Baby Huffle's Birth Story
Dec 8, 2015 7:01:15 GMT -5
Post by HelgaHuffle on Dec 8, 2015 7:01:15 GMT -5
This is loooong. Sorry. There's a tl;dr at the end. 
I had a regular appointment on 12/2 at 39w6d. Everything looked great. I was dilated a tight 3cm and about 50% effaced. My ob said it would be nice if I went into labor the next day since she was on call. Then she laughed and said 'but babies don't come on their due dates'. Well...
That night I woke up at about 1:30am to a pretty painful contraction. I had been having contractions for weeks but this felt different. I managed to fall back to sleep quickly and get a few more hours in. I woke up again between 4 or 4:30 to more contractions. I timed a few and they were around 8 minutes apart. I didn't want to get up yet since I bed share with Finn and I didn't want to chance him waking up too early. I finally got up to pee around 5:30. I had been slowly losing my mucous plug for 3 days but I was really surprised to see bright bloody mucous when I wiped. Lots of it. It was pretty thrilling, actually. I knew this was the real thing at that point.
I somehow managed to doze back off after that. Finn woke up around 7am and nursed. That kicked the contractions into a better pattern but they were still irregular at times. We got up, ate breakfast. Did all the usual things. I told my H I thought I was in labor but that there was certainly no hurry. I did some laundry and cleaned up the house. My contractions were about 5/6 minutes apart at that time. Anytime I sat down they spaced out so I tried to stay busy.
I talked to my doula around 10 and she told me to keep doing what I was doing and she would check in every hour. My contractions stayed kinda irregular but the intensity was slowly upping. My mom came to get Finn around 11:30 and I cried after they left. He had never spent the night away from me and I knew everything was about to change so much. It was very emotional.
When I talked to my doula at 12 I was feeling pretty frustrated that things slowed down every time I rested. She suggested I take a bath or shower to see if that would amp things up. I got in the shower for awhile. Probably around 45 minutes and it really intensified things. I wasn't timing my contractions but they were probably around 3 minutes apart and consistent. I was having to breathe through them at that point. I told my H we might have to go soon. So he started doing a few last minute things. I called my doula at 2 and told her I was ready to go to the hospital. She was going to meet us there.
I got sent to triage and hooked up to the monitors. The nurse made a copy of my birth plan and told me she'd check my cervix soon. She was gone forever! I was so annoyed. And of course my contractions slowed down during all of this. When she finally checked me it was around 4pm. I was only 3.5cm. That was pretty disappointing. The said I should walk for 2 hours and they would check me again. The doula was a rock star through this. She had me climbing stairs, walking with one foot on the curb in the parking lot and squatting with every contraction. It certainly felt like it was working. I hooked back up to monitors and by the time the slow nurse checked me it was around 6. I was 6cm! I was so happy. At this point I was having tons of pressure with contractions. I couldn't walk or talk through them. We went straight to a delivery room then. Before we even got across the hall I was sweating, nauseous, and shaking. Obvious transition, but I kept thinking there was no way. Not that fast.
I had to sign all the stupid consent forms while having contractions right on top of each other and getting my hep lock in my arm. It was horrid. Thankfully my H and the doula were running water in the tub for me and as soon as it was ready I got in. These were some of the worst contractions but the jets felt amazing. The lights were dim and everyone left us alone. The time in the tub felt like 5 minutes but I guess it was about 30 minutes. I felt some pressure or like I might need to push before ever getting in but it was starting to get hard to ignore. I told my doula and she got the nurse. I was going to have to get out to be checked so I just said I'd wait. I waited like 3 more contractions and then had the nurse come check me. I thought I was probably being crazy. It had only been about 45 minutes so I thought I'd be right back in the tub. Nope! I was 9cm with a bulging bag. They called for my ob.
Now I was stuck in the bed waiting. It was impossible to not push. I was also making tons of noise at this point. I'm sure women in other rooms were horrified. My ob came in pretty quickly. And they asked if I wanted her to break my water. I was scared of this. I feel like my labor with F might have turned out more like I wanted if I wouldn't have let the Dr break my water. The doula and my ob assured me that at this point it didn't really matter and it might speed things along. They got the needle thing ready but as soon as my ob touched me it broke. No special device needed. Now it was time to really push. I pushed for a total of 13 minutes. I made lots of noise and said I couldn't do it a few times. Everyone was so supportive and assured me I was doing it. No one told me when to push. I did it when I felt the need, which seemed like continuously. My ob was very hands off during the whole thing. The ring of fire is no joke, but it was so incredible to feel everything. Pushing seemed incredibly fast and endless all at the same time but then he was out and on my chest at 7:43pm. He cried loud right away. Finn didn't and had fluid in his lungs so this was such a welcome sound.
His apgars were 9 and 10. He latched and nursed right away. He stayed on my chest for around an hour. I hemorrhaged with Finn so they were prepared for that this time. It seemed like it took awhile to deliver the placenta and then my ob spent a ton of time massaging my uterus (ouch!) and slowing the bleeding down. I ended up getting pitocin, cytotec, and some else that was injected in my leg. Finally after an hour or so it slowed down. I didn't tear at all. Just some scrapes. We had an uneventful hospital stay and got to come home after 2 nights.
I really couldn't have asked for a better birth experience this time. I'm beyond thrilled with how everything turned out.
Tl;dr Med free birth. Labor was about 18 hours from when I first felt a painful contraction. Active labor to complete lasted around an hour. Pushed for 13 minutes. Didn't tear. Healthy baby boy.
