At 9:00 Scott called and described
my symptoms to the secretary at the birthing center, who relayed
them to Rebekah. Scott said the secretary gave him the impression
that she thought we were in labor. She told us to come in.
The car ride to the birthing center was
weird. I didn’t really believe it was happening- it
was too early. I was only 35 weeks and 6 days. We were worried
that I would have to go to the hospital because I wasn’t
full term (37 weeks) yet. We really didn’t know what
would happen. We thought maybe we would try to get the labor
stopped.
At the center, Rebekah examined me and reported
that I was 100% effaced, 1-2 centimeters dilated, and after
a quick ph test, reported that my water had broken. She said
that the baby would be coming today. I was still in disbelief.
Scott and I walked around on the back porch and called family
members while Rebekah looked at my chart. At this point we
didn’t know whether we would have to go to a hospital
or not. After a while she called us in and said that at my
20-week ultrasound I measured ahead, which put me at 36 weeks
and 4 days. He also felt like a good-sized baby. She consulted
with her OB who advised that we go to the hospital but said
that if we wanted to deliver in the birthing center he would
OK it.
Scott and I talked it over and we felt that
since my body was in labor that Marc must be ready to come
out. We decided that we didn’t want to have the birth
at the hospital. We originally planned a homebirth. Rebekah
said that depending on how slow the labor progressed, she
could come to our house after she was done seeing patients,
but otherwise, since it was a Tuesday, we’d have to
come in. She sent us home with a list of stuff to pack and
to wait and see how the labor progressed. At this point I
was uncomfortable with the labor, but still able to carry
on a conversation.
By the time we got home, I was more uncomfortable.
I sat down in the shower and let the hot water hit my back.
That felt a little better. My contractions were about 3 minutes
apart and one minute long. Scott threw together a bag for
us to take to the birthing center. He later told me that he
was having a hard time getting anything done because he was
trying to be with me before each contraction started, and
that left him less than 2 minutes in between to get things
ready. By the time I ran out of hot water we were almost ready
to go. Scott said he thought we needed to go in to the birthing
center around 11:00, but it was noon before we actually left.
He called his mom who wanted to be present at the birth and
told her not to dilly-dally. Scott timed my contractions on
the way to the birthing center. He said I had one at noon,
three after, six after, 8 after, 11 after, and 14 after. I
was pretty serious by this point and really didn’t want
to talk or be disturbed. I had a difficult time even telling
Scott when each contraction was starting and stopping. The
car ride seemed real long- I remember reading that the labor
would slow down during the car ride, but mine didn’t
seem to.
When we got there, Scott told Rebekah and the
birthing assistant how the hot water in the shower seemed
to sooth me a little bit. I really wanted some blue Power-Aid,
and Rebekah said I needed some more easily digestible snacks.
Scott didn’t want to leave, but he ran to the grocery
store to pick up a few things. While he was gone, they filled
up the Jacuzzi tub for me. I got in and the warm water really
helped. It seemed like 5 minutes went by and Scott was back
already- he was surprised to find me in the tub.
I had been scheduled to have my Group B strep
test done the next day. Since it hadn’t been done and
because my water was broken, Rebekah gave me an IV of antibiotics
as a precaution. She gave it to me in my hand while I was
in the tub. The IV lasted about 10 minutes.
The contractions got pretty intense. The hot
water felt good on my body, but my face was hot. Scott put
a cloth on my head, which he kept cooling off in some ice
water. That helped a lot. I tried to let my body relax with
the contractions, but that got near impossible at the end.
I tried to tell myself that what I was feeling wasn’t
pain, but a muscle tightening. Not sure if that helped, but
it gave me something to focus on. I was scared that they would
be like this for several hours, and I wasn’t sure I
would be able to handle that. Fortunately, I didn’t
have to wait long.
While this was going on Scott was on phone several
times with his mother who was having trouble finding the birthing
center. She managed to get there right around the time I started
to push.
Around 1:15 I could feel a lot of pressure (like
I had to poop) and really wanted to push. Rebekah said that
baby was +3 station and ready to come out. She asked me if
I was ready to get out of the tub and go to the bed to push
the baby out. I really did not want to move so I asked if
I could just stay in the tub, and Rebekah said I could. I
pushed a few times and was holding myself up with my arms.
Then Scott got in the tub behind me to help support me and
that made things easier. The labor felt better now that I
could push. There was more time in between contractions, and
it felt better to be doing something. After a couple pushes
Rebekah said we could feel the baby's head. It was amazing;
it was right there and felt soft. With the next few contractions
I pushed the baby's head out. It was painful, especially when
I felt a tear up front, but it felt so good when his head
came out. The rest was pretty easy- and fast. At 1:44 our
son was born. Rebekah placed him on my chest and Scott and
I looked at him in amazement. He cried immediately- good healthy
lungs. There was a blanket around him and Scott poured warm
water over him to keep him from getting cold. We stayed like
that about 20 minutes until the umbilical cord stopped pulsating,
and then Scott cut the cord.
We got out of the water and I got in the bed.
About a half an hour after Marc was born, I delivered the
placenta in a squat position. There was a little pressure
with that, but much easier, and again, it felt great when
it finally came out. I had a small tear on my labia that Rebekah
stitched up. This was painful as she was not able to numb
the area totally.
Rebekah and the birthing assistant monitored
Marc’s temperature, as well as my temperature and blood
pressure. They were a little concerned because my blood pressure
went up, but it went back down again, and I was feeling fine.
They wanted me to pee before I went home. I had trouble with
this at first, but they suggested I get in the shower and
pee there, and I was able to do that. Marc had his newborn
exam and everything looked great. We decided to get the vitamin
K injection since he was so early and had a little bruising.
He didn’t even cry. Four hours later we took our beautiful
son home.
It wasn’t how we planned the birth, but
I am really happy with how things went. I am glad that I was
able to have a natural childbirth. We were so happy with the
great care we received at the birthing center. I also am very
thankful that Scott was such a good and caring coach and that
he was there with me to help me through it.
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