Last Wednesday (Aug 19th), we had my 39 week appointment. Nothing new happened there, just the usual blood pressure, weight check, fundal height check. I had decided that I didn't want to do cervical checks unless I went late because it really doesn't tell me much that I'm at a 1 at 39 weeks. Also, they aren't fun so delaying them as long as possible was appealing. Our midwife ended the appointment saying that they may see me next week or at the hospital next. On our way to drop off Adam at work, we laughed at the thought that I could go into labor any day. There were quite a few people who predicted that I would go early but as I hadn't had consistent surges (contractions) yet, I wasn't convinced. I went to work as usual and around 4 pm I noticed that I had been having surges a lot more often than usual and I decided to time them. They weren't very painful but I continued to practice my hypnobirthing and breathing each time. It turned out they were coming about every 5-6 minutes lasting a minute long. This surprised me because I had never been that consistent before. They continued that way and at 5 I left work to pick up Adam. I called him to let him know what was going on but I was trying not to get my hopes up as every time we timed surges before, they stopped. I also texted my doula, Fiona because I was having some back pain occasionally. She told me that it might mean that he wasn't in a good position. I tried not to worry as I picked up Adam. He drove the rest of the way home because the surges were getting a little more intense. We ordered pizza when we got home and watched TV as I worked through the surges. Eventually I decided to take a bath to help with the surges and pain in my back and Adam read some hypnobirthing scripts. The surges kept staying consistent at 5-6 minutes apart lasting about 1 1/2 long so we started to consider when we should go to the hospital. We debated for a long time but eventually we decided to go just to see what was happening. We went to the hospital and I was only at about 1 1/2 cm but I was 80% effaced so we went home to labor some more. The nurse said that since I was pretty thinned out, it shouldn't take too long.
When we went back home we tried to sleep but the surges kept coming consistently at 5 minutes and getting more intense. Now every surge was paired with horrible pain in my lower back. It worried me a lot so I texted Fiona for help at about 5 am on Thursday. She said it sounded like he might be posterior and that she would come over and we'd try some things to turn him. When she got to our apartment, we tried a few different positions to try to turn him and she helped put counter pressure on my back and hips whenever I had a surge. It was so great to have her there with that extra knowledge and so that Adam could have a break. I would recommend EVERYONE get a doula for labor because we definitely couldn't have done it without her. The back pain wasn't letting up so we decided to go back to the hospital at around 7 am to see if I'd progressed and to double check his position. When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was at a 3. They also did an ultrasound and sure enough, little Eli was looking right at us. So they laid me in very uncomfortable positions as I labored for another hour. The back pain continued but I kept trying to use my hypnobirthing to stay relaxed. After an hour, they checked again and I was at a 6! So they admitted me and I continued to labor. My goal was to give birth naturally so Adam and I had been practicing hypnobirthing relaxation techniques for months. He was a champ at keeping me relaxed and even the nurses were amazed at how well it was working. Around midday my midwife came to check on me. After so much time and effort I was hoping something would have happened. But no. I was still at a 6. I wasn't ready to do anything to help things along so I continued to labor. There were times that Eli's heartbeat wasn't variable enough so they put me on IV fluids and oxygen which helped. At this point my mental game was fading but I kept trying to focus on my relaxation. The surges weren't getting any closer together but they were VERY intense and my back pain was killing me. The midwife was at another hospital so she had one of the nurses check me again around 7 or 8 pm and...still at a 6. After over 24 hours of labor. At this point, I started sobbing because they said that this could go on for days since he wasn't turning. My midwife was going to come to the hospital to talk to me but she got stuck with an emergency c section so she relayed her recommendations over the phone with our nurse. She said that since I wasn't wanting augmentation, it would be best if I went home. This was not what I wanted to hear but the nurse and Fiona and Adam all thought it might help for me to get out of the hospital setting for a bit especially because this could go on indefinitely. I was pretty close to begging for pitocin and an epidural but I decided to go home and let him come when he was ready. So they gave me a shot of morphine and some sleep medicine to hopefully give me some relief.