Rowan Christopher was 8lbs 3oz and 20 inches long.
Now pictures! (Sorry if they're huge)
I had a regular appointment on 12/2 at 39w6d. Everything looked great. I was dilated a tight 3cm and about 50% effaced. My ob said it would be nice if I went into labor the next day since she was on call. Then she laughed and said 'but babies don't come on their due dates'. Well...
That night I woke up at about 1:30am to a pretty painful contraction. I had been having contractions for weeks but this felt different. I managed to fall back to sleep quickly and get a few more hours in. I woke up again between 4 or 4:30 to more contractions. I timed a few and they were around 8 minutes apart. I didn't want to get up yet since I bed share with Finn and I didn't want to chance him waking up too early. I finally got up to pee around 5:30. I had been slowly losing my mucous plug for 3 days but I was really surprised to see bright bloody mucous when I wiped. Lots of it. It was pretty thrilling, actually. I knew this was the real thing at that point.
I somehow managed to doze back off after that. Finn woke up around 7am and nursed. That kicked the contractions into a better pattern but they were still irregular at times. We got up, ate breakfast. Did all the usual things. I told my H I thought I was in labor but that there was certainly no hurry. I did some laundry and cleaned up the house. My contractions were about 5/6 minutes apart at that time. Anytime I sat down they spaced out so I tried to stay busy.
I talked to my doula around 10 and she told me to keep doing what I was doing and she would check in every hour. My contractions stayed kinda irregular but the intensity was slowly upping. My mom came to get Finn around 11:30 and I cried after they left. He had never spent the night away from me and I knew everything was about to change so much. It was very emotional.
When I talked to my doula at 12 I was feeling pretty frustrated that things slowed down every time I rested. She suggested I take a bath or shower to see if that would amp things up. I got in the shower for awhile. Probably around 45 minutes and it really intensified things. I wasn't timing my contractions but they were probably around 3 minutes apart and consistent. I was having to breathe through them at that point. I told my H we might have to go soon. So he started doing a few last minute things. I called my doula at 2 and told her I was ready to go to the hospital. She was going to meet us there.
I got sent to triage and hooked up to the monitors. The nurse made a copy of my birth plan and told me she'd check my cervix soon. She was gone forever! I was so annoyed. And of course my contractions slowed down during all of this. When she finally checked me it was around 4pm. I was only 3.5cm. That was pretty disappointing. The said I should walk for 2 hours and they would check me again. The doula was a rock star through this. She had me climbing stairs, walking with one foot on the curb in the parking lot and squatting with every contraction. It certainly felt like it was working. I hooked back up to monitors and by the time the slow nurse checked me it was around 6. I was 6cm! I was so happy. At this point I was having tons of pressure with contractions. I couldn't walk or talk through them. We went straight to a delivery room then. Before we even got across the hall I was sweating, nauseous, and shaking. Obvious transition, but I kept thinking there was no way. Not that fast.
I had to sign all the stupid consent forms while having contractions right on top of each other and getting my hep lock in my arm. It was horrid. Thankfully my H and the doula were running water in the tub for me and as soon as it was ready I got in. These were some of the worst contractions but the jets felt amazing. The lights were dim and everyone left us alone. The time in the tub felt like 5 minutes but I guess it was about 30 minutes. I felt some pressure or like I might need to push before ever getting in but it was starting to get hard to ignore. I told my doula and she got the nurse. I was going to have to get out to be checked so I just said I'd wait. I waited like 3 more contractions and then had the nurse come check me. I thought I was probably being crazy. It had only been about 45 minutes so I thought I'd be right back in the tub. Nope! I was 9cm with a bulging bag. They called for my ob.
Now I was stuck in the bed waiting. It was impossible to not push. I was also making tons of noise at this point. I'm sure women in other rooms were horrified. My ob came in pretty quickly. And they asked if I wanted her to break my water. I was scared of this. I feel like my labor with F might have turned out more like I wanted if I wouldn't have let the Dr break my water. The doula and my ob assured me that at this point it didn't really matter and it might speed things along. They got the needle thing ready but as soon as my ob touched me it broke. No special device needed. Now it was time to really push. I pushed for a total of 13 minutes. I made lots of noise and said I couldn't do it a few times. Everyone was so supportive and assured me I was doing it. No one told me when to push. I did it when I felt the need, which seemed like continuously. My ob was very hands off during the whole thing. The ring of fire is no joke, but it was so incredible to feel everything. Pushing seemed incredibly fast and endless all at the same time but then he was out and on my chest at 7:43pm. He cried loud right away. Finn didn't and had fluid in his lungs so this was such a welcome sound.
His apgars were 9 and 10. He latched and nursed right away. He stayed on my chest for around an hour. I hemorrhaged with Finn so they were prepared for that this time. It seemed like it took awhile to deliver the placenta and then my ob spent a ton of time massaging my uterus (ouch!) and slowing the bleeding down. I ended up getting pitocin, cytotec, and some else that was injected in my leg. Finally after an hour or so it slowed down. I didn't tear at all. Just some scrapes. We had an uneventful hospital stay and got to come home after 2 nights.
I really couldn't have asked for a better birth experience this time. I'm beyond thrilled with how everything turned out.
Tl;dr Med free birth. Labor was about 18 hours from when I first felt a painful contraction. Active labor to complete lasted around an hour. Pushed for 13 minutes. Didn't tear. Healthy baby boy.
Rowan Christopher was 8lbs 3oz and 20 inches long.
Now pictures! (Sorry if they're huge)
!! Beautiful pictures too! Congratulations again!
