Aaron and I both thought Antony would come early (Avery was 6 days early and Dre was 8) and started planning everything three weeks early. Aaron was especially anxious because he had a job 2.5 hours away for the week I hit 38 weeks and his HIGHLY anticipated hunting season was starting the week before our due date.
I striped my membranes at 37.5 weeks (I had false labor for weeks and was dilated to a 3 and 80 effaced) in hopes baby would come that weekend so Aaron wouldn’t be worried about being 2.5 hours away at his job. My doc (Doc Ryan Jones) was SURE I was going into labor that night. He said he went home at 2am after a delivery and couldn’t sleep because he thought I’d be calling him in. But alas no baby.
The next week, Wednesday Oct 17th, 2018 I was 38 and 4 days and Aaron was working away but decided to come home for the night just to make sure. I had my membranes stripped again but doc and I both weren’t very hopeful. It was his last day on call for 7 days and I REALLY wanted to deliver with him but realized that it may not be happening. I had some inconsistent contractions throughout the day but with all the contractions I have had the last 6 weeks I was beginning to think I may need a new plan and possibly even an induction for the next week since Aaron only was going to have a few set days off.
That night I went on a walk while the kids bathed, I felt a little tightening in my stomach but nothing to write home about. I decided to hit the sac early since I really believed nothing was happening. I watched a show on my phone and started getting my nightly contractions around 9:45pm. After about 4 contractions I got up, did some squats and walked around my room, nothing happened. So I laid back down and then I felt a POP, it was so strong, I feel like I actually heard it POP. I jumped up and kind of freaked out. I went to the bathroom to see if it was my water but nothing came out.
That's when the contractions came FAST and HARD. I think I had two before I called down to Aaron that I was in labor. I tried to get changed as fast as I could but they were coming hard. Aaron ran around grabbing everything talking to me reminding me how awesome and exciting this was! We made it out the door and to the car after about 8-10 contractions. On the 1.5 mile drive I cried and had a couple more. I told Aaron there was NO WAY I was going to be able to do this naturally.
When we checked in around 10:30pm I started to cry during another contraction and I saw the nurses go to a room to get it ready. Usually they have sent me to the check in room where they monitor the baby and check your dilation. But this time they sent us directly to delivery room 9. I changed and had a few more contractions, I just hugged on Aaron and tried to hold back the tears. They hooked me right up and began all the questions. They checked me and the water came rushing out, the water had broken when I was at home but his head was blocking it so it never came out. At this point I was at a 6. I had a few more contractions and BEGGED to be able to stand up, but they have to monitor the baby for a full 20 min before they can unhook you. Every contraction I had to be reminded to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Aaron was awesome, reminding me how exciting this was that baby was coming! They reminded me that I was gunna do this without an epidural and there was no time anyways, this baby was coming! Between each contraction my head hung low, they kept tell me to lay back to relax but I told them I was too tired and just wanted to hang haha. They checked me again and I was at an 8. It had been less than ten minutes.
The doc then came in, he looked like he had rushed. He had gone home for the night thinking no one else would be in. We joked a little about how lucky we are that we got him in his last 8 hours and I cried some more not wanting to push. He told me this baby was coming and to go head and push. Everyone says there is a sense of relief when you push when doing an unmedicated birth.. In my case there was NOT. After one push I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do that again. I also couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I felt bad for the other women in hall who were having their first. I remember hearing a lady down the hall yell when I had Avery, the nurse turned to me and said “that is a natural birth for ya”, and I begged for the epidural after that.
I had no time to breathe between each push. I just had to keep going, I could see the doc working really hard to get the baby out but wasn’t really sure what was going on. I only push 3 or 4 times and out HE came (we didn’t know the gender). The first thing I saw was that it was a boy and I learned that was because he came out posterior! I was so excited he was out but couldn’t even enjoy it because I was thinking about how PAINFUL it was. The Doc told us that he wouldn’t have made it for the delivery if Antony wasn’t posterior. It helped slow him down which allowed time for the doc to come. And according to all the nurses I talked to, Dr. Jones is the KING of posterior babies and often gets called in to help with other deliveries so I couldn’t be more grateful that he was our doctor!
It was a unique and CRAZY experience. I can’t say I am 100 percent onboard for another unmedicated birth (especially if they are posterior haha). But my recovery has been great. I tore 2 degrees but feel like that has also been better than my two episiotomies. And I will say… the “empowerment” they talk about with unmedicated birth was not my experience. I am SO grateful I prepared for it and wanted to try it because I had no choice, and it was cool to push through some EXCRUCIATING pain, but I don’t feel like a stronger woman or mother. I feel like I did a hard thing and that its cool that my body was able to do it, but couldn’t have done it without my hubby, my nurses and my doctor.
Born 11:06 pm 7lbs 12 ounces 20.5 inches long (10 days early).
Born 11:06 pm 7lbs 12 ounces 20.5 inches long (10 days early).
