Birth Story
On Friday, March 10th, I started having regular contractions. Well, pretty regular, anyway... They were coming every 5-10 minutes. By lunchtime, they were every five minutes , but nothing very painful. We called our friends and alerted them to the situation, because they were taking Solstice. We called our doula. Then, Sol and I proceeded to get into the worst fight that we have ever been in. Really bad. This was probably the only misunderstanding that we have ever had that really was all Sol's fault. I was crying and leaving and my contractions all but stopped. Which was great, because I decided that I didn't want the baby that day anymore. My day was ruined. So, we called our friends and told them that it was a false alarm, etc, but then the babe decided that she would be coming after all and they came to get Soli at around 6p. Sometime during all of this, I decided that I would have to forgive Sol because I was not about to go through this alone. By seven, I was frustrated as all get out because the contractions were petering out again. We called our doula and she suggested that we try and do something that would take my mind off of labor and contractions.
We headed off to see a movie starting at 7:45. We figured that the simple act of buying a ticket would cause my waters to break. The movie was sold out, of course. The drive to the movie theater, however had amped up my contractions intensity, however, so we decided to go walking through some stores and to grab some sandwiches at Whole Foods. After walking/shopping for the next hour, things were starting to come together much more quickly. My contractions were coming every four minutes, but still weren't very strong or long... We did contemplate going straight to the hospital to avoid the long drive home and back, but ultimately decided against it. I REALLY wanted to labor at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital.
When we got home, Sol worked on getting the rest of our stuff together and loaded into the car, and I started a bath. Now the contractions were pretty intense and I was using breathing and relaxation to get through. Sol came up and visited me in the bath and then helped me get on the bed. We started out with him rubbing my back through the contractions, but eventually we settled into a position where he was lying behind me on the bed and just holding tightly. We were breathing in sync and Sol had his hands on my belly. Luna was moving actively between the contractions, but Sol was able to feel the contractions roll through and harden my uterus. This part of my labor was awesome. It was painful and intense, but really beautiful. I was handling the contractions and Sol was like an extension of me. I was so relaxed between them that I felt like I was floating. At some point we realized that my contractions were every 3-4 minutes and lasting 45-60 seconds. Unfortunately, it was time to go to the hospital.
Sol called the doula and asked her to meet us in l&d. We were admitted at midnight. I was dilated to six centimeters. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor to get a baseline and the nurse, Lisa, read our birthplan and asked question after question after question. It was the longest, most irritating bunch of administrative bullshit that I could imagine. During this time, I refused an iv and an hiv test. I signed a form consenting to a vaginal delivery and then a form consenting to a ceasarean delivery. I did not give them permission to leave the baby in there. Finally we were allowed to continue laboring by ourselves.
I walked around for a while in the room and then got into the 'Bradley position' on the bed. Everything was going very smoothly. I felt confident and strong even though things kept getting more and more intense/PAINFUL. We changed tactics for a little bit and went for a walk around the floor. This is when my contractions started coming closer and closer together, sometimes right on top of each other. The time was 3:15a and I was dilated to 7cm. I was in transition.
The next few hours are pretty hazy to me, now. They were a midpoint between the wonderful experience that we had been having and the hellish experience that we were about to have. My progress was slowing considerably even though the contractions were right on top of each other and the pain was getting worse and worse. I was now moaning through every contraction and having a very hard time relaxing. The nurse told me that she HAD to break my waters before I was fully dilated because she had to check for meconium because I was postdates. I couldn't imagine my contractions becoming more intense, so I continued to refuse. I was now moaning, yelling and screaming through each contraction. Finally, I gave in. My contractions did NOT get more intense, they did NOT become more effective, and she said that the water looked clear. Then the nurse told me that I had to change positions to try and get things moving again. It had been over 2 hours of nonstop contractions and I hadn't effaced or dilated anymore. I knew that something was wrong and started asking for an epidural. Sol and the doula reminded me several times that I didn't want one, and Sol pointed out that I make FUN of people who get epidurals at 8cm. I agreed to try changing positions and climbed onto my hands and knees. I couldn't do it and slumped through that contraction. I was actually crying at this point. Then I thought that I could stand up. WRONG. I stood at the side of the bed. The next contraction, I will remember for the rest of my life. I will always remember it in my head and feel it in my womb. With this contraction, I left my body. I didn't know if I was falling through the floor or shooting through the ceiling. All I know is that my body started scrambling up onto the bed and if Sol and the doula hadn't been there, I would have fallen all the way off of the other side. My screaming was so loud that the nurses ran into the room. (Let me interject here, by saying that I have a HIGH tolerance for pain and was NOT being a baby!)
