Post by benandjerrys on Jan 28, 2018 13:06:32 GMT -6
Tldr: Jo.el Jose.ph was born at 3:30am on Friday morning at 40+4.
I was due on Monday and since DD was almost 2 weeks early I was really really feeling done being pregnant and wanted to meet this baby! On Tuesday I had induction accupuncture and Tuesday night I had some cramping I hoped would turn into labor but when I woke up and started my day on Wednesday it totally fizzled out. I made another appointment for accupuncture on Thursday afternoon. When I woke up on Thursday I had some contractions, nothing regular or timeable, maybe 10-15 throughout the day before my accupuncture session at 3pm. After that I went home and soaked in an Epsom salt bath and contractions started to get regular. I texted mh that he should leave work but by this time it was his regular leaving time anyway. When he got home around 6:30 we had dinner and he started to time the contractions. We put DD to bed and told her that Grammy might be the only one home when she woke up. By this time it was 7:30 or so and contractions we're every 5-10 minutes and were lasting longer and longer. We decided to try to watch a show and let me bounce on the exercise ball while we timed contractions. It took forever to get through a half hour sitcom because I kept having to go pee. Eventually it was 9 or so and I had two contractions only 2 minutes apart. That scared MH and I! We called the midwife and she told us to come in.
With DD I had tried for an unmedicated birth but ended up with an epidural after pitocin and being in labor for 24 hours and only getting 2cm dialated. Even though it wasn't what I wanted, in retrospect I am glad I got the epidural and I think I couldn't have handled 37 hours of labor and 5 hours of pushing if I hadn't gotten a 2 he nap that the epidural allowed me. So this time I was open to an epidural and in the back of my mind I kept saying that I would probably end up with one. But also I kept thinking that maybe I would get to the hospital and be 6 cm dilated or something and try to push through.
I hadn't had any checks so I had no idea if I was even dialated at all. With DD my water broke first and when I got to the hospital I was not at all dialated so I was expecting the worst. BUT!! When I got checked this time at triage I was 6 cm dialated and 90% effaced and I thought, "holy shit, maybe I can do this without the epidural!!". I was optimistic at that point. It was about 10pm when I got the first check.
I labored on the exercise ball, paced the halls and was doing ok with pain management for a while. Around 1am I started to feel more intense contractions and asked to be checked. If I hadn't progressed I was going to get the epidural at that point. But I was at an 8! And again I thought, "holy shit, maybe I can do this!" I decided to try for another hour and then evaluate. At 2:15 I was feeling pressure and thought I needed to poop. I asked to be checked again and the midwife said that I was at a 7! She said she probably took the last check when I was finishing a contraction and I was not actually an 8 then. I could have cried. I asked for the epidural right then. The contractions we're getting so painful and intense and the anesthesiologist could not come fast enough. The nurses started to prep me for the epidural while we waited. All the sudden I felt a ton of pressure and needed to pee again. H took me to the bathroom and before I could get to the toilet I had the worst contraction yet. I was standing by the sink and I peed and pooped a little right there! I yelled at H to get the nurse and two nurses came in. When they heard I was pooping they wanted to get the midwife to check me again. But it had only been 20 min since I was a 7 and I was still waiting on the anesthesiologist. They helped me to the bed and before climbing in I peed a whole lot more on the floor. My water still hadn't broken at this point. The midwife checked me again and I was 9.5! She recommended breaking my water and said I would probably finish dialating instantly if she did. I was reluctant because I know when they break your water things get so much more intense and I did not think I could handle anything else. I had completely lost control and given up on a natural birth when she told me I was a 7 again. I couldn't handle anything else physically or emotionally. But then she told me that I couldn't get the epidural anymore. She said it would take 30 min to kick in and I would have a baby by then! It was 2:45am at this point. So I consented to breaking my water, I climbed into the bed and I was instantly ready to start pushing.
I pushed for 45 minutes (much better than 5 hours with DD!) It hurt an incredible amount, but somehow I was able to get on top of the pain and in control again. I had breaks between contractions to regroup, they were only coming every 5 minutes or so. In between I was having rational thoughts and even talking in full sentences to the midwife and nurse. For a few contractions they were talking about seeing the head and hair and I could feel the ring of fire. But then on the last contraction I tore wide open (omg) and there was blood everywhere. According to H you couldn't see the head or even my vag anymore. At the same time, the heart monitor came off and they had trouble finding the heartbeat again. My midwife looked at me and said, "I know you're not having a contraction right now but I need you to push this baby out." I didn't know exactly what was going on but I knew to listen. I pushed as hard as I could and with just one final push Jo.el was born. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice and his arm once (all very loosely though thank God!) The heartbeat was fine, they just really weren't able to move the Doppler thing around to find it fast enough.
He was 8 lbs 14.7oz and 22 inches long! Which, had I known that, I would have just gotten the epidural when I walked through the hospital door!
I had trouble delivering the placenta (it too was huge. So huge they called another nurse in to comment on it). It took an hour to suture me up since the tearing was so bad.
