September 2008 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Ada's birth story (super long)
I've been meaning to check in with you ladies...I'm still in kind of a daze, and cannot believe Ada is here! Sorry for not keeping my labor buddy informed...I honestly meant to text Magda when we headed for the hospital but labor got pretty intense and then there just wasn't time.
I typed the story up a few days ago, it's already becoming kind of hazy as we're focusing on breast feeding now, which is a challenge, but we're getting the hang of it.
Hope everyone is doing well!!! Here's the story...
I started having mild contractions on Sunday morning, around 9:30. I was scheduled to be induced on Monday night, 11/7 and had kind of stopped bothering to watch for labor signs. The contractions were not super painful and were not really regular, but I did notice them as something I had not felt before. By around 12pm I felt like the contractions were getting stronger and I noticed they were about 8-10 minutes apart. I decided to have a big snack and take a shower, just in case. Around 1pm the contractions were closer together and a lot stronger - I could not talk or walk through them, we started timing more seriously and the contractions were about 30 seconds long. We decided to take a walk to the mail box at town hall to drop off a letter to be mailed, and we called my parents to let them know they might want to head down from VT - I was pretty sure this was labor!
We dropped the dog off at PetsMart at about 2:30 figuring worst case, we pay for one extra day since we?d be taking her there Monday night anyway. On the car back from PetsMart I started to be really uncomfortable and nauseated during contractions. We called the hospital and waited for them to call us back, and Ken got things ready thinking we were leaving immediately - I still thought we should wait a while. The next several contractions were REALLY strong and I started to panic a bit - it had been so uncomfortable to be in the car I was afraid of having to ride to the hospital feeling this way. When the hospital called us back they said we could come in but that if I had not made progress from Wednesday (when I was 2-3cm, 50% effaced and -1 station) that they?d send me home.
We got to the hospital a bit after 4pm and I was set up in triage around 4:15. They were able to get the baby on the monitor but not my contractions. I felt like they thought I was faking it, or I thought maybe it was not as bad as I thought it was! Finally they checked my cervix and I was 4cm, 90% effaced and still -1. They said that was my ticket to be admitted and then at 4:22 my water broke, lots of blood. They were worried about my BP (it was slightly elevated 140/90 maybe), and wanted to take blood but couldn?t get a vein. They sent me up to be admitted and they spent what seemed like hours getting an IV started and taking a tiny bit of blood. My BP was good and they couldn?t get a good vein anyway so they didn?t take the blood for the pre-eclampsia testing.
I labored for a while on the ball, and then felt like I needed to get back into bed. My mom arrived around 6:30 and they checked me - I was about 6cm and 100% effaced. Mom was a great coach, finding pressure points and getting me through contractions. I really felt like they were coming super close together and I was having a lot of really big contractions followed fast by a shorter contraction. My mother in law arrived around 7:30 and I think by 8pm I was 8-9cm.
At about 9 my mom convinced me to get out of bed and into the shower - I labored in there for what I think was just a few minutes, it might have been more like 45? I don't know - it felt fast, because I was starting to have a lot of pressure in my bottom like I had to have a bowel movement, even between contractions. They checked me a last time and I had a tiny lip of cervix left but the midwife who checked me said I could start pushing. I want to say I started pushing around 9:50pm or so. My mom held one leg and our nurse held the other. Ken was up top, supporting my neck and shoulders. My mother in law went back and forth giving me water and wiping sweat off my face between contractions. The first several pushes were just practice, and it actually felt GOOD to push - it was weird because before I just had to ride the contractions out, but when I would push it felt like it relieved the pressure and I didn?t feel the pain of the contraction while pushing. However, as the baby descended more and more, the pressure would NOT stop. I thought my hips were going to be ripped off and I just felt SO much pressure. At this point you could see the top of her head and they had me reach down to feel it. Our nurse got the doctors in and I kept pushing while they got set up.
At 10:38pm, I pushed Ada Grace out and into the world! That ?ring of fire? they talk about is no joke - it was probably the worst pain! But I knew it meant it was almost over and as soon as she was out the pressure was just GONE. She came out in a ?compound presentation? - with her hand up along her face/on top of her head. I would not have had any tearing if not for that as my mom and the nurse had been stretching/oiling my perineum - her little elbow did some damage on the inside and I had a 2nd degree tear on the outside. They put Ada right on my chest and she pinked up. Since I was so flat on my back I could not really see much of her, but everyone was telling me how beautiful she was. It was not fun to sit there and be stitched up - they used some local anesthesia but I still really felt a lot of what they were doing.
They took Ada to suction her out a bit, and then because my BP was higher than they liked (but borderline ?high?) they took some urine and blood. My bloodwork came back clear and my BP regulated, but because I had some protein in my urine they put me on magnesium starting around 1am. I was supposed to be on it for 24 hours, but came off at 11am the next morning. Then we finally moved to recovery and a comfortable bed! Ada weighed in at 7lbs (actually 6lbs 15.5 oz) and 20 inches long. Apgars of 8 and 9.
We dropped the dog off at PetsMart at about 2:30 figuring worst case, we pay for one extra day since we?d be taking her there Monday night anyway. On the car back from PetsMart I started to be really uncomfortable and nauseated during contractions. We called the hospital and waited for them to call us back, and Ken got things ready thinking we were leaving immediately - I still thought we should wait a while. The next several contractions were REALLY strong and I started to panic a bit - it had been so uncomfortable to be in the car I was afraid of having to ride to the hospital feeling this way. When the hospital called us back they said we could come in but that if I had not made progress from Wednesday (when I was 2-3cm, 50% effaced and -1 station) that they?d send me home.
