Some Unexpected Bumps Along the Road

We're proud to announce that Caleb Mitchell was born on Tuesday, July 20th at 9:17 pm, weighing 8 lbs 3 oz. and measuring 21.5 inches long! Overall, Trevor and I are both extremely happy with our birth experience, although there were some unexpected bumps along the road. My due date was July 13th, and I had already been 60% effaced and 3 cm dilated for a couple of weeks before then, so both my doctor and I were surprised when my due date came and went without event.
I started feeling some light (not painful) contractions on Monday (July 19th) and tried to encourage them by going on several long walks--I don't know how many miles we covered that day! Disappointed with a lack of progress, we went to bed around 11 pm. Only a couple hours later, I woke up around 1:30 am to painful contractions occurring about six minutes apart. They very quickly progressed to three minutes apart. After a couple hours passed with minute-long contractions occurring three minutes apart, we headed to the hospital downtown, arriving at 5:15 am. At that point, I was told that I was 4-5 cm dilated. The first nurse I saw insisted I stay in bed with the fetal heart monitor on (despite my desire to move around) because the baby was not showing enough activity at that time. I was very relieved when a new nurse took over at 7:00 a.m and allowed me to walk around and try different positions freely without the monitor.
At 8:00 am I was 6 cm dilated and experiencing severe back pain. I remained active, hoping that my baby would change position and the back labor would subside... Around 10:30 am, I tried relaxing in the birthing tub for awhile. Although it felt good while I was in there, the contractions intensified tenfold when I got out! I was at 7 cm at that point and the pain was so intense that I had started vomiting. As a result, they had to give me an IV for fluids. I also received one dose of Stadol to "take the edge off" for about an hour. It made me very tired, but I could certainly still feel the pain of each contraction. The back pain was really indescribable. The nurse had commented that I was progressing well and she expected the baby to be born before her shift ended at 3:00 pm ... little did I know that my labor would go on more than six hours past her shift!
At 3:00 pm, I was 9 cm dilated with just a small anterior lip on my cervix remaining. There was an incredibly intense urge to push with each contraction, but Trevor really helped me to breathe through them and remain as relaxed as possible. Finally, at 5:00 pm, my ob/gyn told me that the baby's head had passed over the "lip" and I could start pushing. I began pushing with contractions and both the doctor and my nurse kept telling me they were "great pushes" and I was making progress... but it seemed to go on forever! it turns out that the baby had not turned and was still in the posterior position (facing up). As a result, his head kept hitting my pubic bone and although we could see him right there, he wouldn't come out. Apparently it is standard practice at St. Mary's to allow pushing for two hours. I had already passed the four hour mark (and was feeling quite desperate), when the doctor discussed the option of an episiotomy. She knew that was something I had hoped to avoid, but I was not tearing on my own and had been enduring intense back labor for 20 hours at that point. At 9:15 pm, she cut an episiotomy and used a vacuum--on the very next contraction I successfully pushed Caleb out at 9:17 pm! Despite being a week past his due date and enduring the prolonged pushing, he came out just perfect and was able to breastfeed immediately~ It was an amazing experience. Caleb stayed in our recovery room from the start and we all enjoyed the bonding time.
Not everything went according to our birth plan, but I was able to have a mostly natural and vaginal delivery with a week-overdue baby in the posterior position--which I consider a success. I am really grateful for the doctor's patience (waiting through four hours of pushing without encouraging any interventions) and all Trevor's support. I definitely couldn't have done this if he hadn't been by my side at every moment for all 20 hours!
We absolutely LOVE being parents and appreciate the preparation we received through the Bradley course that allowed us to feel informed and empowered during the unpredictable birth process.
Pam & Trevor, Franklin