I thought I would share with you all my birth story and what went on during those 48 hours of labor. Prior to getting pregnant or giving birth, I always knew I wanted a drug-free natural birth. I also knew that although I could have an idea of what I wanted for birth, I knew plans could change based on what was going on with the baby and myself. So I always tried to keep an open mind. What I knew for sure I needed was a doula. Doulas are labor coaches that help you stay focused and provide support during labor, delivery, and postpartum. I could not have picked a better one other than Joanna. She was an amazing support to me and Eric through it all. So, let me give you my story. It was a long labor, so this is a long story.
My original “due” date was June 8, 2017. I took the week prior to my due date off of work and I’m glad I did as my back was killing me and I was getting very uncomfortable. I took this time to rest, take walks, and mentally prepare for birth. Well, my due date came and went…and went…and went. Logically, I knew first time moms deliver later than their due date, but to me it seemed Maddison did not want to come out for any reason! Before I knew it, I was fast approaching the 42 week mark. In the medical world, being post date is a “danger” and doctors tend to get antsy, wanting to induce labor. Induction was something I was NOT OK with, and my doctor knew it. Thankfully, she was supportive and agreed to monitor the baby until the 42 week mark, after that, though, I would need to induce. I was 11 days past my due date and decided to get a membrane sweep. This is a natural form of induction where the doctor (or midwife) manually separates (sweeps) the amniotic sac away from the cervix. We decided this would be our first line of induction, as it did not require drugs. Of course, this decision was not made lightly. Did I mention everything I was trying to do in the past two weeks trying to get Maddison to come out? I did foot reflexology, massages, acupressure, acupuncture (that was weird), eating pineapple, eating dates, lots of sex (sorry, but that helps!), and walking. It seemed like NOTHING was working, she was cozy in utero.
Thankfully, though, the membrane sweep seemed to work. I went on my business as usual that day, only slightly crampy. However, about 6:30 PM that evening I noticed these menstrual like cramps where getting consistent, about 7-10 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. I learned in our birth class that this was the start of labor. I was so excited, but also hesitant as there were other nights where I would get cramps and they were fairly consistent, but by the morning they would stop. So I didn’t want this to be another disappointment. However, by 8:00pm I knew this was the real deal as they were getting slightly more painful. That is the key to labor: contractions increase in intensity, last longer, and come on sooner. So at about this time I actually told Eric, “I’m pretty sure I’m in labor right now.” I had my contraction timer going and everything. That night things got a lot more intense. Contractions were lasting almost a full minute and were coming every 6 minutes. I wasn’t able to sleep the whole night and was tempted to call the family at 2:00am to say “this is it!” Thankfully I didn’t. Eric and I decided to wait to make the calls at a more decent hour in the morning. My contractions weren’t coming any closer together than the 6 minutes or so and as we learned in our class we should have more of a 4-1-1 pattern to contractions before heading to the hospital. That is: 1 contraction that lasts 1 minute, 4 minutes apart. I texted my doula to let her know the status and she came over than morning around 9 to check in. She worked on breathing techniques with me and helped me get through a couple hours of labor. I was having some back pain between contractions at this time and we decided it would be a good idea to go to my chiropractor to get a final adjustment to help with the pain. Dr. Jeremy was super encouraging, got to meet Eric, and offered words of advice (his wife had natural births as well). I’m glad we went as it relieved my pain for awhile.
Things weren’t progressing any faster by then and the contractions weren’t much different in intensity than the way they were the whole evening. This basically means, I wasn’t progressing very fast. Bummer. My whole family was on standby waiting for the call to head to hospital. Well, I continued to labor all day. Labor is an interesting thing. Between contractions I was myself, not really any pain, able to walk, talk, eat, or whatever. But when those contractions come, oh man. Game on and breathing techniques need to be on point. So all day HGTV was on and I labored. By 7pm Joanna came back to labor with me some more. By then, contractions started to get more intense. I was consistently 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each. Joanna saw that things were progressing and decided to stay with us for the remainder…not knowing I would need to labor through the second night and the next day. The second night of labor was a lot worse. The contractions were more intense, and going from 4:30 to 6 minutes apart. I was really getting disappointed that they weren’t coming closer together. That night was pretty tough. I couldn’t sleep for the life of me as lying down while contracting was super painful. I definitely needed to be sitting up for the pain to be managed well.
