Birth Story

Well on Thursday I was having some contractions that were regular but after a while they went away. I was also having some back pain and crampiness. I was feeling fine though and went out to lunch with a friend. I was pretty bummed about not really being in labor. The day went on as normal and after Brett went to bed Travis and I watched a movie. It was about midnight when we finished our movie. At 12:30 I had a contraction and it really seemed like a labor contraction. About 10 minutes later I had another one. Although they weren't horribly painful I somehow knew that it was labor. Travis wanted to get some rest but I was so tired so I figured I'd time my contractions and just try to take it easy for a bit. Around 1:30 they were coming every 7 minutes or so and I decided to give my midwife a call. She came over and checked me and said I wasn't very dialated or effaced and that maybe I should try to get some sleep. I was pretty bummed and started thinking it wasn't it. I went to sleep around 2:00 and at 3:30 I woke up with very strong contractions that I couldn't sleep through that were coming about every 5-6 minutes. I decided to get in the shower to let the hot water run on my back to help with pain and asked Travis to call the midwife again. She said she would be on her way pretty soon. At that point I decided to call my MIL, too. While I was waiting I went to the bathroom and had bloody mucous and then my midwife and MIL showed up. My midwife checked me and I was only 1 1/2 cm dialated and about 60% effaced. I was pretty bummed again. Travis and I went walking around the parking lot and my contractions got to where they were coming every 3 minutes and getting more intense. She checked me and I was about 3-4 cm and 80% effaced. I was doing well with the contractions and kept up for a while. I was able to breathe through them pretty well with a little bit of moaning. She checked me around 5:00 and I was 5-6 cm and slightly more effaced but not much. At that point I decided to get in the tub to help with the pain as the contractions were getting worse. It really helped! After about an hour in the tub I asked to be checked and was completely effaced, +1 station, and 8 cm dialated. Around 7:00 we decided to call the babysitter for Brett and they said they would come pick him up. My MIL took him downstairs when he woke up around 7:30 and kept him down there until they got there which was about 7:45. I was in the tub and about 30 minutes later felt like I had to push. She told me to do just a little bit of pushing and she would check me after a few contractions. I was still at 8 cm and was starting to feel a lot of pressure. So, back in the tub I went. About 30 minutes after that I felt the urge to push even more and when she checked me I just had a small lip of cervix and she told me it would be fine to push. So at 8:15, I gave it my first shot. After a while of pushing I had really bad back and hip pain that would get worse with each push. It got to where the only thing I could do was scream when I got to that point in my contraction. My midwife wasn't quite sure why my hips were hurting with pushes. She thought it might be a pinched nerve from just they way she was laying inside of me and figured if I could just push through the pain, it would stop once her head got low. The thing was, I couldn't push through the pain. I tried all sorts of different positions but none really seemed to help. Once when I was alone with my MIL I told her that I didn't want any more kids... LOL... and was starting to wish that I had gone to the hospital so that I could've had an epidural. Travis kept telling me that I had to push through the pain and I kept yelling at him to stop saying that because I just couldn't. I kept complaining that she wouldn't come down and that I didn't think I could do it any more. After about an hour and 15 minutes of pushing my midwife decided to break my water since the bag was bulging and thought it might help get things moving. So after that I was back in the tub and the pain was just too bad. I couldn't figure out why it was hurting and felt like I couldn't do it any more. After about 15 minutes I said that I wanted to go to the hospital so that I could get something for pain, like demerol. That maybe if I got something to take the edge off, I would be able to push through it. So we were trying to get me all ready to go and I just felt like I needed to keep pushing. So as I was trying to get dressed I would lean on my midwife and push through contractions (and scream for the really bad parts). All the sudden it was like she got far down enough and all I felt was the normal pressure like I had with Brett. After a few more of those types of contractions and being completely dressed I said that I thought she was right about to come out! We were right by the bed and I didn't feel like I could make it back to the tub so I just laid down on the bed. My MIL and Travis held my legs back for me so it would be easier to push. I was pushing for about 5 minutes and all the sudden her head got past my pubic bone and about 4 pushes later, at 10:20 am, she was out!! It was so unreal!! They cleaned her off a little bit and laid her on my chest. They suctioned out her nose and mouth and checked her vitals. She was just perfect!! About 10 minutes after having her I delivered my placenta and was told that it was a very healthy placenta!! Also, I didn't tear at all which is so great, especially considering that her head was the same size as Brett's and with him I tore and had an episiotomy. I think not having an epidural really helped too. I nursed her very soon after birth and she was just so great at it! We called a bunch of people to let them know that she arrived. I hadn't eaten since about 8:00 pm the night before so my MIL got lunch for us all. I think I had about 6 slices of pizza!! Things have been going great! My back is sore, probably from the way I was laboring in the tub and I am having a lot of uterine cramping which is very yucky. Other than that, I am fine. I have been up and moving pretty well and Krysta is nursing great! She has slept almost all day though.