BlessedMommy
08-22-2006, 01:54 AM
This is a post sharing Hannah's birth story, for all who are interested in hearing about it.
What a marathon ride it was! I don't think that I really expected my labor to be as long as it was. It really taught me that there are no guarantees in life. We just have to adjust to what comes our way!
Our story actually starts with lots of events, most of them posted on the "Days of Our Pregnancy" thread. It has been a tremendously grueling pregnancy, that to boot, went all the way to 41 weeks 5 days. Sometimes I thought that I would lose my mind, but I had to remember that God was in control and that no woman was ever permanently pregnant!
Well, anyway, onto the birth story... I began having mild contractions on Saturday night. I had been through so many false alarms and false hope before that, that although I dared to hope that this might be the real thing, I was still skeptical, since the day before I had hours of contractions that quit on me.
Well, my husband and I timed the contractions for a couple of hours and then decided to try to get some sleep. Little did we know that it would be the only sleep we would get for awhile! I was woken up from sleep a few times by contractions but they were not severe so I was able to get a few hours of rest.
Sunday morning, the contractions started up again. By noon they were 60 seconds long and 10-12 minutes apart. I called my midwife and updated her. She said that that sounded like early first stage labor and to keep her posted. By 5:00 PM, they were 6-7 mintues apart. Then they stalled for hours and stayed that far apart. Well, by 2:00 Monday morning, they had picked up to 70 seconds long and 4 minutes apart. So Tim called our midwife and she said that she would be coming on over.
She checked me at 3:30 and found that I was 5 centimeters dilated. I was elated. Halfway there! We continued laboring. The contractions were strong and very painful. I had to remind myself to breathe through each one of them. Our midwife was wonderful and extremely helpful--she was great at reminding me to eat and drink, to get in the bathtub, etc. She also assisted with massage and anything else that needed to be done.
By morning, our contractions were stalling again. So my midwife made me breakfast and said that after I ate breakfast she wanted me to take a walk outside. I said, "You're serious, right?" I mean, by this point, the contractions felt like I was being hit by a freight train. I could hardly imagine walking across my living room, let alone walking outside. She said, "Yes, I'm serious." I said, "Okay, I'll try." I managed to swallow a few bites of the breakfast she had made me and then got dressed and walked with my husband outside. The walking really helped the contractions to get closer together. I mean, we would be walking and I would literally fall on my side into our lawn and have the contraction laying on the lawn. They were far too strong to stay standing up. They got closer to two minutes apart, so I was walking for a few seconds and falling down into the dew soaked grass for 90 seconds.
Transition was one of the most excruciating parts of labor and delivery. However, in a couple of short hours of these contractions, I suddenly noticed that there was a lull in the action and that I actually was resting. I asked my midwife and she said that she would check my dilation. She checked and I was at 10 cm! Also the bag of waters was bulging low.
I tried pushing for awhile and pushing in the tub, and soon felt frustrated and discouraged. My water spontaneously broke while I was pushing in the bathtub. Then my midwife called me over to the birthing stool for a check and let me do some checking myself. I reached up and felt the baby's head! My pushing hadn't been wasted effort. The head was almost down to my perineum. Even though the pressure in my lower body was nearly unbearable, all of a sudden, I had new motivation. I realized that soon I could be holding my baby!
We tried different pushing positions and I soon realized that my original plan of using a squatting position wasn't going to work well, as squatting tended to bring more pain to my already sleep deprived and worn out body. So my main position for pushing was a sitting squat. My midwife was great at coaching on when to push and how to push. In not too long, I saw the baby's head at the perineum! We continued pushing, being careful to gradually stretch the tissue to prevent tearing. I would give a few pushes, take a few breaths, etc. She also applied oil and hot compresses to my perineum to increase elasticity and avoid tearing.
When
baby crowned, she probably stayed crowned for 5-10 minutes before I pushed her out. The midwife gave me instructions on how to push. She said, "Now just give a few gentle little pushes to get her head out. So I did and her head came out. The midwife very gently worked her shoulders out and the rest of her body slide out after it. We were so elated that we were crying tears of joy as we looked at our beautiful baby. Then the midwife said to me, "Ruth I don't think that you tore at all." Sure enough, after the birth, on examination, there were no tears. Tears were something that I was paranoid of, so I was glad to hear that. :)
After the birth while holding Hannah in my arms, I still felt discomfort in my uterus and so upon the instructions of my midwife, I pushed and out came the placenta. It was a lot easier to push out than my baby, since it didn't have bones!
Ah, sweet relief! Hannah nursed peacefully for a number of minutes after the birth. One of the sweetest things though was seeing how she recognized her daddy. Tim had read to her often during pregnancy and talked to her, and you could tell that she knew and trusted him.
Afterward, the midwife commented that Hannah looked good sized and placed her on the scale. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 13 oz. So she was a big kiddo.
Even though our birth was long and exhausting, as we looked at our baby daughter, all of a sudden we had memory loss over the hard contractions and lack of sleep, as well as all of our worry because of her being 12 days overdue. It was all SO worth it!
