Jennifer’s Birth Story
Jennifer is a pelvic floor physical therapist in the Greater St. Louis, MO area. She said all she did to prepare was walk regularly, some half-hearted pelvic floor exercises, a sub-par hospital class, & a prenatal vitamin. Here takeaway is this: You can have a natural birth even if you feel like you have NO idea what you’re doing! Here is here story:
For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to have an unmedicated natural birth. For some reason, at an early age I knew my mom did not have pain medication with either of her births, nor did her mom. I considered myself tough and did not want to break the chain of natural births running in my family!
When I became pregnant, I immediately started to delve into the natural birth world on Google. Through all of my research, I learned all the benefits of having an unmedicated birth, as well as the cascade of events that often happen when epidurals are introduced. I went from wanting to have a natural birth because that is just what my family does, to wanting to have one in order to have more control over my birth experience, as well as set my labor, delivery, and baby up for success.
I went through the 4 week hospital based natural birth class, and while it definitely provided more pain management techniques than the traditional hospital based class, I found myself still scouring Google trying to learn and prepare myself as much as I could. I recall watching tons of Youtube videos of natural births, which was probably the most helpful and accurate information I obtained. I vividly remember thinking "Once baby starts crowning, there is only about 5 minutes of pushing left. Once baby's head is out, there are only 1-2 pushes left." While I realize this may not always be accurate, it seemed to be the majority, and this is the information I took with me into labor.
I had my 36 week checkup at 36 weeks and 2 days. I had a cervical check at this appointment where I learned I was 60% effaced and 2cm dilated. I also had an ultrasound at this appointment and was told baby was about 6.5 pounds.
At 37 weeks and 2 days I had my next checkup. I was now at 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. My OBGYN asked me if I was having any contractions at all-the answer was no. She did not tell me to make an appointment next week lol. She did tell me to make sure I got to the hospital as soon as I started having contractions. I was strep positive, and I could tell she was concerned that I would not be able to get the 2 rounds of antibiotics before delivery given my current dilation and effacement numbers. Later this day and throughout the next day, I began losing my mucus plug. I knew this did not mean anything concrete, other than baby would be coming in the next couple weeks or so.
The next evening around 9pm I noticed that I was having painfree contractions every 15 minutes. I thought they were BH contractions, but thought it was odd that they were so regularly spaced. I went to bed and woke up the next morning, where I went into work for our monthly staff meeting. Returning home after the staff meeting, I noted that I was still having contractions every 15 minutes. I was also having a bowel movement about every hour or so.
Around 11 AM I called my OBGYN and explained that I never thought I would be saying this, but I was not sure if I was in labor. I thought it would be extremely obvious, so the fact that I did not know made me think that I was not. But over 12 hours of regular contractions prompted me to inquire, despite having no pain. I was told I should go to the hospital, and if I was at 4cm and 70% 2 days ago, "They aren't going to let you go home, just FYI." So I called my husband home from work, and to the hospital we went. My plan had been to labor at home long term, but clearly this was not going to be the case.
We arrived around noon and were taken to triage. I explained that I was told to come and I was not sure if I was in labor as I was having no pain, but my numbers 2 days ago seemed advanced for having no symptoms, as well as the fact I was strep positive. They strapped on a monitor, and I subsequently learned I was 5cm dilated, 80% effaced, and having contractions every 5 minutes. I explained my birth plan to them and they documented it appropriately.
They started an IV for the antibiotic, and my vein promptly blew. Thankfully my husband worked in a hospital and knew how to lock the saline drip and called the nurse. She then started the IV in my other arm, where that vein also blew. She then called anesthesia, who successfully started the IV, but that did not help the fact that my forearms were double their size, painful, and that I could hardly move my fingers/wrists.
After the 1st round of antibiotics, I was still in triage as there was not yet a labor room available. Did I mention there was a full moon and a storm moving in? They were swamped. I escaped to the cafeteria with my IV pole to grab some food. No way was I going to go into this thing called labor and delivery without food! Around 10pm the contractions started to become uncomfortable, so I began pacing the halls with my trusty IV pole with the 2nd round of antibiotics-everyone was happy, I got them both in!