I begged for the epidural again. Sol started to refuse, and I firmly explained that I was now making all decisions on my own, and that this was no longer his decision. I had to wait 20 minutes while an iv bag dripped slowly into my system. At this point I was scared to death because I knew that 20 minutes would be at least TEN more contractions. Finally, it was time for the epidural. It was 9am. I sat up and my water (which had previously just been gushing here and there) EXPLODED out! I tried to warn the nurse (new nurse, Marie) but I managed to flood the floor and soak the pants of Marie, Tara, and Sol. This is when we found out that there WAS indeed meconium in the water. I got my epidural and then pretty much crashed out. This is when Marie EFFECTIVELY (unlike the last nurse) explained to us that Luna was posterior and was locked into my pelvis. She then informed us the procedures for delivering a baby that had passed meconium in utero. Sol would not be able to cut the cord, and I would not be able to hold the baby immediately. There would be a team of NINE people in the delivery room when I pushed out my baby. I took this information in and slept for an hour, but was woken up by pressure in my vagina. Marie checked me and I was complete - ready to push. My body just needed to relax so that the uterus could do everything by itself, apparently.
At 10a it was time to push. The baby was still turned the wrong way, but with each push, Marie reached in and tried to turn the baby by her head. She got her about halfway, Luna would have to do the rest. I pushed with all my might and soon, the 'team' was assembled and ready to do their thing. Marie continued to stretch me so that I would not tear (I ended up tearing anyway, due to massive baby, but besides the point) When Luna's head came out, the doctor exclaimed, "Jesus Christ!" In the mirror, I could see her face and her cheeks were like APPLES! He suctioned her nose, proclaimed her 'clear' and excused the team. They hung out for the rest of the birth, though. Everyone wanted to see what was unfolding. As Luna kept pouring out, the ob kept saying such witticisms like, 'oh my GOD!' and 'Looks like we have a kindergartner here!' Then they handed me my beautiful little girl at 10:44a. She is perfect. Looks nothing like her sister, or her mom, or her dad. The ob asked me if I would venture to guess the weight. I said 9lbs, 4. Then she got weighed... biggest baby of the day and of the WEEK! TEN lbs and 5 oz! All of our hard work had paid off... and the stalled labor/ her being stuck, etc. all made perfect sense. She was stuck because she was posterior and GIGANTIC. I made a TEN and a half pound baby while breastfeeding! Even though I felt like a complete failure for getting the epidural, I feel accomplished and happy now. Justified. Gloriously unpregnant and SORE as can be. I think that she bruised my tailbone in a bad way.
These are the things that I want to add but don't quite fit in:
-We left the hospital yesterday instead of today. Aside from my hellish labor, the hospital experience was wonderful. They followed my birthplan to the word.
-my ob wasn't on call, and wasn't able to make it in time for delivery. He did however visit Saturday afternoon and came back before I was discharged yesterday.
-Luna is a breastfeeding PRO.
-Luna did not visit the nursery once.
-Tara, our doula, was AWESOME. She stayed out of the way when I needed Sol, attended to my every need, and supported my decisions fully. She also reminded me of things on my birth plan.
-I fell totally in love with Marie, the nurse, and my postpartum nurse, Jennifer. I'm honestly a little sad that I don't get to see them every day. I already knew that I was in love with Dr. Polon.
xposted to March2006