ROCHELLE’S STORY
Hi, Im Rochelle and I recently gave birth. I was sharing the experience with my friend, Mr. Midwife, and he asked if I’d be willing to write it up so he could post yhenstory on his website, blissofbirth.com. Well, here is my story.
I started having contractions two days before I went into actual labor. The contractions were very irregular and not really painful. They felt like strong period pains, maybe a 6 out of 10 but still quite manageable with normal breathing.
Sometime during the second day I noticed that the contractions had become a little stronger and were coming every 5 to 10 minutes. They were now a 7 out of 10 but still quite manageable with normal breathing.
I labored like this for the rest of the day and throughout the night. Contractions remained consistent with the pain remaining a 7 out of 10. I tried to rest and sleep as much as possible.
I woke up to a contraction at about 5:40 in the morning and braced myself for another day of contractions. I did not know how long this was going to go on for.
While working through a contraction at about 6:00 a.m.,I felt a pop in my deep in my belly and a gush of clear fluid shot out between my legs and soaked the bed. My water had broken.
With my next few contractions. I m]noticed a marked change in them. They were stronger and closer together. At this point, I could clearly feel; pain in my belly and back with each contraction, I would like to think my breathing was still normal, but I’m not so sure.
My boyfriend came home shortly after my water broke and helped me get through the next little bit by rubbing my belly and back.
I labored at home for another hour and felt it was time to head to the hospital. No matter what I tried, I could not get comfortable. I quickly got dressed and we left for the hospital.
Upon arrival;at the hospital, when I told them my water had broken, I was immediately taken to a labor and delivery room
When We got to the room, the nurse asked me to get undressed from the waist down, which I did. I also took off my top since it was warm in the room, leaving my bra on.
The nurse had me lay down in the bed ad told me to relax. She began feeling my belly to determine the position of the baby (head down and low). She listened to the baby’s heartbeat which was nice and strong.
Next, the nurse asked my to lift my knees and spread my feet wide apart. I knew what was coming now.
She slowly slid her fingers into my vagina, going very deep, in order to reach my cervix.. It wasn’t painful but it was sure uncomfortable. When she was done, she pulled her fingers out . She said my cervix was extremely soft and dilating well. I was at six cm.
After the internal, they left me to labor. I changed positions frequently in order to try and get comfortable. Ever so often, they suggested that I agree tp getting a Pitocin drip to help speed things along. Knowing that while it would make my contractions stronger, it would also make them more painful. I didn’t want more pain.
After about an hour, while I was on my side, I started to feel a pressure in my butt like I had to poop. It grew in intensity and my body started to involuntarily bear down. Soon I was quietly pushing to relieve the pressure.
I must have made a sound, because the nurse came over and asked me if I was pushing. I told her yes, I was pushing. So much pressure now.
Quickly, the nurse shoved her fingers into my vagina. It was so uncomfortable, I let out a moan. She checked and told me that I was at eight cm and that I shouldn’t push yet
I couldn’t help it. I had to push. I pushed as quietly and gently as I could I needed to push. The baby was coming.
I kept pushing, gently, quietly, feeling so much pressure. I had to get the baby out.
After about an hour of quiet, gentle pushing.
After about an hour, I felt something “shift inside of me”. The pressure grew extremely strong and I could now feel it deep inside my vagina, much lower than previously.
It quickly became overwhelming. The easiest way to describe it was that it felt like a huge and hard poop that was right there but not coming out.
After a few seconds of this new feeling, I let out a long moan and cried out “It’s coming!”
The nurse immediately slid her fingers in my vagina to check me. At this point, her fingers were so uncomfortabl After what seemed like forever, she pulled her fingers out of me and told me I was completely dilated at ten cm and I could been pushing.
I decided to change position at that point and got on my hands and knees, I got there with a little help from my boyfriend, belly hanging very low into the bed.
With each contraction I took a deep breath in and bore down as hard as I could.. While it was painful, it wa easy and I could feel the baby wooly moving in me
When I got on all fours, my boyfriend and the nurse moved to the foot of the bed to watch me push my baby out.
After about `15 minute of pushing on all fours, my boyfriend tells me the my closed labia are beginning to bulge. The nurse tells me to keep pushing..Says I’m doing good and it won’t be long now.
After another pushing contraction, the nurse tells me to spread my knees wider and to relax my bottom. I comply and feel the baby move a little more. The pressure is awesome. I’m starting to feel a burning.
With a few more pushes, the nurse said I was beginning t0 open up and crown. She paged the doctor and told him I was ready.
The doctor entered the room and told me that I needed to roll over onto my back for him. With a great effort, I rolled over onto my back. .He placed my legs into holders that th4 nurse had quickly set up in place. I felt very exposed and vulnerable like this.
The doctor paced his hands on and around my stretching labia. With each contraction, the doctor encouraged me to bear down hard. I continued to stretch open slowly. At times th he’d slipped back in a bit.
Finally, with enough pushing I was stretching nicely and the head no longer moved back. I was crowning nicely with the baby almost here.
At some point, the doctor told me to stop pushing and to pant. Asking him why he told me that he did not want me to tear. It was hard, as the urge to push was so strong, but I panted and blew.
