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Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 11th 03, 10:08 PM
Cheryl S.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

I started having contractions at 36 weeks. They continued for two
weeks, getting increasingly uncomfortable, and even prompted a "practice
run" to the birth center during week 37. At 38 weeks, my doula advised
crawling around to help the baby turn into a better position and
hopefully get the contractions to stop, since I was having a hard time
dealing with how long they were dragging on. The crawling worked! They
went almost completely away for the next week.

At 39 weeks, 3 days, I had two hours of contractions that were the
classic textbook early labor "waves", then started seeing a slight but
steady bloody show over the next day and a half. The contractions kept
stopping and starting, so based on previous experience I just got more
annoyed than hopeful or excited.

The next evening starting around dinner time, I had much stronger, very
frequent contractions. DH tried to time them but it was hard for me to
remember to give him clear signals when they started and stopped. At
8:00 I called my sister and asked her if she'd rather come to spend the
night then, and have it turn out to be another "practice run", or risk
being called in the middle of the night. She chose to come then,
arriving around 9:30. Around 9:00 we called our doula, Gloria, and she
came to the house, arriving sometime around 10:00. Shortly after Gloria
arrived, the contractions stopped, *again*! Gloria (who's also a DEM)
checked me and tried to determine the baby's exact position. I was
about 2-3 cm and though the head was very low, she couldn't feel the
skull well enough to tell which way he was facing, but thought he might
be transverse to posterior (just the head - his overall body position
was certainly vertex). She said to pay attention to how long each
individual contraction lasted, when they started up again, to help
determine when to call her again, and that they should be consistently
between 45-90 seconds long, and increasing in length over time. I'm
sure she didn't particularly want to come out a third time for nothing!
She went home, and we went to sleep around 11:30.

At 1:00 am I got up, feeling very uncomfortable, and went downstairs.
These contractions were very intense, much more than anything previous,
with very little "warm up" sensation before getting really painful. I
got DH around 3:00 and we timed them. I had no trouble telling him when
they started and stopped this time! They were all about 75 seconds
long. We were still totally unsure what to do at that point after so
many false starts, but eventually decided it was worth waking Gloria up.
But we got her answering machine at home, and no response to her pager.
By that time I had decided I wanted to go to the birth center, Right
Now. So we called to let them know we were coming, and they asked us to
call my midwife, Joan as well. I paged Joan and she agreed we ought to
head in.

Getting dressed was a challenge because the contractions were coming so
frequently. I put one shoe on, then went to put on the other and couldn
't manage. I could still talk during the contraction, but just barely.
Saying to DH, "Could you put on my other shoe, please?" became only a
plaintive, "shoe?". The 20- minute car ride was awful, since I couldn't
move at all. As we pulled into the hospital complex, I had a bad one
and DH encouraged me by saying, "last one in the car". Not so - I had
another one halfway to the emergency/nighttime entrance, and had to wait
for yet another to end before getting out of the car.

We were hastily taken up to the birth center, getting into our room at
4:00 am. I barely remember it now, but the nurse assisted me into a
hospital gown (my choice - could have worn my own) and I'm sure must
have taken my temperature and blood pressure, and listened for the baby'
s heartbeat. (They do that every 15 minutes during the first hour of
admission.)

I got in the shower. It felt good where the water was hitting my belly,
but the rest of me was freezing cold and I couldn't find a comfortable
position so I got out after only two or three contractions. I started a
pattern of leaning on the edge of the bed with my hands, and
side-stepping around to the other side of the bed and back during each
contraction. The nurse let us know that she'd heard from Gloria, who
was on her way there. At 4:30 we decided to do a check to see if I
could get in the tub yet. I was about 4 cm, and needed to get to 5.

I continued my side-stepping for a while, and Gloria encouraged me to
use the birth ball as well. I couldn't endure contractions while
sitting on it at first, but she talked me into staying on it between
them at least, and I did manage a few contractions on it as well. A
short time later I was no longer able to move during the peak of the
contraction and just stayed wherever I had ended up in my circuit of the
bed. I could not stay relaxed, and my low-pitched moan kept rising in
pitch. Gloria was absolutely wonderful, talking me down, getting in my
face and moaning with low pitches for me to match, telling me to keep
breathing, relax my jaw, etc. I would have lost it completely if not
for her.

