This pregnancy was much easier than last time, up until about 30 weeks anyway. At that point, I started to get very uncomfortable and with a somewhat busy schedule and an even more busy toddler, I was exhausted every day. By the end of the pregnancy I hardly slept and I was in a lot of discomfort.
One word to describe the entire birth experience? Perfect.
For posterity's sake (and my own) here is the birth story I posted on BabyCenter:
Levi arrived on May 18th at 3:07 pm after an amazing NUCB experience. He weighed in at 11 pounds exactly and was 22 inches long.
A little background: with my first DS, I was induced due to his size. (Btw, I did not have GD!) I was induced with cytotec and pitocin, had an epidural and had a pretty bad 3rd degree tear. He ended up being 10 lbs 15 oz. This time around I still did not have GD (I guess I just grow big boys!) but baby Levi was measuring big again and I wanted to have a NUCB with him.
On Tues May 10th I had my 39 wk appt with my MW. I was 1.5 cm dilated, and my cervix was very soft. She stripped my membranes in hopes that that might start something in the next couple of days. Later that day after DTD, a nap and a nice long walk, contractions started. They were consistently about 8 min apart but they never got any stronger or closer together although they were uncomfortable. They continued through Wednesday and Thursday and at some point I did have some bloody show and lost my mucus plug. Early Friday morning around 2:00 am the contractions suddenly became a lot more uncomfortable and started coming more frequently. However, after a few hours they suddenly stopped. The contractions did start again and continue over the weekend but by that point I was so used to them that I hardly even noticed them. I also was very frustrated!!
On Tuesday May 17th I had my 40 wk appt with my MW. I was almost 3 cm dilated by this point – at least those contractions were doing something! She swept my membranes again just for good measure then we talked about our options for getting this baby OUT! We knew that the longer we went past my due date the less chance I had of having him vaginally. We decided that we would come back early the next morning and my MW would break my water which would hopefully kick my body completely into gear.
Overnight I was having contractions 10 minutes apart and was still having them when we came into the hospital on Wednesday May 18th at 6:00 am. I went through all of the admission questions, refused routine IV placement, had the mandatory fetal monitoring and around 8:30 am finally saw our MW. She checked me and said I was 4 cm. She broke my water, which was difficult with Levi’s big ol’ noggin there and then was 4.5 cm. DH and I walked around in the hallways and I bounced and swayed on the birthing ball for a while. By this time the contractions were getting a little more painful. We went back out in the hallways and walked some more. By this time I actually had to stop and squat through the contractions, hanging onto the railing on the wall. We called our doula and asked her to come in since we knew I was now in active labor.
At 12:30 pm my MW checked me and I was almost 6 cm so we knew this was the real deal and I wouldn’t need any pitocin since my body was doing this all on its own! Our doula arrived and we decided I should hop into the tub so I could labor through transition in the water. At first the contractions slowed down a bit because I was so relaxed in the warm water. However, after a few contractions I could feel them getting more and more intense. I was not keeping track of time but at some point I remember that it did not feel good anymore when DH massaged my shoulders and shortly after that I threw up the jello I had been eating all morning. After that, the contractions became very intense and it was becoming extremely difficult to relax and breathe through each contraction. Our doula kept having me check to make sure I couldn’t feel Levi’s head. I was worried about getting out of the comfort of the tub too soon, so even when I thought I might be feeling the start of needing to push I waited a couple of contractions just to be sure. At this point, our doula told me I had to get out of the tub because she could tell I was close. As soon as I stood up, I suddenly felt the strong urge to push. However, because of the way I was sitting/squatting in the tub, my feet were asleep! We had to wait through a couple of contractions for feeling to come back into my feet during which my husband and doula coached me not to push to keep Levi safe (NOT easy!).
My MW came and told us I needed to get out of the tub and I just kept saying “He’s coming! He’s coming!” over and over as I somehow hobbled to the bed. DH told me to get on hands and knees on the bed so I did (I couldn’t really get in any other position at the moment!) and I started involuntarily pushing with the next contraction. My MW checked me and told me Levi had “lots of room” (which was very reassuring) and I started pushing when I felt the urge. Pushing felt SO GOOD compared to the contractions I had just been having that I started feeling giddy and making goofy comments. Within minutes Levi’s head crowned and was out. Then, because of the position I was in, it seemed like he might be stuck. I heard my midwife say “shoulder dystocia” and then the room got kind of frantic. Someone said to flip me over, but because I knew what “shoulder dystocia” is and what interventions that might mean, I somehow managed to turn over all by myself, accidentally kicking the OB, who was there on standby, in the process. With the next contraction they told me to push as hard as I could, someone pushed on my belly and out he came! (It ended up that he was not stuck, it just was the position he was in when I was on hands and knees.)
Less than 10 minutes of pushing, only a small 1st degree tear that required far fewer stitches than with my other DS. Levi latched on only minutes after birth and has been nursing great ever since! The recovery with this birth as compared to my previous has been like night and day. I felt like I could conquer the world after giving birth to an 11 lb baby without any pain medication. Even almost 2 wks afterward, I hardly believe that my NUCB actually happened and that it went so perfectly. It never would have happened without our doula and my DH who made an amazing team, coaching me through contractions, encouraging me, reassuring me, and reminding me that women were designed to have babies and I could do this! I will never go through another birth experience without a doula, and I am excited to plan for another NUCB with our next child…which will hopefully not be for a few years!
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