My Natural Birth of Owen Joshua - Part 2

As stated previously I felt ready for my natural birth. I had prepared myself for months and was content with nesting until birth day arrived. Last Friday morning I had a doctor's appointment. I asked the doctor to check to see if I was dilated as Josh was supposed to be going to scout camp the following Monday. He checked me and told me I was dilated to nearly 5 cm! He told me he would not be surprised if I went into labor that night. I was on my way back to work but was put on call as the census was low. Whew, thank goodness. I went home and laid down in bed for the early afternoon. I then started to do laundry like crazy just in case I did go into labor and the girls would need clothing while I was at the hospital. I was trying frantically to get my mom on the phone. She had left that exact morning to go camping for the weekend and our plan was for her to watch the girls if I went into labor. Josh's family was still in Oklahoma so I called my sister and prayed she would be in town for the weekend. Well, my stepdad stepped on something and needed stitches in town so my mom called to see how things were going. I told her I could go into labor any minute so she headed home. I felt guilty for spoiling her camping trip but I was so thankful she decided to come home.

Around 6:30 that evening, my contractions started to increase in frequency to every 10 minutes. Josh and I decided we would take the family to Olive Garden then come home and watch a movie until contractions were closer, then we would take the girls to my mom's house and head to the hospital. We arrived at Olive Garden at 7:00 and grabbed a buzzer to wait to be seated. At the exact moment I stepped foot in Olive Garden contractions were coming fast. Josh asked if we should leave but I simply said, "NO! If I'm going to the hospital to have this baby tonight I want food! They won't let me eat when I get there!" After 20 minutes that Josh had been timing contractions, he told me they were 4 minutes apart. I grudgingly told the hostess we had to leave and we went through the Jimmy John's drive through instead. We went home and packed the girl's bags, grabbed my hospital bags, and left for the hospital. I told my mom we would drop the girls off at her house but she insisted on meeting us at the hospital because my contractions were so close.

We got to the hospital around 8:30 and the nurse checked to see if I was dilated further. She told me I was dilated in between 6 and 7 cm. She called the doctor and he told her it sounded like there was a change since he had seen me that morning so to keep me and start the antibiotics (I was strep B positive). My mom took the girls to her house and I asked for the birthing ball. My contractions were still around 3 to 4 minutes apart and really didn't hurt hardly at all. About a 2 or 3 on the pain rating scale. I could feel tightening or cramping but nothing I would call painful. I was laughing and talking to the nurses as they came to check up on me. At 9:30, doctor checked me and I was dilated to 8 cm. He stated that I probably would not progress further until he broke my water. The nurse informed him that if I delivered after midnight then baby would be considered full term at 37 weeks. If I had baby before midnight, then baby would be born at 36 weeks and 6 days earning him a 12 hour supervision in the NICU straight after delivery. He said he would wait until 10:45 or 11:00 to break my water. At 10:30, the nurse came in and I asked if doctor would wait until closer to midnight as I felt delivery would be fast and I didn't want baby to have to be in NICU because he was born an hour before midnight. She said, "I'm having a hard time believing you are dilated to an 8. Do you hurt at all?" I just smiled and said I felt fine. She laughed and said they don't get many patients asking for labor to go on longer but would ask the doctor to wait. Doctor agreed as I needed another dose of antibiotics before baby was born and the earliest I could get more was midnight.