Finally I couldn’t help it The urge to push was so strong, I couldn’t control myself. I just had to bear down and push, With a long and loud moan, that’s exactly what I did. As the contraction peaked, the head slid out of my vagina and Inlet out a huge sigh of relief.
I could feel the doctor inside of me checking to see if the cord was wrapped around the neck, which it wasn’t. My boyfriend kissed me and told e that I did a great job.
After a few minutes, the contractions resumed and I began pushing to get the shoulders out. I felt myself stretching around them as I bore down and pushed.
Slowly, I gave birth to the shoulders and kept pushing for the rest of the body.My son came out with a huge gush of fluid.
Thew doctor put my son on my slightly deflated belly and I began to rub his little body as he started to cry.
At one point the doctor clamped and cut the cord while I marvelled at my son.
About a half hour after the birth, I began to feel cramps and started to bleed. With a few pushes, the placenta slid out of my vagina into a bowl that the doctor held between my legs.
I think my labor and birth was awesome and I can’t wait to become pregnant again.
ANNA’S BIRTH
It was the third week of May 2020 and I was heavily pregnant, being a week overdue. It was hard to walk and I tired very easily. While I was scared of what was going to happen when I went into labor, I couldn’t wait to meet my baby.
I did not sleep well the night before I went into labor. I just could not get comfortable with my big belly along with the fact that I was having quite a few Braxton-Hicks contractions so I decided to take a midmorning nap.
About noon, I woke up to a strong period-like cramp. I immediately knew I was finally in labor as this [aon was much different than the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I was used to. It was time, I was a whew overdue and quite ready.
The contractions started coming at 20-30 minutes intervals and were manageable with normal breathing.
At 2 p.m., the contractions started coming consistently every 15 minutes and becoming stronger. found my breathing getting heavier with these contractions.
At 4 p.m. things started to ramp up.The contractions started to get stronger, longer, and closer together. I was now focused on the contractions and trying to get through the pain. Just breathing was no longer working and I found myself starting to moan with the contractions.
I continued to labor throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I had no idea of how I was progressing or how much longer it would take before I held my baby in my arms. The contractions just kept getting stronger, longer, and closer together.
At 7 p.m., when my mom came home, the contractions were four to five minutes apart and lasting just under a minute. I told my mom that I was in labor but felt we had plenty of time before we needed to leave for the hospital.
At 7:45 p.m., I experienced the worst contraction yet. All I could do wa lay there, gripping my bedsheets and moan. <My mom ate in and told me to get dressed because she was taking me to the hospital now.
I suddenly felt very self-conscious about my pregnant body, so I decided to dress conservatively. I put on plain white cotton high top panties and a white nursing bra. I covered that with sweat pants and a tee shirt large enough to hide my belly. I even put a pad in my panties, in case my water broke.
The 15 minute ride to the hospital was pure agony. I lay on the back set moaning and tugging on the seatbelt trying to make it to the hospital where I could get my much wanted and needed epidural.
When we entered the lobby, I was upset to find out that my mom could not come with me to the birthing unit due not the covid restrictions in place. I would be alone, My mom kissed me and told me that I would be fine. I kissed her back and slowly made my way to the birthing unit.
I arrived at the birthing unit and told the nurse that I was in labor and really ready for my epidural.
The he nurse took me back to a triage room and told me that I needed to strip from the waist down and lay down on the exam table.
I complied, slowly slipping out of my sweatpants and panties, handing the to the nurse who placed them in a plastic bag, She hung the bag off the side of the exam table as I stepped on the stool get onto the exam table and lay down.
The nurse lifted my tee shirt, exposing my belly, and began to feel all around my belly to determine the position of the baby, which she said was head down and deep in my pelvis.
Next the nurse placed two discs on my belly and held them in place with wide elastic bands. She hooked the discs up to a monitor by the side of the table. When she turned the monitor on, I could clearly hear my baby’s heartbeat.
The nurse the. told me I needed to lift my knees and spread my feet wide, so that she could check my cervix to see if I was dilating and how much. I new this was going to hurt, like the ones it the office, but I slowly complied anyway..I felt so open, so vulnerable, and on display.
When I got into position, she told e to relax my bottom and slathered my labia with a large amount of lubricant gel. The nurse instructed me to begin steady and slow deep breathing.
After a minute of this breathing, the nurse slid her fingers through the gel, past my labia and into my vagina. Oh my god, it hurt so bad. The pressure from her fingers was intense. I could feel her fingers moving deeper inside me, separating my walls and then feeling around and in my cervix. The pressure was so intense. She kept reminding me to take steady, slow, deep breaths as she continued to examine me.
After what seemed like forever, she slowly pulled her fingers out of my vagina. I immediately relaxes and let my body go slack.
The nurse told me that I was eight centimetres dilated and that my water bag was starting to bulge down and out into my vagina from my uterus.
As another contraction. overtook me, I moaned out and asked if I could please get my epidural now. The nurse said she thought it was too late for one but would check with the doctor and left the room.
As I lay on the bed, thinking about how dilated I was, it had an oddly calming effect on me. the contractions kept pn coming, but they didn’t seem so painful any more.