Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Samwise's Birth Story

Want to get this here so it isn't lost...a post I made a long time ago in another place.

please note that the first photo set is of the labor/birth, and it does have one pic that isn't as modest as some might prefer if older kids, etc, are nearby (boobs).

http://picasaweb.google.com/thecolor...ey=PTc6YkA_yfg

second photo set is all baby/family stuff later in the day
http://picasaweb.google.com/thecolor...ey=RMZ7FhwNG2s


i laid down about 10:45 pm and started having very strong cntrx. i had a feeling this was it even though i had been through prodromal labor with consistent cntrx over 24 hrs two days before. they just felt different, like they were pulling down into my cervix with each pain. i had started losing my mucus plug the day before and had lots of mucus and bloody show all day long.

it was as if the prodromal labor i had on sunday and monday just started back up seamlessly on wednesday night exactly where it had left off--5 minutes apart, with the dilation and excitement of passive first stage labor OVER.

i told dh to set up the pool after about three of these cntrx and it took him almost two hours to get it fully ready. by the time it was full enough to get in, or close, i was really ready to get in--the pain was getting overwhelming, and cntrx were less than 5 minutes apart. it was hard to imagine having pain like this all night, but since my other labors had been so long i really didn't expect this to be any different.

at 1:30 i started noticing that i was feeling the desire to go to the bathroom and was glad i was going to get a chance to clear everything out before birth. but when i got on the toilet, after i went, it felt so good to sit there. i started realizing i *still* felt vaguely pushy and pushed it to the back of my brain. that doesn't make sense, i have a long way to go. then i realized, pushy? and had latt call kristena, who lives an hour and half away.

i got back in the pool and immediately felt nauseated--that's a transition thing for me in all my labors. i still couldn't quite believe i was that close. but as i was throwing up and contracting and realized i was begging the ether, anyone, anything, not to make me have to have it while i threw up, i know. i'm not really a begger. it seemed like an extreme example of the third emotional signpost.

that's when it REALLY started hurting and i couldn't get comfortable. i started getting into an on my knees position in the pool, and having to holler OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
with each cntrx. that felt so good and made them work better and faster. it really brought me relief to holler like that.

i got off one of my best hollers yet while picturing a few of you women around me...kr, saritabeth, wendy, sue...like y'all were cheering me on. during that holler/visualization my water broke. i told latt to call and see where kr was because i knew this was happening NOW. she said she was still 25 minutes out and i knew she wasn't going to make it. cat mama won out after all. i was getting my UC.

a few more cntrx...the pain was gone and it was all pressure. this is the part of birth i hate. it scares the shit of me, it hurts, and my vagina is just not ever going to telescope out smoothly and easily like a flower. i have to WORK to get my babies out and i feel like i am doing serious internal and external damage. but such worries are not the concerns of the birth force. i was just along for the ride by that point.

pushed the baby out and sent dh to get rowan out of bed. she came in, old us the sex, and kristena walked in a few minutes later. she was a big help with rowan as we worked on getting the placenta out (samuel didn't nurse right away as my other babies had, and i t took about an hour instead of ten minutes).

and that was that. it felt like it was supposed to be exactly like it was.

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