****
The birth of our first was pretty typical... especially being a first-timer.... it was long but active labor wasn't unreasonably long (about 24 hours of early labor, first 12 of which were very mild; then 12 hours of active labor; 1.5 hours of pushing... total of 36 (ish) hours). Contractions followed the typical pattern of getting "longer, stronger, closer together." We had an unmedicated birth at our hospital. Baby was 9 lbs, 5 oz, born at 40w 6d.
Birth of baby #2 was totally different.
Contractions did not follow the typical pattern of getting more intense, more frequent. They were very random almost to the very end!
Contractions started at 39w 5d on Friday (the 19th) but they were completely spaced out, coming every 1-4 hours, fairly intense but random and totally infrequent. They picked up to every hour (ish) that night as I slept though and would wake me when they came but I'd fall right back to sleep. Around 3am I thought if I walked around a bit it might help them pick up so I got up, put some more things in our hospital bag, organized a few things, etc but it didn't help anything. Zero contractions had while I was up.... So back to bed I went.
Chris (my husband) got up with our toddler (aka buddy) and I slept in the next morning then went about my day like normal (the 20th). I called and scheduled a massage for the afternoon... I was hoping a massage might either help them pick up or get them to fizzle out. Was I in labor? Was this going to stop? Did I still have days of pregnancy ahead of me? I'll be honest, by noon I was starting to get annoyed. I talked to my mom on the phone and cried in frustration. I felt better after having a good preggo cry :)
3pm rolled around, contractions were at best an hour apart so off I went to my massage! It was an 80 minute massage and it sure did the trick! I counted a good 6 contractions during that time. I was in labor, woot woot! I had a doozy of a contraction walking back out to my car... good thing our house was only about a mile away.
When I got home, Chris took our buddy out for dinner (it was about 5pm) so I could have some (more) time alone.... I took a nice, long bath then a shower... played some relaxing music... it was helping me stay focused and cope with each contraction. I called our doula, Nicole (my sister-in-law and very close friend), and told her to come over at 7:30pm unless she heard otherwise from me. In the meantime, Chris and our buddy came home and buddy got ready for bed.... he was asleep by 7pm.
Nicole came over at 7:30pm on the nose and we started to time the contractions for an hour. They were about 6-7 minutes apart, lasting for over a minute. I was planning to head to the hospital at 5-1-1 (contractions 5 minutes apart, lasting for at least 1 minute, keeping up for at least 1 hour). I walked around the circle from our dining room to living room to kitchen when I'd have a contraction. By 8:30pm, I was feeling tired and wanted to rest so I laid on the couch and we watched the movie Bride Wars. :) I wanted a distraction while I tried to rest. Contractions slowed waaaaaaaaay down but when they would come, they would hit HARD. It was so random. Changing positions and laying down and such can make your contractions speed up or slow down but the intensity changes were really throwing me off. By 9:30pm, I was getting more emotional and was wondering if we should head out. I waited a while longer but I knew the intensity was just too much to hold off much longer.... besides, I wanted to get settled in at the hospital and hop in the shower there if I still had a lot longer to go. We got our things together and Nicole called our mother-in-law over.... Chris and I left around 10:30pm while Nicole hung back and waited for our MIL. On our way from the car up to L&D I had two contractions that made me have to squat! I was starting to wonder just how far along I was in labor.... based on their frequency, I was thinking maybe, maybe 5cm? Based on the intensity I was thinking, maybe 7cm? We settled in our room, Nicole had rejoined us, questions were all answered to the nurse, etc etc... Nurse checked me for the first time at 11:15pm aaaaand.....
I was 8cm!! Fully dilated, baby's head very low. I exclaimed "oh my gosh, I'm so happy right now!" in a half sob, half laugh. Nicole and Chris both let out "oh my gosh's" and "seriously's?!"
