My 3rd little girl made her way Earth side last week, right at 40 weeks. While it was another very healthy and uneventful pregnancy, I was far more uncomfortable in the final few weeks than I was with my first two. I'm a firm believer in waiting for babies to come when they're ready, but waiting this time was tough. My hips and my lower stomach muscles were in constant pain. I'm glad I held out though, and didn't take my midwife's offer to sweep my membranes in an attempt to jump start things, the week before. Natural deliveries are an intensely beautiful experience, and I am so thankful I got to have another one. Here is our story:
I woke up Thursday morning, the day before my estimated due date, to very regular but fairly mild contractions. I spent about a half hour timing them on my phone. They were already coming every 5-7 minutes, but didn't feel very strong yet, so I knew we likely had plenty of time. Then I tried to distract myself by going about our normal morning routine. I made the girls crepes for breakfast and picked up the house.
Late in the morning my husband called to check on me and I told him I was having contractions but that I didn't think baby would actually make her appearance until that night or the next morning (I tend to have a pretty long early stage of labor). He decided to finish up what he was working on and head home just in case, since it's almost an hour to drive home and then an hour back to the hospital.
As the day went on, my contractions got a little stronger but no closer together. I wasn't sure if I was actually in labor and progressing or if it was going to fizzle out at some point. My previous labor was kind of weird. My contractions never got on a regular rhythm and were almost painless until the last 30 minutes. Since we live so far from the hospital, we decided to call my mom early that evening to come stay with the girls and head to the hospital to see if I was actually dilating.
We got to the hospital around 7pm and I was at 3cm. The nurse told us to go walk for an hour and then come back to see if I was making progress. When we came back, I was at almost 4cm. They wanted to send us home at that point because things seemed to be progressing slowly, but since we live so far away, we opted to stay for another couple hours to see if things picked up. By 11pm my contractions had become noticeably stronger, but I wasn't making any progress, so we decided to head to my mother in law's house to get some rest, but still be close to the hospital.
As soon as we got to her house, I climbed in the bathtub and tried to relax for awhile. My contractions slowed down a little. They were still stronger than they were that morning, but had spaced out to 10-15 minutes apart, so I decided to lay down and try to nap for awhile. I managed to doze in and out for a few hours and woke up starving at about 6am.
I woke up my husband and asked if he would take me to get some breakfast and then go walk with me somewhere to see if things were going to pick back up. While waiting for my breakfast sandwich, my contractions picked back up, much stronger than the day before. They were still about 10-15 minutes apart but were becoming really hard to walk or talk through.
We spent about an hour walking around Walmart since it was too cold to walk around outside, and then headed back to my mother in law's house to relax and time contractions for awhile. While we were there my contractions finally started getting closer together again, about 5-7 minutes. Around noon, my husband was hungry so we went out to get him a sandwich and myself a smoothie. While we were out things started to get more intense, so we decided to head back to the hospital to see if I was making any progress.
We checked in around 2pm and I was only at 5cm. I was starting to feel really discouraged that I was making such slow progress, especially considering how intense my contractions were getting. I kept reminding myself though that with both my previous labors, the first few centimeters went really slow too, but the second half went pretty quick. They were still iffy about whether or not to admit me, when baby started having some heart decels with my contractions, and it was finally decided that I was staying.
They got me into a delivery room around 4pm. Finally being in a private room where I could relax and have some space to move, things really picked up. The doctor came in a checked me at about 5:40pm and said I was at 7cm and that my water had just ruptured. I told him the end tends to go fast for me, so to please not go too far, I had a feeling she would be here soon.
I had three of the most insanely intense contractions right on top of each other and then I felt the fetal ejection reflex kicking in. I told my nurse I thought I was complete and that my body was pushing for me. She checked me and said I was, and then ran out the door to grab the doctor, who was still standing outside my door. I let my body do the work and delivered her head fairly easily, but then her shoulders got stuck. They were worried about her pulse rate, so I had to actually push this time. It was probably the most intense few minutes of my life, but we finally got her shoulders out. Her official time of birth was 5:56pm.
Unfortunately her pulse rate was really low and she was barely breathing, so we didn't get to do delayed cord clamping, and instead of being placed directly on my chest, the pediatrician had to work on her for a few minutes. It was absolutely terrifying being stuck on my bed while they took her across the room where I couldn't see what was going on. I kept asking my husband if she was okay, all I wanted was for her to be safe and in my arms.
After just a few minutes though, they had her crying and breathing well and brought her back to me. As soon as she was tucked in on my chest, her vitals all started to stabilize. She was super bruised up from being stuck, but still the most beautiful baby. I was so relieved that she was okay and finally in my arms.
Over the next 24 hours, her bruising faded and her vitals stayed perfect, so we didn't have to spend any extra time in the hospital. The morning after she was born, my mom brought the girls to meet her. They fell in love immediately.
