Our pregnancy was not planned. We had just opened our restaurant in October and I was giving my family the news on my birthday in November. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I took my pregnancy as a sign that the restaurant was going to be a success. It’s been over two years and we are still plugging away so…Anyway, I had an uneventful pregnancy with ideal weight gain and no complications. I found a wonderful program called Hypnobabies that I used to manage my “birthing time”. We have a Women & Children’s Center in our hospital with nice birthing suites, complete with tubs and showers. I was fortunate to find a group OB/GYN practice of doctors and midwives in support of natural birth. Throughout my pregnancy, I met with one of the four OB’s and met all three of the midwives. In one of those meetings I met a midwife who had first hand experience with another mom who chose hypnosis and had a wonderful birth.
I felt my first “pressure wave” around 3am. Being that this was my first pregnancy, I was not sure if this was the real thing or just some Braxton Hicks. I wasn’t “due” for another week and was told that a first pregnancy can go a little long. I got up and read some of my Hypnobabies information to diagnose myself a bit. The first suggestion was to move around and if the waves subsided it was Braxton Hicks…I putted around the house, did some light cleaning (what I now realize was nesting) and the waves kept coming. They were mild and manageable so I went back to bed thinking that if this was the real deal I should get some rest. I tried to sleep but was unable to relax completely, I was too excited. I just relaxed and started one of Hypnobabies CD’s to start to prepare for the big day.
Matt got up around 6:30AM or so to use the bathroom and when he returned I told him I thought this was it. I told him to go back to sleep since it could be a long day and I would need him more later, I was managing fine by myself at this point. Around 7:30AM I called my doula, Susan, and told her what I was feeling. She said she thought this was it and would be over soon. (For those of you who don’t know, a doula is a birth assistant, another person for support). She arrived around 8:30AM and timed the waves to gauge where we were. After Susan confirmed my feelings I called my midwife, who I happened to have a 11:30 appointment with that day, and told her it was time. The timing was perfect since it was just after this that my mucous plug began to pass, my water broke and the waves became much more intense. I called my folks who live an hour and a half away and told them to get ready and plan on being at the hospital by noon or so. At his point Matt got a quick shower and went to the restaurant to take care of a few things. Susan coached me and helped me to stay focused on my breathing and staying calm. I was doing really well, feeling great actually, until we had to leave to go to the hospital.
I lost all my focus in the hub bub of getting in the car and on the 30+ minute ride to the hospital, which felt like an eternity! I was late for my appointment but my midwife was waiting with bells on and rushed me right into an exam room. I should mention here that my OB office was in a wing off of the hospital. Anyway, she checked me and as she put it “You are about 2-3cm and your cervix is mush, let’s go!” So they wheeled me around and through, honestly I couldn’t tell you how I got to the birthing suite. I do remember seeing Susan and my Mom by the reception desk as they wheeled me in.
I changed into my gown and had to get into bed for them to do the initial monitoring which they promised would only be for 15-20 minutes. It was more like 30 minutes, but in their defense, the wing was full with birthing women. I was extremely fortunate to get a fabulous nurse and attribute this to my birth plan. (I get into writing birth plans in another article) After I was removed from the monitors I headed right for the tub but after a little while needed to get out,I just could not get comfortable. I tried my birth ball, the rocking chair, kneeling in bed on all fours but the “pressure waves” we coming every 3 minutes and lasting about a minute and a half so I had little time in between to rest. This went on for quite a while, I couldn’t tell you how long. Eventually, Karen my midwife suggested I try the tub again so I did and she gave me a bit more instruction as to how to get comfortable. It was in the tub that I was able to get from a stubborn 6 cm to a full 8cm.
I was very determined to do this without any drugs but we were heading into the 17th hour of labor and I was getting very tired and really starting to lose faith in myself. My feeling was that if I needed an epidural, it was going to be for an emergency c-section since that would expose the baby the least. While I was in the tub Matt gently suggested that it was okay to need some help and to ask Karen what our options were. When I got out of the tub and she said that I was 8cm I asked her how I was going to make it to 10cm, I was really tired. She said that she could give me a shot of novacaine throughout my cervix which would give a one hour window of complete relief and would allow me to get some rest. She needed a mom strong enough to push. I said “Let’s do it!”. Ladies, for any of you out there who want to have a natural birth and get to this point and need some help, this is AWESOME. I was snoring in a matter of minutes, it was just enough for me to get some rest and to get to 10cm and ready to rock and roll. By 9:30pm (or so) I was ready to start pushing. It took me a little while to get the pushing thing down, my right leg was still feeling the effects of the shot so it was hard to bare down for the first half an hour or so. But I eventually got the hang of it and at 11:34pm on June 15, 2006 our little Evalee Blue was born.
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