Amelia Mae's birth story!

RachaelDMommaTo3 · #1 June 21st, 2012, 01:36 PM

Sorry this is long overdue!

On June 5th I was having contractions pretty much all day.. I didn't think too much of it because I had been having them for about 2 weeks off and on. That day I juiced and drank a whole pineapple, and spent the whole afternoon and evening sitting/bouncing on my yoga ball. My contractions were pretty steady, around 5-8 minutes apart. DH went to bed around 11 and I stayed up to see what would happen with the contractions. They continued and were getting pretty intense. I decided to lay down and watch some tv, and when I got up to use the bathroom I felt a little trickle. I wasn't convinced that it was anything, so I went back to laying down. Contractions got to about every 4 minutes and according to my iPad app, I was in active labor. Around 4 am I got up again and felt the same trickle.. I went in and woke DH up and told him I was going to get a shower and get ready, we would probably be going to the hospital in the morning.

At 6:30am, June 6th, we got DS1 up for school and got everyone ready. I set up a sitter for the boys, and we headed to the hospital around 8:30. We parked at the hospital and the second I stepped out of the car my water broke completely. I was shocked! All I said was "Seriously?!?" Haha! We went in and told the midwives that my water had broke.. by now my contractions were spacing out and not strong at all. They checked me at 9:00 and confirmed that my water had broke and told me that I was 1 cm dilated. The midwife took me in to do an u/s to check Amelia's size, and said she was about 8 lbs. They told me that I could go for a walk and see if my contractions picked back up. DH and I went for a walk in the hospital, and down to the cafe so he could get some breakfast. After that we walked around outside for a bit and then headed back to the L&D floor. My contractions had completely stopped at this point and the midwives said they would wait until 2:00 to see if they started again on their own. They brought in some massage oil for DH to rub my belly and said that may help start some contractions.. the oil smelled horrible and did nothing for me. The midwives brought me in some lunch and let me relax until 2:00.

At 2:00 they moved me to a delivery room where we would start being induced. They suggested that if I was going to have the epidural I could just do it before they started the pitocin and I wouldn't have to deal with all the pain. That sounded good to me, so the anesthesiologist came in and placed my epidural and only gave me a 1/2 dose of the medication. After 15 minutes I didn't feel any different at all and I told him that. He said that it could take some time to help, so I tried to give it time. They checked me and I was 2-3 cm dilated, and we started the pitocin. I was feeling the contractions coming on strong and told the midwife that the epidural wasn't working. The anesthesiologist came back in and gave me the other 1/2 dose of the medication in my epi... still I didn't feel any difference, I wasn't numb at all and was feeling everything. On top of that, I was itching horribly all over my whole body. As my contractions got stronger and closer together I kept telling the midwife that the epidural was not doing anything and she would say "Okay, I'll aske the Dr about it." The next time she would come in the room she wouldn't mention it. Around 6:00 she checked me and I was 5 cm.. I was so disappointed that it was going so slow, and I was exhausted and in pain. I tried my best to rest between contractions but they just kept getting stronger and closer together. I was doing my best to focus and relax my whole body during contractions and just breath through them. A little before 8:00, the pain was getting unbearable and I couldn't lay down any longer.. the midwife got out a birthing stool for me to sit on to see if the position change would help any. I told her again that the pain was horrible and the epidural was not working and she reassured me that she would ask the Dr. Sitting on the stool was not comfortable but I tried my best to sit there and breath through the contractions. DH sat behind me and supported me and helped me calm down to get through each contraction. Finally the pain got to where I couldn't sit like that any longer.. I had DH call the midwife in and I told her that I HAD to have something else for pain. She said, "Let me check you, I think you're probably ready to push"... she checked and sure enough I was. I got up from the birthing stool and moved to the bed. She wanted me to try pushing on my hands and knees, but all I wanted to do was lay down. Once I got laying down my body started pushing on its own, I couldn't control it. The "ring of fire" that they talk about with natural births is definitely real! After just a few good pushes, Amelia Mae was born at 8:35pm! All the pain I had been in was instantly gone! She presented with her head turned and angled to the side, but still came out with no problems. She was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches of pure perfection. DH and I were in awe of her... she was so beautiful, with a full head of hair! After the placenta was delivered, we moved over to the regular bed and she latched right on and nursed for a while. It was so wonderful to just relax with her and DH.. the midwife and Dr weren't rushing us to check baby out. After an hour or so they took her and weighed/measured her. They don't do baths until the 2nd day here, so they just wiped her down and dressed her. Around 11:00pm we got moved to our regular room and settled in for the night. DH headed home to get the boys from the sitter and get some sleep.

The next morning he brought the boys up to meet their baby sister, they were completely in love!! We stayed in the hospital one more night and got to come home on Friday, June 8th.