At 5:00, we started talking about the tub again. Even though it had
only been half an hour, the contractions were so intense they thought it
possible I'd dilated another whole centimeter. I suggested we wait
another few contractions. I don't actually remember that check being
done, but I know they started filling the tub. I got in and the warmth
of the water felt so good. One end of the tub had a molded reclining
seat with arm rests and foot holds; the other end had a shelf that I
could lean my arms on to kneel or squat. It was quite deep, and I could
float easily. I started out in the seat, but kind of needed the foot
rests to be about an inch closer to me (I'm short). So I got upright
and used the shelf for support.

Even in the water, the contractions were getting extremely intense. As
each one built up, I would start swaying from side to side like a hungry
caged lion, and it seemed to me I was shouting (Gloria told me later I
wasn't really that loud) obscenities. (Em, our mkp "muscles working"
mantra did work for me for Julie's birth, but the F and S words just
felt much more appropriate this time As each contraction peaked, in
whatever random direction I happened to be pointing, I'd ram my head
into the side of the tub - oh, oops, it's hard - ow! After a few times
of doing that I managed to control myself enough to slam my head into
the towel they'd folded thickly and hung over the side instead. I was
floating most of the time, belly down, legs drawn up, probably looking a
lot like a frog.

I reached down and felt inside, and could feel his head! I let them
know this and they checked and said I was at 6 cm. I mentioned that 6
cm was the last check I had before starting to push with Julie. I also
mentioned that I'd had a long rest phase just prior to transition with
Julie, and she came really fast after that, because even at this point I
was still slightly worried about being sent home, still pregnant!

After a few more contractions I suggested they start draining the tub so
I could get out well before the urge to push hit me. They wanted me to
stay in as long as possible, for my comfort, so said they'd wait a bit
longer since I was "only" at 6 cm. The next two contractions, I totally
lost control, then on the third one started pushing! I was screaming
that I was pushing, they were trying to get the water drained out to
below the level of the door so I could get out. My midwife, Joan, came
scrambling around the side of the tub to try and help me get control,
slipped on the water on the floor and fell, spraining her ankle. She
got right back up and put my forehead on her shoulder, with her arm
tight around my head, telling me to breathe and not push in her lovely
but commanding Irish accent. I got back in control, then she said, "now
we're going to turn around" and walked me around to the other side of
the tub to where the door was. With much help, I made it out of the tub
and onto the bed.

I started pushing on all-fours, though my arms were very tired and it
quickly became face-and-knees rather than hands-and-knees, and my legs
kept sliding out from under me on the slippery blue plastic pads. It
wasn't working, so they asked me to roll over. I somehow got into a
semi-sitting position. It took me a contraction or two to realize my
body wasn't going to overpower me and push this baby out on its own, as
happened with Julie. I had to make a conscious effort to push this
time, and it was really hard work. Joan was a great coach, having me
sometimes "grunt him out, little grunts", other times, "push now, hard!"
, and as he crowned, "pant, pant, let him ease out, give it time to
stretch", and using warm compresses to give me lots of support. The
ring of fire hurt enough that it made me not want to push but they got
me to do it anyway. Finally his head was out and I breathed while they
suctioned him. Then I had to push really hard again, and felt each
shoulder as it popped out, quickly followed by the rest of him, at 6:46
am. Pushing had taken about 10 minutes.

Then suddenly all was calm as he laid on my stomach and we greeted each
other. I couldn't believe he was really here and felt so totally
overwhelmed with both love and relief. After a few minutes DH cut the
cord. When the third-stage contractions started up, I asked DH to hold
him, which he did until the placenta was out and I was stitched up. I
had just one small tear, along the scarline from my previous tear, and a
skid mark next to it. They also weighed him during this time, 8 pounds
and 1 ounce. All other procedures were delayed until after he'd nursed.
He latched right on and has been nursing wonderfully ever since.

Two hours later, the amazement of what I'd just done really hit me,
along with how great it was to have not had a single intervention. And
also elation at the thought, "I am never doing this again!"

I'm feeling really good, not even all that sleep-deprived. A little
achy through the hips, but ibuprofen takes care of that. Jaden is so
contented. I know no one believes mothers who say this but he has been
smiling real smiles since one day old. He only cries when hungry or
having his diaper changed, and when not eating, spends the rest of the
time sleeping anywhere, with quiet, alert states here and there. Julie
has been coping fairly well, though it's been harder for her since DH's
parents went home two days ago (they stayed with us 6 days and did
everything for me). Julie wants me to do more for her than I really can
at this point and any separation (e.g. bedtime) has been problematic
since the ILs left. She loves Jaden though, and gives him kisses all
the time.

