My birth story part 1

[LawnGirl]

Thought I'd share it with you.....I cut and pasted it from another site I visit, sorry if some words run together. BTW...my sister was my doula and her name is Karen.


Jenn


2/13:

I go to my OB appointment to find that my blood pressure is high…not "extreamly" high, but not what it had been either. My dr was a little concerned, high bp during pregnancy runs in my family and my aunt had 2 emergancy C-sections because of this, one in which a child (from a set of twins) died. I was dilated at 4 ½ centimeters upon exam. He knew my plans for giving birth (natural) and that I would want to avoid anything that would hinder that process. He was on duty the next day and told me to page him at 11 am and we would talk about him possibly breaking my water since I didnt want anything else in my system, kwim? I was a little upset at the thought of being induced, but, given that choice or given the choice of having a possible emergency C-section or going into labor with another dr from the practice that wouldnt honor my wishes of no pitocin during labor, no iv fluids, wanting to walk around etc, Andy and I prayed about it and felt as if that was the right thing to do to avoid possibly serious complications.

2/14:

I wake up close to 6am, extreamly excited since I knew that I would probably be having the baby. I laid in bed and watched Andy and Seb as they sleep. I had very mild gas pains, and I figure its from not pooping for a few days (TMI!) so I ignore them and just rested. After Andy and Seb wake up, we eat breakfast and the guys decide to head out to get me some new underwear (since I know how many you go through after having a baby and how gross they can get) and some food items. I make myself a big cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea and sit on the birthing ball while I call my friend Jen on the phone. I talk to her for a while and start to feel the gas pains get stronger, so I tell her I have to go to the bathroom and hang up the phone. I go to the bathroom and, well, basically empty whatever was in there (TMI again!). I feel alot better, so I get on the computer and check out somethings in my e-mail, etc. My "gas pains" have not gone awayand have started to come just about every ½ hour. I just ignore them and figure I'll poop again and feel better, or, maybe I AM going into labor on my own?!? I decide to go pack my bag for the hospital and I get a really strong contraction, and I KNOW it is a contraction.

So I decide to wait until Andy and Seb get back to pack my bag and just sit on the birthingball and make some more tea to drink. They start to come more frequently, and I know I am in labor. I put on the "Harvest Moon" album by Neil Young and walk around so that I am sure to have them keep coming. The contractions are strong, but do-able. When they hit, I push lightly with my hands against the wall and dance slowly (or quickly) to the music and zone out into the music. Andy and Seb get back and I tell them I think that I'm in labor. Andy was extreamly excited and Seb just waned to run around and dance too, ha ha ha! So I tell Andy what to pack in the bags and by the time he is almost done, it is 11 and time to page Dr. MacNeill. I speak to him over the phone and tell him that I am having pretty strong contractions. He tells me to take my time, but come in before 1pm since I was dilated to 4 ½ the day before and this is my second child. He also wanted to check my bp…asked me if I felt dizzy/faint/ etc and I didn’t so he said just to come in at 1.

I called my sister on her cellphone to see if she is en-route to my parents house(we had agreed to meet there at 11 the day before…my sister is my doula) and she was already there. I told her that I was in labor and that she could come over and help me labor for a bit at home. My mom gets on the phone and brings up the point that Sebby should go over to her place now since he needs to eat lunch then take his nap (gotta love pushy Mom's….). She is right actually, so Andy and I leave with Seb to go to myparents house. While we are in the car driving, I feel a tiny bit dizzy, so we decide to head right to the hospital after dropping Seb off.

