My beautiful perfect daughter was born early this morning and this is her birth story:
I had had a midwife appointment earlier in the day and started contracting regularly around 6pm. Around 10:30pm I called my midwife and my friend and then I headed to the shower because I was starting to hurt. It was getting really intense and I was a little concerned- it had only been a few hours and this was not my usual ‘putt putt oh Im having a contraction…no biggy’ this was a ‘oh wow…WOW…WOW here it comes’ it felt like I was going to explode. After a really awesome pain relieving shower I got into bed for a little to check on the contrax- and talk about birth announcements on my favorite message board. Priorities, right? Soon it was too much for me- and really that is saying something. Aarons labour was 55 hrs and Chases was 17- and I was strapped into a hospital bed unable to move around. I tried several different positions and techniques to get through the contractions but they were seriously coming HARD and I was getting double peaks! I thought ‘nuh-uh’ there is NO way Im in transition already, there just cant be any way! I was only 2cms dialated at 6pm! I got in the bath tub and the hot water really was amazing for the intense contractions. My midwife arrived right around midnight and checked me and I was 9cms! Holy moly no way! I was shocked. I was hoping for a 6 but hey but Ill totally take 9! I got back in the bathtub and soon was filling it way up (its a huge tub) and my midwife and husband just sat around the bedroom and we all chit chatted between my contractions. Then came the scarey one….oh God! Everything in my body started saying PUSH PUSH PUSH!! I tried to fight it (ha!) and my midwife said ‘that sounded like a pushy one ‘ Ohhh it was! She asked if I wanted to deliver in the tub or out. I thought for a second and said out. She had everything already set up and ready to rock. I dried off and got into my own bed (SO NICE!) and just relaxed for a couple minutes….I had a moment where I thought ‘wth?! Did I totally screw up-why isnt that PUSH contraction coming again?’ Oh but it did…there was just a lull- I guess for me to get ready! It started building and I was terrified. it hurt-holy heck it was the most intense feeling! I HAD to push. I wasnt flat on my back but more of a semi upright position- it was VERY comfortable. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, seriously its a thousand times better than flat on your back!! My water was STILL intact! My midwife said it would probably burst on my first push and she was ready for it with an extra chux pad held up to me It did, it was a very odd but cool feeling- like a water balloon. I pushed through that contraction and I was just like ‘OMG…this just isnt cool it really hurts’ My midwife said the next push and she will be out. I said ‘Nu-uh!’ she put her hand up to me and she said ‘her head is right here’ and sure enough when she touched me I could feel that the head was already right at the opening!! I started laughing and told Hailey to help her Mommy out and to be gentle. My midwife couldnt believe I was laughing,but it was part nerves!! Then THE contraction came. Oh my God….yep…this baby was coming. I pushed and started seeing stars so I took a breath and refocused on pushing in the right area. Wow….during this my hands went down and I felt her head. Lots of black hair! OMG it hurt! I pushed more and more. That contraction was working for me and I was going to get this kid out on that push because there was NO way I was going to wait for another contraction with her head half out! Then I felt it- a little relief. Her head was out…this was so different than with the boys when I was torn or cut-I rested for a few moments while my midwife suctioned Hailey and then I pushed the rest of her body out. My eyes were closed as I was pushing and my midwife called for me to open my eyes and look down at my baby. There she was- beautiful and perfect face up, one arm up by her chin and then the other one popped out. Whoa that felt WIERD! And she was born. It was wonderful. She pooped AND peed on me within about 3 minutes of being born and Ive already been puked on we are all so in love, the boys are thrilled!
Still pregnant…I cannot be pregnant forever…I cannot be pregnant forever…this has become my mantra the past few weeks. I have never been overdue. My first pregnanct ended at 39 weeks 6 days and my second at 38 weeks. So I had my midwifes appt at 5:30 Las Vegas time today (6:30 AZ time) we arrived over half an hour early but she has a great waiting room with toys and a TV so we went in. Well luck had it her 5 oclock was late so we quickly did my appointment. She checked me and I was 3cms 80% effaced and a +1 station! Good progress! Things started to pick up on the way home, its a two hour drive back to Kingman. I timed my contractions haphazardley on the way home, they were about 5 mins apart, nothing SERIOUS. I didnt have a clock with a second hand so I just sort of eyeballed it on the clock in the van. The boys fell asleep on the way home so I had some peace after my husband went to bed, I started timing and they were 3 mins apart lasting 30-45 seconds. I timed for about 45 mins when I called my midwife and my friend. Both headed out the door, my friend coming from across town and my midwife 100 miles. This baby is finally coming!
This morning I was 179lbs, I have gained 23 pounds at 35 weeks pregnant. Im starting to get very uncomfortable! My baby is now head down, she flipped last week. Ive got little feet jammed in my ribs and little fists beating me down low. This baby feels very long, Im looking forward to seeing how big she is! She should be about 5 and a half pounds by now and a full length of nearly 20 inches! Born now she would need a little time in the NICU for a little help breathing, two weeks until she is classified as full term! For us that is Christmas day! As I said Im feeling pretty uncomfortable these days, my uterus feels like it is pressing on my ribs and lungs. I feel short of breath a lot and I have gotten back my first trimester morning sickness it seems. Its not uncommon apparently in the last part of pregnancy to start having tummy issues again. There isnt much room for food and such with someones feet jammed up in there. Ive got some serious heartburn again, which I remember from my other two pregnancies. Ive been following the regular recommendations, small meals, nothing spicey or acidic but blech! Nothing helps besides regularly swigging ant acids! But it wont be long now until my insides feel cavernous. Once the baby is born everything will be back to normal.
At 34 weeks my baby should be a bit under 20 inches long and about 5 pounds!! It feels like she has dropped but I still feel her up high so I really dont know just yet! Right now baby is needing a lot of calcium for their bones so I am being ver careful to drink lots of skim milk, eat yogurt and take my prenatals. I also felt like I was feeling low on iron. My muscles felt really fatigued and I was very tired. So I have been really conscious of getting enough iron. One easy way is iron fortified cereal but through this whole pregnancy eating cereal with milk has made me sick so I started mixing my cereal with yogurt. Grape Nuts has 90% daily recommended intake of iron in 3/4ths of a cup and Raisen Bran has 100% in one cup so those are my two cereals of choice. I kept up with my prenatal vitamins and ate at least one serving of cereal a day and upped my red meat with a vitamin C source and within a week or so I was feeling MUCH better. I tried to make sure I got iron not only from my prenatal vitamins but from a meat source and a grain source. The meat source is most readily absorbable followed by the grain source and then lastly the least efficiently absorbed source is from the supplement. Many pregnant women who are low on iron are prescribed a huge iron pill but unfortunatly most of that goes through the body unabsorbed, so that is why I didnt just pop a few extra pills a day. Eating the right foods are not only more efficient in increasing my iron levels but is far more tastey!
My baby should weigh right about 4 and a half pounds and a little under 19 and a half inches long! Wow! My little baby is growing so fast!! I definatly am feeling her pressing on my bladder! It seems like I am in the bathroom every half hour. Its really annoying but its important to keep up with fluids right now! Baby’s amniotic fluid is changed every 3 hours so its important for moms to be to drink plenty of water, a singleton pregnancy has about a quart of amniotic fluid at all times!