Hey All,
I have been on here from time to time throughout this pregnancy as well as with my second. I always enjoy reading other's stories and wanted to share my own.
I was due September 15th with baby #3. That came & went as well as the next 9 days. I posted a question about having my membranes stripped at my 41+ week appt. I ended up not feeling like going through the hassle of taking my clothes off at the midwives office, and didn't have it done. I got to 11 days past and was getting really cranky and ready to be done. So I went back in and had them check me and strip/sweep my membranes. The MW said I was about 3cm and not very effaced at all. She said I would most likely lose a lot of my mucus plug over the next couple hours. Well, nothing showed up for most of the evening. Then as bedtime approached, I started to lose it - but nothing real significant.
However, at 3:30 in the morning on Thursday, September 27th, I started having real contractions. It's funny because I have had plenty of false contractions at that time of day for a couple of hours at a time. I always seem to get excited about them and then can't really sleep. (I even got up to do the dishes one night when I couldn't sleep because of them.) However, with these, it was like I knew they were the real thing and I was able to rest really well between them. They stayed very manageable and at 15 minutes apart all day. We went for a walk, my husband mowed the lawn and worked on painting some trim on our house, I did dishes and laundry and made up the bed, made cookies, etc. By dinner time, I didn't want to eat - I didn't want to throw up in labor, which I had done with my first.
I don't remember exactly when I went from having them 10-15 minutes apart to closer together. We called our midwife and my best friend, who was my doula, and let them both know that things were happening, but they didn't need to come over yet.
Once the contractions were 7 minutes apart, we called them both again. We put the movie Snow White on for my almost 4-year-old daughter to watch. I sat on the birth ball and watched it with her. My husband would come over and help me off the ball when a contraction started. This was my first labor (out of three now) that I actually enjoyed the birth ball during labor.
My midwife arrived about 8pm-ish and got her stuff set up, then came and watched the movie with us. It was very relaxed and laid back. We waited awhile to have her check me. When she finally did, I was fully effaced and 6cm. She said we had called her at just the right time. (Last time, she didn't arrive until 25 minutes before the baby was born, which was too chaotic for all involved.)
We put my daughter to bed, with promises that we would get her up when it was time for the baby to be born so that she could be there.
Things continued to progress. We were thinking the baby was sunny side up. She was moving from side to side - when the MW first arrived she found the heartbeat on the right side. A little while later, she found it on the left side.
I got really bad back labor and kept having to change positions. I finally said that I wanted to have her break my water to move things a little further on. We woke my daughter. Then they broke my water - I was at 8cm at that point. The contractions came on fast and furious at that point. It totally changed the pressure.
Again, the pain in my back drove me to try different positions - the toilet, the birth stool, hands and knees, leaning on my husband - with my friend and husband trying to relieve the pressure in my back.
I ended up on the birth stool finally, leaning on my husband, when things changed again and it was time to start pushing. It's funny, I remember the midwife saying to my husband, "If you are going to be there (in front of me), then you need to be ready to catch the baby". My dear husband quickly scrambled out of the way and let them midwife be in front of me.
With about three decent pushes, our baby was born (face down, like she was supposed to be). The midwife grabbed her and brought her up to my stomach. The cord was short and we couldn't bring her up any further. We didn't know whether it was a boy or girl ahead of time, and I don't think any of us thought to look right away. We let my oldest daughter cut the umbilical cord. Then I was able to bring the baby up to my chest and nuzzle her. We suctioned a bit of mucus out of her mouth – she sounded gunky, but it was just in her throat and not in her lungs – apparently she had taken a bit in of mucus as she came out. I sat on the birth stool for a couple more minutes and then moved onto our bed.
I was absolutely exhausted and remember very little of holding her afterwards. I think I kept drifting in and out of sleep. My oldest daughter held her and sang to her and helped get her dressed. It was very sweet. I got her to nurse about 45 minutes after she was born. I hardly even remember the newborn exam. But I do remember the midwife weighing her and being surprised at her weight. I had figured she would be the same as her sister, 8 ½ lbs, who was also 10 days late.
So, Katherine Elizabeth was born Thursday, September 27th at 10:50pm at home. She was 9lbs 4oz and 21 inches long.
My two other girls (almost 4 and 2 1/2) absolutely adore her and always want to know where Katherine is and what she is doing.
We are now figuring out the nursing thing again. I produce so much milk that I don't have any nipples for her to latch on to very well. We are almost over that hump. :)
She is 5 days old now. It's amazing that time goes by so quickly!