Giovanna
10-04-2006 Wednesday, 02:59 PM
I woke up around 3:30am on Monday September 18, 2006 to some unusual cramps. They reminded me of light menstrual cramps, but I had not felt any of those in a long time. Thinking it might just be gas or Braxton-Hicks contractions, I tried to get back to sleep so I could be up for work in a few hours.
By 4:30, I noticed that the cramps were taking on some regularity. They were coming about 15 minutes apart. My Braxton-Hicks contractions had always been very irregular (and never this intense). I got out of bed and woke Tony. I told him not to get up just yet, but that I had been having some contractions.
<O:p</O:p
My first thought was of some papers that I had graded but had not entered into the gradebook. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be going back to work for awhile, so I logged onto my gradebook and put in my last set of grades (thank goodness we can access it online). It took me about an hour because I had to keep stopping to breathe through a contraction.
<O:p
At this point, it’s about 6am and they were coming 7 minutes apart, and were still very manageable. I called my long-term sub and told her that today was the day. It turns out, she had already taken a sub job for someone else that day (after all, I wasn’t due for a week), so I had to call into the sub-line and get another sub.
<O:p
Meanwhile, Tony is up cleaning the house. He says he realized that people would be coming over and he didn’t know when we’d have a chance to do any cleaning again. So, he was washing dishes and doing laundry while I labored. At each contraction, he’d race back into the bedroom to rub and apply pressure to my back and time it for me.
<O:p
Tony called our midwife Becky around 6:30 to let her know that I was in labor. We couldn’t get a hold of her, so we called the birth center. It turns out that Becky had a family emergency and was on leave. Amy, one of the other midwives, was on call and would be attending our birth. Since the contractions were still more than 5 minutes apart, she told us to relax, eat, shower and come in when we felt ready.
<O:p
By 10am the contractions were strong and coming fast. They were about 4 minutes apart and lasted a minute or so when they came. We knew it was time to get going. Tony put the last of our things in the bag, and packed up my car. As soon as he got me into the car, he looked down and noticed that the car had a flat tire! So, everything came out and got transferred to his truck.
<O:p
We got to the birth center around 10:30. When we got there, there was another woman still in labor in the big birthing suite. Amy examined me, and found that I was only 2.5 centimeters dilated. I almost cried; after 6 hours of labor I was only at 2.5! At that rate, I wouldn’t have the baby until the next day. She told me not to worry, that sometimes labor just speeds forward. We went into the smaller birthing suite to get comfortable and continue laboring.
The contractions were coming harder and faster. I walked around, changed positions, and used the birthing ball to relieve the pain and help the baby come down the birth canal. The ball really helped things progress. When Amy checked me at noon, I was 4 centimeters. At that point, I really needed the relief of the warm water, so I asked if it was okay for me to get into the tub. She said definitely, but I would have to get in the small tub until they finished cleaning up after the woman who had just birthed next door.
<O:p</O:p
I climbed into the antique claw foot tub and the water was wonderful. It totally relaxed my muscles and made it possible for the contractions to just come without any tension. Tony continued to be the best labor coach ever. Whenever a contraction hit, he would go through the rise, peak, and decline with me, encouraging me with “You’re halfway there, it’s peaking now, okay, it’s coming down.” I used lots of deep moans and vocalizations to distract myself and work through the contractions.
<O:p</O:p
By 1:50, the contractions were coming fast and hard. It seemed to me too early to be in the transition stage of labor, but that’s definitely what it felt like. The contractions would peak, but then get even more intense before tapering off. Amy checked me and I was at 6cm. All the while, the baby’s position and heart rate were great. Amy told me that the other birthing suite was ready if I wanted to move to the bigger tub, but I was so comfortable where I was, there was no way I was getting out of that water until the baby came.