Through transition contractions were STILL so spaced out and random. What the heck? But it didn't matter, when they came they were doing their work: I went from 8 to 10cm in less than an hour. During that time the nurse got my hep lock in without a problem (I wanted it in ASAP b/c I wanted pitocin immediately after birth.... more to come on this, stay tuned).
Here's me at about 9cm at 11:45pm, baby at +3 station, right before ROM:
At around 12:10am, I was on my hands and knees in the bed and I had my first uncontrollable urge to push. My doctor came in and I was off. And by "off" I mean, I literally wanted off the table and out of there! I apparently decided baby could just stay in and I did not want to push! My doctor helped me focus (Chris, Nicole, and my nurse also tried to help me but my doctor is the one I honed in on). It was really intense pushing this time. It felt WAY more intense than birth of baby #1... pushing with baby #1 was more of a relief, it was a break from the intensity of transition, it felt good to push. Baby #2 was not the same story. My labor and even transition were so mellow with baby #2 b/c of the infrequency of my contractions, so during second stage when my contractions picked up instead of slowed down as they typically do, it felt like a huge rush of intensity all hitting me at once! I went from having like 3-4 contractions an hour to having contractions about 3-4 minutes apart.
Less than 20 minutes later out came our baby and Chris happily yelled "it's a boy!" Our new son was placed on my chest as I laid back and let out another half sob, half laugh "I'm so happy right now." Yay! Our baby was here :)
I have to say.... it felt good to be able to let go of the control this time around. I was so afraid of our hospital and giving birth with an OB first time around.... I was so extreme in my views of natural unmedicated childbirth (NUCB) with baby #1 and wanted my home birth so badly that it honestly took away from what was going on and really messed me up mentally. This time I wasn't afraid.... I wasn't fearing the hospital.... I wasn't fearing my OB (quite the opposite, I love my OB!). I still prefer to give birth unmedicated and with as little intervention possible but I do it b/c it's my personal preference, not b/c it's better or worse. I know there is a time and a place for interventions, either based on need or by desire of a woman in labor. I put my trust in myself, my support AND my professional caregivers who know far more about childbirth and maintaining the good health of my baby and myself than I do. I'm sure it being my second birth had something to do with it but I also feel my attitude this time helped my body and mind better handle labor and the experience overall.
As far as my request for pitocin immediately after birth, here's the scoop....
With baby #1, I did not want pitocin unless I needed it. I actually told them I "refuse" it unless I can see that I need it and consent to it. I sure thought I knew a lot! Geez... I was such a pain. Anyway. I bled a LOT. They offered me the shot of pit and I consented. It didn't do much. I kept bleeding. I got a bag of pit and a suppository of Cytotec. My doctor was doing some intense massaging of my uterus and finally two HUGE clots came out. They were ridiculous. In the meantime, I got really lightheaded and FREEZING. I couldn't hold my baby anymore b/c I started to feel too weak so my husband held him. Things started to get hazy and I was getting weaker and even colder... I remember them bringing me warm blankets one after the next. Then I was out. I fell asleep, I didn't pass out but I was out hard. It sucked :( I remember laying there, so out of it, feeling so bummed that I couldn't hold my baby. After I had worked so hard to get him here and now I was too out of it to hold him.
Had birth of baby #1 taken place at home as I was hoping, I'm pretty certain I would have needed to transfer to a hospital. I mean, I don't know how I wouldn't have. Fundal massage plus a shot of pit didn't do anything for me... well, it didn't do nearly enough. Although I couldn't hold my baby b/c I was too weak from blood loss, at least I didn't have to be separated from him. My baby and my husband were right by my side at the hospital as they all worked to get my bleeding under control. If I had been at home and a transfer was needed, we would have been separated and that would have sucked big time.
I'm sure some will speculate about WHY I bled so much so let me clear up a few things.... I was buried pretty deep in the world of (extreme) NUCB/home birth at that time in my life so I don't know what any NUCB or home advocate could say that I did "wrong." My diet was fantastic during pregnancy, I consumed all the right vitamins, supplements, teas, etc... I didn't have a drop of pitocin or anything at all during labor/delivery, not even an IV.... I nursed my baby afterward.... but for whatever reason, as it can and does and will happen in labor, I bled a lot.
