Day of life #91- Madeline's Birth Story, Part 1

Madeline’s Birth Story

I know this is a little late to be sharing Madeline’s birth story but it is something I have been wanting to share for some time now. I had not felt inclined to until recently because I just haven’t been ready. Lately I have been reflecting on that night quite frequently, and I would really like to have the story down for Madeline to read someday . I am only posting half of it tonight because for one it is really long and for two, I really don't feel up for writing the second half tonight- it is a lot to go through all over again at once.... thanks for listening

My pregnancy was very easy- by easy I mean things went well for me throughout my entire pregnancy. I was amazed that I had no morning sickness, no heartburn and little other side effects- in fact I had just as much energy as I had before becoming pregnant. This made it nearly effortless to maintain my job, responsibilities and other commitments I had. I felt very fortunate to have things so ‘easy.’ I suppose that I automatically assumed my labor would be just as easy. I was so comfortable with the idea of labor that I had it in my head that I would actually have a very short and not too painful labor.

I had been seeing a midwife since my 3^rd month of pregnancy and the birth plan was to have a water birth. I had read a lot about it and heard of others experiences with water birth and it seemed to have many benefits for both mom and baby. I was actually very excited to go natural and experience what is what I considered to be one of the blessings of womanhood. I did not want to induce- I wanted to let the baby come when ‘he’ or ‘she’ was ready. However, I began to change my mind as my due date (June 27^th 2011) came and went. My husband had already begun his leave from work as he had planned it in advance and once the dates were set he had to take the days off-even though baby had not come. As confident as I was in all things ‘motherhood’ – I also felt confident that I wanted-and needed my husband’s help as long as he was able to be with me and our newborn. So after some discussion with my midwife- we decided that I would come into the hospital on Sunday July 3^rd, we would try to induce labor with the use of Cirvidel, and if need be-Petocin. Cirvidel is a medicine that softens and thins the cervix, making the cervical opening ready for contractions.

Although I had altered my original plan I (we) were happy with the plan we had made- not to mention there was a good chance that I would have the baby on July 4^th (something I had jokingly said my whole pregnancy was going to happen but not really expecting it to). So on Sunday July 3^rd, 2011 we packed our bags, my husband made me a big dinner, and we went on our way to the hospital. We arrived about 7pm –eager to get things started. After some settling in and talking about what the plan for the next 24hrs I was informed that the Doctor who was in that night-not my midwife would be inserting the Cervidil- I was not pleased. I had a very good relationship with my midwife and felt most comfortable with her being there but I was not sure where she was or if I could request to wait until she arrived so I went ahead and let the doctor insert the Cervidil. It is basically like a tampon- a small pouch with a cord attached. During the actual insertion procedure it was very uncomfortable, I did not know the doctor personally who inserted it, and it felt ‘wrong’ afterwards- like a tampon that is just too big, it was tight and painful. They make you lie on your back while they put it in and for an hour after so that it stays intact and does not move. They also put a fetal heart monitor on you to watch the babies heart rate very closely- in fact I remember them saying it had to be done by law. I hate lying on my back flat so I found it very difficult to do so for an hour. A little while after I was allowed to move again the Cervidil came out when I went to the restroom so it had to be re inserted. This time another midwife that was working with my midwife did the procedure, it was much more comfortable and they let me lay on my side instead of my back so it went much smoother.

Between the time the Cervidil was inserted and 5 am I tried to sleep on and off- I felt pretty much the same as I had been feeling- no contractions yet. At 5 am my water broke and the contractions came right away. However, they weren’t very strong and I was still only dilated about 2cm. So Ron kept me distracted by playing cards with me and I called my mother and grandmother who wanted to come to the hospital with me. Things seemed to progress well in terms of contractions, I was having them every 2-3 minutes for a long time, but I was not dilating further for a while. I kept asking the nurses and my midwife when I could go into the tub (we had planned a water birth) but they told me I had to wait until I was at least 4 cm dilated ( I think). I tried to relax and distract myself while I waited, walked up and down the hall and so forth.