On the way there, I feel dizzy and a little sick to my stomach. I ate a few of the rice crackers (light crackers made with just rice from the health food store) and sipped on the water I had brought and that made me feel a lot better. I also ate a few bites of the apple Andy was eating. When we get to the hospital, Andy and Karen suggest I get into a wheel chair to save my energy. When I get to L&D, my dr greets me as I am having a strong contraction. He gets me into a room and checks my blood pressure right away, it is perfectly normal! Since I felt dizzy and sick earlier, he has me pee ina cup to check levels of something in my urine, which are also just fine. He checks me for dilation and I am already 6!!!! I get the ok to walk around and do whatever I want as long as I stay with Karen and Andy nearby and if I feel dizzy, I need to come back and get my bp checked. I get a hep-well (thing to put iv stuff in if needed) in my hand and we are on our way. We walk the halls of the academic building which aren’t far away from L&D (I go to a hospital which also has a college of medicine). There is a student area with a tv and couchs so we decide to see what is on tv just for fun. We watch about 10 minutes of "Sleepless in Seattle" and a bunch of people come in,so we leave.


We walk the halls for a while, and I feel as if I need to poop again. I do so in a nearby bathroom, followed by a BIG contraction. I decide that I want to go back to my birthing room and get out the birthing ball. So we go back and I roll on my belly on the ball with every contraction. I also have my sisters' disk man and am listening to the "Live at Luther College" album by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. I have the song "Warehouse" on repeat since it has a good beat to it and I can move my body over the ball to the music perfectly. With every contraction, Karen and Andy "attack" my lower back since I am starting to have really painful back labor. I let them know when acontraction is coming and they each push their knuckles into my lower back. Between contractions,Andy rubs my scalp (this is relaxing to me) and Karen gets out some oils to rub all over my shoulders and back.

I don’t know exactly how long I am on the ball, but after a while I want to try taking a shower.I feel as if I can get the hot water to hit my stomach while they knuckle my back during a contraction, that it would feel marvelous. So I get in the shower and stay in there for near an hour (!). My contractions are getting so much stronger and longer. The hot water almost numbs my belly, but, not really. They are much less if I am under the hot water than if I am not. Andy and Karen continue to knuckle my lower backwith every contraction. I ask one of them to rub my favorate peppermint soap (by Dr. Bronners) on my back and I get some to rub onto my belly. This smells and feels soooo good between contractions, which isn’t actually that long. Close to 4, Dr. MacNeill comes back and asks if I would like to be checked for dilation now since I've been laboring for near 4 hours. I said ok, and I am already up to 9 (!). Right after he checks me I get a very strong contraction while laying on the bed (just got my cervix checked) and it was VERY PAINFUL ! No wonder I got the epidural with Seb, I was laying in the bed the whole time and that is a HORRIBLE position to labor in!!!!

My water still hasn’t broken, and my dr asks if I want him to break my water. I told him I'd wait through a few contractions and see if it will happen naturally. He said that is fine, and it should break within 10 or 20 minutes. So I get back on the birthing ball and the contractions get extreamly strong. I put on the diskman with Dave and Tim again, and have them knuckle my lower back like before. I scream through every contraction since it makes me feel as if I am releasing all my pain, and it makes me feel a lot better to scream. Since I am listening to the music,I cant hear how loud I am, but was told afterwards that it was very loud. At 4:30 the dr comes backin and asks if feel any pressure between my legs. I told him no, and he says "Stand up". So I do and woah…I feel as if I need to push. He checks me while standing (I am NOT laying back down again after last time) and I am only 9 ½ centimeters. He said I still have a "lip" on my cervix, and that it needs to be out of the way before I push or it could hurt both me and the baby. He suggests that I either wait for another ½ hour of contractions, or he can break my water. I ask to wait, and right then have a very strong contraction that makes me bear down and then we both decide to have him break my water. He does, and a few very strong contractions later, I am dilated to 10 centimeters and ready to push at approximately 4:35.

[LawnGirl]

I stand up with my arms around Andy's neck and push through several contractions. I actually clenched his shirt in my teeth several times it hurt so bad. Then my sister asks about a birthing bar (I was told later that poor Andy's neck was getting sore from me, but he wasn’t going to stop me. Karen saw he was also in pain so she asked for the bar) and they flip it out and I push on that. I feel extreme pressure and decide to kind of squat/sit on the bed while holding onto the bar to push since I feel I get the best power that way.

