Post by cabbagecabbage on Jul 20, 2016 11:16:48 GMT -5
This is going to be long and rambling but I have a sleeping lap baby so I want to type it up.
My birth caught me off guard. I was feeling so uncomfortable but convinced I'd go past my due date. It was 38+3 on 7/16 and had a big day outdoors. I fell asleep at 9:00 for about an hour. My water burst in bed at 10:00. It was warm, gooey, and flooded all over me. There was no question what had just happened. I thank my lucky stars I had a brand new waterproof mattress pad and didn't ruin anything.
The next couple hours were a flurry of calling the midwives, the grandparents who were watching DD, and last minute packing.
Labor disn't start for an hour but it picked up quickly. My contractions were short and frequent: 30 seconds and coming every 2-4 minutes. I labored in the tub and basement for a while and washed my bedding.
Around 2 am, we headed in to the hospital. I needed antibiotics for gbs+. I was 4 cm. Baby wasn't cooperative on the monitors and I had to stay on for a couple hours but then I could move and sway and felt better. At 4 or 5 I was so exhausted having had one hour of sleep and I was having trouble dealing. I got an epidural and it was great. I was numb and exhausted and slept until 8 am. In the middle somewhere, his heart decelerated and I had to wear oxygen and flip side to side. I was getting worried that I was headed to the OR but he figured it out and was fine again. I woke up in the morning and I was barely 5 cm then and they asked to give me the lowest dose of pitocin. I agreed and the tiny bit jumpstarted everything. I slept again and at 11:00 I was fully dilated and ready.
I was still numb from the epidural and my midwife suggested I labor down for a while so pushing would be easier. After 2 hours, I felt some pressure at the contractions and I pushed for about 25 minutes and Malcolm was born painlessly and easily in a quiet sunny room at 1:38 on 7/17. He was littler than I expected but also earlier. I nursed, did delayed cord clamping and no measurements or removing the baby for two hours. He was covered in white vernix! When we finally did the measuring he was 7lb 1oz and 20 inches long. Many happy tears were shed and it really helped turn around my very bad first labor experience.
My birth caught me off guard. I was feeling so uncomfortable but convinced I'd go past my due date. It was 38+3 on 7/16 and had a big day outdoors. I fell asleep at 9:00 for about an hour. My water burst in bed at 10:00. It was warm, gooey, and flooded all over me. There was no question what had just happened. I thank my lucky stars I had a brand new waterproof mattress pad and didn't ruin anything.
The next couple hours were a flurry of calling the midwives, the grandparents who were watching DD, and last minute packing.
Labor disn't start for an hour but it picked up quickly. My contractions were short and frequent: 30 seconds and coming every 2-4 minutes. I labored in the tub and basement for a while and washed my bedding.
Around 2 am, we headed in to the hospital. I needed antibiotics for gbs+. I was 4 cm. Baby wasn't cooperative on the monitors and I had to stay on for a couple hours but then I could move and sway and felt better. At 4 or 5 I was so exhausted having had one hour of sleep and I was having trouble dealing. I got an epidural and it was great. I was numb and exhausted and slept until 8 am. In the middle somewhere, his heart decelerated and I had to wear oxygen and flip side to side. I was getting worried that I was headed to the OR but he figured it out and was fine again. I woke up in the morning and I was barely 5 cm then and they asked to give me the lowest dose of pitocin. I agreed and the tiny bit jumpstarted everything. I slept again and at 11:00 I was fully dilated and ready.
I was still numb from the epidural and my midwife suggested I labor down for a while so pushing would be easier. After 2 hours, I felt some pressure at the contractions and I pushed for about 25 minutes and Malcolm was born painlessly and easily in a quiet sunny room at 1:38 on 7/17. He was littler than I expected but also earlier. I nursed, did delayed cord clamping and no measurements or removing the baby for two hours. He was covered in white vernix! When we finally did the measuring he was 7lb 1oz and 20 inches long. Many happy tears were shed and it really helped turn around my very bad first labor experience.
