My Birth Story with
Lily
My due date
was December 31, 2014. On December 29, I had my doctor, Dr. Steven Harter,
Sweep my membranes in order to induce labor naturally. I was already 3 cm
dilated and 80% effaced AND NOT IN LABOR. I started having contractions
afterwards but they died off after a few hours. That was annoying. I was ready
to be done being pregnant and I just wanted to hold my little girl.
Every day
after my due date I was hoping to go into labor. I was going to be induced on
January 7th (41 weeks) and really did not want that to happen. I
wanted a natural water birth and, after doing my research, I knew that if you
get induced, your chances of having complications and an emergency c-section
increased substantially. After suffering one miscarriage I really wanted my
body to be able to do what it was designed to do all on it’s own.
On Sunday,
January 4th, my back was killing me (thanks to enormous balls of fat
attached to my chest) and just other fun pregnancy pains. Also, my daughter
really liked to get right on top of my sciatica. She was sweet like that.
Anyway… because of all of these FUN pains, I decided to get in the tub. I
remember my Doula (Shanna who was AMAZING) telling me about how it is good to
talk to your baby and reassure them. So I did. I was sitting in my nice warm,
relaxing, lavender salt bath and started talking to Lily. “Everything is going
to be fine.” “We can do this.” “We both know what we need to do.” “You are
coming to a loving home and two awesome parents.” “Labor is going to be easy
and it is going to be fast because we know what to do.” “Together we can do
this.” “I can’t wait to meet you.” “I can’t wait to hold you.” “You are ready,
it is time for you to come out and meet us now.” “You are going to be ok.” I sat
and talked to Lily for about two hours in that tub. The amazing thing was (and
no I don’t believe this was a coincidence) after about 30 minutes of talking to
her, I started having contractions. They were uncomfortable, some were more
intense than others, but they weren’t OH MY GOSH I AM IN LABOR intense.
I was told
by Shanna that when there are two on top on each other and then a while before
another one, that was my body trying to move the baby into place. So she had me
do different things like side lunges on the stairs to help open my hips, laying
on my side with one leg up to my chest (lets be honest that didn’t happen so I
got it as high as I could). I walked the stairs. I danced. And then I went to
bed after a while because I was convinced the contractions would stop like they
did after my last doctor’s appointment.
Monday,
January 5th, 1:00am. Excuse the language but OH MY HELL! I woke up
to the worst contractions I had felt thus far. I felt like my uterus was trying
to cave in on itself! I couldn’t lie down, I couldn’t sit. Walking was a
challenge due to the fact I wanted to curl up in a ball (I tried, it wasn’t
pleasant). The only thing that help at all was walking, leaning against the
bathroom counter, leaning over the bed, swaying, and alternating that with
getting on all fours and just trying to rock back and forth. I started timing
myself (my wonderful husband somehow was able to sleep through all the groans
and I didn’t wake him because again, I was convinced it was going to go away. I
wanted to wait an hour to make sure this was real before I woke him up.
However, ever since I woke up at 1:00, my contractions were every 3 minutes
apart.
My plan was
to labor mostly at home. The longer you labor at home the least amount of
interventions are possible when you do go to the hospital. I was going to have
Shanna come to my house while I labored. Yeah… that didn’t happen. After 20
minutes I woke up Sean (my husband) and told him I think I was in labor for
real this time. He wanted to go to the hospital right then. I didn’t. I wanted
to stay at home as long as possible. I am not a fan of hospitals. After talking
to Shanna she said if I felt comfortable waiting to wait, but if I felt like I
needed to go to the hospital to go. OH I should mention… we live 35 minutes
away from my hospital because it is the only one in town that allows water
births and my doctor is THE BEST and delivers there so it was worth the drive
in my opinion. I told her I wanted to wait an hour. At this point it is 1:30
am. At 1:40, (a whole 10 minutes later!) I called Shanna and said that I need
to go to the hospital and she can just meet us there since she lived closer to
it.
My mom was
staying with us to help out with the baby. Between contractions I went to her
room, pretty much slammed the door open, and said, “I’m in labor, we’re going
to the hospital.” Then I walked out to get on the floor for another
contraction.
Sean got
our bags and we got in the car. My poor husband. Between contractions I was
yelling at him to drive faster because he was pissing me off by going the speed
limit. I can’t remember exactly the things I said to him except when I
screamed, “DRIVE FASTER! NO COP IS GOING TO GIVE YOU A TICKET WHEN YOUR WIFE IS
IN LABOR AND I’M NOT HAVING THIS BABY IN THE CAR!”
Once we
were at the hospital (2:00 am), they took me in the back to check me to “make
sure you are really in labor.” My response was “I AM IN LABOR YOU ARE KEEPING
ME.” At this point the contractions were ever 2.5 minutes apart. I got on the
bed to get hooked up to the machine and the nurse realized she doesn’t have the
cords for it and had to go find some. I’m sure she was only gone a few minutes
but it seemed like an eternity! Finally she came back and hooked me up. I had
to be monitored for 20 minutes I think. Remember me saying how lying down was
not comfortable? Yeah those 20 minutes sucked. She finally said, “Well, you are
only 4 cm but 100% effaced. I would say that you are in labor.” No really you
think?! Was running through my mind but I was trying to be nice to the nurse so
I refrained from saying that out loud.
