Jack's Birth Story

I know it's not Wednesday- but I wanted to get some more good birth stories out there- so here is an extra one!

This is a great hospital natural birth of a first child by a determined mom.  Next week we will have the birth of his sister!  I love how this story shows that a determined strong mother can have a natural hospital birth if she speaks up and sticks with it.


Enjoy!

I went to the doctor on Friday and at 40 wks, 2 days I was dialated to 3 cm, 50% effaced and -2 station.  The doctor stripped my membranes during the exam which wasn’t pleasant but not too painful either. 

At about 9:45 that evening I began having contractions that were 20 minutes apart.  I wasn’t too concerned because that had been happening to me all week.  I’d have an episode of regular contractions for a few hours and then they’d taper off.  Not thinking I was in labor, I went to bed and slept fitfully.

I couldn’t take being in bed any longer and got up about 3:45.  My contractions picked up to 10 minutes apart.  Jason was a bit skeptical when I told him I was in labor.  We got up and did some last minute preparations for the hospital, packed the car, showered, etc.  We called my mom (she’s training to become a doula) and I continued to labor at home.  Jason and I walked around the cul-de-sac and I did lots of swaying and “labor dancing” to alleviate my pain.  By 5:00 my contractions were 5 minutes apart. 

My mom arrived around 6 and we left for the hospital around 6:30.  Let me say that the drive was torture!  Having to sit still through the contractions was really difficult and made the pain much worse!  When we arrived at the hospital my BP was elevated in triage so they had me lay down which was no fun either.  When the nurse checked me at about 7:15 I was 4-5 cm, 90% effaced.

They got me settled into my LDR room and I continued to labor med free.  The rocking chair and warm compresses were my best friends!  A little tip… if you’re planning natural child birth then STAY OUT OF BED!  The pain was so much better when I was moving around.

The doctor (not mine as it was a Saturday and he wasn’t on call) came to check me at 9 and I was a “loose 5”.  He wanted to break my bag of waters but I convinced him to wait another hour.  He came in about 10:15 and I was now a 6, again wanted to break my water and I convinced him to wait one more hour to see how I progressed.  Well, as I was moving back to the rocker from the bed after being checked, my water broke on its own!  Yay!  About 20 minutes later I began to feel lots of pressure and had the nurse check me.  I was an 8!  20 minutes later, I was complete.  That transition business is no joke.  I went from 6 -10 in 40 minutes… fast and furious! 

I pushed through 4 contractions and Jack came right out!  I was given a small episiotomy as I was told I was tearing toward my urethra.  Other than that, everything went according to my wishes and the whole experience couldn’t have been better.  Jack was born a big 8 lbs, 14 oz, 19 ½ inches long.

Note:  I wrote this birth story before I was part of the “birthing community”.  Now that I look back on Jack’s birth I’m frustrated about how much I had to fight to have the birth I wanted.  Praise the Lord that I’m so bull-headed.  I don’t know that every woman could have the kind of birth I had in the facility in which I delivered.  It took a lot of saying “no”, over and over, and over again.  About a year after Jack was born I decided to become a doula and am so glad to have had my eyes opened!  -K