(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 5 mo.
And new arrival, Jaden

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.


  #2  
Old September 11th 03, 10:23 PM
Mary W.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)



Cheryl S. wrote:

(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.


Hah! I bet everyone makes it this far. What a lovely birth.
Congratulations to all!

Mary

  #3  
Old September 11th 03, 10:48 PM
Amy M.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

Wonderful birth story, Cheryl. It was well worth the wait! I admit, I was
getting impatient!

Congratulations again, to you and your family!
--
Amy~
Tre' (6/92)
Keelyn (6/95)
Peyton (10/00)
Halli (8/15/03)

  #4  
Old September 11th 03, 11:18 PM
Karen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

"Cheryl S." wrote:


(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 5 mo.
And new arrival, Jaden

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.


What a great story Cheryl. I guess when Jaden REALLY decided to come there
was no doubt:-)
Congratulations again!
Great job!

Love, karen



  #5  
Old September 11th 03, 11:34 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

Congrats!
Mark

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
I started having contractions at 36 weeks. They continued for two
weeks, getting increasingly uncomfortable, and even prompted a "practice
run" to the birth center during week 37. At 38 weeks, my doula advised
crawling around to help the baby turn into a better position and
hopefully get the contractions to stop, since I was having a hard time
dealing with how long they were dragging on. The crawling worked! They
went almost completely away for the next week.

At 39 weeks, 3 days, I had two hours of contractions that were the
classic textbook early labor "waves", then started seeing a slight but
steady bloody show over the next day and a half. The contractions kept
stopping and starting, so based on previous experience I just got more
annoyed than hopeful or excited.

The next evening starting around dinner time, I had much stronger, very
frequent contractions. DH tried to time them but it was hard for me to
remember to give him clear signals when they started and stopped. At
8:00 I called my sister and asked her if she'd rather come to spend the
night then, and have it turn out to be another "practice run", or risk
being called in the middle of the night. She chose to come then,
arriving around 9:30. Around 9:00 we called our doula, Gloria, and she
came to the house, arriving sometime around 10:00. Shortly after Gloria
arrived, the contractions stopped, *again*! Gloria (who's also a DEM)
checked me and tried to determine the baby's exact position. I was
about 2-3 cm and though the head was very low, she couldn't feel the
skull well enough to tell which way he was facing, but thought he might
be transverse to posterior (just the head - his overall body position
was certainly vertex). She said to pay attention to how long each
individual contraction lasted, when they started up again, to help
determine when to call her again, and that they should be consistently
between 45-90 seconds long, and increasing in length over time. I'm
sure she didn't particularly want to come out a third time for nothing!
She went home, and we went to sleep around 11:30.

At 1:00 am I got up, feeling very uncomfortable, and went downstairs.
These contractions were very intense, much more than anything previous,
with very little "warm up" sensation before getting really painful. I
got DH around 3:00 and we timed them. I had no trouble telling him when
they started and stopped this time! They were all about 75 seconds
long. We were still totally unsure what to do at that point after so
many false starts, but eventually decided it was worth waking Gloria up.
But we got her answering machine at home, and no response to her pager.
By that time I had decided I wanted to go to the birth center, Right
Now. So we called to let them know we were coming, and they asked us to
call my midwife, Joan as well. I paged Joan and she agreed we ought to
head in.

Getting dressed was a challenge because the contractions were coming so
frequently. I put one shoe on, then went to put on the other and couldn
't manage. I could still talk during the contraction, but just barely.
Saying to DH, "Could you put on my other shoe, please?" became only a
plaintive, "shoe?". The 20- minute car ride was awful, since I couldn't
move at all. As we pulled into the hospital complex, I had a bad one
and DH encouraged me by saying, "last one in the car". Not so - I had
another one halfway to the emergency/nighttime entrance, and had to wait
for yet another to end before getting out of the car.

We were hastily taken up to the birth center, getting into our room at
4:00 am. I barely remember it now, but the nurse assisted me into a
hospital gown (my choice - could have worn my own) and I'm sure must
have taken my temperature and blood pressure, and listened for the baby'
s heartbeat. (They do that every 15 minutes during the first hour of
admission.)

