The first I received is from Jacquelyn, the wife of an old high school friend. She's an extended breastfeeder, a co-sleeper, a cloth diaperer and what seems to be an amazing mama.
Her story of Noah's birth is done in time line form and was written just the morning after the birth, while all the details were still fresh in her mind.
Read and enjoy. If you'd like, send me your birth story here.
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| Jacquelyn & Noah (almost a year old) |
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| Brand new baby Noah |
Sept 23rd (Weds)
6am: Bloody show
10am: Continued bloody show, increased in blood and some cramps like menstruation. Called midwives to ask if everything sounds good. Midwives said it sounds great, and we'll probably see our baby within 3 days.
11pm: Laying in bed on my laptop, got some light contractions, wasn't even sure if they counted as contractions but timed them anyway. they were around 7-10 mins apart lasting about 45 seconds.1130pm: Went into living room to tell Jay what was going on. I sat on the birth ball to help with pain and contractions started to increase.
Sept 24th (Thursday)
1230am: Contractions still getting worse, having to slightly breathe through them. Sitting on ball, felt like baby dropped really hard into my cervix in the middle of the contraction, and the pain of the contraction increased 10x!! I wanted to cry it hurt so bad out of no where! Then, I felt a little trickle. My water broke!!!
1245am: Called Midwives to ask what to do. Wasn't even sure if my water had actually broken or i peed myself cause of the pain of last contraction. She told me to wait it out till contractions were 3-5 min apart for an hour. unless the pain is too unbearable.
100am: Hopped into shower, hot water felt amazing on my belly, couldnt find a good position to stand/sit/kneel in. Started to feel nauseas and like I had to poo really bad. Jay left the bathroom and puking and pooping ensued. I told Jay to pack his stuff and were going to the hospital. I didnt know, and still dont know why I decided right then was when we should leave for the hospital, but I'm glad we left when we did.
130am: Load up car and left home.. got gas and and was having some strong contractions in the car. Needed Jay to stroke my arm gently, which helped a lot, and I breathed through them. The pain at this point wasn't unbearable, just uncomfortable still.
2am: Arrive at hospital, cant make it to the front door without having 3 contractions. Leaning on Jay and doing the "slow dance" helped, but the pain was definitely increasing with each contraction. Male nurse grabs wheelchair for me and helps us get inside. I go to the 8th floor and get asked a bunch of questions, then they brought me into triage. I got hooked up to the monitors. I sat there for about an hour getting asked questions, filling out paper work and stuff. My back hurt sooo bad cause of the way she had me sitting.
3am: At that point, I started asking about pain meds. I knew I didn't want an epidural, but the pain of each contraction was getting bad. Usually theres a break in pain between contractions, but mine were coming every 2-3 mins without a break. I got an IV hooked up to me for fliuds, and got checked for how dilated I was by the midwife. I was 4 cm!!! They told me that my water was a tad green and the baby might have pooped in the womb. They told me they were going to keep me there and we went and found my delivery room!
4am: Sat in delivery room and worked through a bunch of contractions.
430am: I asked to get drugs, and which the midwife prefers, and she suggested Stadol. I haven't done any research at all on pain meds, thinking I wouldnt use any, so I trusted her and got some injected into my IV. It took about a minute for it to get to me and I started feeling like I was buzzed/going under anesthesia. I fell asleep then for about an hour.
530am: Woke up from Stadol induced sleep with an enormous amount of pain. I wanted to cry it hurt so bad!! I pressed the Nurse button and someone came in. I asked to be checked for how dilated I was. I got checked and was 9cm!!! I slept through transition!! Midwife told me to turn over to my left side, and the lip of the last cm will be gone soon. As soon as my next contraction started my body wanted to push. It just started pushing. I pressed the Nurse button again and told the midwife my body is pushing, I need to push! By now, the Stadol has worn off and I am back to reality 100%. Pushing starts. Now, pushing didnt really hurt. When a contraction came, it just felt like I needed to poop really bad, and I would bear down as if I was doing exactly that. I could feel him lowering deeper and deeper into my cervix. I did about 6 sets of 3 pushes.
6am: Midwife got all of her catching things ready, and I saw in the little mirror his hair sticking out on the top of his head. It was awesome. I watched Jay's reaction to everything. The midwives asked if I wanted the mirror there the whole time I was pushing and I said no. I was pushing so hard I doubt I would be able to keep my head up and eyes open, haha. I could feel Noah stretching me out. It was hard to sit and wait between contractions, even if the were only a minute or 2 apart. I held a steady pressure on him so he didnt slip back in. The whole 2 steps forward 1 step back thing kinda sucks. The burning sensation of having him crown was very painful.
6:04am: I could feel his nose coming through and that was all the inspiration I needed to push as hard as I could ever push. The midwife told me to listen carefully and go slow. His cord was wrapped around his neck twice, but she got it undone quickly and it wasn't an issue. Then his head popped out, she told me one more strong push and his shoulders will be out! That was such a strange/amazing feeling. I felt a gush of fluid and his shoulders turning as he slipped out and I looked down and saw my amazing baby between my legs. I heard little whimper cries. I held his little hand as the midwife was cutting the cord. They took him over to the bassinet and they got him breathing well and suctioned the fluid out of his nose and mouth. They rubbed him down and brought him over to me. I had my bare chest out in the open for him to lay on, and I stroked his little hand and foot and face. He was adorable. Having to get stitched up sucked. I didnt tear terribly, just a 1st degree tear on my labia and minor fissure tears along the sides.
Noah was born at 6:04 am September 24th weighing in a 8 lbs 6 oz.
My labor and delivery was in total 7 hours! It was such an amazing experience, even though you hear that all the time, it is so true. There is nothing like having a little person that depends 100% on you and your partner, and is half you and and half of them. The love is indescribable.
