My birthing time started on Monday night, 2/02/09 around 9:20. I went to bed with my tailbone hurting so I turned on my heating pad and lay down to read. After a little while I wanted to change positions so I moved and I felt a bubble pop and my water broke. So I got up and changed my pajama bottoms and let my husband and my mom know. My mom had come in from out of town just in case I started my birthing time on my guess date, which was 2/2/09. After laying back down I started feeling some pressure waves that were more intense than any Braxton Hicks I had previously had. So I tried to time a few on my own and thought they seemed very close, 1 to 2 minutes apart. I decided to be sure I would have my husband start writing them down to be sure I was right. After about an hour of pressure waves being 1 or 2 minutes apart, I called my doctors office who said to go ahead into the hospital to be checked out. The ride to the hospital took a great deal of focus for me to stay relaxed, every bump in the road was tough!!
Once we arrived at the ER, they wheeled me in because I just couldn’t walk very well at that point. Once I was checked in completely they took me to a room where an internal exam was done, I was 5 centimeters! The week previously I had been to the doctor and she had told me I was 3 centimeters and 50% effaced. My doula Kristin arrived at the hospital and helped me with position changes and when I started feeling sick she had some good smelling peppermint oil to ease the feeling some. The whole time I listened to my Birthing Day track and was able to remain relaxed. Occasionally it was difficult when my legs started aching, which was surprising to me. Kristin massage my legs with oil to help ease the ache.
Not long after my legs acting up, I ended up vomiting my dinner (never again will I want Italian food!). I then started feeling a lot more pushy, so I sat on my birthing ball to help bring the baby down more. During all of this I continued listening to different tracks of hypnobabies. When the nurse came back around I asked if she could check me to see if it would be ok to push. Once checked she said I was fully dilated but there was a little bit of my cervix that was still slightly in the way. So we waiting for maybe 30 more minutes (I don’t really remember the time) and I told the nurse I was ready to push and she said ok, the cervix might move on its own if I went ahead with pushing.
Pushing was difficult and I felt like I wasn’t making a whole lot of progress until I asked my doctor if she had any suggestions for me. She told me to hold my breath with the pressure wave and push hard at that point. I had not wanted to do any holding of my breath, but if I had not I think the birthing would have been at least another hour longer. I pushed for a total of 2 and half hours and then my little Bryce Violet entered the world!!
My experience was almost exactly like I had visualized it! I had visualized a 7 to 8 hour birthing and it really happened! I can honestly say I never felt P***, just intense pressure. All of the nurses and my doctor were so impressed with my birthing time! The hospital is actually going to interview me for their monthly magazine as well as the local newspaper regarding my birthing time and the methods I used for a natural birth experience!
