the clean version of the birth story

just thought some of you might be interested in a cleaned up version of diedre's birth experience.

many of you know that i had several "false alarms" and now that i've been thru real labor i understand how minor the pain i had in the false alarms were compared to the real thing.

i did have some "bloody show" (i just threw that in there since derek said it first on an earlier post!) so i knew that things were progressing. we went into the hospital in the afternoon on friday and were sent home because i was only 1 cm dialated. the labor slowed down at home for a couple of hours then picked up again. by early evening, contractions were pretty strong and painful.

at one point, i had a contraction that hurt so bad and caught me off guard that it sent me into major sobbing. it was very alarming. well, that was one of what was going to come on strong in the next few hours. i tried going in the shower at home but it offered little release as the body ball was too big to fit in the tub really and i just couldn't get comfortable.

by 10.30ish i was ready to go to the hospital so we made our way in. during the assessment, i was hooked up to the fetal monitor but they let me lie on my side. the contractions i had there were so strong and i had no back massage or heat pads or anything to help. i had some contractions that were literally off the charts during that time. derek and heather were in the room with me and both said that was one of the hardest parts of the experience, to watch me in so much pain and that i had no options but to lay there and rock back and forth with my legs.

i was only 2 cm dialated when they checked so the nurse broke my water to really commit me to laboring. if i had been asked if i wanted her to do that, i don't know that i would have said yes. it was a pretty strange experience, it was alot of really hot fluid gushing out. so i got moved to my birthing room.

from there, i don't really remember too much. i know i tried rocking on the body ball, went in the shower, stood, bent over the bed, and then they had to assess the baby again. the pain was pretty intense and i was tired as it was past midnight. when they assess the baby, i had to lie down, so that was a bad position for contractions. i agreed to use the gas (laughing gas) and it sort of helped, i guess it gave me something to do thru a contraction, but it only really kicked in when the contraction was on its way down again.

from there (i was told by derek) that i only progressed to 4 cm. so after awhile one nurse was offering demerol. i asked how it would affect the baby, and since it wouldn't make him or her groggy after birth, i agreed to it. it really helped me dialate. i went to 9 cm in 40 minutes. i remember moaning and thinking i was so loud, but derek said it was all pretty quiet. i remember that i did not talk much at all during the labor except to ask for massage "the noodle, the noodle, never stop the noodle" i said and also, "never stop massaging my leg." both legs cramped during pushing, the underside of my quads were the worst so i had two people massaging my legs.

pushing seemed to take FOREVER. i remember the dr. saying "ok, here's the push, this will get your baby out. lets meet this baby." but that happened about 10 times probably!!! or more...it was extremely exhausting but eventually, baby came out, posterior (which means spine to spine, largest part of the head comes out first, most painful way to deliver). they flipped her over and said "GIRL!"

they wrapped her up and brought her to my chest where derek and i sobbed and kissed a bunch of times. it was really amazing to see her out and in my arms. they did the quick checks and derek cut her cord and gave her back to me wrapped in a blanket. she was already rooting, so i tried feeding her and she had a perfect latch. it was amazing.

the things that i do remember are having derek right by my side throughout it. i did not want him to leave my side for anything, so when i would ask in a little voice "noodle" or "massage my leg" or "ice" he would delegate out the requests. i remember heather dishing out ice to me. i remember derek's dad standing in the corner behind my left shoulder. and derek's mom massaging my leg and praying for me in my ear that i could get through all this.

it was really great to look up (i had my eyes closed mostly throughout) and see my dr. with a smile on his face encouraging me that i could do it. i didn't realize how much i appreciated him doing that until i saw him the next day and was flooded with thankfulness. i asked him the day after why he was there the whole time because the nurses had said he would only come in the last 15 minutes to catch the baby. he said he didn't want to miss the delivery since he never knows how long it might take. i'm really glad he was there.