At 11:45, Doctor came in to break my water. Immediately contractions were right on top of each other and becoming more and more intense. I could feel them start and I would try my best to relax and breathe through them as this would allow process to go faster. After one or two contractions, I asked Josh if no one would talk to me during contractions as I needed to concentrate on getting through them. I wanted it to be absolutely quiet. I asked for the push bar and would grip if for dear life during a contraction. I started trying to use mental imagery and would think of my cervix as a cave and the contractions were waves washing in and out of the cave. I reminded myself that every contraction was taking me closer and closer to meeting my little boy and tried to take them one at a time. Doctor came in around 12:15, and checked me. I was still at 8 cm dilated. I heard him tell the nurse it would still be awhile. What? I couldn't handle much more. I tried to will my cervix open by relaxing my entire body and within a minute could feel myself needing to push. I told the nurse I felt like pushing and if I held back I could feel myself involuntarily spasm down there. Doctor checked me again and realized I was fully dilating during a contraction so he told me to push with next contraction. I started pushing at 12:20. I pushed a few times and it was harder than I thought it would be. I felt like I was going to push my whole insides out if I pushed any harder. I was told only to push during contractions so I would get to rest in between. I remember the doctor telling me to push and I said, "I can't." He said, "Yes, you can now come on and push." I never thought I would say I can't. I didn't know I was going to say it, it just popped out of my mouth. Well, I did push and heard them say, "I see the head!" Well, I though I had pushed the head out but then the doctor told me one more push to get baby to crown! In my mind I thought, "He's not crowning?! How am I supposed to push this baby out? I can't push any harder! This is why women used to die during childbirth." Unfortunately I had no choice other than to push harder than I thought possible. Well, with a push and a good scream, baby's head came out. I heard nurse say, "This is no 5 lb baby." And the doctor followed with, "This baby is bigger than the ones you had before." Well, one more push and a scream heard through the walls (as told by another nurse), and out came the rest of him. Doctor laid him on my belly and I looked down at him in shock. He was long, big, and had a ton of dark hair! That moment was transcendent as I realized that I had done it. I had done something I didn't think was possible and lived through it. I had brought my baby boy into the world just as I had planned it and the way women did it centuries before me.

Recovery was not too bad. I didn't tear, which was amazing! But I did have a few abrasions and I felt like I cracked my tailbone. Really, my behind hurt the most. The next day I broke down and accepted some motrin which nearly took away all my pain down there and eased the after pains when my uterus began to shrink. I actually had quite a bit of energy, probably due to the adrenaline from the birth process. I didn't sleep at all that night or the next day and only slept a few hours the following night.

Owen took to breastfeeding right away. I fed him for 40 minutes right on the delivery bed. He was sleepy on his birthday, but started to cluster feed that night. Now, he is content on eating whenever he wants which varies from every 2 to 4 hours. There are times when I think of him as Sharkie as he really goes at it! By 3 days old he had gained 2 ounces and the nurse asked if I was feeding him cream. By 5 days old he had gained another ounce. The doctor asked if I was nursing and when I said yes he replied, "That's impressive," (meaning the weight gain). Hence one of his other nicknames Chunky Monkey.

We videotaped the birth of Owen (from over my shoulder of course for modesty). I have watched it twice but can't watch it without crying. I'm just so proud of my decision to have Owen natural. I feel like I gave him the best start to life that I could offer. I've had quite a few people ask if I would give birth naturally again. When asked the day I had him, I told them to ask me later. Looking back, I really was only in pain for 45 minutes which includes the 10 minutes of pushing. You can do anything for 45 minutes. I remember thinking giving birth was like running a marathon. It starts out not too bad and by the time it is bad, you're already in it and have no choice but to finish. It hurts more and more but you get closer to the finish. When you are done, you are exhausted but immensely proud of what you have just done. I would not recommend going natural without doing some preparation. Practice different ways to deal with pain. The biggest thing to remember is to relax and let your body do what it was designed to do.

I hope my birth story will empower others and let them know their body can do amazing things. Right now I just survived the first week and trying to make my way through the next two. I've always felt it takes about three weeks to adjust to a new baby so I'm 1/3 of the way there. We had little Owen's pictures taken yesterday and I can't wait to get them back and show him off. There was a sneak peak on the photographer's website, steviecroftphotography.blogspot.com Well, I'm sure I left out details and I'm not the most entertaining writer but I felt I needed to share my experience. I hope you enjoyed!