My birth story

I will probably not do this story justice...but, this is my attempt.

On Monday 1-18-10, I was 8 days late and went to see the midwife for my weekly check up. She was becoming concerned about the size of the baby and the shoulders getting stuck on the way out. She suggested stripping my membranes that day, using Master Gland on Tuesday, and then trying Castor Oil on Wednesday if all else failed. She said that she really wanted to see me have the baby by the end of the week.

The membrane stripping didn't hurt immediately, but once I got into the car and started on the 1 hour trip back to Shreveport, I was hurting. I had a little bloody show and continued cramping once I got home, but she said that would be normal. She suggested that I try to walk some, so Brian and I walked up and down the street a few times before going to bed. Tuesday morning I woke up and started the Master Gland (herbal supplement thought to help encourage labor to start). Two tablets every 2 hours starting at about 9:00 a.m. I decided to walk on the treadmill for about 15 minutes at about 3:30 p.m. or so. Around 4:00 p.m. I was not feeling really well. No contractions, just feeling generally bad. My back was killing me. I went to lay down but felt really discontent. I decided to get up after about 20 minutes or so. At 5:00 p.m. I started feeling what I thought were contractions, though it was hard to tell. In the past, I have been able to tell when I had my first contraction...I have strong, long, distinct contractions...it was not the case this time. The pains in my back started to combine with contractions and I started timing them at about 10 after 5 p.m. The first two or three contractions were about 9 minutes apart and were only about 30 seconds long..."not long enough to be productive," I told Brian. I continuted to time them and they suddenly jumped to 2 minutes apart but stayed at Show allabout 30-40 seconds. I called the midwife and we decided to go ahead and head to my friend's house in Texas. I took a quick shower as a comfort measure while Brian got things together. My mother showed up and we headed out to the van. The contractions, though short, were getting progressively more painful. As I tried to get into the van, I felt my water broke...not a harsh pop that I have experienced in the past, but a mild gush...I would learn later that the water bag must have popped high up as my water bag was bulging once I was checked by the midwife. We drove the 20 minutes to my friend's home. The midwife had about an hour drive. Once we got to my friend's house, I found that I was very discontent and didn't know what to do with myself. I even said that to my friend, Pam. I changed into a night gown as I was wet from my water breaking. I stood for the majority of my labor...swaying from side to side with my hands planted on the bed. Brian would rub my back between contractions and I would occasionally lean on him. For this birth, I didn't really want to be touched much during the contractions. Brian was wonderful and graceful about rubbing me when I wanted it and backing off when I asked him to. I migrated from one side of the bed to the other side and then in and out of the bathroom a couple of times. Meanwhile, the midwife showed up at about 7:30 p.m. and checked me....6 cm dilated. She set about getting her birthing stuff in order with the assistance of Pam. My mother was there though I don't quite remember what she did. She has the amazing ability to comfort me by being present but fading into the background. Brian rubbed my back and told me how wonderful I was doing.

I eventually decided to get onto the bed on my hands and knees. I continued to rock and sway my hips during contractions. I made the comment that the warmth of Brian's hands felt good on my lower back...Pam had a crock pot set up with warm water right by the bed. They put wash cloths in the water. My mom would soak one in the water and give it to Brian who would put it on my lower back. Once it cooled, Brian would give it back to Mom and she would give him another one. I don't know how long this went on. I felt a slight urge to push at the peak of a contraction and told the midwife so. She nodded. A couple of contractions later, I grunted pushed. I saw Shayna, the midwife, and Pam get up and get things together. She listened to the baby's heart beat and asked me what position I wanted to push in....I said, "I don't know" and stayed on my hands and knees. I kept thinking that I would lay down...right after this next contraction. I never got around to laying down....just stayed on my hands and knees. Pam stood in front of me with a cold wash cloth on my face and neck and Brian remained where he was as he wanted to catch the baby. Shayna was back there with him...my mother was off to my right side. Shayna guided me on my pushing, telling me when to push lightly...other than this I pushed as I wanted with little direction other than being told that I was doing a good job. Though I don't recall, Brian said I pushed about 5 times. I remember feeling the burning of the head coming out and then being told that one shoulder was out. Next, I felt the rest of his body come out. Cian was born at 8:49 p.m. after about 3 hours and 45 minutes of labor. Brian caught Cian and handed him to me from behind me and between my legs. It took me a minute to navigate myself, but I managed to lay down with him.

After the birth, I continued to cramp and was extremely sensitive to the touch. We waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing and turn white. I'm not sure how long this took. Brian cut the cord. I delivered the placenta not too long after this. Cian lightly nursed off and on but mostly slept during all of this. Pam and Shayna cleaned up and Shayna checked Cian out. As she had left her scale in her other vehicle, we had to wait for her husband to return in order to find out how much he weighed...8 lbs. 13 oz....my biggest baby. My mother left around 11 p.m., Shayna left about 30 minutes or so later. Brian and I gathered our things and left around midnight. We stopped by Taco Bell and got back to my dad's house around 12:30 a.m....about 6 hours after we had left.

This birth was not my shortest birth: Lanagan's was 3 hours, Mikal's was 5 hours, and Lake's was 2.5 hours. It did fit nicely into what my expectations of the length. My contractions never got any longer than 40-45 seconds.

This is how I remember the birth. I wanted to get it out before my memory faded too much. I may come back and edit later...