Although the uncomfortable, achy feeling I felt in my lower
abdomen was not coming in a repeated fashion that I could time, I sensed that
labor was starting because the feeling would not go away no matter what
position I got into. It kept me up all night and wouldn’t let me sleep.
I woke my hubby up to let him know that something was
happening, so he decided to stay home from work just in case it truly was the
onset of labor. By the time the sun came up Monday morning, the achy feeling
felt more like a contraction but it was very mild and they were spaced far
apart coming every 30 minutes or so.
I didn’t feel up to homeschooling, so Leon
chipped in and taught the girls subjects while I observed and tried to cope
through the contractions as they grew more uncomfortable into the afternoon. He
did a great job teaching. I could tell that he especially enjoyed teaching Math
(he’s a math geek…a handsome geek)
By dinner they got stronger, were closer together (8-10
minutes apart) and they forced me to concentrate a little more until each one
passed.
My family started to urge me to at least think about going
to the hospital, but I just didn’t want to get there too early and 1) have them
send me home or 2) have me stay and then confine me to a bed with monitors and
restricting any movement. One key to getting the baby to descend during birth
is movement and make use of gravity. Being confined to a bed, especially in a
lateral position, makes it more challenging for the baby to descend down the
birth canal. Any position that a birthing mother can get into that allows her
pelvis to be in a vertical position, allows gravity to work to her advantage as
she dilates.
As the contractions grew stronger and my family continued to
urge me to head to the hospital, we decided to finish packing up our hospital
bag and around 7 p.m. or so we headed to the hospital. On the way up the
contractions continued. We were checked into triage and hooked up to a monitor.
We learned that I was still only 2 cm dilated (I was 2 cm at my previous OB
appointment as well) and had only 2 contractions while sitting in the bed (mind
you I had contractions about every 3 minutes or so when I would stand up). My
midwife gave me 2 options. I could either stay and walk for an hour and see if
that helped with dilation or I could go home. I opted to return home.
Upon returning home, the contractions continued and within
an hour they had grown increasingly stronger and approximately 2-3 minutes
apart. I became concerned that if I hung around at home too long, I’d be in the
car heading to the hospital for our 25 minute ride being close to pushing. I
didn’t want to chance it, so we bid our kids farewell again leaving them in
tears with Grandma and Poppa. I asked them to pray for Mommy and off we went
again.
Upon arrival and being checked I was 3 cm dilated.
The nurse acknowledged the fact that I was trying again for
a natural birth and she cheered me along in our endeavors. She instructed us to
walk the hall for an hour and afterwards she’d check to see if I was making
progress. It’s amazing what gravity does. As we walked the hospital halls for
an hour, the pressure continued to increase with each contraction. After an
hour (it was now about 1:30 a.m.) I was still 3 cm, but 80% effaced so we were
making progress.
At this point I was admitted to the hospital and checked
into a labor and delivery room. As we got settled in we met Nurse Molly who
ended up being a sweet, sweet, dear nurse. At the moment that she entered our
room she was an Angel. She let me know immediately that she had read my birth
plan and would do everything to abide by it (so awesome). After monitoring the
baby for 15 minutes she urged me to get up out of the bed. I wasn’t thrilled to
walk the halls, so I instead opted to stand under the shower. I know this may
sound odd, but the hot water on my lower back relieved so much of the pressure
I was feeling as the baby continued to descend. After 25 minutes or so in the
shower, it was back in the bed to be monitored. At this point I was just about
4-5 cm dilated. While I hadn’t progressed as far as I would’ve like to have
been at this point, it was progress and I was determined to keep changing
position as long as I had the energy in me.
We made moves again this time to the halls to walk. At this
point it was closer to 4 a.m. and I was fatigued and felt very worn out from
the lack of sleep. With each contraction my legs felt like they wouldn’t carry
me anymore. Before heading back to the bed we tried the tub and I’m glad that
we did. After 15 minutes of trying to relax through each contraction in the tub
I felt the urge to push. When we made it back to the room and the nurse checked
me I was 7 cm dilated. This was great progress, but I still wasn’t sure how
long it would take to get to 10 cm.
I just knew that I was tired of walking and was ready for
labor to be over. I was taught that as a laboring mothering progressing through
labor, as she draws near to the end and close to pushing, she typically
verbalizes her inability to complete labor. Well, this rang true for me and if
it wasn’t for my trusty dusty coach of a husband cheering me on I’m not sure I
would’ve stuck it out.
At the point of 7 cm, it takes every bit of energy to
concentrate and not go ballistic with each concentration. The pressure is so
intense, if you don’t relax, you will lose all manner of control. In the
Bradley Method laboring courses (a husband coached approach to laboring) you
are actually taught how to relax.
When you experience pain or anything uncomfortable, the natural
tendency is to tense up or physically respond in some way to be comforted. As a
laboring mother has a contraction, its critical that she completely relaxes and
“lets” her body contract as it tries to expel the baby with each contraction.
If you tense up, you are in fact fighting against your own body and that makes
for a very uncomfortable and painful experience.
As I expended every ounce of energy to relax with each
contraction the pressure intensified and I felt the need to change positions.
Moving on your side, sitting up, or even on all fours can all help as long as
the pelvis uses gravity. After changing positions several times, within 15
minutes or so I was right at 8 cm. I asked the nurse to have the midwife break
my water. With my previous 2 births, my water never broke on its own and after
having it broken I remember pushing soon after.
So, to help things along I asked the midwife to break my
water and sure enough I was ready to push! One of the beauties of natural birth
is how the body prepares the Mom for pushing phase. Up until this point the
contractions are coming one right after the other, but when it comes time to
push in my previous 2 labors and in this one my body takes a break! For about 5
minutes, all is quiet, the nurse, my midwife, my husband, and me, are all waiting
for the next contraction so that I can push. I just think its funny how the
body works.
After the “calm before the storm”, the contractions did
start back up again and in a little under 5 minutes or so, little man Leon made
his debut!
Just like anything else (e.g., public or private school,
work outside the home vs. stay at home, breastfeed or bottle feed, chocolate or
vanilla ice cream =) laboring this way is not for every woman. It’s a choice
that every laboring mother is faced with.
For some mothers they may not have the option to choose a
certain method for labor for possible medical reasons. Whatever a woman’s
choice, the end goal is to birth the baby in a safe manner so that baby and
mother are healthy and well. However God enables a mother to bring forth a
child, giving birth to a child is an awesome experience and one that is etched in
my mind for eternity as an immense blessing from God.
Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the
womb is a reward.
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