I got in the shower. It felt good where the water was hitting my belly,
but the rest of me was freezing cold and I couldn't find a comfortable
position so I got out after only two or three contractions. I started a
pattern of leaning on the edge of the bed with my hands, and
side-stepping around to the other side of the bed and back during each
contraction. The nurse let us know that she'd heard from Gloria, who
was on her way there. At 4:30 we decided to do a check to see if I
could get in the tub yet. I was about 4 cm, and needed to get to 5.

I continued my side-stepping for a while, and Gloria encouraged me to
use the birth ball as well. I couldn't endure contractions while
sitting on it at first, but she talked me into staying on it between
them at least, and I did manage a few contractions on it as well. A
short time later I was no longer able to move during the peak of the
contraction and just stayed wherever I had ended up in my circuit of the
bed. I could not stay relaxed, and my low-pitched moan kept rising in
pitch. Gloria was absolutely wonderful, talking me down, getting in my
face and moaning with low pitches for me to match, telling me to keep
breathing, relax my jaw, etc. I would have lost it completely if not
for her.

At 5:00, we started talking about the tub again. Even though it had
only been half an hour, the contractions were so intense they thought it
possible I'd dilated another whole centimeter. I suggested we wait
another few contractions. I don't actually remember that check being
done, but I know they started filling the tub. I got in and the warmth
of the water felt so good. One end of the tub had a molded reclining
seat with arm rests and foot holds; the other end had a shelf that I
could lean my arms on to kneel or squat. It was quite deep, and I could
float easily. I started out in the seat, but kind of needed the foot
rests to be about an inch closer to me (I'm short). So I got upright
and used the shelf for support.

Even in the water, the contractions were getting extremely intense. As
each one built up, I would start swaying from side to side like a hungry
caged lion, and it seemed to me I was shouting (Gloria told me later I
wasn't really that loud) obscenities. (Em, our mkp "muscles working"
mantra did work for me for Julie's birth, but the F and S words just
felt much more appropriate this time As each contraction peaked, in
whatever random direction I happened to be pointing, I'd ram my head
into the side of the tub - oh, oops, it's hard - ow! After a few times
of doing that I managed to control myself enough to slam my head into
the towel they'd folded thickly and hung over the side instead. I was
floating most of the time, belly down, legs drawn up, probably looking a
lot like a frog.

I reached down and felt inside, and could feel his head! I let them
know this and they checked and said I was at 6 cm. I mentioned that 6
cm was the last check I had before starting to push with Julie. I also
mentioned that I'd had a long rest phase just prior to transition with
Julie, and she came really fast after that, because even at this point I
was still slightly worried about being sent home, still pregnant!

After a few more contractions I suggested they start draining the tub so
I could get out well before the urge to push hit me. They wanted me to
stay in as long as possible, for my comfort, so said they'd wait a bit
longer since I was "only" at 6 cm. The next two contractions, I totally
lost control, then on the third one started pushing! I was screaming
that I was pushing, they were trying to get the water drained out to
below the level of the door so I could get out. My midwife, Joan, came
scrambling around the side of the tub to try and help me get control,
slipped on the water on the floor and fell, spraining her ankle. She
got right back up and put my forehead on her shoulder, with her arm
tight around my head, telling me to breathe and not push in her lovely
but commanding Irish accent. I got back in control, then she said, "now
we're going to turn around" and walked me around to the other side of
the tub to where the door was. With much help, I made it out of the tub
and onto the bed.

I started pushing on all-fours, though my arms were very tired and it
quickly became face-and-knees rather than hands-and-knees, and my legs
kept sliding out from under me on the slippery blue plastic pads. It
wasn't working, so they asked me to roll over. I somehow got into a
semi-sitting position. It took me a contraction or two to realize my
body wasn't going to overpower me and push this baby out on its own, as
happened with Julie. I had to make a conscious effort to push this
time, and it was really hard work. Joan was a great coach, having me
sometimes "grunt him out, little grunts", other times, "push now, hard!"
, and as he crowned, "pant, pant, let him ease out, give it time to
stretch", and using warm compresses to give me lots of support. The
ring of fire hurt enough that it made me not want to push but they got
me to do it anyway. Finally his head was out and I breathed while they
suctioned him. Then I had to push really hard again, and felt each
shoulder as it popped out, quickly followed by the rest of him, at 6:46
am. Pushing had taken about 10 minutes.

