I had a doctors appointment on Wednesday morning (Aug 26). During the appointment I was told that I was dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced. My doctor decided to help me along with some cervical massage (very uncomfortable but not painful) and gave me strict orders to go far a walk until I started feeling contractions immediately following my appointment. If that didn't work, I was directed to have some private one on one time with Brandon, if you catch my drift.
So I drove home and picked up Brandon's Grandma and Ashley. We stopped to get some lunch and then went to a park to eat and play. I figured playing at the park was just as good as walking plus it would be the last opportunity for Ashley and I to get out for a while. I started feeling regular contractions around 1:30 while we were at the park.
My contractions started out 5 to 8 minutes apart and stayed that way for quite a while. Labor came on slow, my contractions were uncomfortable, but not painful for several hours of my labor. So I puttered around the house. I took a shower and did my hair (not that it looks like it in any of the pictures), did a load of laundry, finished packing a few last minute things, basically just tried to have the house as caught up as possible.
Brandon came home from school as soon as he finished class and made arrangements to miss school the next day. He ran a few errands, I can't remember what all of them were, I just remember thinking to myself, I wish Brandon would hurry and get back.
As my labor progressed into the evening and contractions started getting harder, I remember wanting privacy. I know that isn't really surprising to people who know me really well, I am a private person and appreciate my space, so why would I be any different with labor. I mostly stayed in my bedroom. I was really glad when 8:00 came around and it was time to put Ashley to bed. I snuggled with her and read her stories and felt bad that I wouldn't be around to snuggle her for while, and that when I did finally come home, I still wouldn't be able to fully take care of her.
Once Ashley was settled, Brandon and I retreated to our room. That was actually one of my favorite parts of labor, being alone with Brandon. I felt really calm and relaxed and we just visited in between contractions like we often do just before we go to bed. After about 10 hours of laboring at home, labor started to change and became a lot more intense. That was the cue my doctor told me would let us know it was time to go to the hospital. I worked through a few more contractions and then we headed to the hospital.
Apparently a lot of women show up at labor and delivery thinking that they are in labor when they are actually not. That causes the front staff to be skeptical when you show up and say, "Hey, I'm in labor!" I would have thought it would be quite obvious that I was in labor, but according to Brandon the staff took their dear sweet time checking me in. I had a "prescription" from my doctor that she had given me at my appointment directing the staff to put me directly into a delivery room instead of into triage. I'm not sure what their reasons were, but they put me in triage anyway. After my cervix was checked (I was dilated to an 8), the nurse that checked me walked out of the room to a group of people and announced that I was an 8. Like it was any surprise, I was obviously in hard labor. Women must not deliver naturally very often.
I was pretty wiped out by the time we got to the hospital. It was after 11:30 pm and I was tired. I slept in between contractions. Toward the end of labor, Brandon and I decided to have the doctor break my water to help move things along since there was really no risk that I would be in labor for 18 more hours. (18 hours after your water has broken the baby is at risk for infection, so it becomes necessary to move labor along artificially if your body doesn't do it naturally.) I think once my water was broken there really was no break between contractions and I was beginning to be concerned that I could do it. I really looked forward to resting between contractions, and when that was no longer an option, lets just say it was really hard and I began losing confidence. Luckily it wasn't long at all before it was time to push. Pushing was difficult. I had trouble gaining enough composure to actually push, and it didn't relieve the pain of the contraction as promised. I thought the contractions hurt just as bad while pushing as they did not pushing. I just remember my doctor telling me that if I would just push that it would be over soon. And I remember Brandon telling me that I could it. What option did I have, I pushed. So, after 20 - 25 minutes of pushing Cody Ford was born at 1:46 am. He weighed 8lbs 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. I remember them putting him on my tummy while they wiped him off and feeling how wiggly and alert he was.
My after thoughts on labor are that it went as smoothly as I had hoped it would. I had no medication to augment labor or for pain management. I did tear slightly, but nothing compared to how much I tore with Ashley, which is interesting because she was significantly smaller at 6 lbs 13 ounces. I was numbed to have my tear stitched up. I did have an IV while I was in the hospital, but I was so wiped out that I think I needed it. I was really good about drinking at home, but I still needed the IV. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor for the 2 hours of labor I did at the hospital. Originally I had planned on only being monitored for 15 minutes out of each hour (the minimum requirement when things are going smoothly) so that I would be free to move through contractions. However, I wasn't interested in moving, I was interested in sleeping, and being on the monitor didn't interfere with that. so we opted to just stay hooked up. I did have my water broken, but not until the very end and I think it worked out to my benefit. I also had pitocin after Cody was born to help my uterus contract down quickly so I didn't hemorrhage. Overall, I feel like I had the perfect blend of natural child birth and a few minor interventions for Brandon and I, which is great because Brandon and I spent a lot of time (we're talking months) negotiating what we were and were not ok with. Brandon was fantastic, by the way. He was exactly what I needed. He held my hand (sometimes both), stroked my hair, gave me ice, and most importantly he was quiet. He let me do what I had to in order to birth our son and didn't say annoying things like, "Just relax" or "Not so loud." His physical presence gave me the reassurance I needed to get the job done.
I think my doctor made a big difference too. I actually switched doctors to Dr. Ruiz-Leon part way through, and I am so glad I did. She was awesome! The nurse, Carol, that took care of me during labor and through the night after I had Cody was awesome too. She told me the day after I had him that she birthed both of her babies natural too and was asking me if I was happy with my experience.
The most asked question has been would I do a natural labor again. If you had asked me that shortly after Cody was born, I would have told you no. Labor is hard work! It is not something you can go into half hearted. It doesn't matter what techniques you have to help you work through contractions, they still hurt, a lot. Mine was a very loud, very VOCAL labor. But for me the benefits outweighed all of that, so yes, I would do it again. Everything post birth has been so much better for me this time around. There are several factors that play into it, the fact that it is my second baby, I took better care of my body during this pregnancy, etc, but I really feel like doing a labor free of drugs played a big role in how quickly my body has recovered. Cody was extremely alert and started breastfeeding right away with no problems at all, what a change from Ashley.
Would Brandon do it again? He isn't making a commitment either way, partially because he doesn't want to commit to another baby ;P. He feels like it is inhumane for a woman to have to go through that. But he also isn't saying that it was a horrible experience and he will never do that again, so for those of you who know Brandon well, you can take that for what it's worth.
Would I recommend you try a natural labor? I think that depends entirely on you. If that is something you are interested in, I would say do a lot of reading and get a realistic idea of what natural labor really entails. It is different for everyone. I only had a few hours of hard labor, some women have several. There are definitely a lot of benefits to consider. I am absolutely an advocate of natural labor, but I also think it is a really personal decision that needs to be agreed upon between you, your spouse and your doctor. If all three of you are not on the same page you are setting yourself up for failure. Sometimes that means finding another doctor. And as a side note, nobody else outside of the three people mentioned should have any say what so ever, be it mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, etc. The job of those people is to keep their opinions to themselves and recognize that you are adults capable of making your own informed decisions.
I think most importantly you should recognize that labor does not always go as planned. I do feel like birth is over medicalized (I know that's not a word) and that most interventions are unnecessary and are done for convenience. However, medicine is a wonderful thing. There are situations where interventions are necessary and helpful. Don't be so wrapped up in a natural birth that you don't consider yours may become a situation where medicine is needed. Do talk to your doctor before hand and do become informed about those kinds of situations so that when you and your spouse have to make a decision, you know which choice to make and you can feel good about it, even if it isn't what you hoped for. With that, here are pictures of Cody:
