M's birth story, 3 years ago
I've been having contractions every 5-10 minutes again this evening. They seem to be getting a little more intense every day, but they're going away now so I'm going to bed.
But first, M's birth story.
M was due 6/26/02 (again, based on early ultrasounds). The original EDD had been 16 days earlier before we had the u/s, even though I knew that wasn't correct. I was nursing a 6-month-old when I got pregnant on day 30 of a 28-day cycle. :) (The whole ecological breastfeeding thing did NOT work to delay return of fertility for me with either pregnancy--AF waited about 4-6 weeks after I gave birth to return, even though I was constantly nursing the babies, having them sleep in our room, using no pacifiers or supplementation, etc.)
I started getting really uncomfortable the evening of 6/20/01 (6 days before the due date). On 6/21/02 I was up at 2:30 a.m. with severe heartburn, diarrhea, pelvic pressure and cervical pain. M had been thrashing around like crazy for several hours, causing a lot of discomfort and hitting my sciatic nerve.
Since a significant increase or decrease in activity was one of the things on my list of things to call the midwife about, I called. MW said it might be the beginning of labor and M might be trying to get herself into position to be born.
By 9:45 that morning I'd been having contractions every 5 minutes for 2-3 hours. It went on like that for most of the day, but not super painful. We were at the hospital for a while and eventually they sent us home because there wasn't much progress.
Amazingly, the labor stopped at bedtime and let me sleep quite well all night. Around 8 a.m. the contractions woke me up, but they still weren't that intense. I had a hard time figuring out how to even time them, because I'd have a more intense contraction every 8 minutes or so with a couple of painless ones in between.
We called our friends who were going to take care of A, since they lived almost an hour away, and they came and took over entertaining her while I labored. It was funny, because I kept kneeling down on the floor during the more intense contractions, and A thought I was on the floor just for her. She kept climbing on my back and into my lap. So it was really nice to have our friends be able to take her while I labored.
The contractions weren't extremely intense or regular, so I wasn't sure it was time to go to the hospital. My friend J kept saying it seemed a little intense to her and didn't I want to go to the hospital, but I kept saying, "This can't be it--it doesn't hurt badly enough yet. Besides, they haven't even been regular for an hour."
I took a bath and then sat on the couch for a while, rocking back and forth and having DH put pressure on my back for the more intense contractions, while J timed them.
Suddenly the contractions changed in nature and around 2:30 p.m. I started wanting to push. So we called the midwife and headed for the hospital.
When we got there I was already pushing and the nurses took one look at me and didn't even check me in. They just hollered for a wheelchair and got me into a room.
The midwife wasn't there yet, but a couple of nurses stayed with us and between them and DH I had plenty of help and support. I felt like I knew what I was doing and was confident and calm, working with my body and asking for what I wanted, such as pressure on my back during contractions.
I really needed to use the bathroom, so ended up having several contractions and pushing on the toilet. Within a few minutes the nurses were running around looking for a doctor to deliver the baby in case the midwife didn't arrive in time.
Just then the midwife got there. She said she'd never delivered a baby on a toilet before, but if I was comfortable there by all means stay, and she'd be willing to catch the baby wherever I was comfortable.
I decided to move to the bed and just one or two pushes later, M was born--in her intact water bag. The membranes didn't break until the midwife peeled it off her face. There was no worry of meconium in the amniotic fluid this time.
It was a very easy labor and the only moments of fairly intense pain were those last few contractions and the time when the baby was crowning. I didn't have any tearing or complications and M nursed right away. The labor and recovery were much easier and faster than with A.
M was born June 22, 2002 at 3:30 p.m.--35 minutes after we arrived at the hospital and about 12 minutes after the midwife got there. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz and 19 inches with a 90th percentile head.
When A got to the hospital, she climbed into my lap with the baby. She loved hair and noses, and would hold onto her own or anyone else's hair and suck her thumb. When she finally registered that there was a baby in my lap along with herself, she touched M's nose, took off her hat and petted her hair while sucking her own thumb, then tried to put M's hat back on. It was very cute.
Here are some pics of M taken a few days after her birth.
Side note: Neither of my girls lost weight at all after their births like babies normally do. They'd gained weight before we left the hospital and continued to gain an ounce or more per day in their first few weeks. I guess I make a good milk cow. :)
But first, M's birth story.
M was due 6/26/02 (again, based on early ultrasounds). The original EDD had been 16 days earlier before we had the u/s, even though I knew that wasn't correct. I was nursing a 6-month-old when I got pregnant on day 30 of a 28-day cycle. :) (The whole ecological breastfeeding thing did NOT work to delay return of fertility for me with either pregnancy--AF waited about 4-6 weeks after I gave birth to return, even though I was constantly nursing the babies, having them sleep in our room, using no pacifiers or supplementation, etc.)
