I had been having lots of pre-labor contractions and braxton hicks at least a month before my actual labor. I did my Vinyasa yoga up to 37 weeks and also did pre-natal yoga up to that point as well. I only stopped the pre-natal because my class had ended and I thought for sure I would have my baby before my due date, which was December 17. After 37 weeks I was way too big and uncomfortable to do any more yoga!
On the Monday before I had Rhett, I began having much stronger and regular contractions but they stopped after several hours. I had back pain along with it but the back pain just got worse and continued all day on Tuesday. I hadn't been able to eat anything since Monday night so I called my doula, Cheryl, to see what I could eat since I wasn't feeling so hot. She brought me some quiniou (no idea on the spelling), some fruit and a smoothie. We went over some partner coping techniques with Mitchell and she told me I was most likely having back labor and the real deal could start in a few minutes or a few days. Since I'd had so many false alarms with all my pre-labor contractions, I figured it would be another couple days, at least. At around 4 that afternoon, I began having real contractions.
Mitchell timed my contractions and we labored at home until almost midnight. My contractions were getting pretty strong and they were around 3 minutes apart, so we called Cheryl and headed up to Baylor. We for sure thought I'd be dilated to a 3 or 4 since my mucus plug (sorry TMI) had come out while at home and my water had also broken. After they put us in a room and did all the questioning, they checked me and I was only at a 1! I couldn't believe it. My contractions continued to get longer and stronger and I labored for several more hours. Then my baby's heart rate began to drop and once my doctor arrived, she suggested I be put on oxygen, have the monitors on full time and for me to lay in a pretzel position because Rhett's head was a little sunny side up. Once they put me in that position with all that stuff attached to me and not being able to move around or get in the bath like I had been doing, it became more and more difficult to cope with the pain and relax into the contractions.
After over 14 long hours with no meds, I gave in. I was exhausted, my contractions were off the charts, Mitchell was extremely upset seeing me in so much pain and I had only dilated to a 4 - which was incredibly discouraging. Plus, after I got the epidural my doctor said it was still going to be a while before I could even think about pushing.
With the pain gone, I was able to nap for about an hour or so. I just kept looking at the clock though because it felt like I had been in that room forever. It was now Wednesday and I had been in labor since Monday. They checked me again 3-4 hours after I got the epidural and I had only dilated to a 5, so they gave me a bit of pitocin. Also, since my water had broken so early and I was still in labor, they put me on antibiotics because of the risk of infection.
Finally around 6:30 Wednesday night I was dilated to a 10 and could begin pushing. (It took another 2 hours for me to get from a 9 to a 10!) I thought to myself, well...since I've had such a long labor, surely my pushing will be a breeze. Well, I thought wrong. I pushed for 2.5 hours. My epidural wore off in the middle of that and my contractions were at the same strength as they were when I was at a 4. No way in hell I could have endured that much pain for that long! I was happy I got the drugs.
At 9:05pm my beautiful son was born weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. We couldn't believe how big he was! He definitely had the worst cone head after all that...haha. It was an amazing experience and I am so thankful to have had my amazing partner, Mitchell, there to help. He coached and massaged me through it all. Also I have my doula, Cheryl, and my doctor to thank. I truly believe I would have ended up with a C-Section if they all hadn't been there. I really wanted to have a natural birth but my biggest concern was ending up with surgery so I ended up getting the experience I wanted. AND a handsome, healthy boy!
Life is good. I am definitely blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment