***Disclaimer- This post was written by a guest blogger and are the opinions/ideas/views of the author and not necessarily that of Truly Fit. ***
My plan was to wait as long as I could before heading to the
hospital. Well, I kinda screwed up my own plan...lol. I convinced hubby to have sex Sunday morning
to see if we could get things moving (I was 40w 1d at that point). I had walked
3 miles a day for the past few days and did squats, but she wasn't ready yet.
Well, after sex, I was bleeding - period heavy blood, not just spotting. So I
called Labor and Delivery. They had me monitor it for an hour. I showered and
ate. An hour later, there was still heavier blood and very slight cramping. I
wasn't feeling any contractions or anything at this point. When I called back,
they said I should come in to get checked out. We took our time getting
everything together and headed to the hospital. I was checked when I got there
and was 6 cm and having mild contractions 2 minutes apart (that I couldn't
feel) and still bleeding. (This was Sunday and on Tuesday, I was checked at my
appointment – I was 5cm dilated and 100% effaced but not having any
contractions.) They admitted me. I gave the nurse my birth plan and she
discussed it with me. The doc got there about an hour after I did. He checked
me and said he could break my water and we would have the baby today or it
could be tomorrow until she came. Either way, I wasn't going home. They
mentioned that my birth plan requested my water not be broken. They gave us
time to discuss it and didn't pressure us. Since I wasn't going home and now
all my diet could be was ice chips and a graham cracker here and there for who
knows how long, I decided to let him break my water. This was at 1250pm. They
pretty much followed my birth plan and if something that came up that they
recommended something different, they discussed it with me and gave me the
opportunity to make the decision.
After my water broke, my contractions gradually got
stronger. The nurse didn’t push me to get an epidural – she asked once and when
I said no, she never asked again. She left the room and let me labor. I did ask
to not be continually monitored and they agreed as long as I was hooked up for
at least 20 minutes every hour. I ended up just keeping the monitors on and
unplugging them when I went to the bathroom. I was curious what the readings
were and it was too much of a hassle to take them off. I had plenty of range to walk, squat and move
around without feeling constrained by them.
I called the nurse in at one point when the contractions were getting
stronger. I think it was around 345pm. She checked me again for dilation and I
was 8cm at this point. I continued to labor with my mom in the room and Jmy
husband by my side. About an hour later, I was overcome with a different
feeling during a contraction. About this time was the worst part for me, but I
knew I made it this far without meds and the rest wouldn’t take long and I
could do it. I kinda felt like I had to
puke and then needed to push, but wasn’t exactly sure if that was the “urge to
push” they always talk about. I called the nurse back in and she checked me
again and I was 10cm. She called the doc and he showed up 10 min later. She
came back in right away and said we are going to start pushing. I did have them
count for me and pushed three times through each contraction. It took Alex a
bit to get fully engaged in the birth canal. I did lay down in the bed to push,
but I was at an angle and had a birthing bar in place instead of using stirrups
which I think helped. I didn’t have the lights dim in the room or music
playing. I had Fox pregame on since the Super Bowl was coming on soon. During
the earlier contractions, I was using my phone to text/message and check
facebook. I guess that was my way of focusing. While pushing, at one point, I
looked up at the tv and saw kickoff and said “at least I didn’t miss kickoff.”
Everyone laughed and my doctor responded with who got the ball? I said Denver,
but it wasn’t a very good return. Then I said here comes another contraction. I
pushed and it was either this contraction or the one right after that she
crowned and immediately came the rest of the way out. She was born at 535pm – 3
minutes after kickoff of the Super Bowl.
They did wrap her in a towel before putting her on me which
we did discuss and I did feed her a little bit right away (the initial latch
hurt and wasn’t good!) They waited for the cord to stop pulsing and
then clamped it and my husband cut it. They gave me a Pitocin IV to help
prevent hemorrhaging after delivering the placenta. This also was slightly
different from my plan, but we talked about it beforehand. I don’t feel like it
negatively affected me.
Overall, I was extremely happy with my experience. I had an
amazing nurse and doctor that were pro-natural birth. From the time my water
broke to the time I had my baby girl was 4.5 hours!
Jennifer Doherty is an officer in the Coast Guard and is stationed in New Orleans, LA. She is currently finishing up her Master’s Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Jennifer and her husband have been married for 10 years and just welcomed their first child, Alexandra, in February. She loves to be outdoors and is an avid runner and triathlete.
No comments:
Post a Comment