Well, I'm finally getting around to Devon's birth story! My water broke at home at about 8am on Thursday, Sept. 4th. I was going to the bathroom at the time, so I wasn't positive that that's what it was! I was just writing DH a text message saying that I thought it may have broken, and all of the sudden, POP! The rest of the broke! I called the birth center at the hospital and they said come in. I had a few things I had to do first (shower, wait for DH to get home from work, log onto Families.com!!) so I told them I would be in in a couple of hours.
We got to the hospital around 11am, and I still wasn't feeling like the contractions were anything special. I was dilated to about 5 cm. (I was 4cm the night before, when we had gone in because I felt like something was going on!) So it was a one cm change, and I was happy with that. Many hours go by, and my cervix wasn't changing, and I wasn't feeling the contractions. I did a ton of walking, went up and downstairs, relaxed.. we tried everything! At one point the nurse said she thought I was a definate 7 1/2, and then the doc gets in and says, nope! 6 for sure! Only 6! (Nurse thought I was 6 cm. many hours earlier! So this was a big step back!) I trusted the doc's opinion, though. By 9pm the doctor came in to talk about getting the Pitocin going. I was still determined to have my water birth, and if I were to get Pitocin, that would be out. (Not to mention, I've heard horror stories about Pitocin, and would have just gotten the epidural with it.) Sooo, I turned it down. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to do that, but I guess I am! The doctor was really great about it! He told me both sides of the ordeal, and what could/would happen if I went one way or the other. I am really glad I turned it down, because the stress of the "Pitocin Talk" must have scared my body into having stronger contractions because before the end of the talk, even, I was getting my game face on! They were coming on Hard!!
By 9:30-10:00pm, I was having the nurse fill up the tub to help with the pain. It worked for a bit, but after an hour, I was getting really hot and cranky, and it wasn't doing much for the pain anymore! I was excited that this was finally happening, but I was also starting doubt my decision, and was considering pain meds! And it was only about 11pm or so! I had only been in bad pain for a couple hours! LoL! The doc came in a checked me again, and I was about 7 1/2-8cm (for real this time!) The change wasn't good enough for me, though. I did some laboring on the bed instead of the tub for a bit, and I could feel that whole 'transition period' come on! I was climbing the walls in pain and by 12:30 was begging for the epidural during and in between contractions! (I had stupidly written in my birth plan not to give it to me, even if I beg for it!) So they didn't. DH was awesome, though! He did the counter-pressure on my lower back, and that was great! Got me through a few contractions, and at that point, I could only take them one at a time! He breathed with me, reminded me that it is one less contraction that I will ever have, etc. He was great! I was getting discouraged, thinking that I was going through this pain, and wasn't changing. So I demanded to be checked every 30 minutes! By 2am I was 10cm, but my cervix was swollen in a certain area, and the nurse didn't want me to push in fear that I would tear through it. I couldn't help it, though!! I HAD to push! I was still in the bed, but the tub was full. The nurse said she will go call the doc (he went home for a bit) and then I could push. I couldn't wait!! I started pushing while she was gone, and I could feel the baby coming down. DH started freaking out, so I called the nurse's station from my bed and was screaming, I GOTTA PUSH!! (I feel like such an idiot! LoL!) The nurse came back in and I got in the tub. I was trying not to push until the doc got here, but every couple contractions, I couldn't help it! But the doc got there quickly, and I was SO ready to have this baby! Pushing was the strangest sensation ever! I kept screaming that the baby was coming out the wrong hole! Hahaha!! After a half hour of some screaming, a bit of swearing, some hitting, Devon was finally born into the water at 2:50am on September 5th, 2008!
I got to hold him right away, and I held him until I thought I was going to drop him! I was still in so much pain, it was ridiculous! The doctor had me get out of the tub to deliver the placenta and do any repairs. Luckily I didn't have any repairs!! No tears or anything! But he said I have hypersensitivity, that even the slightest touch down there felt a million times worse. My body wasn't delivering the placenta very quickly, and I was also bleeding out a ton, and had a lot of huge clots. The doc ordered 20 ml. of Pitocin (7-10 times the normal amount! Yikes!) and 3 Cervadil (sp) pills, and they palpatated my uterus for what seemed like forever! It was just as painful as the birth! DH was super scared.. I could see him trying to concentrate on the nurses weighing and measuring Devon, but he kept watching me and crying. I bled a lot when Alex was born, too, so I knew everything was going to be fine. It just hurt a lot more this time around! I lost a lot of blood and the doc started talking about blood transfusion, but luckily I didn't need it!
Most importantly, Devon was born absolutely perfect and incredibly healthy! He was 8lbs, 3oz. and 21 and a half inches long! I think I might have nightmares from having the water birth.. it was just too long and very scary for me! Really traumatic, and now I wonder why I wanted to do it! LoL! It was a good experience, though, and it wasn't traumatic for Devon at all, and to me, that's more important!
Sorry for the long story and thanks for listening! Below are the pics! The first one is immediately after birth, so he's still gooey, if you've got an easy stomach!
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Devon's Birth!
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