What a marathon ride it was! I don't think that I really expected my labor to be as long as it was. It really taught me that there are no guarantees in life. We just have to adjust to what comes our way!
Our story actually starts with lots of events, most of them posted on the "Days of Our Pregnancy" thread. It has been a tremendously grueling pregnancy, that to boot, went all the way to 41 weeks 5 days. Sometimes I thought that I would lose my mind, but I had to remember that God was in control and that no woman was ever permanently pregnant!
Well, anyway, onto the birth story... I began having mild contractions on Saturday night. I had been through so many false alarms and false hope before that, that although I dared to hope that this might be the real thing, I was still skeptical, since the day before I had hours of contractions that quit on me.
Well, my husband and I timed the contractions for a couple of hours and then decided to try to get some sleep. Little did we know that it would be the only sleep we would get for awhile! I was woken up from sleep a few times by contractions but they were not severe so I was able to get a few hours of rest.
Sunday morning, the contractions started up again. By noon they were 60 seconds long and 10-12 minutes apart. I called my midwife and updated her. She said that that sounded like early first stage labor and to keep her posted. By 5:00 PM, they were 6-7 mintues apart. Then they stalled for hours and stayed that far apart. Well, by 2:00 Monday morning, they had picked up to 70 seconds long and 4 minutes apart. So Tim called our midwife and she said that she would be coming on over.
She checked me at 3:30 and found that I was 5 centimeters dilated. I was elated. Halfway there! We continued laboring. The contractions were strong and very painful. I had to remind myself to breathe through each one of them. Our midwife was wonderful and extremely helpful--she was great at reminding me to eat and drink, to get in the bathtub, etc. She also assisted with massage and anything else that needed to be done.
By morning, our contractions were stalling again. So my midwife made me breakfast and said that after I ate breakfast she wanted me to take a walk outside. I said, "You're serious, right?" I mean, by this point, the contractions felt like I was being hit by a freight train. I could hardly imagine walking across my living room, let alone walking outside. She said, "Yes, I'm serious." I said, "Okay, I'll try." I managed to swallow a few bites of the breakfast she had made me and then got dressed and walked with my husband outside. The walking really helped the contractions to get closer together. I mean, we would be walking and I would literally fall on my side into our lawn and have the contraction laying on the lawn. They were far too strong to stay standing up. They got closer to two minutes apart, so I was walking for a few seconds and falling down into the dew soaked grass for 90 seconds.
Transition was one of the most excruciating parts of labor and delivery. However, in a couple of short hours of these contractions, I suddenly noticed that there was a lull in the action and that I actually was resting. I asked my midwife and she said that she would check my dilation. She checked and I was at 10 cm! Also the bag of waters was bulging low.
I tried pushing for awhile and pushing in the tub, and soon felt frustrated and discouraged. My water spontaneously broke while I was pushing in the bathtub. Then my midwife called me over to the birthing stool for a check and let me do some checking myself. I reached up and felt the baby's head! My pushing hadn't been wasted effort. The head was almost down to my perineum. Even though the pressure in my lower body was nearly unbearable, all of a sudden, I had new motivation. I realized that soon I could be holding my baby!
We tried different pushing positions and I soon realized that my original plan of using a squatting position wasn't going to work well, as squatting tended to bring more pain to my already sleep deprived and worn out body. So my main position for pushing was a sitting squat. My midwife was great at coaching on when to push and how to push. In not too long, I saw the baby's head at the perineum! We continued pushing, being careful to gradually stretch the tissue to prevent tearing. I would give a few pushes, take a few breaths, etc. She also applied oil and hot compresses to my perineum to increase elasticity and avoid tearing.
When
baby crowned, she probably stayed crowned for 5-10 minutes before I pushed her out. The midwife gave me instructions on how to push. She said, "Now just give a few gentle little pushes to get her head out. So I did and her head came out. The midwife very gently worked her shoulders out and the rest of her body slide out after it. We were so elated that we were crying tears of joy as we looked at our beautiful baby. Then the midwife said to me, "Ruth I don't think that you tore at all." Sure enough, after the birth, on examination, there were no tears. Tears were something that I was paranoid of, so I was glad to hear that. :)
After the birth while holding Hannah in my arms, I still felt discomfort in my uterus and so upon the instructions of my midwife, I pushed and out came the placenta. It was a lot easier to push out than my baby, since it didn't have bones!
Ah, sweet relief! Hannah nursed peacefully for a number of minutes after the birth. One of the sweetest things though was seeing how she recognized her daddy. Tim had read to her often during pregnancy and talked to her, and you could tell that she knew and trusted him.
Afterward, the midwife commented that Hannah looked good sized and placed her on the scale. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 13 oz. So she was a big kiddo.
Even though our birth was long and exhausting, as we looked at our baby daughter, all of a sudden we had memory loss over the hard contractions and lack of sleep, as well as all of our worry because of her being 12 days overdue. It was all SO worth it!