I push through my contractions and feel the head crowning, followed by the feeling of splitting in 2! The baby's shoulder got stuck in a weird position and Dr. MacNeill had to put his hand into my vagina to move it along or else there would be a problem. Amazingly enough, I didnt tear and didnt need an episiotomy, just like with Seb! Amazing how a womans vagina can stretch so much...I'm 2 for 2 with no tearing and hope to keep it that way!!!

Then,the baby comes out at 4:47. There is meconium from the trauma of being stuck by the shoulder. I don’t hear crying, but I feel a release and flop back onto the bed, at which point a whole bunch of blood comes out of me and I feel as if I am"emptying", and begin to feel light-headed. Dr. MacNeill tells me that he is going to hook me up to a pitocin drip and gives me a real quick shot of something (which I find out later was pitocin) because I had begun to hemorage. I lay back and relax and hear Andy shouting "It’s a GIRL, Jenn, we had a little GIRL!". I was a little "out of it" for a few minutes, probably because of the blood loss (although laboring and pushing take energy too!). I was shocked since all along I thought we were having a boy…no ultrasound or anything confirmed it, I just felt like I was carrying a boy.

I then hear crying and she is brought to me, a little blue, but fine. Andy got to choose the name from our list sice the baby was a girl, and picked Bronwen Eliza. I had first heard the name Bronwyn/Bronwen in college and fell in love with its uniqueness and strong sound. In fact, this would have been Seb's name if he was a girl. My middle name is Elizabeth and so Eliza sort of honors me. Plus, Eliza is a Phish song and Elihu is also in a Phish song...not our main reason for choosing them as mn's, but, still pretty cool. Andy chose the –en spelling since he knew that I liked it better than the –yn spelling. She looks like such a Bronwen, and is gorgous!

I cant even discribe how wonderful it is to be a Mamma to both Sebastian and Bronwen. I was truthfully scared during pregnancy that I would feel as if the baby was a "stranger" to our family since I'm so used to Sebby, but, from the first time I held her, I loved her and cant imagine my life without little Miss Bronwen.

I feel so blessed that God gave me the strength to have her naturally. I am not feeling blessed because I see having a natural birth where pain relief was available as "bragging rights", but as a way to show that it can be done when the conditions are right and to give me a constant reminder that I can be strong and "step up to the occasion" when it is needed, during childbirth or in any other aspect of life.


So needless to say, I had a great Valentines day this year! Bronwen is nursing sooo well, and is such a wonderful little person that I cant wait to get to know over my lifetime.

[Michi]

Wow! What a great birth story! I was wondering if you would be posting it. Hehehhe. I'm glad you were able to have the birthing experience you wanted... it always makes things so much more joyful when that happens. I hated having to have a c-section, but, to be honest, I wouldn't have traded it for the world knowing that my baby girl came to me perfectly healthy.

Congrats again and I can't wait to see pics!!!

ETA: Just saw the pics link in your sig. What a beautie!!!

[Carolyn]

Congratulations on your baby...a very beautiful birth story!

It's empowering isn't it? It changed my whole way of thinking about myself!

And I checked out the pics as well...what a beautiful family you have...and their names are wonderful!

Again, congratulations!!

[Mellymama]

What a beautiful birth story! You are blessed, that's for sure!

[Quoth]

*SNIFF*

WAAAAAAAH! I love birthstories.

Congratulations on your bonnie wee lassie!

[Ktyyyyyyy]

What a great birth story! Thanks for sharing.

[ever-blessed]

what a wonderful story, jenn.

isn't it amazing, what our bodies are capable of doing with the right (mental, emotional and physical supports)?!?!?!?

congrats to all of you, again, and thanks for sharing.

has tiffany finished collecting her birth stories? there's a thought for you

[Satya]

That was so beautiful I almost cried!! Birth stories are all so wonderful. We women are soooo strong, aren't we? And it's great that you have such a wonderful partner in Andy and the help of your sister. A beautiful person has been brought into the world

[PurpleDog]

I'm so glad to see you again on the SN boards! Congrats to all of you and welcome Bronwen!