Locke's Surprising Birth

A little after 3:00 in the morning of January 30th, I woke up having some minor contractions. They seemed to be sticking around so I timed a few. They were about a minute long, coming every eight minutes. Well, we had seen that pattern almost daily for the past month so I rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

Around 4:30 the contractions got bad enough they would wake me. I stayed in bed until about 5:00 then decided to get a shower. Being up and moving, the contractions got stronger and closer together and by the time I got out of the shower I knew tis was the real deal.

I made my way to bed and woke Philip up. Alex had had a rough night that night and Philip had been up with him most of the night (stupid teething!). Needless to say, Philip wasn't too thrilled to be woken up and hour early, but that quickly changed when I explained the reason for the early wake up.

We got Alex up, dropped him off at daycare, and headed for the hospital. On admission I was dilated to 3 cm and 100% effaced. Doc broke my water and said he'd see me in a few hours. (He wasn't joking!) It took a little while to get a room as they were full and had to wait for one to be cleaned.

Once they got me back and all hooked up, the nurse immediately started prepping for delivery. I thought that a bit premature but she said she wanted to be ready as second babies can surprise you. I'm telling you, everyone else seemed to know something I didn't.

Anywho, I let Philip nap for awhile. Contractions weren't too bad and I was dealing just fine looking at funny memes online. Around 11, I woke him up and told I was probably going to start needing him soon. If I hand't woken him then, he would have been awake pretty soon thereafter. It seemed like all of a sudden the contractions got really strong and were coming rather fast.

I started feeling a slight urge to push, but thought that maybe I just needed to use the restroom. Not wanting to be mistaken, I called the nurse. The nurse said I was at a 7 and if I felt I needed it, she would bring me a bedpan, but she didn't want me to go to the restroom as she didn't want me to have the baby on the toilet. The urge to push started coming and going with the contractions a few minutes later. The nurse said I needed to wait; that I wasn't dilated enough.

It wasn't long after that I had Philip calling her back in the room. At this point I told her I had to push. She quickly called out to the nurses station to have her back up come in and for them to page my doctor because "She's pushing and she's not stopping."

I don't even really remember the doctor or the other nurse getting there. I felt like I couldn't really focus on pushing, that I just had this insane urge to get the baby out. I remember yelling for someone to "just get him out". Well, somehow we got him out, in less than thirty minutes of pushing.

I looked up and saw his little bottom and a brief moment of panic came over me. "Why isn't he crying?" The doctor told me he was just fine and to just give him a minute. Apparently, they hadn't suctioned him yet. As soon as they did he let out his little cry and I saw him. "He looks just like Alex!"

Philip cut the cord and after a quick glance over, the nurse brought him to me and laid him on my chest. She placed a few warm blankets over us and told us that she would be back in about an hour to check his vitals. We had a wonderful cuddle and Locke pooped all over me and the blanket- the surest sign of motherhood!

The nurse came back and checked Locke out. He was perfectly healthy. He came in weighing a whopping nine pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 22 inches in length! We all agreed that had he not pooped all over me, he would have been at least an even ten.

I still find myself sitting back in a bit of shock. Not only did I just have a ten pound baby, but in less than ten hours of labor! It seems like the whole pregnancy and then delivery were here and gone in the blink of an eye!

Locke is healthy and I've recovered well. Alex is adjusting as well as can be expected and has actually had fewer issues than I expected.

Locke
1/30/2013, 1:09 pm
22 inches
9 pounds, 15 ounces

Birth Plans- Put It In Writing!

Sorry! This post has moved! It can now be found here: http://amothersteachings.com/2013/01/31/birth-plans-put-it-in-writing/

Natural Birth

Almost a month later, here are my top best and worse reasons to give birth naturally.

Lets start with the worse:
- You feel it will prove your love for the baby or show that you're an Amazon of a woman... A natural birth makes you no better of a mother and a medicated birth doesn't mean you don't love your baby. Both ideas are just stupid.

- You want to feel the pain... No woman who has felt the pain of labor would intentionally want to feel that pain again. "Why yes I'd like a hot stone massage and a few hours of contractions while on my vacation." That's just silly.

- You want a natural birth because some expert said it makes babies smarter or your midwife scolded you for asking about pain management or a friend said that's the only way to be a "real mom"... Any external person who makes you feel like less of a woman or mother for your choice in birth, no matter what it is, needs to be eliminated from your life. They obviously aren't the support you will need.

The best reasons for a natural birth:

- Natural, unmediated labor tends to be faster and more effective than induced or medicated labor... Of course all labors are different but most interventions have a good chance of slowing your labor and making it more difficult for your body to do its job.

- Babies delivered after unmediated births tend to be more alert and interactive then their medicated counterparts... Again all babies are different but the natural labor process triggers hormones and chemical reactions in baby that are upset by the medications commonly used in labor. The medications used are considered safe for the baby but baby still feels the effects (even if the medication doesn't enter baby's bloodstream the effect on labor can have effect on baby.)

- Faster and easier recovery... After an unmediated birth you are usually free to be up and moving as soon as you feel like it. You also are more able to resume your regular activities sooner.

For my personal experience, I'd go natural any day. It wasn't pleasant and it wasn't fun but it was worth it. Everyone commented on how alert Alex was just after his birth (and for many people, including hospital staff he was their first non-epidural baby to see). I was also up and about rather quickly after his birth. I did have some limitations due to the tear severity but was able to care for myself and Alex without assistance.

Alex and I just after he was born.