FINALLY, I
was able to go to my room and Shanna was there to greet us. I walked into the
nurses not being able to figure out how to get the water hooked up to the tub
and then not being able to figure out the temperature. I was so frustrated I
kept thinking they aren’t going to figure it out and I won’t be able to get in
the water! (I really like water and with so many benefits of a water birth that
was what I wanted). Shanna could tell I was about to lose it so she said we
needed to go on a walk to get out of the room. We walked around the little area
and then I had to go to the bathroom… really bad. I had to stop during the
contractions and lean against the wall because I couldn’t walk. Shanna started
to do this AMAZING thing where she would squeeze my hips during a contraction
and it felt so much better!!
We got back
to the room (they fixed the tub.. ish) and I went into the bathroom and did my
business while also throwing up. I’m a multitasker. Sitting down was possibly
the most uncomfortable and painful position for me during contractions. I had
to keep telling my self that it would end soon and to just take it one
contraction at a time. As soon as I got out all I wanted was to get in the tub.
They had tubs that have doors on them but in order to open they would have to
drain a bunch of water. Luckily my husband is strong enough to help lift the
baby whale.. I mean me.. into the tub. Once I was in I loved it. The
contractions were still painful of course but I was able to kind of crouch and
lean against the side of the tub and sway my hips. It helped. Plus the water
was warm so it felt nice. I had to keep getting out to go to the bathroom, and
throw up (a baby was moving down against my insides I’m not weird). I kept
alternating between the tub and walking around the room and having my husband
and Shanna squeeze my hips during contractions. During each one Shanna kept
reminding me to think about Lily moving down and coming out. Down and out, down
and out, down and out, was all I could think about during the contractions to
stay focused.
The
contractions were coming right on top of each other. There was ONLY one time
when I told my husband that I wanted an epidural. It was too intense and I had
only been in labor for a little so there was no way I was suppose to push yet
even though I felt like it. He (being an awesome husband and I made him promise
to do this) said, “you can do this. You don’t need the medicine you can do
this. You are strong.” When I got out I asked Shanna, “when are they going to
see if I should push because I really want to.” She told me if I feel like I need to push then
push and the nurse would check me. She did and I was 9.5 cm dilated!!!! Once I
heard that I remember thinking, “well that makes sense. I can totally do this!”
I then
realized that Dr. Harter was not there yet. I asked where he was and they told
me he was on his way. I think I might have looked like I was probably going to
cry because then Shanna came over to me and kept reassuring me, “don’t think
about Dr. Harter. If you need to push, then push. Your body knows what to do
and you can do this.” She was great. She was so calm and reassuring that I
didn’t get scared or nervous. She was able to make sure I knew that everything
that was happening was normal and that I can do it.
After I
don’t know how long, Dr. Harter came in. I could feel Lily crowning. That was
when my water broke. It was a weird feeling. I was thinking she was going to be
born in her sac since it hadn’t broke yet and I could already feel her. Harter
was so calm and was making conversation with all of us and asked what her name
was going to be. I said Lily and he came up with her nickname saying she was a
Water Lily. After a little I completely lost track of all time and what was
going on around me. When a contraction came I pushed. When it stopped I would
just lay there preparing for the next one. I was oblivious to everything else.
It was my baby and I working together, and that was all I could think about.
Harter was getting prepared I guess and then he said I could touch her head if
I wanted to. I was able to feel all her thick hair on her head and that was
able to give me the motivation I needed to push harder than I had ever pushed to
this point. It seemed to go by so fast. I pushed for 45 minutes total and then
at 5:20 am everyone was saying to open my eyes and look down and I was able to
see Lily come up out on the water and Dr. Harter immediately placed her on my
chest. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe my baby girl was finally here and I
couldn’t believe that I DID IT!!! Lily was just staring up at me with her big
beautiful eyes and we just stared at each other. It was surreal. I was crying,
my mom was crying, I think Sean was a bit emotional, Shanna and Amy (the
student doula) kept saying how amazing I was and that it was inspirational and
beautiful. It was an emotional room.
The funny
part is as she was coming out of the water and being placed on my chest
everyone was saying “oh my gosh that is a big baby.” It turns out Lily was 9lbs
3oz, 20.5 inches long. I was amazed! I JUST GAVE BIRTH TO AN OVER 9 LBS BABY
WITH NO DRUGS! AND IT ONLY TOOK MY 4ish HOURS!!!
They had to
take Lily to get some meconium out of her lungs (she swallowed a little but was
still able to breath). While my husband stayed with Lily, Shanna stayed with
while I got a few stitches. She kept me informed on what they were doing with
Lily and why so that I wouldn’t be worried. I was shaking like crazy but I was again
reassured that that was completely normal. I finally got to hold my daughter
again and it was the most amazing feeling to finally be holding her. We had
waited 2 years and suffered 1 miscarriage to finally get our little miracle.
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