So for this birth, I wanted a bag of pit immediately after the birth. It was one of the first things I told our nurse: get the bag ready! I didn't want to chance having that same outcome. It was not worth it at ALL. So that's why even at 8-9cm dilated with my baby so close to being born I wanted that hep lock in and ready to go! Right after our baby was placed on my chest, they started the pit. I didn't bleed near as much as I did last time, woohooooo!! My baby didn't leave my arms..... eventually I decided to share him with my hubby :)
Contractions did not follow the typical pattern of getting more intense, more frequent. They were very random almost to the very end!
Contractions started at 39w 5d on Friday (the 19th) but they were completely spaced out, coming every 1-4 hours, fairly intense but random and totally infrequent. They picked up to every hour (ish) that night as I slept though and would wake me when they came but I'd fall right back to sleep. Around 3am I thought if I walked around a bit it might help them pick up so I got up, put some more things in our hospital bag, organized a few things, etc but it didn't help anything. Zero contractions had while I was up.... So back to bed I went.
Chris (my husband) got up with our toddler (aka buddy) and I slept in the next morning then went about my day like normal (the 20th). I called and scheduled a massage for the afternoon... I was hoping a massage might either help them pick up or get them to fizzle out. Was I in labor? Was this going to stop? Did I still have days of pregnancy ahead of me? I'll be honest, by noon I was starting to get annoyed. I talked to my mom on the phone and cried in frustration. I felt better after having a good preggo cry :)
3pm rolled around, contractions were at best an hour apart so off I went to my massage! It was an 80 minute massage and it sure did the trick! I counted a good 6 contractions during that time. I was in labor, woot woot! I had a doozy of a contraction walking back out to my car... good thing our house was only about a mile away.
When I got home, Chris took our buddy out for dinner (it was about 5pm) so I could have some (more) time alone.... I took a nice, long bath then a shower... played some relaxing music... it was helping me stay focused and cope with each contraction. I called our doula, Nicole (my sister-in-law and very close friend), and told her to come over at 7:30pm unless she heard otherwise from me. In the meantime, Chris and our buddy came home and buddy got ready for bed.... he was asleep by 7pm.
Nicole came over at 7:30pm on the nose and we started to time the contractions for an hour. They were about 6-7 minutes apart, lasting for over a minute. I was planning to head to the hospital at 5-1-1 (contractions 5 minutes apart, lasting for at least 1 minute, keeping up for at least 1 hour). I walked around the circle from our dining room to living room to kitchen when I'd have a contraction. By 8:30pm, I was feeling tired and wanted to rest so I laid on the couch and we watched the movie Bride Wars. :) I wanted a distraction while I tried to rest. Contractions slowed waaaaaaaaay down but when they would come, they would hit HARD. It was so random. Changing positions and laying down and such can make your contractions speed up or slow down but the intensity changes were really throwing me off. By 9:30pm, I was getting more emotional and was wondering if we should head out. I waited a while longer but I knew the intensity was just too much to hold off much longer.... besides, I wanted to get settled in at the hospital and hop in the shower there if I still had a lot longer to go. We got our things together and Nicole called our mother-in-law over.... Chris and I left around 10:30pm while Nicole hung back and waited for our MIL. On our way from the car up to L&D I had two contractions that made me have to squat! I was starting to wonder just how far along I was in labor.... based on their frequency, I was thinking maybe, maybe 5cm? Based on the intensity I was thinking, maybe 7cm? We settled in our room, Nicole had rejoined us, questions were all answered to the nurse, etc etc... Nurse checked me for the first time at 11:15pm aaaaand.....
I was 8cm!! Fully dilated, baby's head very low. I exclaimed "oh my gosh, I'm so happy right now!" in a half sob, half laugh. Nicole and Chris both let out "oh my gosh's" and "seriously's?!"