I started getting really uncomfortable the evening of 6/20/01 (6 days before the due date). On 6/21/02 I was up at 2:30 a.m. with severe heartburn, diarrhea, pelvic pressure and cervical pain. M had been thrashing around like crazy for several hours, causing a lot of discomfort and hitting my sciatic nerve.
Since a significant increase or decrease in activity was one of the things on my list of things to call the midwife about, I called. MW said it might be the beginning of labor and M might be trying to get herself into position to be born.
By 9:45 that morning I'd been having contractions every 5 minutes for 2-3 hours. It went on like that for most of the day, but not super painful. We were at the hospital for a while and eventually they sent us home because there wasn't much progress.
Amazingly, the labor stopped at bedtime and let me sleep quite well all night. Around 8 a.m. the contractions woke me up, but they still weren't that intense. I had a hard time figuring out how to even time them, because I'd have a more intense contraction every 8 minutes or so with a couple of painless ones in between.
We called our friends who were going to take care of A, since they lived almost an hour away, and they came and took over entertaining her while I labored. It was funny, because I kept kneeling down on the floor during the more intense contractions, and A thought I was on the floor just for her. She kept climbing on my back and into my lap. So it was really nice to have our friends be able to take her while I labored.
The contractions weren't extremely intense or regular, so I wasn't sure it was time to go to the hospital. My friend J kept saying it seemed a little intense to her and didn't I want to go to the hospital, but I kept saying, "This can't be it--it doesn't hurt badly enough yet. Besides, they haven't even been regular for an hour."
I took a bath and then sat on the couch for a while, rocking back and forth and having DH put pressure on my back for the more intense contractions, while J timed them.
Suddenly the contractions changed in nature and around 2:30 p.m. I started wanting to push. So we called the midwife and headed for the hospital.
When we got there I was already pushing and the nurses took one look at me and didn't even check me in. They just hollered for a wheelchair and got me into a room.
The midwife wasn't there yet, but a couple of nurses stayed with us and between them and DH I had plenty of help and support. I felt like I knew what I was doing and was confident and calm, working with my body and asking for what I wanted, such as pressure on my back during contractions.
I really needed to use the bathroom, so ended up having several contractions and pushing on the toilet. Within a few minutes the nurses were running around looking for a doctor to deliver the baby in case the midwife didn't arrive in time.
Just then the midwife got there. She said she'd never delivered a baby on a toilet before, but if I was comfortable there by all means stay, and she'd be willing to catch the baby wherever I was comfortable.
I decided to move to the bed and just one or two pushes later, M was born--in her intact water bag. The membranes didn't break until the midwife peeled it off her face. There was no worry of meconium in the amniotic fluid this time.
It was a very easy labor and the only moments of fairly intense pain were those last few contractions and the time when the baby was crowning. I didn't have any tearing or complications and M nursed right away. The labor and recovery were much easier and faster than with A.
M was born June 22, 2002 at 3:30 p.m.--35 minutes after we arrived at the hospital and about 12 minutes after the midwife got there. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz and 19 inches with a 90th percentile head.
When A got to the hospital, she climbed into my lap with the baby. She loved hair and noses, and would hold onto her own or anyone else's hair and suck her thumb. When she finally registered that there was a baby in my lap along with herself, she touched M's nose, took off her hat and petted her hair while sucking her own thumb, then tried to put M's hat back on. It was very cute.
Here are some pics of M taken a few days after her birth.
Side note: Neither of my girls lost weight at all after their births like babies normally do. They'd gained weight before we left the hospital and continued to gain an ounce or more per day in their first few weeks. I guess I make a good milk cow. :)
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 10:31 PM[Permanent link]
6 Comments:
Before I went into labor with my second child, I had a big, refreshing, glass of prune juice over ice. She wasn't due for another 9 days.
Hint, hint. ; )
JT
Such cuties. I just know this time is it! Next up, new birth story!!
Oooh, ya got me again (I read/hoped 3 hours!)
What a beautiful story! You almost could have had the baby at home :) Your midwife sounds wonderful.
JT, I've already had diarrhea off and on for a week or more now. I'm not sure triggering more would be helpful. :)
Heather, thanks and I hope so!
R2K, I've really liked having both my babies in a hospital with a midwife, but if it came down to it I wouldn't mind having the baby at home. I've told DH if things are moving really fast and it's obvious we're not going to make it to the hospital in time, I'd rather have the baby at home than in the car. :) Our next-door neighbor just happens to be a paramedic who has delivered at least 7 babies, too, so that's nice for my peace of mind.
Having had a great homebirth, I'm a little biased ;)
Good glory! What a fantastic birth story.
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