Our first baby was due May 15, 2003.
On May 5 I arrived home after school (teaching sixth grade) and settled into my afternoon routine of starting supper and then watching Oprah (ahem) on my exercise/birth ball. As I was rolling around, loosening my hips and getting baby into a good position, I felt wet. Yes, that kind of wet. It was about 5:00.
Rather than go check things out, I instead got up to answer the ringing phone. It was my sister, and she was unusually talkative. I stood in the kitchen trying to be a good listener and trying not to laugh as water began running down my leg. (We decided ahead of time that we didn’t want anyone to know when we went into labor!) I was stranded in the middle of my own kitchen. Water pooling at my feet, sister yacking about a date (I think), and now my potatoes were boiling over on the stove! Thankfully my husband got home early that day and I was able to get his attention to rescue the potatoes and get a towel for the water mess.
After I hung up the phone, we looked at each other and laughed. “Hmmm, guess we’re gonna have a baby!”
Other than my water breaking, there was no other action, so I finished fixing supper (baked steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn) then we ate, packed, and cleaned the kitchen. We both called our school principals to let them know we wouldn’t be in the next day. With all the essentials taken care of, we went for a walk.
Because of our research and The Bradley Method classes, we knew that it wasn’t necessary to go to the hospital just because my water broke. We also knew that if we went in without contractions, they would likely try to speed things along with pitocin or something, which we did not want. So, when I still didn’t feel any notable contractions after our walk, we chose to call our Bradley instructor instead of our doctor. She wisely suggested we continue walking, and rest as much as possible; that labor would eventually kick in.
She was right. Stronger contractions began around 10:00 that night. I alternated my time between trying to rest, rolling around on the birth ball, and soaking in the bathtub. Contractions remained strong and consistent, and when we noticed blood in the tub we decided it was time to head for the birth care center.
We arrived at the center at 3:00 in the morning, after a 25 minute drive, armed with our birth plan. I was still walking, pausing and rocking back and forth during contractions. The receptionist asked the obligatory “why are you here” questions, which almost made me laugh in the midst of my pain. Seriously… do people just randomly stop by the birth care center at 3:00 in the morning?!
After getting settled in our birthing suite, I was checked and applauded for making it to 5cm before coming in. Whatever. I still had 5 to go! They did the mandatory blood pressure and fetal heartbeat checks, got me hooked up with the saline lock (in case there was an emergency, so they could quickly insert an IV), and then I was free to roam around and get comfortable.
Into the whirpool I went. And then back to my bed. It was probably about 5 or 6 in the morning, I hadn’t slept, and I was exhausted. Both my husband and my nurses encouraged me to keep walking and trying different positions, but I was having none of it. I laid (reclining) in my bed and fell asleep between contractions. At least I was relaxed, I guess!
They checked me a few more times in the next hours (something I didn’t want, but was too tired to fight at the time). My contractions were doing their job… 7cm… 9cm… almost there… but they were still nearly 5 minutes apart. In my exhausted fog, I remember my doctor popping in and out, doing some paperwork on the couch. I also recall my husband coming to my bedside smelling like pancake syrup. That was the only time I wanted to throw him out of the room. 
They had given him my breakfast, and the smell was a little too much for me!
At around 10:00 in the morning, 17 hours after my water broke, 12 hours after the real contractions started, I was declared 10 cm and ready to push. Except I wasn’t. ready. to. push. I was tired and I had zero urge to push. (Note to self: don’t push until your body takes over and the urge is uncontrollable!)
I pushed anyway. Ineffectively. Reclined in my bed. For three hours. Still dozing between contractions. Refusing (in my stubbornness and weariness!) to move around and try new positions. At some point my nurses were getting concerned because I was nearing the 24-hour mark of when my water broke. I remember them asking my doctor if they should hook me up to the IV (I guess for some antibiotics that they give because of the whole water breaking thing). My wonderfully awesome, laid back doctor looked at them and said “She’s pushing. The baby will be here soon. There’s no need for an IV.” Love him!
Eventually someone (I don’t remember who) suggested and motivated me to use the “birthing bar.” They hooked it onto the end of my bed. I squatted on the bed, hanging on the bar, and pushed; still reclining and even dozing between contractions. It took a while, but finally (finally!) our precious baby slid out at 2:15 that afternoon. (Without that bar, that change of position, I say she’d still be in there today!)
It’s a girl!
She was placed on me immediately, all 6 pounds 4 1/2 ounces of her. I held her and we nursed while the “repair work” was being done. My doctor laughed at me as I winced and yelped while he was trying to stitch me up. (Yes, I did let him “deaden” the area first!) “Amy, focus on the baby. Relax. You just gave birth without medication. You can do this!” I’m sure it was funny… from a distance.