Through transition contractions were STILL so spaced out and random. What the heck? But it didn't matter, when they came they were doing their work: I went from 8 to 10cm in less than an hour. During that time the nurse got my hep lock in without a problem (I wanted it in ASAP b/c I wanted pitocin immediately after birth.... more to come on this, stay tuned).
Here's me at about 9cm at 11:45pm, baby at +3 station, right before ROM:
At around 12:10am, I was on my hands and knees in the bed and I had my first uncontrollable urge to push. My doctor came in and I was off. And by "off" I mean, I literally wanted off the table and out of there! I apparently decided baby could just stay in and I did not want to push! My doctor helped me focus (Chris, Nicole, and my nurse also tried to help me but my doctor is the one I honed in on). It was really intense pushing this time. It felt WAY more intense than birth of baby #1... pushing with baby #1 was more of a relief, it was a break from the intensity of transition, it felt good to push. Baby #2 was not the same story. My labor and even transition were so mellow with baby #2 b/c of the infrequency of my contractions, so during second stage when my contractions picked up instead of slowed down as they typically do, it felt like a huge rush of intensity all hitting me at once! I went from having like 3-4 contractions an hour to having contractions about 3-4 minutes apart.
Less than 20 minutes later out came our baby and Chris happily yelled "it's a boy!" Our new son was placed on my chest as I laid back and let out another half sob, half laugh "I'm so happy right now." Yay! Our baby was here :)
Born at 12:27am, 8lbs 6oz, 21", 9 & 9 APGAR
Baby was hungry and latched on about 15 minutes after he was born. He's been a good eater ever since and was up to 8lbs 15oz with an extra inch at 10 days old. As for me, recovery has been great (no tears, woohoo!). Feeling good and so happy to have our healthy baby boy here!
I have to say.... it felt good to be able to let go of the control this time around. I was so afraid of our hospital and giving birth with an OB first time around.... I was so extreme in my views of natural unmedicated childbirth (NUCB) with baby #1 and wanted my home birth so badly that it honestly took away from what was going on and really messed me up mentally. This time I wasn't afraid.... I wasn't fearing the hospital.... I wasn't fearing my OB (quite the opposite, I love my OB!). I still prefer to give birth unmedicated and with as little intervention possible but I do it b/c it's my personal preference, not b/c it's better or worse. I know there is a time and a place for interventions, either based on need or by desire of a woman in labor. I put my trust in myself, my support AND my professional caregivers who know far more about childbirth and maintaining the good health of my baby and myself than I do. I'm sure it being my second birth had something to do with it but I also feel my attitude this time helped my body and mind better handle labor and the experience overall.
****
As far as my request for pitocin immediately after birth, here's the scoop....
With baby #1, I did not want pitocin unless I needed it. I actually told them I "refuse" it unless I can see that I need it and consent to it. I sure thought I knew a lot! Geez... I was such a pain. Anyway. I bled a LOT. They offered me the shot of pit and I consented. It didn't do much. I kept bleeding. I got a bag of pit and a suppository of Cytotec. My doctor was doing some intense massaging of my uterus and finally two HUGE clots came out. They were ridiculous. In the meantime, I got really lightheaded and FREEZING. I couldn't hold my baby anymore b/c I started to feel too weak so my husband held him. Things started to get hazy and I was getting weaker and even colder... I remember them bringing me warm blankets one after the next. Then I was out. I fell asleep, I didn't pass out but I was out hard. It sucked :( I remember laying there, so out of it, feeling so bummed that I couldn't hold my baby. After I had worked so hard to get him here and now I was too out of it to hold him.
Had birth of baby #1 taken place at home as I was hoping, I'm pretty certain I would have needed to transfer to a hospital. I mean, I don't know how I wouldn't have. Fundal massage plus a shot of pit didn't do anything for me... well, it didn't do nearly enough. Although I couldn't hold my baby b/c I was too weak from blood loss, at least I didn't have to be separated from him. My baby and my husband were right by my side at the hospital as they all worked to get my bleeding under control. If I had been at home and a transfer was needed, we would have been separated and that would have sucked big time.