Then suddenly all was calm as he laid on my stomach and we greeted each
other. I couldn't believe he was really here and felt so totally
overwhelmed with both love and relief. After a few minutes DH cut the
cord. When the third-stage contractions started up, I asked DH to hold
him, which he did until the placenta was out and I was stitched up. I
had just one small tear, along the scarline from my previous tear, and a
skid mark next to it. They also weighed him during this time, 8 pounds
and 1 ounce. All other procedures were delayed until after he'd nursed.
He latched right on and has been nursing wonderfully ever since.

Two hours later, the amazement of what I'd just done really hit me,
along with how great it was to have not had a single intervention. And
also elation at the thought, "I am never doing this again!"

I'm feeling really good, not even all that sleep-deprived. A little
achy through the hips, but ibuprofen takes care of that. Jaden is so
contented. I know no one believes mothers who say this but he has been
smiling real smiles since one day old. He only cries when hungry or
having his diaper changed, and when not eating, spends the rest of the
time sleeping anywhere, with quiet, alert states here and there. Julie
has been coping fairly well, though it's been harder for her since DH's
parents went home two days ago (they stayed with us 6 days and did
everything for me). Julie wants me to do more for her than I really can
at this point and any separation (e.g. bedtime) has been problematic
since the ILs left. She loves Jaden though, and gives him kisses all
the time.

(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 5 mo.
And new arrival, Jaden

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.




  #6  
Old September 12th 03, 12:00 AM
Em
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
snip
hours later, the amazement of what I'd just done really hit me,
along with how great it was to have not had a single intervention. And
also elation at the thought, "I am never doing this again!"

I'm feeling really good, not even all that sleep-deprived. A little
achy through the hips, but ibuprofen takes care of that. Jaden is so
contented. I know no one believes mothers who say this but he has been
smiling real smiles since one day old. He only cries when hungry or
having his diaper changed, and when not eating, spends the rest of the
time sleeping anywhere, with quiet, alert states here and there. Julie
has been coping fairly well, though it's been harder for her since DH's
parents went home two days ago (they stayed with us 6 days and did
everything for me). Julie wants me to do more for her than I really can
at this point and any separation (e.g. bedtime) has been problematic
since the ILs left. She loves Jaden though, and gives him kisses all
the time.

(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.


What a great, powerful story Cheryl! I felt very "edge of my seat" while
reading it, not because there was anything bad happening, but because there
was so much *action*.

I had to lol about the "muscles working" thing. Maybe it is a first time
baby thing only? Based on your and Tiina's recent experiences with second
babies, muscles working gets tossed aside in favor of f*** & s***!

Congratulations again and welcome to baby Jaden! You did such an excellent
job!

--
Em
edd 9/23/03
(38w2d)


  #7  
Old September 12th 03, 12:08 AM
Taniwha grrrl
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Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

Great story Cheryl, thanks for sharing it )
Welcome to little Jaden!
And omg at your midwife slipping on the water!


--
Andrea

If I can't be a good example, then I'll just have to be a
horrible warning.







  #8  
Old September 12th 03, 02:53 AM
Alphawave
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Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

What a great birth story! Thanks for sharing it, Cheryl. :-) Congrats!

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net
  #9  
Old September 12th 03, 04:13 AM
Laurie
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Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)


wrote in message ...
Congrats!
Mark


And thank you to Mark for quoting it, as I didn't get the OP! Awesome birth
story Cheryl, and great job to you! I was laughing hysterically over the
obscenities part. I'm so glad little Jaden is finally here!!!

I also had to laugh over the part about your Doula telling you to wait until
the contractions were consistently 45-90 seconds and getting longer. If I
had waited for that, I definitely would have had Christopher in the car!!!!!

laurie
mommy to Jessica, 29 months
and Christopher, 4 months

*This email address is now valid*

"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
I started having contractions at 36 weeks. They continued for two
weeks, getting increasingly uncomfortable, and even prompted a "practice
run" to the birth center during week 37. At 38 weeks, my doula advised
crawling around to help the baby turn into a better position and
hopefully get the contractions to stop, since I was having a hard time
dealing with how long they were dragging on. The crawling worked! They
went almost completely away for the next week.

At 39 weeks, 3 days, I had two hours of contractions that were the
classic textbook early labor "waves", then started seeing a slight but
steady bloody show over the next day and a half. The contractions kept
stopping and starting, so based on previous experience I just got more
annoyed than hopeful or excited.