By about 5:30 AM Thursday, June 22 we decided it was time to head to the hospital. My contractions were lasting 1 minute and were finally consistently 3:30 to 4 minutes apart. So by 6 am we were on the road, heading to the hospital. I contracted about 4 or 5 times on the way there and to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. Once in the hospital I checked in and headed to triage where they hooked me up to a monitor and gave me an IV access. Well, the IV access was very painful because as the nurse said, “I think I blew the vein, but I can flush it and get blood so I think it will work.” Needless to say it didn’t, I couldn’t bend my wrist. I didn’t think much of it because my birth plan was to not receive IV fluids (I wanted to be as untethered as possible during labor). So I dealt with it…until about 6 hours later when they did need to give me lactaid ringers for the baby’s heart rate. Well, then it really hurt and I started crying—mostly because I was so exhausted, but also because trying to flush a blown vein really really hurts. My doula was by my side through this too when I didn’t understand why I was crying when I’ve been through so much labor without a tear. She reassured me saying the pain from the IV was “unnatural” pain where contractions are “natural.” She also kept reassuring me telling me how great I was doing and its ok to cry. Like I said, I couldn’t have done this without her.
Lets backup a little bit, though, as I went on a bit of a tangent. After going through triage, I found out I was only about 5-6 centimeters but 90% effaced (cervix was thinned out). Joanna reassured me that this was good, its better to have the cervix thinned out than the centimeters dilated at this point. Then was I admitted to a labor and delivery room. This is where the story gets really interesting. My birth plan was to receive intermittent monitoring, this way I would be free to move around as much as I needed during labor. Despite my doctor agreeing with my plan and the nurses being aware of it as well, the hospital has some pretty strict protocols for monitoring. Unfortunately, baby Maddison was a wiggle worm inside me and the monitor that was detecting her heartrate constantly needed to be adjusted on my lower belly. Well, the only way it was detecting well was for me to be leaning back, which was a very painful position for me during contractions. Needless to say, the nurse was not very happy that little data was being recorded, so my time allowed for walking around was less than what I wanted.
As the day progressed, around 12 pm Joanna texted my doctor saying I was ready for my water to be manually broken. Dr. Bodon wasn’t able to make it to the hospital until 4:00, but her presence was reassuring and she put me at ease. Around 4:30 my water was manually broken (which was not painful at all; it just felt like warm water running out) and she told me I was at 7-8 centimeters! Whoo hoo! I was really motivated now! And this is where things got really intense. Contractions definitely got worse—longer, more intense, and closer together. I couldn’t find a comfortable position and ended up on my knees facing the back of the bed leaning against the head of the bed which was fully upright. Then I started the urge to go to the bathroom, like #2. I told Joanna this and she said that was the signal that I was getting ready to push. Things continued to get intense, I felt this need to push, but was also told not to because I was only at 9 centimeters at this point. But I couldn’t stop, but I tried, but I couldn’t. It was strange. My doctor was down the hall delivering another baby around this time (in fact, she was delivering my good friend’s baby!). From what I can remember, though, at about 6 pm I was finally ready to really push. Dr. Bodon came in either a little before or a little after that time (I honestly couldn’t remember). She checked things out and informed me that the baby was sunny side up with her head cocked to the side and that is why I was not progressing past 9 centimeters. I agreed to have her manually turn the baby while she was still inside me. Before she turned her though, she offered a pain block for my perirectal area to help dull the pain. Well, I’m not sure how much it dulled (plus those two needles were HUGE). That was the MOST pain I have ever experienced. I was later reminded by Kristin that while the doctor was turning her, I yelled “What. Are. You. Doing. To. Me?!” Well, little miss wiggle worm continued to want to turn her head, so the doctor helped guide her head down while I pushed. I was given a couple drops of Pitocin to help get to 10 centimeters.
I was so incredibly tired by this time. Dr. Bodon made me focus, though, telling me exactly where I needed to feel myself pushing. Joanna was there, making me focus on how I was breathing and exerting effort (translation: do not scream while pushing and relax your face). Pushing was HARD. I was exhausted. At one time I remember saying (or maybe I just thought it) “I can’t make it to 10!” Either way, I pushed for about 45 minutes. Dr. Bodon used a ton of oil and was able to massage “down there” while Maddison was making her way through. Eric gowned up, ready to catch her. Around 6:45 pm Maddison Elizabeth Stankis made her grand entrance into the world. Eric got to hold her first, then she was moved to my chest for skin-to-skin. We delayed the clamping of her umbilical cord so she could all that healthy cord blood in her system. She was born 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long.
I don’t know how I did it, to be honest. What I do know is that I couldn’t have done it without the support of a doula or my hubby. My body was shaking like crazy afterward, but there was no more pain. Immediately after birth I thought to myself, “There is no way I could do this again.” But now, almost three weeks later, the memory of the pain is fading. I’m now having more thoughts like this: I did it once, I could do it again. For now, though, we will enjoy our baby girl and get to know each other.
theveggiewife 