I'm sure some will speculate about WHY I bled so much so let me clear up a few things.... I was buried pretty deep in the world of (extreme) NUCB/home birth at that time in my life so I don't know what any NUCB or home advocate could say that I did "wrong." My diet was fantastic during pregnancy, I consumed all the right vitamins, supplements, teas, etc... I didn't have a drop of pitocin or anything at all during labor/delivery, not even an IV.... I nursed my baby afterward.... but for whatever reason, as it can and does and will happen in labor, I bled a lot.
So for this birth, I wanted a bag of pit immediately after the birth. It was one of the first things I told our nurse: get the bag ready! I didn't want to chance having that same outcome. It was not worth it at ALL. So that's why even at 8-9cm dilated with my baby so close to being born I wanted that hep lock in and ready to go! Right after our baby was placed on my chest, they started the pit. I didn't bleed near as much as I did last time, woohooooo!! My baby didn't leave my arms..... eventually I decided to share him with my hubby :)
****
My babies
Congrats he is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I just noticed you have a blog.... I know what I'm reading while I'm up nursing tonight! :)
DeleteCongratulations on the birth of the bub.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteCongratulations! What a sweet looking little boy!
ReplyDeletePPH is no joke, as you discovered the first time around. I never wanted a homebirth, but after the birth of my twins (in a hospital, with Pit augmentation and Pit for third stage), I had a pretty nasty PPH. It scares me to think that if I wasn't in the hospital, or even if that nurse wasn't in the room at the time, I could have bled out. As it was, the nurse WAS in the room, and she pulled that cord and had some crazy number of people in there in seconds, helping me. Ultimately, I didn't get a transfusion, but I was anemic for months afterward which compounded the typical new parent exhaustion. My understanding is that PPH is the number one killer of new mothers, in places where the women have no access to obstetric interventions. I am so glad you avoided PPH this time!
Thank you! He looks SO much like his big brother did as a newborn, it's crazy.
DeleteIt was not fun after birth #1 due to PPH and I'm very, very glad I did not need a transfusion. Glad it worked out well for you, too (aside from the anemia). They were checking on me a lot afterward this time b/c of the previous PPH. I did end up with some clots again but they were much smaller (but still large). Not sure why I am such a bleeder? I've since heard that redheads tend to be more prone to PPH but I'm not sure if that's actually true or just a myth??
Congrats on your beautiful boy!! So glad as I read along that you had such a happy surprise when you got to the hospital and found out you were 8 cm! :)
ReplyDeleteOn the hemorrhage issue, if you have a midwife who is also an NP they generally carry pit with them to give if needed. Just another reason why I encourage having the best medically trained midwife possible when having a home birth!
Thank you! Yes that was crazy.... I wasn't planning on staying home til that late in the game but timing my contractions was not giving a very accurate assessment!
DeleteThe midwives we were considering for our home birth all carried pit... however I've seen how much pit home birth midwives carry with them and also saw how much I needed to get my bleeding under control (and also needed the Cytotec). I'm sure it would have been enough for me to safely transfer to a hospital but I'm just glad there was no transfer needed, no separation needed from my baby and husband!
But yes, for anyone considering home birth, a midwife who can legally carry pit is a must!
Congrats Danielle!!! Yaay!! You had your baby and another natural birth! That's so crazy that your contractions were so spaced out, but you were 8 cm in the hospital, that must've been the best feeling ever! I'm glad to hear you and baby are all doing well : ) Reading your story makes me reminisce on my birthing experience and it kind of (big KIND of) makes me want to do it all over again...maybe in a couple of years, heheh.
ReplyDeleteIt IS an amazing feeling when you get to hold your baby for the first time! Hope you are enjoying mommyhood.... the first year is fleeting... take lots of photos!! :)
Delete