After what felt like days later, I was finally able to get in the birthing tub. I am having a hard time remembering what time it was but I am pretty sure it was around lunchtime because I remember my grandma and mother sneaking my husband a sandwich outside of the birthing room ;). I liked the tub, I felt calmer and relaxed, more comfortable- but two things happened in the tub. First of all my contractions slowed down A TON- I went from having contractions every two minutes to having contractions every 5 minutes or so. I am not sure if it was directly related to being in the birthing tub but that’s what happened. Second of all- I became very HOT. I kept asking the nurses to turn up the air conditioning and would have my husband fill up a bucket of ice, dip the washrag in it, and put it on my neck. I am pretty sure my husband's hands and feet were turning blue! I would get in and out of the tub to try to balance out how hot I felt with the relief of the comfort I felt in the tub.

Time continued to pass, and I was not dilating at a good pace- it seemed like things were going very slow. Numerous times the nurses/my midwife discussed using petocin to speed things along. They explained that it would speed up the labor, making the contractions come faster. I resisted because as much as it was a pain to endure the long labor, I was fearful of a more intense pain coming quicker, not to mention I wanted to have as natural of a labor as possible. Thinking back I am not even sure they offered me an epidural at all because I was so determined that I would not be using it.

Most of my labor was back labor (meaning I felt a ton of the pain of the contractions in my back) - it seemed like there was no way to get comfortable. I think I spent most of the time squatting as weird as that sounds! It seemed like everyone kept telling me to turn on my left side- I had heard my mother and grandmother tell me before that ‘the baby comes as soon as you turn on your left side!’ I thought it was an old wives tale- but strangely enough each time I turned on my left side the speed of the contractions began to increase as well as the intensity. For a while I put off turning on my left side because I think I was scared of the pain, the nurse kept telling me to ‘breathe through’ the contractions. It is such a different mindset to get in because normally when I am ill or my stomach hurts I curl up on the couch- but in this situation the best thing to do is relax your muscles and let the contraction sort of ‘wash over you.’ It is an intense pain that makes you want to clench every muscle in your body but instead you have to force your body to relax while the contraction passes. It is unreal that is for sure! My husband says it was like I was in another world throughout all that!

Finally- I could NOT put off turning on my left side anymore- I am pretty sure I was farther dilated but not enough (maybe 7cm?). I turned and things began to pick up – this might have been about 4 pm but I am really not sure. I remember pulling out some aromatherapy oils my friend had made for me and they really helped me relax a lot! The intensity was insane and I remember being so impatient to fully dilate because it felt like I REALLY needed to push. I kept asking my nurse to check me and she tried to hold me off from doing that too much because of the risk of infection, but I felt like I was ready. One of the last things I remember before things got serious was saying ‘I don’t feel well’ and then puking all over my husband’s sandals and the bed- which of course I immediately told him to take off and go wash in the shower- ha. The last time she checked me I remember her being surprised like the baby would be there NOW! In my head I was thinking – this baby is coming out in like 5 minutes! The nurse called my midwife and she came in and had a similar reaction.

At this point I was on the bed tilted at an angle on my back- that’s just the way things ended up. My midwife quickly walked me through the appropriate times to breathe and to push with the contractions. I became extremely focused on pushing as hard as possible- this had been quite long enough in my mind and I was eager to meet my baby! It really seemed like I only pushed for about 5 minutes before the head came out- I think it was more like 15 (this had all started close to 6 pm). I remember feeling so proud as my Midwife, the nurse, and my husband all were telling me I was doing such a good job- they said I was pushing like someone who had already had multiple babies- I was a pro! I just felt such happiness in knowing I had done the ‘full’ experience of labor, that I had made it through all by myself. It took a few pushes to get the head out and they showed me (what I didn’t know then was) her head in the mirror to encourage me to push harder. The last thing the midwife said to me before things started going wrong was something to the effect of ‘one last push and you can help deliver her if you want Rachael!

… To be continued