A few months before Max's due date, I started researching natural childbirth to see if it was something I was interested in trying. I have many friends who have done it naturally and been very happy with their experiences. The more I read and researched, the more a natural birth experience was what I wanted. I know it is not for everyone, but I really wanted to try. To prepare, I had Jason and I take a "Birthing From Within" class, and I hired a
doula, to assist with the birth.
I tried all the natural labor inducing techniques to get this baby to come early since my biggest fear was having to be induced, which I worried would put a kink in my natural birth plan, and from my reading and classes I knew that babies come when they are good and ready and while I was very anxious I trusted my body to know the right time. He was just content in there though and looking back I am glad. After my Tuesday (40 week) appt my Dr said she felt "comfortable" with me going until Saturday, but they would want to induce then. I really pushed for them to just break my water and see if I progressed on my own, which she agreed to. I wasn't thrilled about it but it was better then getting started on pitocin and I was hopeful I wouldn't make it that long.
When I say I tried everything this included a lot of spicy foods, maternity massages, 2 walks a day, herbal supplements, things you don't want details on, and it culminated with acupuncture on Wednesday morning. I started having regular 6-8 minute contractions by that evening. They weren't painful but they were the most consistent thing I had experienced so I was excited, but they fizzled out overnight.
We got up the next morning and I was determined to get things going again, so we took a long walk that morning and got home around 10am. That helped get some contractions going but nothing too promising. By noon they were pretty regular 8-10 min contractions that were getting more uncomfortable. I was also bleeding quite a bit, which I took as a good sign that my cervix was thinning. I called my
doula around 2:15pm, and of course one of her other clients was in labor, 3 weeks early :) She gave me the number of her backup and so I called her and she came over around 3:45. At this point I was pretty uncomfortable through the contractions. I LOVED the shower and bath and spent a lot of time in there. My contractions varied from 1 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes apart, and they varied in intensity.
Finally around 7:30pm we decided to head to the hospital to see how I had progressed. I was at 6cm when we got there between 7:45-8pm. I had a great nurse who monitored the baby very quickly and didn't make me have an IV hep block, which I was expecting to have since my Dr was worried about the
seizures after Ollie's birth. I got right into the shower and labored there for a while. She checked me a little later and I was at 7cm, this is when things were starting to get pretty intense. They couldn't get a hold of my Dr, so the on-call doctor came and checked me after a while and said I was 8-9cm. She said my water sack was hardly full (they thought I had been leaking) so she suggested breaking it. I was ok with that since I was so close. Well I'm pretty sure my bag was fully intact because I gushed, and gushed, and gushed with every contraction. When she checked me again at 9pm and I guess the cervix was only at about 8cm...what I went backwards???!??! I felt very discouraged at that point since I was in a lot of pain, and I was tired, and I wanted to be done. Things still progressed quickly though and I was pushing by around 10pm.
Max was born at 10:14pm, 8lbs 2oz, 19 1/2 inches long. I got him out after only 2 long pushes. The Dr. barely made it into the room in time to catch the baby. The urge to push was so strong this time and I was SO much more effective than I was with Ollie because I wasn't numb with an epidural. I was able to breast feed him fairly quickly after the birth and he latched right on. Overall it was a great experience. The nurses and doula said it really couldn't have gone better (besides having my actual Dr deliver). I never once had a desire for an epidural. Although I did wonder if I would be able to do it at one point, but I knew those feelings were normal and that I must be getting close.
I am so glad I hired a doula. Even though she was the back up and we had never met, she was AWESOME. Having someone who knew what they were doing was very helpful. I know that if it had just been us we would have gone to the hospital MUCH earlier and I would not have been as comfortable there as I was at home.
Wow, I have been long winded. I just want to remember details. Here are some pictures.
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| Thursday morning before our walk, ready to get things moving. |
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| Between contractions, leaving for the hospital. |
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| Between contractions, getting close. |
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| Max right after being born, he looks a lot like Ollie did right at first, but almost a whole pound bigger. |
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| So relieved to have my little guy in my arms finally. Jason was awesome by the way, couldn't have done it without him. |
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| My doula, Tracie. REALLY couldn't have done it without her. |
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| Brothers meeting for the first time. Ollie was interested for about 10 seconds and then he just wanted to play with the toys Max brought him :) |
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| First family picture. Probably pretty foretelling of our next year or so...hectic. |
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| Ollie was pretty interested in Max's hearing test. |
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| Hello, my name is Max, I'm new here. |
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| Mmmmm...dark chocolate nuts and chews. Jason got these for me, for all my hard work. |
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| This hat fit a lot better two years ago. |
