Once I was admitted, I received a lock on my hand to administer antibiotics during the delivery. I met my support nurse, Jamie, and the on-call midwife, Melanie (who I’d seen earlier that day) was contacted. Scott was a wonderful birth support, encouraging me through each contraction, helping me to move around the room, and massaging my back as I went. He kept telling me how well I was doing and how brave I was, how proud he was of me. I continued to alternate laboring between the bathtub, a ball, and in different sitting positions to help bring the baby’s head into my pelvis. My back labor was getting stronger and harder to deal with, but laboring in the water did a great deal to ease my pain. After several hours of this, my cervix was checked. I’d dilated to 5.5 centimeters. By this time, I’d been in labor around sixteen hours. After discussing the options with Melanie, we decided to rupture my amniotic membrane. Unfortunately, there was meconium (a newborn’s first stool) in the amniotic fluid. This meant my poor baby would quickly be ushered to the NICU for observation. If a baby swallows meconium while still in the womb, it can cause issues with breathing.
However, breaking my water seemed to help speed things along. I quickly hit transition and dilated to eight centimeters in less than two hours. During this time, I became really whiny and started making lots of strange comments. I largely lost my focus, but I was still somehow able to remind myself that this part of labor was the worst and the end was near. My back labor intensified, and I chose to accept an IV medication to take an edge off the pain and rest in the bathtub. Exhausted, I quickly fell asleep.
Around 3 am, Melanie came to check my progress. I was comfortable– too comfortable. In fact, my contractions appeared to have completely fizzled. Since water was broken, they couldn’t really send me home. In light of the circumstances, I chose to accept the drug that causes augmented labor- pitocin. I hate to say it folks, but my pitocin labor was much worse than my natural labor. At first, the lower doses were bearable. Slowly, Jamie would bring the dose to a higher amount, and my back labor intensified. By 6 am, I was totally and completely exhausted. My back labor could not longer be relieved by water, counterpressure, or any of the other techniques I’d used during my natural labor. I finally begged for another intervention I didn’t want- an epidural.
Yes, I realize epidurals are very common these days. I have no issues with them… but I wanted to see if my body could withstand the test of the birthing experience on its own. I wanted to see if I could endure in labor. I don’t think of myself as having a high pain tolerance, and felt as if a natural childbirth was like the ultimate test. Scott attempted to talk me out of my epidural, as I’d instructed him to now allow me to have one. But after 24 hours of labor minus medication (except for a dose of an IV drug that lasted a mere hour) I was completely exhausted. My back labor was only going to become worse as the pitocin was increased. I said we needed sleep, because I would need the energy for pushing. I hoped an epidural would help my body relax enough to where I’d be able to dilate the last two centimeters I needed to deliver Alex. I don’t regret my decision, because I did rest. At seven am, I received my epidural. It was after this point that my labor became far more eventful.
Tags: alex, baby, birth story, scott