We got to the hospital a bit after 4pm and I was set up in triage around 4:15. They were able to get the baby on the monitor but not my contractions. I felt like they thought I was faking it, or I thought maybe it was not as bad as I thought it was! Finally they checked my cervix and I was 4cm, 90% effaced and still -1. They said that was my ticket to be admitted and then at 4:22 my water broke, lots of blood. They were worried about my BP (it was slightly elevated 140/90 maybe), and wanted to take blood but couldn?t get a vein. They sent me up to be admitted and they spent what seemed like hours getting an IV started and taking a tiny bit of blood. My BP was good and they couldn?t get a good vein anyway so they didn?t take the blood for the pre-eclampsia testing.
I labored for a while on the ball, and then felt like I needed to get back into bed. My mom arrived around 6:30 and they checked me - I was about 6cm and 100% effaced. Mom was a great coach, finding pressure points and getting me through contractions. I really felt like they were coming super close together and I was having a lot of really big contractions followed fast by a shorter contraction. My mother in law arrived around 7:30 and I think by 8pm I was 8-9cm.
At about 9 my mom convinced me to get out of bed and into the shower - I labored in there for what I think was just a few minutes, it might have been more like 45? I don't know - it felt fast, because I was starting to have a lot of pressure in my bottom like I had to have a bowel movement, even between contractions. They checked me a last time and I had a tiny lip of cervix left but the midwife who checked me said I could start pushing. I want to say I started pushing around 9:50pm or so. My mom held one leg and our nurse held the other. Ken was up top, supporting my neck and shoulders. My mother in law went back and forth giving me water and wiping sweat off my face between contractions. The first several pushes were just practice, and it actually felt GOOD to push - it was weird because before I just had to ride the contractions out, but when I would push it felt like it relieved the pressure and I didn?t feel the pain of the contraction while pushing. However, as the baby descended more and more, the pressure would NOT stop. I thought my hips were going to be ripped off and I just felt SO much pressure. At this point you could see the top of her head and they had me reach down to feel it. Our nurse got the doctors in and I kept pushing while they got set up.
At 10:38pm, I pushed Ada Grace out and into the world! That ?ring of fire? they talk about is no joke - it was probably the worst pain! But I knew it meant it was almost over and as soon as she was out the pressure was just GONE. She came out in a ?compound presentation? - with her hand up along her face/on top of her head. I would not have had any tearing if not for that as my mom and the nurse had been stretching/oiling my perineum - her little elbow did some damage on the inside and I had a 2nd degree tear on the outside. They put Ada right on my chest and she pinked up. Since I was so flat on my back I could not really see much of her, but everyone was telling me how beautiful she was. It was not fun to sit there and be stitched up - they used some local anesthesia but I still really felt a lot of what they were doing.
They took Ada to suction her out a bit, and then because my BP was higher than they liked (but borderline ?high?) they took some urine and blood. My bloodwork came back clear and my BP regulated, but because I had some protein in my urine they put me on magnesium starting around 1am. I was supposed to be on it for 24 hours, but came off at 11am the next morning. Then we finally moved to recovery and a comfortable bed! Ada weighed in at 7lbs (actually 6lbs 15.5 oz) and 20 inches long. Apgars of 8 and 9.
Re: Ada's birth story (super long)
Congrats Claire! So happy for you and K! I saw some pics of Ada. She is beautiful. Seriously, what a freaking champ for going natural! I don't know much atabout natural birth so I am pretty in awe of it. I got an epi at 7cm so I felt nothing when Suri came out and always kind of wondered what it felt like.
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You are amazing! That is an incredible story
It's so good to hear from you Claire! I hope you, Ken and baby Ada are all adjusting nicely. She is so beautiful! How is Stella doing with the new addition?
Congrats on having a med-free birth. You're right, the ring of fire is no joke. But like you said, you know the end is in sight you jsut keep on pushing! Hopefully we'll hear from you more!
Awesome birth story! I'm impressed with anyone who can go through labor without drugs. When they said I could have my epidural, I was all about it!
Levi weighed 6 lbs. 15.5 also. Love tiny babies!
So happy for you guys Claire!! And reading these stories always gets me teary eyed now. Congrats on the med free birth. I agree with you though because as soon as the baby was out the pain is gone. Helps knowing there is an end to it. And the biggest present you could ever have!
I hope you are all enjoying your first days/weeks together!
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Thanks everyone - it was a marathon, but really, it was a quick labor. I kept bargaining with the nurse - right before the doc or midwife would check me I'd say "if I'm still at 6 cm, I'm getting an epidural" but I kept making such good progress I felt like I could do it.
also, I will say that the rests you get between contractions/pushes (except towards the very end) are divine and help you recover, even when contractions are right on top of each other. during the peak of the contraction I thought I couldn't do it and I did panic here and there, but once it passed I'd feel confident I could keep going.
But I won't like, it hurts like hell. Worst pain ever.
this is awesome. such great mental toughness!
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Awesome birth story!! Glad that eveyrthing went just the way it should and you were able to go med free. I am so glad to share my birthday with your little one!
Hope that everything is going well for you
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