The nurses took her from me only when I wanted to know what she weighed. My husband held her when I went to be cleaned up. She never left our room. We were never offered the nursery, or formula, or even a pacifier. All of the pokes and prods and tests that needed to be done were done by my bedside. After accepting visitors and getting notsomuch sleep that night, we were released to go home the next afternoon. It was only recently that I realized what a gift our “hospital experience” was!
- If I had it to do all over again, I might try harder to not cave to the exhaustion, although it was nice to get some zzzz’s between contractions!
- The invasive cervical checking was kept to a mininum (or not at all) on our subsequent births. I wish I would have declined more with this one.
- I might have taken the “get up and move” advice a little sooner. Perhaps that would have sped things along?
- I would not have started pushing until I felt the urge to push!
*** On Labor Day I’ll be hosting a Labor Stories Linky. There’s so much to learn from others’ experiences, and everyone loves a good birth story! Get ready to link yours up.***
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Amy! So neat to read about “how things happened” for other women. I love the part about the pancake syrup… reminds me of my sister whose husband went and grabbed a burger (at about 23 hours into her labor…) and she hissed at him- “Don’t you come near me ’til you brush your teeth!”
I showed up at the hospital at one in the morning after my water had broken and the intake nurse asked me, “Are you sure it’s not just bladder leakage?” Well… I HAD been sure, but she got me so nervous that I was wasting their time. Alas… it WAS amniotic fluid and I was almost 7 cm dilated. I *blame* my husband for parking over three blocks away from the hospital for that. (Ha!) My firstborn arrived 7 hours later.
Were you *feeling* anything at 7cm?!
I felt next to nothing on the car ride over. It was just starting to get “uncomfortable” as I checked in at the nurse’s station. But, even then, I could convince myself it might be Braxton-Hicks when the implication was made that I had just, *ahem*, wet my pants.
REALLY picked up when I got on a birthing ball in my room. Sadly, my hospital had a policy that didn’t allow me to go in the tub once I was so far along. 
Ah, well. I won’t complain about my 7 hr labor with baby #1… I know I got off easy.
Amy;
I am a labor and delivery nurse. And I always tell my patients, you don’t have to push until you can’t hold back anymore. At our hospital we do cervical checks every 2 hours. Don’t know why, but, that is the rule. The only time we take the baby from the room is for the first bath and initial assessment 6 hours after birth, and a family member is allowed to come with us. We are a small, 3 birthing room hospital though.
Thanks for sharing your birth story.
I’m thankful that the bathing and assessments are done at my bedside. I love to watch, and I just feel better about baby being *right there* with me.
Our son was due on May 15th, 2008, and arrived on May 5th
He was born at home and although it was painful and tiring, I am definitely a fan of childbirth without drugs. I also needed a little bit of repair work done, and my midwife – thankfully! – did numb things up before she started sewing. Just discovered your blog, and I love it. Hope all goes well with the last few weeks of your pregnancy!
I enjoyed reading your birth story. I think it is interesting how everyone’s story is so different. Thanks for sharing!
As always, thanks for sharing Amy. I’m 10 weeks out from having my first and am getting nervous. I’ve made the mistake of mentioning my desire for a natural birth to a few people and they’ve looked at me like I’m naive and/or crazy which, I’m sure you know, can be disheartening. I completely understand that not everything will go according to my plan and everyone is different but I really appreciate hearing positive stories like yours in my moments of weakness.
As you get closer, be sure to let me know if you have particular questions or concerns. If I can’t help, I’ll find someone who can!
i find it interesting to hear about others birth stories. my first, born April 6th, 2010 was a scheduled c-section due to being breech. i wanted to deliver vaginally, but he went too far overdue. i like hearing birth stories so i know what to expect with the next one and feel i really missed out having a c-section. i was happy that i had contractions start a couple hours before the surgery b/c i could have a tiny taste of what it would have been like.
“the obligatory “why are you here” questions”
I was so surprised to hear this one when I arrived at the hospital, all I could do was gesture to my massive belly and say “Um….I’m….having a baby?” Granted, it wasn’t three in the morning, but why else would a hugely pregnant woman show up in the maternity center with a nervous husband carrying a suitcase?
Ha! I just wonder if they encounter so many women that they have to turn away until they “really go into labor.” I don’t know… but it’s funny!
wow mama! first of all, way to go with a natural birth in a hospital. i had #2 natural in the hospital and it’s tough. second, i had a very similar experience with baby #2 with the pushing thing. i was coached into pushing on my back in bed without any urge for 2 1/2 hours. it was HARD HARD work and “needed” assistance from the OB to get her out after all of that time. with baby#3 (born at home) i was encouraged to wait until i had an urge and he was born with just a few effective pushes. AMAZING the difference it makes. i just linked up #3′s story. i wish i had been blogging when the first two were born!