<O:p</O:p
The contractions then seemed to roll into one long contraction. It was the only point where I felt like I really could not do this. I just needed a break, but there was none. Tony held my hand, stroked my face and continued to support me while I labored. At one point, I asked him what time it was, and he said 2:15. I couldn’t believe that only 15 minutes had passed since I last asked him, because in that time I’d had 7 or 8 contractions.
<O:p
I then felt the urge to go to the bathroom. I got out of the water and tried to go, but couldn’t so I got back in. Within moments I felt like I was urinating in the water, and kept apologizing for not being able to control myself. Then there was a huge gush of water, and I knew I hadn’t urinated; my water had finally broken.
<O:p
It was about 2:40, and all of a sudden the contractions just stopped. I paused for a moment, not sure what was going on. And then it hit. My body lurched into an uncontrollable urge to push. All I could think was that it must be too early, though, since I was only 6cm an hour ago. I clamped my legs tight and held onto Tony, who also tried to get me to stop pushing. I was terrified that if I pushed now, I would rip myself open.
<O:p
Just then Amy came in and when the pushing spasms subsided, she checked me one last time. I was fully dilated to 10 centimeters! She told me that I could push whenever I felt ready. Both Babs (the other midwife) and the nurse came in because it was time to have a baby. All of a sudden, I was terrified at the prospect of pushing the baby out, but when the next contraction hit, I just went with it. The midwives allowed me to push whenever I felt the urge, and to only push has much as I wanted. I pushed her out slowly, and allowed my body to stretch to accommodate hers. After the final push, Alexandra Noelle was born at exactly 3:00pm. She was placed immediately on my chest, and Tony cut the cord moments later. I labored for almost 12 hours total, and delivered her naturally with no tears or cuts.
<O:p
We went into the bedroom and she got weighed and checked out- 6 pounds, 13.5 ounces and 19 inches. I delivered the placenta while Tony held her. I couldn’t believe how great I felt. All the aches and pains of pregnancy were gone in an instant and I felt like my old self again. The speedy recovery and the pride of knowing that I trusted my body to do what nature designed it to do made delivering her naturally completely worth it.
We stayed at the birth center for a couple more hours. During that time I got cleaned up and practiced latching Alexandra. By 6pm we were home and eating pizza.
By 4:30, I noticed that the cramps were taking on some regularity. They were coming about 15 minutes apart. My Braxton-Hicks contractions had always been very irregular (and never this intense). I got out of bed and woke Tony. I told him not to get up just yet, but that I had been having some contractions.
<O:p</O:p
My first thought was of some papers that I had graded but had not entered into the gradebook. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be going back to work for awhile, so I logged onto my gradebook and put in my last set of grades (thank goodness we can access it online). It took me about an hour because I had to keep stopping to breathe through a contraction.
<O:p
At this point, it’s about 6am and they were coming 7 minutes apart, and were still very manageable. I called my long-term sub and told her that today was the day. It turns out, she had already taken a sub job for someone else that day (after all, I wasn’t due for a week), so I had to call into the sub-line and get another sub.
<O:p
Meanwhile, Tony is up cleaning the house. He says he realized that people would be coming over and he didn’t know when we’d have a chance to do any cleaning again. So, he was washing dishes and doing laundry while I labored. At each contraction, he’d race back into the bedroom to rub and apply pressure to my back and time it for me.
<O:p
Tony called our midwife Becky around 6:30 to let her know that I was in labor. We couldn’t get a hold of her, so we called the birth center. It turns out that Becky had a family emergency and was on leave. Amy, one of the other midwives, was on call and would be attending our birth. Since the contractions were still more than 5 minutes apart, she told us to relax, eat, shower and come in when we felt ready.
<O:p
By 10am the contractions were strong and coming fast. They were about 4 minutes apart and lasted a minute or so when they came. We knew it was time to get going. Tony put the last of our things in the bag, and packed up my car. As soon as he got me into the car, he looked down and noticed that the car had a flat tire! So, everything came out and got transferred to his truck.