Overall though, it was a pretty good birth experience. Worlds different than DD. And even though he was huge and the tearing was awful, my recovery has so far been much easier.
I was due on Monday and since DD was almost 2 weeks early I was really really feeling done being pregnant and wanted to meet this baby! On Tuesday I had induction accupuncture and Tuesday night I had some cramping I hoped would turn into labor but when I woke up and started my day on Wednesday it totally fizzled out. I made another appointment for accupuncture on Thursday afternoon. When I woke up on Thursday I had some contractions, nothing regular or timeable, maybe 10-15 throughout the day before my accupuncture session at 3pm. After that I went home and soaked in an Epsom salt bath and contractions started to get regular. I texted mh that he should leave work but by this time it was his regular leaving time anyway. When he got home around 6:30 we had dinner and he started to time the contractions. We put DD to bed and told her that Grammy might be the only one home when she woke up. By this time it was 7:30 or so and contractions we're every 5-10 minutes and were lasting longer and longer. We decided to try to watch a show and let me bounce on the exercise ball while we timed contractions. It took forever to get through a half hour sitcom because I kept having to go pee. Eventually it was 9 or so and I had two contractions only 2 minutes apart. That scared MH and I! We called the midwife and she told us to come in.
With DD I had tried for an unmedicated birth but ended up with an epidural after pitocin and being in labor for 24 hours and only getting 2cm dialated. Even though it wasn't what I wanted, in retrospect I am glad I got the epidural and I think I couldn't have handled 37 hours of labor and 5 hours of pushing if I hadn't gotten a 2 he nap that the epidural allowed me. So this time I was open to an epidural and in the back of my mind I kept saying that I would probably end up with one. But also I kept thinking that maybe I would get to the hospital and be 6 cm dilated or something and try to push through.
I hadn't had any checks so I had no idea if I was even dialated at all. With DD my water broke first and when I got to the hospital I was not at all dialated so I was expecting the worst. BUT!! When I got checked this time at triage I was 6 cm dialated and 90% effaced and I thought, "holy shit, maybe I can do this without the epidural!!". I was optimistic at that point. It was about 10pm when I got the first check.
I labored on the exercise ball, paced the halls and was doing ok with pain management for a while. Around 1am I started to feel more intense contractions and asked to be checked. If I hadn't progressed I was going to get the epidural at that point. But I was at an 8! And again I thought, "holy shit, maybe I can do this!" I decided to try for another hour and then evaluate. At 2:15 I was feeling pressure and thought I needed to poop. I asked to be checked again and the midwife said that I was at a 7! She said she probably took the last check when I was finishing a contraction and I was not actually an 8 then. I could have cried. I asked for the epidural right then. The contractions we're getting so painful and intense and the anesthesiologist could not come fast enough. The nurses started to prep me for the epidural while we waited. All the sudden I felt a ton of pressure and needed to pee again. H took me to the bathroom and before I could get to the toilet I had the worst contraction yet. I was standing by the sink and I peed and pooped a little right there! I yelled at H to get the nurse and two nurses came in. When they heard I was pooping they wanted to get the midwife to check me again. But it had only been 20 min since I was a 7 and I was still waiting on the anesthesiologist. They helped me to the bed and before climbing in I peed a whole lot more on the floor. My water still hadn't broken at this point. The midwife checked me again and I was 9.5! She recommended breaking my water and said I would probably finish dialating instantly if she did. I was reluctant because I know when they break your water things get so much more intense and I did not think I could handle anything else. I had completely lost control and given up on a natural birth when she told me I was a 7 again. I couldn't handle anything else physically or emotionally. But then she told me that I couldn't get the epidural anymore. She said it would take 30 min to kick in and I would have a baby by then! It was 2:45am at this point. So I consented to breaking my water, I climbed into the bed and I was instantly ready to start pushing.
I pushed for 45 minutes (much better than 5 hours with DD!) It hurt an incredible amount, but somehow I was able to get on top of the pain and in control again. I had breaks between contractions to regroup, they were only coming every 5 minutes or so. In between I was having rational thoughts and even talking in full sentences to the midwife and nurse. For a few contractions they were talking about seeing the head and hair and I could feel the ring of fire. But then on the last contraction I tore wide open (omg) and there was blood everywhere. According to H you couldn't see the head or even my vag anymore. At the same time, the heart monitor came off and they had trouble finding the heartbeat again. My midwife looked at me and said, "I know you're not having a contraction right now but I need you to push this baby out." I didn't know exactly what was going on but I knew to listen. I pushed as hard as I could and with just one final push Jo.el was born. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice and his arm once (all very loosely though thank God!) The heartbeat was fine, they just really weren't able to move the Doppler thing around to find it fast enough.
He was 8 lbs 14.7oz and 22 inches long! Which, had I known that, I would have just gotten the epidural when I walked through the hospital door!
I had trouble delivering the placenta (it too was huge. So huge they called another nurse in to comment on it). It took an hour to suture me up since the tearing was so bad.
Overall though, it was a pretty good birth experience. Worlds different than DD. And even though he was huge and the tearing was awful, my recovery has so far been much easier.
