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The Journey Pt-3 |
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Labor |
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By Stephanie Coleman
That
morning, I woke up with mild contractions. I went to the bathroom and I
lost my mucous plug. Now, that was pretty gross! I had a strange gut
feeling that today was the day! Of course, the house was a mess. Laundry
needed to be done. The bathtubs needed to be scrubbed with beta dine. I
wasn't ready. I was lucky my mom was there. She came to visit from
California and stay to help out when the baby came. She got busy
cleaning. I got busy eating, walking around, squatting, and timing my
contractions. They started out at ten minutes apart. Then they were
seven minutes apart. After they were 5 minutes apart consistently, I
called our midwife Bonnie at the office Gail (who had just had her
appendix out) was also at the office- crazy lady! I told them this was
it and they asked if I could come up to the office. So, I called my
husband's cell phone at work. We bought the cell phones exclusively for
this purpose- to contact him when I went into labor. And of course his
cell phone wasn't working! I called his office number and no one
answered! I was getting frustrated! I left a message for his supervisor
to have him call me. I was mad that I couldn't reach him! What if I have
the baby without him? Now I was getting irrational! My mom was starting
to believe that I was really in labor! A half hour later, my husband
called back. When I told him to come home, he asked, "Are you sure?" I
was. When we finally arrived at the midwives office, they checked the
baby and me. Blood pressure fine. Baby's heart tones were great. I was
100 % effaced and dilated to 3 cm! Yeah! I was right! These contractions
felt different than anything I had ever felt! They felt like menstrual
cramps that were followed by sharp pains in my lower abdomen and back.
We did an ultrasound to confirm the baby's head position. His back was
on my left side and his head was facing sideways. His head still needed
to rotate. We went home to labor. I got into the knee/chest position and
I walked around the apartment cleaning up and making snacks for the
midwives. I decided to take a bath to ease my back pain. My husband
helped me and stayed with me. I could not get comfortable in the tub
because I was too short. I couldn't rest up against the tub without
sliding down. Needless to say, I didn't stay in there too long. Around
4:00 pm, I felt like I "needed" my midwives. My husband called them and
Bonnie arrived at 5:00. She checked me and I was 5-6 cm dilated, 100%
effaced, and very thin! She said I had probably gone into active labor
(4-5 cm dilated) at around 4 pm. What great news this was! When Gail
arrived at 6:00, I had been leaning over my bed while Bonnie continued
to give me counter pressure on my back- I had some uncomfortable back
labor due to the baby's head position. A few minutes later, I felt
queasy shaky. I threw up in a bowl. Bonnie thought I was done so she
took the bowl away. I threw up again- this time on my husband! What a
wonderful guy! He just held his hands out for me to throw up in! I
remember turning to Gail and saying, "I think it's for real, Gail. I'm
in labor." She laughed and replied nonchalantly, "Yep, looks like the
real thing to me" She had me get into the knee/chest position. The
baby's head still needed to rotate. I rested my head on a pillow and
felt so comfortable and sleepy. I stayed in that position for about a
half hour. My back felt wonderful! Whoever says this position is
uncomfortable has never had back labor! My husband brought me a snack
(though I honestly can't remember what it was) and I relaxed like this
for a little while longer.
Around 7:30 pm, Bonnie checked me again. I was dilated to 8 cm! Wow!
What progress! I was in shock that my body was progressing naturally as
it should and that it knew what to do! I did not feel scared. Just
excited. I couldn't wait to get to the pushing part! How badly I wanted
to feel my baby coming out of my body! As Bonnie felt for the baby's
head, my bulging bag of waders broke all over her and the bed! "I hope
it didn't get on your face and mouth!'' I laughed at her. (That actually
happened to her before and she had amniotic fluid in her mouth! ) Her
face was saved! I had never felt so much water before! How strange and
wonderful to feel that come bursting out of me! It was during this time
that my contractions were now coming so fast and so intense that they
were right on top of each other! Bonnie did the counter pressure. She
was the only one that did it perfectly. In fact, while she was in the
other room getting a snack, my contractions were coming harder and I
remember yelling for her to come quickly. I needed her now! Instant
relief come as soon as she applied the counter pressure! At one point, I
began rocking and swaying my hips. It was almost like my labor was a
dance. I tried to let my body just feel each contraction and "give into
it'' instead of fighting it. With each contraction, I just moved with it
and I "sounded" deep into my throat. The moaning was almost a natural
reaction to the pain. The vibrations and movement felt better. I felt as
if I was taking control of my pain and "letting it be" instead
of letting it take control of me. I remember
thinking how grateful I was that I wasn't stuck somewhere in a hospital
bed flat on my back. No wonder women get an epidural to deal with the
pain! They don't have the freedom or privacy to "dance" or move around
with their contractions. Their pain takes control of them and the only
way they can deal with it is by by getting rid of it. If I had been in
a hospital on my back, I probably would have gotten an epidural too! My
back labor would have been unbearable! I did keep thinking that
eventually the pain would get worse than this, but I was wrong! My labor
was progressing so quickly I had a hard time remembering everything that
was happening! Jeff and Bonnie took turns letting me hold onto them
while I rocked and danced. After a contraction, I remember feeling a
strange sensation between my legs! Could that be the urge to push?
Bonnie told me to bear down if I wanted to. I did push very gently and
it felt wonderful! Relief!! A few minutes later, the urge was unbearable
and there was no mistaking that it was time to push! I immediately
climbed up on the bed and laid on my left side. I pulled my right leg up
in the air so that I could push. I NEEDED to push! What an incredible
feeling that was! My body was working! Bonnie and Gail looked at each
other at this moment (or so my husband later told me) and they said that
a woman puts her leg up instinctively when she is complete. They checked
me and I was 10 cm dilated! My husband climbed up onto the bed and
cradled me in his arms while he also held up my leg for me! I gave into
the urge to push again. It was almost 8:00 pm.
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