which was unfortunate, but it helped get her out and for that I'm happy.
Anyway, that's my story in case you were curious. All in all 8 hours of birthing stuff (6 labor, 2 pushing) which is pretty darn good and it was well worth it. I am so proud of myself! Baby handled conx great too! Had some decels toward the very end but bounced back beautifully.
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Permalink Reply by ABP on
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Sorry it took me a while to get back on here.
I never considered my body a 'lemon' per se... and after pushing for 2 hours exhaustedly, I would say I'm proud of my mental strength and perseverance but boy am I happy I did this in a hospital rather than somewhere else. I think I got lucky in that labor was not 'that bad' -- nothing like I imagined. So many people would tell me before that if I didn't go into it determined to go natural I would likely end up with an epidural. I'd say things like "well, I'd like to skip drugs but we'll see how it goes. If I think I'm gonna die I may have to get an epi." And the response I'd get is "trust me...you WILL think you're gonna die." Well I never thought I was gonna die. For me, it wasn't that bad. I mean, of course it wasn't easy and it was very uncomfortable and like the worst menstrual cramps ever...but it was doable. And I never felt like I went through the difficult 'transition' that I'd heard about and tried to prepare myself mentally for. Contractions got worse and worse...but no major dividing line and never did I want to kill anyone or scream at anyone.
So yes, I discovered I'm pretty strong and have more mental strength than I thought I did-after all, it is mostly mental strength you need! I also discovered that physically I wasn't so strong--I hope to get into better shape for 'sprint-like' things such as pushing (perhaps I'll run actual sprints!) because it was exhausting and for me the worst part of it all. Wait, I take that back...the episiotomy was the worst part because it took 2 weeks for me to feel 'normal' again. L&D was 8 hours...but those 2 weeks of feeling like my undercarriage had been ripped off and sewn back on was awful. The time it takes to heal sucks.
But I also think I got lucky/was blessed. I got lucky with fast progression/dilation and a lot less pain than others. Not sure I'm 'stronger' than those 'others'...maybe, but maybe not. I gave it my all, I did my absolute BEST at relaxing and was blessed with a wonderful birth.
Perhaps it was because I gave birth in a smaller town, in a relatively small hospital where I work and was acquainted with my nurse. But NOT ONCE did I feel pressured the way others have felt pressured to do something I didn't want to do. Not once was an epidural even mentioned. I was left to do my thing and I did it (with my husband's wonderful help and support!).
It's been 1 month and 3 days and I love motherhood so far :-)
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Permalink Reply by Pinkluna on
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Congratulations! You must admit now that there were several things you could have avoided like the vacuum and episiotomy if you were in a vertical position, the water breaking is also something they should not be doing, if the water has to break it does so on its own, some babies are born in the sac and this is not dangerous. Overall though I wish I could have had a birth more like yours than the one I ended up with so great job!
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Permalink Reply by ABP on
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I did NOT want to be in a vertical position. The doc said it was okay if I wanted to, but once I got started on my back I had no desire to move. Do we know with certainty it would have changed things? Is it 100% that being vertical removes the need for an episiotomy and shortens pushing time?
Also as far as the water breaking.... I was TEN cm ... why does it REALLY matter if they broke it or it broke on its own at that point? IT also allowed them to see I had meconium in my amniotic fluid which let them know to be prepared to deal with aspiration issues should they have been there.
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Permalink Reply by ABP on
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Thank you for your support. I found the previous post to be a bit offensive. I have just given birth...in a way that I was quite pleased with and without regrets so going over what I could have done 'better' to reach someone else's ideal was just inappropriate. I went into it unsure if I ould even manage doing as well as I did. Most on here didn't even expect me to do it drug free because I wasn't committed enough prior to labor starting. I only know what I went through and what I felt. I'm thankful I got to experience natural labor...but MY natural labor isn't necessarily the same as anyone else's. I was lucky and it was shorter than average. If it had been as painful as others' have said or 30 hours I may have made a different choice which would not have been more 'right' or 'wrong.' The end result we all want is healthy mom and healthy baby.
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well first of all i did not want to offend and i'm sorry you took it that way, and to reply to the other girl i didn't want to sound presumptious either, the fact is that with all the stories I read so far and the videos I watched, none of them (and I assure you I read/seen a lot in 18 months) had to have an episiotomy by being in a vertical position and gravity helps a lot. Some of them had tears but not bad ones and I don't know what you think about them, but I'd rather have a natural tear rather than a cut. Also about the waters there is a specific method used to check the colours of the waters and it is done with light without the need to touch the waters, the difference in breaking or not breaking them even at 10 cm are the difference between a totally natural and an as close to natural as it can be for starter and sometimes, that is luckily rather rare, it can cause problems. The reason why I mention these things is because I read about them and some moms that are about to give birth migh find these info somewhat useful, not to offend or else, I think you got offended because my way of talking is often too direct and I speak my mind without realizing that other people are more reserved and can misunderstan my talking, also, being italian means my english cannot be perfect.
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