mands629
Hi Ladies! I missed checking up on everyone for the past 3 weeks. With giving birth, the holidays and staying the past few weeks with the in-laws, I wasn't able to get on the bump at all. So, now I'm finally home and DH and I are trying this parenting thing solo for the first time since LuLu was born. I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I'm in the process of catching up on posts, but did any thing major happen?
Anyways, I thought I would share my birth story with you all, although I'm sure we've all had our LOs by now.
I was induced on December 15th. DH and I got to the hospital at 7:30am, and I was still dilated at 3cm. My DH was on edge the entire time - even before things got started - and luckily my doula told my husband to sleep for a few hours because he was in the middle of law school finals and she new things weren't going to start ASAP. After 4 attempts to get IV access, I was started on pitocin at 9am. I was really nervous about using pitocin as I was hoping to avoid an epidural.
For the next few hours, I refused to be checked by my nurse (I was afraid I would be told that I hadn't made any progress and that would frustrate me!) and my doula and I watched White Christmas and The Sound of Music. Somewhere in the Sound of Music, I started to get uncomfortable with just sitting in the bed. So, I got in the birthing tub. Let me just say that I enjoyed 2 hours of what I call a "painful spa" experience while in the tub. I was able to deal with the contractions by breathing through them, but they were quickly wearing me out.
I got out of the tub, and my OB came in. I asked to be checked and I was at 7cm and my water was bulging. My OB broke my water in hopes that it would speed things up. However, that's when I stalled. I started to get panicky and frustrated and kept asking my OB to get this baby out of me now. My OB kept reminding me that she could make the pain go away but that she knew I wanted to avoid an epidural and she was not going to take my suggestion of performing a c-section. My doula also kept "bribing me" by saying things like "let's try a new position and get through 5 contractions and then you can get pain medication." Her bargaining totally helped me go on.
Eventually I became so exhausted that took a shot of stadol to help me rest. It felt like I was passed out drunk between each contraction. When I had a contraction, I would sit straight up in bed, groan through the contraction, and then immediately pass out again. This went on for about an hour.
That rest gave me (and my DH and doula) the energy I needed to get through the rest of labor and avoid an epidural. I was still stalled at 7cm, so my doula had me do what I call the sumo wrestler move. I would move my legs up and down, while in a squat like position and leaning on my husband. My doula had wrapped a bed sheet around my belly, and every time I had a contraction, my doula would pull the sheet tightly around my belly in an upward position. All of this worked because an hour later, I was at 10cm and kept telling my husband that I needed to poop now!
I remember I started to push around 6:30pm because I told my nurse that I wanted to start to push before the end of her shift. Pushing was such hard work, but it felt such a relief after being told to not push for so long. I remember that DH kept looking at me pushing because he wanted to see what was going on and I kept yelling at him to stop looking down there because he'll never go back there again! My OB and the nurses that were in the room kept laughing at us during this exchange. Eventually, I looked at my OB and asked if I could have this baby by 8pm. Because I had that time frame in my mind, I was determined to make my deadline.
At 7:50pm, with less than 11 hours of labor and pushing time, I delivered Marian Lucille. I wasn't able to hold her because she was in shock from being pushed out so fast. (I didn't really allow her to crown and tore because I wanted her out so bad within my self-imposed deadline.) She was taken to the NICU for awhile because she had difficulty transitioning to the outside world. But from what I could see she was perfect! I was told she was going to have a small head and be about 7lb. I'm glad I had 7lbs in my mind when I was pushing because she came out weighing 8lb 7oz and 20.75in long with a full head of hair!
Eventually, LuLu was brought back to me and I was able to hold her for the first time. She's been a great baby so far, although she keeps getting little colds, and I'm not sure if that's lingering from her difficult transition to the outside world or if that's normal because it's cold and flu season (although I've tried to limit visitors). Hopefully, she'll get over this new bout of congestion soon!
Anyways, I thought I would share my birth story with you all, although I'm sure we've all had our LOs by now.
I was induced on December 15th. DH and I got to the hospital at 7:30am, and I was still dilated at 3cm. My DH was on edge the entire time - even before things got started - and luckily my doula told my husband to sleep for a few hours because he was in the middle of law school finals and she new things weren't going to start ASAP. After 4 attempts to get IV access, I was started on pitocin at 9am. I was really nervous about using pitocin as I was hoping to avoid an epidural.
For the next few hours, I refused to be checked by my nurse (I was afraid I would be told that I hadn't made any progress and that would frustrate me!) and my doula and I watched White Christmas and The Sound of Music. Somewhere in the Sound of Music, I started to get uncomfortable with just sitting in the bed. So, I got in the birthing tub. Let me just say that I enjoyed 2 hours of what I call a "painful spa" experience while in the tub. I was able to deal with the contractions by breathing through them, but they were quickly wearing me out.
I got out of the tub, and my OB came in. I asked to be checked and I was at 7cm and my water was bulging. My OB broke my water in hopes that it would speed things up. However, that's when I stalled. I started to get panicky and frustrated and kept asking my OB to get this baby out of me now. My OB kept reminding me that she could make the pain go away but that she knew I wanted to avoid an epidural and she was not going to take my suggestion of performing a c-section. My doula also kept "bribing me" by saying things like "let's try a new position and get through 5 contractions and then you can get pain medication." Her bargaining totally helped me go on.
Eventually I became so exhausted that took a shot of stadol to help me rest. It felt like I was passed out drunk between each contraction. When I had a contraction, I would sit straight up in bed, groan through the contraction, and then immediately pass out again. This went on for about an hour.
That rest gave me (and my DH and doula) the energy I needed to get through the rest of labor and avoid an epidural. I was still stalled at 7cm, so my doula had me do what I call the sumo wrestler move. I would move my legs up and down, while in a squat like position and leaning on my husband. My doula had wrapped a bed sheet around my belly, and every time I had a contraction, my doula would pull the sheet tightly around my belly in an upward position. All of this worked because an hour later, I was at 10cm and kept telling my husband that I needed to poop now!
I remember I started to push around 6:30pm because I told my nurse that I wanted to start to push before the end of her shift. Pushing was such hard work, but it felt such a relief after being told to not push for so long. I remember that DH kept looking at me pushing because he wanted to see what was going on and I kept yelling at him to stop looking down there because he'll never go back there again! My OB and the nurses that were in the room kept laughing at us during this exchange. Eventually, I looked at my OB and asked if I could have this baby by 8pm. Because I had that time frame in my mind, I was determined to make my deadline.
At 7:50pm, with less than 11 hours of labor and pushing time, I delivered Marian Lucille. I wasn't able to hold her because she was in shock from being pushed out so fast. (I didn't really allow her to crown and tore because I wanted her out so bad within my self-imposed deadline.) She was taken to the NICU for awhile because she had difficulty transitioning to the outside world. But from what I could see she was perfect! I was told she was going to have a small head and be about 7lb. I'm glad I had 7lbs in my mind when I was pushing because she came out weighing 8lb 7oz and 20.75in long with a full head of hair!
Eventually, LuLu was brought back to me and I was able to hold her for the first time. She's been a great baby so far, although she keeps getting little colds, and I'm not sure if that's lingering from her difficult transition to the outside world or if that's normal because it's cold and flu season (although I've tried to limit visitors). Hopefully, she'll get over this new bout of congestion soon!