At 11am that morning I had an appointment with Susan, our prospective doula. In the last few days before my due date, we decided that if I was going to have a natural birth, and since I wanted to labor at home as long as possible, we may need some extra help. After a good deal of leg work by my stepmother-in-law, Laurie, we got in touch with Susan who was available if we were interested. After our meeting, we decided to hire Susan, and promised to call her as soon as things seemed to be underway.
Because of the contractions the night before, Matt stayed home from work, so after Susan left we ran a few last minute errands, stopped at the Great American Bagel for lunch and returned home. I took a little nap from about 2-5:00pm. When I woke up we drove to my mom and dads to pick up my early birthday present- a laptop- yeah! We picked up dinner on the way, and while Matt and my dad played with the computer, I took a 20-minute bath. After I got out, I wasn't feeling well, so I layed on the couch for awhile.
We left a little bit after 9:00pm, and shortly after we arrived home, the contractions started again. This time they felt more like menstrual cramps (though not exactly) and less like gas pains. They started coming about 10 minutes apart, although still fairly unorganized, lasting about 45 seconds until about midnight. At that point they were all over the place- coming 8, 5, 7, 9 minutes apart lasting anywhere from 25-90 seconds. This lasted until about 4am. At this point I was nauseous on and off and since I had a hard time laying down, I tried different things- I tried walking, I took a shower, I sat in the bathroom on the toilet. The breathing seemed to help- a deep cleansing breath in and out followed by inhaling for a count of four, then exhaling for a count of four and so on until the contraction came back down.
I tried to let Matt get a little sleep, because I knew I would need him later. Mostly, I just tried to find a spot or position that was comfortable, although I soon realized that lying flat or even curled on the bed, turned out to be the most painful. This meant that I spent a lot of time on the couch. I left the t.v. off because I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get a little rest. At about 4:15am, the contractions started to come much closer- about 5 minutes apart- lasting anywhere from 30-60 seconds. I woke Matt a little before 6am on 3/11, at which point we called Susan to update her about our status. Since the contractions were still a little unorganized (anywhere from 3-7 minutes apart), we decided to wait an hour to see how we progressed before having her make her way to our home.
At about 7:15am, Matt called Susan to let her know that I was ready to have her join us. Matt kept trying to get me to eat and rest- but I couldn't really do either of those things- I was too nauseous to eat, and the contractions were too close together for me to get any real rest- although I was drinking water. We called my mom and dad and asked them to come pick up the dog which would give us one less thing to worry about. At this point I was getting a little overtired and needed to try different positions- I decided to try to use the yoga ball a little- it was most comfortable for me to sit on the ball and use a body pillow to lean forward against the arm of the couch. This worked for awhile, and Izzy, our dog sat with me the whole time I was in that position. At about 8:20am, mom and dad arrived, and Matt ran out to fill the gas tank while they were there. Matt returned, and Susan arrived shortly thereafter, at which point she found me reclined in a chair calmly breathing and still able to talk between my contractions which were at this point still about 3-5 minutes apart. Mom and dad left, and then Matt went out to get applesauce and yogurt to try to give me something to eat. At about 9:30am I tried to lie in the bed again, and Susan brought me a heating pad for my belly. When Matt arrived I gave the applesauce a try, but was too nauseous and uncomfortable, so I took another shower at about 10:30am.
The contractions kept coming and I kept breathing. During contractions Susan would apply counter-pressure on each side of my hips or on my lower back which really helped with the pain. Over the next few hours I kept breathing through contractions and took another 3 showers. Things didn’t seem to be progressing, and the contractions started getting a little further apart. I decided to take a bath to try to rest a little. I spoke to Angie, Dr. Goodall’s nurse who told us that we could come in if we wanted, but if I wanted to stay home that was fine too. Susan decided to go home for a little bit to try to get some rest since she thought we would probably be at this all night. Once Susan left, Matt took a little nap and I tried to rest as well (unsuccessfully). Matt ran out to the drug store and while he was gone I lost my mucous plug (yeah!), I thought that meant that things might start getting closer.