<O:p
We got to the birth center around 10:30. When we got there, there was another woman still in labor in the big birthing suite. Amy examined me, and found that I was only 2.5 centimeters dilated. I almost cried; after 6 hours of labor I was only at 2.5! At that rate, I wouldn’t have the baby until the next day. She told me not to worry, that sometimes labor just speeds forward. We went into the smaller birthing suite to get comfortable and continue laboring.
The contractions were coming harder and faster. I walked around, changed positions, and used the birthing ball to relieve the pain and help the baby come down the birth canal. The ball really helped things progress. When Amy checked me at noon, I was 4 centimeters. At that point, I really needed the relief of the warm water, so I asked if it was okay for me to get into the tub. She said definitely, but I would have to get in the small tub until they finished cleaning up after the woman who had just birthed next door.
<O:p</O:p
I climbed into the antique claw foot tub and the water was wonderful. It totally relaxed my muscles and made it possible for the contractions to just come without any tension. Tony continued to be the best labor coach ever. Whenever a contraction hit, he would go through the rise, peak, and decline with me, encouraging me with “You’re halfway there, it’s peaking now, okay, it’s coming down.” I used lots of deep moans and vocalizations to distract myself and work through the contractions.
<O:p</O:p
By 1:50, the contractions were coming fast and hard. It seemed to me too early to be in the transition stage of labor, but that’s definitely what it felt like. The contractions would peak, but then get even more intense before tapering off. Amy checked me and I was at 6cm. All the while, the baby’s position and heart rate were great. Amy told me that the other birthing suite was ready if I wanted to move to the bigger tub, but I was so comfortable where I was, there was no way I was getting out of that water until the baby came.
<O:p</O:p
The contractions then seemed to roll into one long contraction. It was the only point where I felt like I really could not do this. I just needed a break, but there was none. Tony held my hand, stroked my face and continued to support me while I labored. At one point, I asked him what time it was, and he said 2:15. I couldn’t believe that only 15 minutes had passed since I last asked him, because in that time I’d had 7 or 8 contractions.
<O:p
I then felt the urge to go to the bathroom. I got out of the water and tried to go, but couldn’t so I got back in. Within moments I felt like I was urinating in the water, and kept apologizing for not being able to control myself. Then there was a huge gush of water, and I knew I hadn’t urinated; my water had finally broken.
<O:p
It was about 2:40, and all of a sudden the contractions just stopped. I paused for a moment, not sure what was going on. And then it hit. My body lurched into an uncontrollable urge to push. All I could think was that it must be too early, though, since I was only 6cm an hour ago. I clamped my legs tight and held onto Tony, who also tried to get me to stop pushing. I was terrified that if I pushed now, I would rip myself open.
<O:p
Just then Amy came in and when the pushing spasms subsided, she checked me one last time. I was fully dilated to 10 centimeters! She told me that I could push whenever I felt ready. Both Babs (the other midwife) and the nurse came in because it was time to have a baby. All of a sudden, I was terrified at the prospect of pushing the baby out, but when the next contraction hit, I just went with it. The midwives allowed me to push whenever I felt the urge, and to only push has much as I wanted. I pushed her out slowly, and allowed my body to stretch to accommodate hers. After the final push, Alexandra Noelle was born at exactly 3:00pm. She was placed immediately on my chest, and Tony cut the cord moments later. I labored for almost 12 hours total, and delivered her naturally with no tears or cuts.
<O:p
We went into the bedroom and she got weighed and checked out- 6 pounds, 13.5 ounces and 19 inches. I delivered the placenta while Tony held her. I couldn’t believe how great I felt. All the aches and pains of pregnancy were gone in an instant and I felt like my old self again. The speedy recovery and the pride of knowing that I trusted my body to do what nature designed it to do made delivering her naturally completely worth it.
We stayed at the birth center for a couple more hours. During that time I got cleaned up and practiced latching Alexandra. By 6pm we were home and eating pizza.