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After a very smooth and easy pregnancy, our
baby (unknown sex) was due Mar. 28, 2006. However, I was quite
overdue. Finally after 2 sessions of reflexology, 2 cervical
sweeps with the midwife, and 1 visit with the acupuncturist,
contractions started Thursday (Apr. 5) evening. Per my midwife
(Bea), I took castor oil mixed with OJ to help stimulate the
uterus and contractions. This does not taste good. I threw
it up 2 hours later. Contractions kept coming through most
of the night. By 4am, we called Bea to let her know that I
had 60 second contractions/ 5 minutes apart/ for over an hour.
Though my water had not broken yet, we thought for sure we
would be having our baby by the end of this day. However,
by 6am, the contractions had stopped coming so regularly.
They were only about 8-15 minutes apart with no pattern. She
told us to keep laboring at home, and we would check in periodically.
When we spoke at 9am, nothing had changed. Strong contractions,
no pattern. At noon we spoke again and she asked us to come
in to check the dilation. We got to the Labor of Love Birth
Center around 1:00pm. I was 5 cm dilated with good station,
but poor effacement. I began taking Bring Labor Herbal Tinctures
every 15 minutes. Bea gave us the option of going home or
staying at the birth center to see if the contractions would
begin a pattern. We stayed. Contractions continued to be fierce,
and intense, but with no pattern more frequent than 5-8 minutes
apart. I took another dose of castor oil around 6pm, and threw
it all up again about 2 hours later. At 8pm, she said our
next move would be to break the bag of water. She believed
that since the intensity of the contractions was present,
but no pattern, (which is the opposite of how it usually happens)
that if the water was broken the pattern would begin, and
so would the pushing stage. The contractions would be more
intense once the water was broken. She said we could break
the water tonight, or go home to rest and come back in the
AM to break the water. We decided to go home to sleep and
rest. All night contractions continued, with a strong intensity.
I only got a few hours of sleep but overall felt fairly rested.
Sat. April 7: We got to the birth center at
9am, dilation was checked. I was at 7 cm, with a thick cervix.
Bea broke the water at 9am. The contractions became very regular
and more painful, occurring about every 3-6 minutes, lasting
60+ seconds. This lasted most of the day, however the dilation
was very slow to increase. Bea stated my cervix was like a
pear shape, it was dilated at 9 cm in one direction, but only
8 in the other. My cervix was dilated at 10/9 by about 3 pm,
and I began to feel the urge to push. Bea told me to start
pushing around 5pm. I was still dilated 10/9, and my cervix
was still a bit thick, but Bea was attempting to manipulate
the cervix with her fingers while I was pushing. There was
very little progress during the pushing phase. At 8pm, Bea
told me to rest, and that she had called Robyn (the other
midwife) who was going to come in and check things out. We
rested for about 1 hour, and I was told not to push during
these contractions. Robyn got to the center around 9pm. Robyn
checked things out and said she could get this baby out but
it would take lots of hard work from everyone. Robyn explained
that the baby’s head was angled funny, making it a larger
diameter to come out, so she would have to manipulate the
baby’s head to get it into a better position. Robyn
then stuck her fingers inside me to manipulate the head during
each contraction, and had me flip all around for the contractions,
on my side, back, squatting, and also using the rope/bed sheet
technique for pushing. Contractions seemed to slow down at
this point. Robyn could see the uterus contract, but I couldn’t
feel them, which made the laboring slow. Once Robyn had the
baby better positioned, by around 11pm, the real pushing began.
I was trying to push the baby through the pelvic opening (under
and up) but the baby kept going back in.
Sunday April 8- At around 12:30am Robyn had
me do some “power walking” which was basically
a stomping walk, and when contractions came I would squat.
I did this for about 15-20 minutes, and then went back to
the bed for more pushing. At around 1am, she gave me IV fluids
and oxygen, because she said that the fluid coming out during
the contractions was becoming much less, and she thought I
was becoming dehydrated. (Something to note, was that the
baby’s heart rate was checked almost every 10 minutes,
and his rate never dropped once). That was hooked up, and
then I began feeling every contraction. They were coming almost
back to back, and lasted about 2 minutes. I would get about
4 good pushes for each contraction. The fluids and oxygen
completely rejuvenated me and my energy levels increased dramatically.
Robyn and Bea continued to manipulate my cervix, and also
had to push down on my coccyx, to help the baby pass through.
(This was not comfortable whatsoever.) I pushed this way until
the baby was born at 6:16 am. It seemed like he would never
come out and when he did, it was such a moment of sweet relief.
This labor was truly one of the most difficult challenges
I’ve ever had to deal with. (We feel very fortunate
to have had the baby at a birth center. If we had been at
a hospital, they would not have allowed to me to labor as
long; drugs would have been used and a possible C-section
might have been done.) Owen immediately was placed on my chest
for breastfeeding, and bonding. He weighed 9 lbs, 8 oz, and
had a significant cone head, due to the odd placement in the
birth canal and manipulation. I had a small tear (1 degree,
naturally) requiring 2 stitches. Angela cut the cord, and
Robyn spent some time with the baby helping to clear his lungs.
He also got a little bit of oxygen for about 20 minutes. Two
hours later I got up to take a shower, and by 12:00pm we went
home to our bed. We all took a much needed 7 hour nap.
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