The next evening starting around dinner time, I had much stronger, very
frequent contractions. DH tried to time them but it was hard for me to
remember to give him clear signals when they started and stopped. At
8:00 I called my sister and asked her if she'd rather come to spend the
night then, and have it turn out to be another "practice run", or risk
being called in the middle of the night. She chose to come then,
arriving around 9:30. Around 9:00 we called our doula, Gloria, and she
came to the house, arriving sometime around 10:00. Shortly after Gloria
arrived, the contractions stopped, *again*! Gloria (who's also a DEM)
checked me and tried to determine the baby's exact position. I was
about 2-3 cm and though the head was very low, she couldn't feel the
skull well enough to tell which way he was facing, but thought he might
be transverse to posterior (just the head - his overall body position
was certainly vertex). She said to pay attention to how long each
individual contraction lasted, when they started up again, to help
determine when to call her again, and that they should be consistently
between 45-90 seconds long, and increasing in length over time. I'm
sure she didn't particularly want to come out a third time for nothing!
She went home, and we went to sleep around 11:30.

At 1:00 am I got up, feeling very uncomfortable, and went downstairs.
These contractions were very intense, much more than anything previous,
with very little "warm up" sensation before getting really painful. I
got DH around 3:00 and we timed them. I had no trouble telling him when
they started and stopped this time! They were all about 75 seconds
long. We were still totally unsure what to do at that point after so
many false starts, but eventually decided it was worth waking Gloria up.
But we got her answering machine at home, and no response to her pager.
By that time I had decided I wanted to go to the birth center, Right
Now. So we called to let them know we were coming, and they asked us to
call my midwife, Joan as well. I paged Joan and she agreed we ought to
head in.

Getting dressed was a challenge because the contractions were coming so
frequently. I put one shoe on, then went to put on the other and couldn
't manage. I could still talk during the contraction, but just barely.
Saying to DH, "Could you put on my other shoe, please?" became only a
plaintive, "shoe?". The 20- minute car ride was awful, since I couldn't
move at all. As we pulled into the hospital complex, I had a bad one
and DH encouraged me by saying, "last one in the car". Not so - I had
another one halfway to the emergency/nighttime entrance, and had to wait
for yet another to end before getting out of the car.

We were hastily taken up to the birth center, getting into our room at
4:00 am. I barely remember it now, but the nurse assisted me into a
hospital gown (my choice - could have worn my own) and I'm sure must
have taken my temperature and blood pressure, and listened for the baby'
s heartbeat. (They do that every 15 minutes during the first hour of
admission.)

I got in the shower. It felt good where the water was hitting my belly,
but the rest of me was freezing cold and I couldn't find a comfortable
position so I got out after only two or three contractions. I started a
pattern of leaning on the edge of the bed with my hands, and
side-stepping around to the other side of the bed and back during each
contraction. The nurse let us know that she'd heard from Gloria, who
was on her way there. At 4:30 we decided to do a check to see if I
could get in the tub yet. I was about 4 cm, and needed to get to 5.

I continued my side-stepping for a while, and Gloria encouraged me to
use the birth ball as well. I couldn't endure contractions while
sitting on it at first, but she talked me into staying on it between
them at least, and I did manage a few contractions on it as well. A
short time later I was no longer able to move during the peak of the
contraction and just stayed wherever I had ended up in my circuit of the
bed. I could not stay relaxed, and my low-pitched moan kept rising in
pitch. Gloria was absolutely wonderful, talking me down, getting in my
face and moaning with low pitches for me to match, telling me to keep
breathing, relax my jaw, etc. I would have lost it completely if not
for her.

At 5:00, we started talking about the tub again. Even though it had
only been half an hour, the contractions were so intense they thought it
possible I'd dilated another whole centimeter. I suggested we wait
another few contractions. I don't actually remember that check being
done, but I know they started filling the tub. I got in and the warmth
of the water felt so good. One end of the tub had a molded reclining
seat with arm rests and foot holds; the other end had a shelf that I
could lean my arms on to kneel or squat. It was quite deep, and I could
float easily. I started out in the seat, but kind of needed the foot
rests to be about an inch closer to me (I'm short). So I got upright
and used the shelf for support.

