Belle's Birthstory ~ Part 2

Did you miss part 1???


I made the scary decision to walk in from the parking lot, and again, I was grateful (though also a little concerned) that no very intense contractions came while we walked.  My Beloved hit the speaker button when we arrived at the double doors on the third floor and a lady's voice asked if she could help us.  Before My Beloved could answer, I said, "I'm having a baby."  Without a word, they hit the buzzer and the doors swung open.  "That's the password," one of them said as we approached the nurses station.

I was delighted to recognize the nurse in the little per-admitting room.  The same nurse, Nicole, from Little Man's birth.  I got changed and settled.  They hooked up the monitor and then my midwife stepped in to check me.  Six centimeters dilated, 80% effaced and station 0.  Not bad.  And it was only 2:30pm.  When Sweet Pea was born, we were only in the hospital a couple hours before she was born, so surely this wouldn't take much longer.

After having learned my "it's better to change positions regularly" lesson with Little Man, I was determined to move around as much as I could this time.  Once I was in our room and the monitors were off, we got me up and out of bed.  Laying down, it seemed, slowed contractions a bit, but once I was walking around the room, I was sitting down for another contraction every couple minutes.

My back pain continued to get worse during contractions, making the chair I was using uncomfortable.  I tried leaning forward over the bed from the chair, but that wasn't working either.  They brought the birthing ball in and we tried that.  It allowed My Beloved to sit behind me on a stool to push on and rub my lower back while I learned forward on the bed, but I still wasn't comfortable.  When I could tell it wasn't working and the contraction was intensifying, I leaned back on My Beloved instead.  That was wonderful!

I had thought, the previous week, how nice it might be to have him behind me for part of labor, supporting me in that extra way.  But I hadn't figured out how to make it work.  This ball-stool combo was perfect.  I could walk around between contractions, then sit on the ball and lean back into his arms and between his legs with my shoulders and head resting on his body during contractions.  Then, he'd easily help me back up when it was done.  And, the best part is that it also reduced the back pain greatly!

Time passed and I was getting tired.  A good sign, I thought.  Perhaps entering more active labor.  My Beloved turned out the lights, leaving the window blinds open, and I settled onto my right side.  I lay there comfortably, even dozing between contractions, for I don't know how long.  My Beloved played a game on his iPhone. 

"Uh oh," the nurse said when she came in to check on me.  "Why are the lights off?"  I think she took it as a good sign.  My Beloved reported that contractions were every 2-4 minutes and running 1.5-2 minutes long.  All this he'd noted through observation because I wasn't talking much.

After a while though, I became restless, so we got me back up to walk around and use the ball and My Beloved through contractions.  All through the afternoon came offers to check me again and to break my water.  I was not interested.  I didn't want to be checked just for the sake of knowing, and I was afraid breaking my water would increase the intensity of my contractions (as it did with Tornado's birth) and I'd still have hours to labor.

Then my midwife came in.  "That looks too comfortable," she said to me, reclining on My Beloved from the ball when she came in.  She gave some suggestions for leaning and rocking that can help baby move or turn as well as help with back labor.

Then she explained that she had three mammas all in about the same place and wanted to check to see where I was at so she could see where she might be needed first.  So back into bed I climbed.  Eight centimeters, 95%, and still 0 station.  Not what I'd hoped to hear.  It was around 8 pm -- but better than no progress at all.

While I was in bed, my nurse wanted to put me on the monitor for 15 minutes just to see how the baby was doing.  I was not comfortable sitting/reclining back though, so she said she could set up the monitors with me laying on my side.  Perfect!  I wanted to try laying on my left side anyway. 

While I was getting situated and she was getting the straps on, there was a knock on the door... and a man's voice.  It was Pastor and his wife with missionary friends of ours... here only for tonight.

Labels: As it happens..., Pregnancy

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 3:50 PM