At my 41 week appointment on Monday, the 6th, I was 4.5 cm dilated, 80% effaced and baby was at -1 station. I asked the midwife to strip the membranes in the hopes that it would get things moving along, as we had already established that we were looking at an induction in the next several days. Baby passed the biophysical profile, and my fluid was within the normal range, but they weren't comfortable letting me go more than until the end of the week. I was pretty emotional leaving the appointment, things were not happening the way I wanted or expected them to, and I just didn't understand why my body wasn't going into labor on it's own. I had been having moderate to intense cramping for a week, and began having the most intense cramping yet after the membranes were stripped, some sex and walking. I also had lots of bleeding, but wasn't sure if that was a sign of any thing coming or not.
I went to bed with the cramping in my lower abdomen and back continuing, and woke at around 3 unable to sleep any more from the back pain. I got up at 3:30 a.m. and sat on my exercise ball, that was the only thing that helped the back pain. Around 4, I noticed something that had a distinct start and stop--possibly my first contraction! After 4 o4 5 of these at 4:30, I decided to take a shower to help with the back pain and to see if that stopped the contractions or not. I woke Cory up accidentally, but told him what was going on and encouraged him to rest until I knew more. After the shower, I went back to the ball and Cory got up to time contractions. They were pretty regular from the beginning, 4-6 minutes apart and 40-60 second long. I drank juice and water and tried to hang out through the contractions for a couple of hours. I think baby shifted during this time, because the excruciating back pain went away. At 6:45 a.m. or so we started talking about going to the hospital. Our hospital is 30-40 minutes away and we would be leaving at rush hours, so we decided to just go for it. I figured I was dilated enough already that they wouldn't send me home. I had a few serious contractions in the car and started to feel even more sure that this was the real thing. I had still been having some doubts during the morning.
We were immediately taken to a room at the hospital by our amazing nurse, Rita. I am so thankful we got her, she was absolutely wonderful, so helpful and supportive of our wishes. When Alli, the midwife came to check me, I was 6 cm, 80% effaced and still at -1. She offered to break the bag of waters, but I opted to wait. it took a long time to get a good baseline reading on the fetal monitor, but baby girl finally cooperated and I was able to get off. The next few hours blurred together for me. I know I sat on an exercise ball for a while and after a monitor check got in the whirlpool tub. That was heaven. I was in absolute drowsy, relaxed state and was able to easily breathe through contractions. All the while, Cory was encouraging me to drink water and juice, and we snuck in a Nutri-grain bar at some point.
After my next monitor check I got back int he tub, but things had picked up by now, and it wasn't as relaxing. My temperature had gone up, so Rita didn't want the water too warm and it just didn't feel warm enough to me. I was cold and the back pain was back, so I got out after 20 minutes and switched to standing at the sink, and then hands and knees on the bed. Alli came back to check on us, and I asked for a dilation check. I was 100% effaced, between 8-9 cm dilated and the head was quite low, with the bag of waters bulging. I had her break it, knowing thinks could get more intense. They did! I believe I was in transition after this, the contractions were frequent and intense, the back pain was bad, and I was starting to snap at Cory. It helped immensely to have counter pressure on by back and when he wasn't right there to do it when I needed it, I think I yelled. I was on hands and knees being monitored at this point, Rita was holding the probes to my belly and it took quite a long time, since baby's heart rate was around 170 and they needed to see if get down to 160 or less. I twas driving me crazy to feel like I couldn't move. I was also super hot and sweaty now, so Rita and Cory were putting cold washcloths on my face and back. This went on for a while. After we stopped the monitoring, I wanted to move, but nothing seemed comfortable.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to decide what to do, when I felt like the pressure changed, and maybe it was time to push. I called for Rita and she checked for position, not dilation and called for Alli. She checked me while I was laying on my side and said I was completely dilated. I'm pretty sure I asked "can I have her now?" I was so ready to do something else. I started pushing at 1:50 p.m. while laying on my side, but I was having a hard time knowing what to do. I switched to my back and got the hang of it. I thought more than once, I shouldn't be on my back, but it just seemed so complicated to move to another position so I just went with it. Alli let me completely direct the pushing, she just stood at the end of the bed and hung out until I was ready with a contraction, then she helped support the tissues during pushing. I was timid at the beginning of pushing, a little afraid of the pain during crowning and tearing. Alli, Rita and the tech were very encouraging and told me when I was pushing well, this helped me to know how it should feel. I reached down and felt her head and that was good encouragement to just get it done. I didn't even recognize crowning happening, but remember being told to do short, grunty pushes. I must have been easing her shoulders out. I didn't realize she was completely out, they had to tell me a couple of times to grab her and pull her up to my chest.
I looked down and she was right there! I pulled her up and was so surprised that she was out. I had been pushing for 40 minutes, but it felt like it happened so fast. I just kept saying "oh my gosh" over and over again. Cory cut the cord, and they cleaned my up. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and a few stitches, and needed Pitocin to help my uterus contract. I was also catheterized to empty my bladder. Lyla was calm after birth, but not interested in nursing, we just stared at each other for a while and she took her first poop on my chest. Having my uterus massaged was awful, the worst pain of the whole birth experience, in my opinion. The baby nurse encouraged her to cry since she sounded like she had some fluid in her lungs, and she must have been able to cry it out. She took her over to be weighed and measured, she was 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 20.5 inches long. We both got her poop cleaned up, I ordered a meal and ate while Cory held Lyla for the first time.
All in all, my birth experience was wonderful. I'm so thankful for Rita and Alli, they were perfect throughout the labor and delivery, I couldn't have wished for more supportive staff. It was definitely hard, and incredibly intense at times, but not as painful or scary as I thought it could be. I'm glad it was relatively short, 10.5 hours of active labor, or I'm afraid I would have been completely exhausted by the end.
Karissa & Cory, Waukesha
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