Monday, March 30, 2015

Short Version of the Birth Story

This is from a couple of posts I made to the SMC Forum while I was in labor. A little disjointed but the first was written while in labor and the next was written a few hours after her birth. I'm also finished with my longer version but that's written out by hand and who knows when I will have time to transcribe it. 

Friday March 20th, 12:44 am 

Looks like I'm next!

Reading in bed at 11 pm, I felt a surprisingly painful kick, which I never felt before, then a trickle. Then, as I scrambled out of bed and stood on the [luckily] washable rug next to my bed, there was a deluge. I kept saying "Oh my god!" as fluid poured out of me in waves. 

I've had a few contractions since. Lying down now and they seem to have quieted. 

Tree Leaf has been unusually active this afternoon and evening but since my water broke almost 3 hours ago, almost nothing. It's kind of eerie. I talked to my midwife & drank some diluted juice & just switched to full strength. Apparently it's very common for babies to get quiet when labor starts but this is worrying me a bit. Giving her 20 more minutes then calling midwife again. 

I just gave my Doppler away yesterday, after not using it for months! Ugh. It would be so reassuring right now. 


Friday March 20th, 3:30 pm 

....I finally felt her move just as I was about to mobilize to go to the hospital for a NST. 

Contractions gradually picked up in intensity during the night. Hypnobabies helped quite a bit until pretty close to the end. 

Left for the hospital at 7 am, I think. My midwife said they only had 2 rooms open so they wouldn't admit me unless I was at least 4 cm. but as soon as she saw me she said "oh, you're getting a room." 

The contractions were intense by that point and lying on the triage table was tough. My midwife examined me and I was already 7 cm!!!

We got a room before too long, which I was waiting desperately for because I knew I had to be in a room to get an epidural. But I had to get vitals and an IV started first... And by the time that was done, I screamed & realized I was pushing.

I was NOT happy about that! But my midwife said there was no time for an epidural so after some fruitless yet desperate pleading, I gave in to the inevitable & decided to just get it over with. I think I pushed for 20 minutes or less and suddenly there was this perfectly pink baby crying on my chest! 

I was in shock that there was an actual baby. Still am. I never fully believed there was a baby in there. My friend cried and I was glad because I was too out of it from the crazy intensity of the experience. 

But I feel so much better after this birth! I retained some clots so every time the nurse pressed on my belly, I bled some more. My midwife had to reach into my uterus to remove the clots which sounded horrible but was bearable. She said I was just under the cutoff for postpartum hemorrhage because she estimated I lost 450 ml of blood and PPH is 500. So I got cytotec & pitocin to slow the bleeding, and she will watch my blood tests carefully for anemia. 

But I'm not crazy dizzy like last time so I'm not too worried. 

Have a fever so they are watching that too but I feel good (relatively speaking!) so I'm not worried. 

I'm so sleepy now but can't sleep. What a wild ride!

3 comments:

  1. Wow, amazing! And so different this time, huh? Why couldn't our first births have been like our second...? If we'd only known how much better the second one went we could have saved so much worry! Ah, life!

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  2. That was a great account. Sounds very intense. I would have been worried about the lack of movement too. Glad it all went so well.

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  3. Congratulations! So glad to hear the birth went well.

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