I had heard that the process of going to the hospital often slowed labor down, so we were trying to stay home as long as we could. However, I had the feeling that we should start to get our stuff together and start making our way to the hospital. Matt was hesitant, but he trusted my judgment. Susan was going to be heading back to the house, but we asked her to meet us at the hospital instead.
The contractions seemed to be getting stronger in the car ride. When arrived at the hospital a little after 8:00pm we parked in the lot and walked right in. I kept telling Matt that I was 6 centimeters dilated. I went in to Labor & Delivery, but triage was apparently full so they had us wait in the hallway. There wasn’t really anyplace to sit in the waiting room, except a wheelchair, but I didn’t feel like sitting anyway. So I labored in the hallway for over an hour. Susan got me a peach iced tea and I spent most of my time leaning against the cool windowsill while Matt & Susan stood behind me offering counter pressure during contractions, which were now no more than 3 minutes apart at this time.
They finally brought me in to triage, and I was low-and-behold 6 centimeters dilated- yeah! They got me together and moved me to a very nice labor room. I let them put an IV line in, but I didn’t want to be hooked up to anything, so they let me be and put on wireless monitors so that I could keep moving. I was really uncomfortable at this point as the contractions were getting stronger, longer and closer together. I tried lots of positions- on the ball leaning against the bed- nope, one the bed- no way. Since I kept moving around we had a good deal of trouble with the monitors, so the nurse had to keep coming in to check on me. I finally found that leaning on the food tray or on the bathroom sink or sitting on the toilet was the most comfortable, so I kept alternating between those places. I was pretty tired at this point (since I’d been up and laboring for over 24 hours) and I asked about my pain medication options. At this point they said that anything they gave me would still show potential affects on the baby so I declined. I moved back to the bed for another exam. I was dilated between 8-9, and my water had yet to break, so we kept going. Susan tried to help by rubbing my feet with some lavender oils to try to help me rest, but the contractions were tough and I felt myself starting to get impatient.
I finally agreed, reluctantly, to some fentinol at about 3:00am which is a short lasting narcotic to try to get a little bit of sleep before I needed to start pushing. I had to stay in bed at this point, and they also got the pitosin ready in case I needed it. They finally went in and broke my water at about ? I was dilated to 10 on one side and 9 ½ on the other.
Dr. Goodall was on her way, but I told the nurse that I felt like pushing. So we gave it a shot. Pushing was not intuitive to me so I really struggled at the beginning. I was arching back and pulling instead of curving forward. I was also screaming a lot, which they encouraged me not to do. I was supposed to take a deep breath, hold my breath and push for a count of ten, take another breath and repeat, etc. The pushing was much harder than I thought, and I was fighting my own body. I kept telling Matt that I couldn’t do it, and the baby’s heart rate started dropping a little so they started giving me oxygen. I was asking for ice chips because my lips and throat were very dry because of the screaming, etc.
They had me in a number of positions- leaning forward on the birth bar, leaning over the back of the bed, laying on my side, etc. I could hear everyone at some point or another, but I was really out of it. I was almost hyperventilating and after pushing I would almost pass out from exhaustion and pain.
The shifts changed at around 7:00am, so we got new nurses. One of the new nurses used to be a doula and I was able to focus on her voice, which is when I think I finally started pushing correctly.
Then Dr. Goodall said that she could see the head, and Matt could see it too, I could feel the energy in the room shift and she had me reach down to feel his head. Once I felt his head, I became more focused. I must have pushed over almost 14 or 15 breaths to get him out. And then, at 7:54 am, Jackson Joseph Sheahan appeared. He was crying almost immediately and I held him for a few minutes while they delivered the placenta and worked to stitch up my tear, etc. He was 8 lbs, 15.9 ounces, which they rounded up to 9 lbs and 21 ¾ inches long.
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