While the first few minutes after her delivery were really scary, overall it was another beautiful experience. There's nothing that compares to the endorphin rush you get after a natural delivery. I'm in awe of what I'm capable of and I feel so lucky to have been blessed with three sweet beautiful little girls.
Life is beautiful!
Follow me on:
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Twitter
I woke up Thursday morning, the day before my estimated due date, to very regular but fairly mild contractions. I spent about a half hour timing them on my phone. They were already coming every 5-7 minutes, but didn't feel very strong yet, so I knew we likely had plenty of time. Then I tried to distract myself by going about our normal morning routine. I made the girls crepes for breakfast and picked up the house.
Late in the morning my husband called to check on me and I told him I was having contractions but that I didn't think baby would actually make her appearance until that night or the next morning (I tend to have a pretty long early stage of labor). He decided to finish up what he was working on and head home just in case, since it's almost an hour to drive home and then an hour back to the hospital.
As the day went on, my contractions got a little stronger but no closer together. I wasn't sure if I was actually in labor and progressing or if it was going to fizzle out at some point. My previous labor was kind of weird. My contractions never got on a regular rhythm and were almost painless until the last 30 minutes. Since we live so far from the hospital, we decided to call my mom early that evening to come stay with the girls and head to the hospital to see if I was actually dilating.
We got to the hospital around 7pm and I was at 3cm. The nurse told us to go walk for an hour and then come back to see if I was making progress. When we came back, I was at almost 4cm. They wanted to send us home at that point because things seemed to be progressing slowly, but since we live so far away, we opted to stay for another couple hours to see if things picked up. By 11pm my contractions had become noticeably stronger, but I wasn't making any progress, so we decided to head to my mother in law's house to get some rest, but still be close to the hospital.
As soon as we got to her house, I climbed in the bathtub and tried to relax for awhile. My contractions slowed down a little. They were still stronger than they were that morning, but had spaced out to 10-15 minutes apart, so I decided to lay down and try to nap for awhile. I managed to doze in and out for a few hours and woke up starving at about 6am.
I woke up my husband and asked if he would take me to get some breakfast and then go walk with me somewhere to see if things were going to pick back up. While waiting for my breakfast sandwich, my contractions picked back up, much stronger than the day before. They were still about 10-15 minutes apart but were becoming really hard to walk or talk through.
We spent about an hour walking around Walmart since it was too cold to walk around outside, and then headed back to my mother in law's house to relax and time contractions for awhile. While we were there my contractions finally started getting closer together again, about 5-7 minutes. Around noon, my husband was hungry so we went out to get him a sandwich and myself a smoothie. While we were out things started to get more intense, so we decided to head back to the hospital to see if I was making any progress.
We checked in around 2pm and I was only at 5cm. I was starting to feel really discouraged that I was making such slow progress, especially considering how intense my contractions were getting. I kept reminding myself though that with both my previous labors, the first few centimeters went really slow too, but the second half went pretty quick. They were still iffy about whether or not to admit me, when baby started having some heart decels with my contractions, and it was finally decided that I was staying.
They got me into a delivery room around 4pm. Finally being in a private room where I could relax and have some space to move, things really picked up. The doctor came in a checked me at about 5:40pm and said I was at 7cm and that my water had just ruptured. I told him the end tends to go fast for me, so to please not go too far, I had a feeling she would be here soon.
I had three of the most insanely intense contractions right on top of each other and then I felt the fetal ejection reflex kicking in. I told my nurse I thought I was complete and that my body was pushing for me. She checked me and said I was, and then ran out the door to grab the doctor, who was still standing outside my door. I let my body do the work and delivered her head fairly easily, but then her shoulders got stuck. They were worried about her pulse rate, so I had to actually push this time. It was probably the most intense few minutes of my life, but we finally got her shoulders out. Her official time of birth was 5:56pm.
Unfortunately her pulse rate was really low and she was barely breathing, so we didn't get to do delayed cord clamping, and instead of being placed directly on my chest, the pediatrician had to work on her for a few minutes. It was absolutely terrifying being stuck on my bed while they took her across the room where I couldn't see what was going on. I kept asking my husband if she was okay, all I wanted was for her to be safe and in my arms.
After just a few minutes though, they had her crying and breathing well and brought her back to me. As soon as she was tucked in on my chest, her vitals all started to stabilize. She was super bruised up from being stuck, but still the most beautiful baby. I was so relieved that she was okay and finally in my arms.
Over the next 24 hours, her bruising faded and her vitals stayed perfect, so we didn't have to spend any extra time in the hospital. The morning after she was born, my mom brought the girls to meet her. They fell in love immediately.
While the first few minutes after her delivery were really scary, overall it was another beautiful experience. There's nothing that compares to the endorphin rush you get after a natural delivery. I'm in awe of what I'm capable of and I feel so lucky to have been blessed with three sweet beautiful little girls.
Life is beautiful!
Follow me on:
Congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete