One tired Midwife, Mama, and Baby
Today is my due date! So I figured I should finally share my birth story. We checked into the hospital around 9pm so we could start the foley catheter in hopes I would dilate 4 cm overnight. We had to wait until around 11:30 to get things started since there were numerous c-sections taking up all the staff. But lucky for us we got free parking and food vouchers and enjoyed some chocolate peanut butter cake. Around 9:30pm we were allowed to sit in our room but weren't technically admitted yet. So we decided to watch Damages, one of my favorite shows. Finally my midwife came in to insert the catheter around 11:00 pm. I played the hypnobabies music in the background and put myself into hypnosis. My body was limp and before I knew it the procedure was over. Not bad at all, just some pressure. I tried to get some sleep that night but the catheter caused some discomfort and I was constantly pacing my room. Eventually they gave me some Ambien so I could get some rest since I hadn't even started my real birthing time. Around 7am I woke up, had breakfast, got sick twice, and then started pitocin by 7:30. I have to admit I was bracing for it to hit me hard. But to my surprise I was completely fine. I played the birth day early stage guide to get my body ready. By 10am the Foley Catheter came out and I was 4cm dilated. By 12pm I still didn't even know when I was having a pressure wave. Pressure wave is a "contraction" in hypnobabies terms. The funny thing is during the afternoon I was complaining the tape from my IV was hurting not the actual having a baby thing. I listened to my guide several times and the deepening as well which made me completely relaxed. By around 5pm things started to get more intense so I felt the need to move around. Since I was on pitocin I had to be constantly monitored but they had remote ones so I could roam the hallway. I started to make my rounds and stopping to lean on Mark when a pressure wave came. I eventually had to come back to the room because the signal on the baby kept going out. I got on the ball for awhile but the position didn't agree well with my body. Later in the night they decided to check my progress. I was still 4 cm. I hadn't wanted to be checked at all but didn't have a choice due to the induction. As things got more intense the midwife massaged my legs and got my body very comfortable. It was probably around 11pm when I decided I wanted to get in the shower. I was very disappointed that my room didn't have a tub so the shower had to do. I got in the shower and it felt amazing. I felt like I could stay in there until the baby arrived which mad me even sadder I wasn't having a water birth. But after an hour the shower was flooding into the bathroom. I finally got out and got back into some dry clothes. My pressure waves were more intense and at this point I could not feel break in between them. My body began to shake and I was having temperature shifts from hot to very cold. I thought for sure I was in transformation. The midwife suggested I get some rest so I attempted to sleep while listening to my deepening script. The turned the pitocin down since the waves were right on top of each other. Unfortunately it just made everything stop. Emerson definitely wanted to stay in. Around 4am my midwife came in to check me again. I was still 4cm!!! I could not believe that 21 hours later my body was not progressing. It seemed as though my body was not reacting to the pitocin. At 4:30 my midwife told me she did not think my body was taking the induction. She suggested I get an epidural to relax my muscles in hopes of progression. I was very disappointed to hear this but after discussing it with Mark we thought it was our best option especially since we did not want to end up with a c-section. I got the epidural and we decided to break my water. I laid on my side while listening to my birth day guide and was able to rest a little bit. By 7am I was 8cm. I started to feel her moving down the birth canal and it was very intense. I moaned deeply throughout the pressure waves. Even though I had the epidural I could still feel what was happening in my body. I was checked again after I told them I was having a lot of pressure. I was 10cm and 100% effaced. Yay! I started to push lightly with each wave. Although I felt like she was coming out on her own. I then got on my left side and had my right leg propped up on my midwives' shoulder. Mark put in the pushing guide in the background. After a little less than an hour of pushing she arrived at 8:49am. A little over 24 hours since the process began.The final push I'm certain was not even conscious. I thought at the time they were pulling her out. Mark explains it as a scary experience since I was trying to push the midwife and nurse away. I guess my body was just working on it's own. They immediately placed her on my chest. Emerson breastfed within 20 minutes so I was very pleased. I also had no tears because of the use of the perineum massage during the pushing stage. Although things didn't go as planned I think that went as best they could with our circumstances. I hope that next time we are giving birth at the birth center spontaneously and able to have the experience we had imagined. Our midwife was amazing and really supported us through the process. Overall I would not call labor awful or excruciating. I would say it is very tolerable if you are in the right mindset. Although pitocin definitely makes it tougher and I have no clue why anyone would want to be induced with no medical reason. I am still very glad I took the hypnobabies childbirth classes. I learned so much and I felt very prepared even though it wasn't exactly as planned. Thanks Susan! Emerson still loves to listen to the hypnobabies music! :)
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