Clara’s Birth Story: Part 3

Finally, they wheeled me up to the birthing suite and got the tub ready with water.  I requested a saline lock instead of an IV. No way I was going to be attached to wires the entire time. I wanted to be as mobile as possible and eat/drink whatever I wanted. I got in the bed while the nurse was asking a ton of questions like my birthdate, SSN, health history, etc..  There were about 45 min. worth of questions. Yikes! I wasn’t prepared for that. I was having trouble answering because I focused on peace breathing during the birthing waves that were still every 2 minutes. The nurse checked me and corrected the dilation number to 7. Great. I was told I was 8 or 9 in triage. Urggghhh! Next time I check into triage, I will tell them I don’t want an exam.

It  was around 5:30 at this point. I had to go to the bathroom a lot because I was drinking so much water.  I would sit on the toilet to pee, switch my light switch to the center, and then get on my hands and knees on the floor in the bathroom.  Kathy would come in and press inward on my hips. She rubbed on my back constantly. I got in the tub and it was really warm and comfortable. Your daddy sat on the side of the tub and poured water over the parts of me that weren’t in the water because I was shivering. He and Kathy took turns. I started to get really cold and so eventually decided to get out of the tub.  I had thought about the possibility of a waterbirth, but left it up in the air.

I moved to the bed. The lights were out in the room and my hynpnobabies CD was playing out loud in the room. Throughout this next hour or so, I rotated from the bed, to the bathroom, to the floor, to the birth ball, completely naked. There was no gown at this point and I really didn’t care. The nurse and midwife were in and out, but your Daddy and Kathy never left my side.

Every time the nurse came in to check the fetal heart rate I’d have to get back on the bed. It was always in good shape, along with my blood pressure and temperature. I think much of that had to do with how calm I was. The hypnosis was doing its magic. At some point, they attached the squat bar on the bed. Kathy instructed me to sit back between the waves, but then come forward and grab the bar during the waves.  Then I used the birthing ball on the bed. I leaned over it and moved forward during a wave.  Then I tried the ball on the floor, leaning over the bed while squatting on the ball.  All these different positions were to help reduce the back discomfort and work to help you move to a better position and descend.

Kathy massaged my back with very firm pressure, squeezing my hips together. She had incredible endurance. She was working so hard! I just kept moving from position to position.  Finally, after all of these hours of constant back pressure, I got some relief in my back. Kathy indicated that you had finally rotated.  She said “now you know what regular labor feels like.”  Wow. Thank goodness that was over. Kathy and your daddy kept trying to get me to eat. I tried to eat a subway sandwich but it didn’t taste good. But I did eat some Doritos. Kathy also gave me some honey sticks. I didn’t want to eat, but knew that I needed to. By this point, I was so exhausted, I just didn’t think I could go much longer. Even though the constant back pain was relieved, my muscles were so sore and knotted from all of the pressure. There were moments when I wanted to throw in the towel and just give up. But I kept going. My mind was in charge and I was just dragging my body along. I know that all of the subconscious suggestions I made from listening to my CD’s throughout my pregnancy were what kept me going. There is no way I would have had the mental strength to endure this experience without all of that preparation.

Fortunately, I was able to rest a little at this point and got on the bed to sit and relax. I knew your grandmas were at the hospital. It was your daddy’s idea to tell my mom to come into the room since I was at a resting point. I certainly didn’t want her to be stressed out and stress me out, but I so wanted to see her. She came in and was amazed at how calm I was. I told her what I had been through with the back labor. When I felt things starting to pick up again, she left. It was so good to see her. Later she told me she would put her ear up to the door and could hear nothing, no screaming or moaning. Just peace and quiet through the entire process.