Even in the water, the contractions were getting extremely intense. As
each one built up, I would start swaying from side to side like a hungry
caged lion, and it seemed to me I was shouting (Gloria told me later I
wasn't really that loud) obscenities. (Em, our mkp "muscles working"
mantra did work for me for Julie's birth, but the F and S words just
felt much more appropriate this time As each contraction peaked, in
whatever random direction I happened to be pointing, I'd ram my head
into the side of the tub - oh, oops, it's hard - ow! After a few times
of doing that I managed to control myself enough to slam my head into
the towel they'd folded thickly and hung over the side instead. I was
floating most of the time, belly down, legs drawn up, probably looking a
lot like a frog.

I reached down and felt inside, and could feel his head! I let them
know this and they checked and said I was at 6 cm. I mentioned that 6
cm was the last check I had before starting to push with Julie. I also
mentioned that I'd had a long rest phase just prior to transition with
Julie, and she came really fast after that, because even at this point I
was still slightly worried about being sent home, still pregnant!

After a few more contractions I suggested they start draining the tub so
I could get out well before the urge to push hit me. They wanted me to
stay in as long as possible, for my comfort, so said they'd wait a bit
longer since I was "only" at 6 cm. The next two contractions, I totally
lost control, then on the third one started pushing! I was screaming
that I was pushing, they were trying to get the water drained out to
below the level of the door so I could get out. My midwife, Joan, came
scrambling around the side of the tub to try and help me get control,
slipped on the water on the floor and fell, spraining her ankle. She
got right back up and put my forehead on her shoulder, with her arm
tight around my head, telling me to breathe and not push in her lovely
but commanding Irish accent. I got back in control, then she said, "now
we're going to turn around" and walked me around to the other side of
the tub to where the door was. With much help, I made it out of the tub
and onto the bed.

I started pushing on all-fours, though my arms were very tired and it
quickly became face-and-knees rather than hands-and-knees, and my legs
kept sliding out from under me on the slippery blue plastic pads. It
wasn't working, so they asked me to roll over. I somehow got into a
semi-sitting position. It took me a contraction or two to realize my
body wasn't going to overpower me and push this baby out on its own, as
happened with Julie. I had to make a conscious effort to push this
time, and it was really hard work. Joan was a great coach, having me
sometimes "grunt him out, little grunts", other times, "push now, hard!"
, and as he crowned, "pant, pant, let him ease out, give it time to
stretch", and using warm compresses to give me lots of support. The
ring of fire hurt enough that it made me not want to push but they got
me to do it anyway. Finally his head was out and I breathed while they
suctioned him. Then I had to push really hard again, and felt each
shoulder as it popped out, quickly followed by the rest of him, at 6:46
am. Pushing had taken about 10 minutes.

Then suddenly all was calm as he laid on my stomach and we greeted each
other. I couldn't believe he was really here and felt so totally
overwhelmed with both love and relief. After a few minutes DH cut the
cord. When the third-stage contractions started up, I asked DH to hold
him, which he did until the placenta was out and I was stitched up. I
had just one small tear, along the scarline from my previous tear, and a
skid mark next to it. They also weighed him during this time, 8 pounds
and 1 ounce. All other procedures were delayed until after he'd nursed.
He latched right on and has been nursing wonderfully ever since.

Two hours later, the amazement of what I'd just done really hit me,
along with how great it was to have not had a single intervention. And
also elation at the thought, "I am never doing this again!"

I'm feeling really good, not even all that sleep-deprived. A little
achy through the hips, but ibuprofen takes care of that. Jaden is so
contented. I know no one believes mothers who say this but he has been
smiling real smiles since one day old. He only cries when hungry or
having his diaper changed, and when not eating, spends the rest of the
time sleeping anywhere, with quiet, alert states here and there. Julie
has been coping fairly well, though it's been harder for her since DH's
parents went home two days ago (they stayed with us 6 days and did
everything for me). Julie wants me to do more for her than I really can
at this point and any separation (e.g. bedtime) has been problematic
since the ILs left. She loves Jaden though, and gives him kisses all
the time.

(If anyone makes it this far,) thank you to the group for all the
support, especially during the last couple weeks. Wishing you all
healthy pregnancies and happy babies.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 5 mo.
And new arrival, Jaden

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.






  #10  
Old September 12th 03, 04:30 AM
little one
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Posts: n/a
Default Jaden's birth story (very, very long!)

cheryl,

your birth story sounds wonderful...i would LOVE to have a tub...it
sounds like it was just the thing for you. i am sure that he is
beautiful too.

melanie

 




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