We all went home at around 10 pm and I was able to sleep for about an hour and a half before I woke up with more surges and back pain. They were now about 10 minutes apart so I tried to do some of the positions to try and turn him to give me something to do since I was not sleeping. Eventually they stretched out to 20 minutes apart with no change in my back. Now that I was home, I recognized that it was good to not push Eli to come. Since the surges were getting further apart, I decided to go back to bed to try to get some sleep. We went back to bed but I felt like I had to go pee so I got up go to the bathroom and at that point my water broke (around 3 am on Friday). I ran to the bathroom and just stood in the tub as I yelled to Adam to call our doula. I just stood in our tub for a bit shaking as the water kept coming. Eventually we got some towels and wrapped me in an old robe to go back to the hospital. At least now we knew this was for real although I was extremely worried that he had engaged posterior and there would be no chance of turning him. I was also still having loads of back pain. We met Fiona at the hospital and this time I was able to skip triage and go straight back to the same room I was in. There was no need to verify that my water had broken as I was making quite a mess on the floor, including losing my mucus plug. I thought that happened before your water broke but it was kinda simultaneous for me. They checked me again and...I was still at a 6! I was not happy. I had hoped to have a natural birth (not to mention I had been scared to death of getting an epidural) but after 36 hours of labor I decided I would get an epidural. I felt a bit sad but everyone pointed out how amazing it was that I had gotten that far with just hypnobirthing. So the epidural was ordered and we waited for the anesthesiologist to come. He eventually came and Adam used hypnobirthing scripts to get me deeply relaxed for the procedure. With my phobia of needles, I couldn't have gotten the epidural without hypnobirthing but I did it. And I finally got some relief from my back pain! They also checked me again and I had made it to an 8!! I was so happy. Everyone felt that the epidural had allowed me to finally progress. Now I was able to relax better but after awhile I started to feel the surges and back pain again. They had to up the anesthesia a couple times but eventually I was able to have relief again. They checked me again later and I was fully dilated! This was around 10:30-11 am on Friday. The midwife was on her way but the nurses had me start to push to see how it would go. Luckily the epidural was still strong enough that I only felt pressure the whole time of pushing. They found that I was pushing a little too well so they had me stop for awhile to wait for the midwife to come. Eventually she made it and I started pushing again. Finally at 11:42 am, Eli was placed on my stomach. (Side note: he didn't come out posterior so somewhere along the way he had turned.) I started bawling as I touched his face not believing that he was finally here. They cut the cord, cleaned him, checked him, and placed him on my chest for some skin to skin time. They had to give me some pitocin at the end because they thought I might've started to hemorrhage. Also I did tear a little and they had to give me a small episiotomy because I had started to tear the wrong way. But all was well with my little boy in my arms :) We stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning when we got to bring our little bundle home.
I was able to start breastfeeding right away which was wonderful and I continued to breastfeed until Tuesday this week. I realized that it would be best for me physically and emotionally if we switched to formula. I was a little sad to stop because that was something I looked forward to but things have been a lot better since then so I know that this was the right thing for us :) I didn't have too many complications with the epidural except I got a spinal headache. They had to fix it by doing a blood patch (basically another epidural except they put your own blood into your spine instead of anesthesia) which is pretty much the worst thing ever for someone who has a phobia of needles. Even though the experience didn't happen exactly as I had hoped for in my birth preferences, I am ok with it. Unexpected things like him being posterior happen and maybe I can do it all natural next time. I know that things worked out this time in the way they needed to for him to come in his own way.
We are overjoyed to be parents and we are SO grateful for all of the love and support we have felt from our family and friends. Our ward has especially been wonderful in helping us adjust to this new life. Thank you! Well there will be lots more updates from now on! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with them :)
P.S. If anyone is interested in hypnobirthing, I would HIGHLY recommend it, even if you aren't planning on going natural. Our doula Fiona teaches a wonderful class! Check her out at www.ihypnobirth.com :)