Around midnight I decided I was going to try to get some sleep. Pain was still low, I was still at 5cm and 80% effaced. All of my pain was in my back as baby was facing forward. After about an hour of trying to sleep but being just uncomfortable enough to prevent me from sleeping, I asked the nurse if she could break my water. This thing was all moving very slowly, and I was concerned that should this drag on for another 12+ hours, I would be too tired and not have the strength needed. She called my OB who gave permission for the on call doc to rupture my membranes, so at 1:30AM my water was artificially broken.
The amount of fluid that I lost was impressive. I soaked through multiple towels and there were lots of comments about how much I lost. I started shaking uncontrollably, at the same time the nurse said "It is common to start shaking sometimes." Her timing was perfect! It soon passed, and I was then told it was probably all of the increased pressure due to all of the excess fluid as opposed to baby's head that had been dilating and effacing me, as baby's head was still -2 or -3.
Labor was definitely kicking in at this point. I immediately began to have 30-90 second contractions every 1-2 minutes. I spent some time in the shower with my husband moving the wand around on my back, as I was still having a lot of back labor. I thought I was in there for like 20 minutes. I found out afterwards it was like an hour. Time flies when you are having fun!
I then tried sitting on a Swiss ball and leaning onto the bed. The nurse suggested this position to try to get baby to move and decrease the back labor. I was able to rotate in circles on the ball and count through every contraction. Despite the fast and furious contractions, I was not changing much with regard to dilation or effacement. The nurse suggested I try hands and knees on the bed, which I tried for about 2 contractions and hated, so back to the ball. I must have made a million circles and counted to 20 a million times, but this was the strategy that was working for me.
Around 5 AM I was beginning to feel the urge to push. I mentioned this to the nurse, who said I was not yet dilated enough and that I should refrain from pushing. I have to admit I did not listen to her, and instead just did little pushes with each contraction, because to try to not push during each contraction was impossible. She had just checked me and I was 90% and 8cm.
After 20 or 30 minutes of this, I told her I couldn't not push, and she suggested checking me during a contraction, which may not be the most pleasant (like any of this is pleasant lol), so that is what we did. I was at the point where I did not know how much longer I could continue doing this. I asked her if it was too late to get an epidural-not that I wanted one yet, but felt that I did not think I could do this much longer, so if this thing was going to keep going, I may need some help. In hindsight, I was in transition. If only I had had a doula on hand to remind me of this in the moment! No sooner had I had this conversation than I had a blessedly long break between contractions. It felt like 10 minutes, but it was probably actually like 4 or 5. It was amazing!
Once contractions started up again, she did check me during a contraction and confirmed that I was indeed at 10cm with a contraction and ready to push! All I wanted to do was lay on my back and push, so that is the position I assumed. With one leg supported by my husband and one by the nurse, I pushed for 30ish minutes and my son was born at 6:03AM at 6lbs, 15 oz, 19.25 inches long. He was a bit early at 37 weeks 5 days, and his APGARS were horrible, but at 10 minutes they were an 8, so all is well that ends well :)
All in all, I had the birth I wanted. I had no pain medication, no monitors, no IVs (aside from the quick rounds of antibiotics), was able to eat, and moved around and did as I pleased. It would have been nice to know that I was positive for polyhydramnios prior to delivery, as it was noted on my ultrasound at 36 weeks but not relayed to me. And I wish I would have listened to the doc when she told me to take it easy for a few pushes as she could tell I was about to tear. I just wanted baby out, so I did not listen, but a few moments of stretching to decrease or eliminate tearing and the longer term issues that came with a 2nd degree tear would have been well worth it. I had a friend ask me "Well, how was it?" I remember replying "Well, I wouldn't want to do it every day. But it is definitely doable."
