On Monday April 4, 2011 I started to feel contractions around 10am in the morning. My mum and I were playing scrabble and I was having a hard time concentrating as I was timing my contractions and breathing through them. The contractions were only about 6 minutes apart. Around lunch time we went for a walk to the aloha center to get some fresh air and decided that when Joe finished class at 3:30pm we would head to the hospital as the contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and I could feel them increasing in intensity.
We got to Queens a little before 6pm and by the time we got through all the routine check in stuff it was 6:30pm. They first checked to see if my bag of waters was broken and it wasn't but the ultrasound did show that babys head was well descended into the pelvic bone. The doctor also commented that his head looked to be about 13cm wide (Woah!). They checked me and I was 3-4cms! Amazing considering I was only able to get to 4cms with Hinalei and I had arrived at the hospital already that far along. I got on the exercise ball and picked up playing scrabble again. The ball was amazing and I loved rocking back and forward on it. Around 9:20pm after the IV and other things had all been setup nurse (Jennifer) suggested we do some walking to get gravity to help us out. At 9:45pm they checked me again and I was 5-6cm dilated. I was amazed by how fast things were going and thought he would be out in no time.
At 11pm we had the nurses change over and a wonderful angel called Jackie was my nurse. She was amazing, she loved that I wanted to do the delivery without and epidural and was a great support to me the whole night. She checked me and I was a solid 7cm. She told me that now it was going to get tough but that I could do it. The contractions were okay to ride but I had terrible lower back pain which made it so much harder to breathe through because it felt like a knife in my back with every contraction.
Around 1am they came and broke my waters and the doctor said I was an 8cm and that baby was not quite face down but on his side. Jackie said this explained my back pain as baby was not yet face down. She suggested that I get in the shower as the contractions were going to intensify. The shower was amazing. My mum sat on the stool outside my shower and sang church songs to me which really calmed me down and help me go through the contractions. After about 2 hours of being in the shower (sounds strange writing that out) I hoped out because I was feeling a little over heated. It was a bit of a shock to me how the strong the contractions were really and how much the water had dulled the pain.
At 4am I was in pain I mean it felt like someone was stabbing a knife into my lower back every 2 minutes. No matter what position I tried it hurt so much with every contraction and. No amount of counter pressure was doing the job and the ball and other techniques couldn't cut the pain. I was so tired considering the hour. I told Jackie to check me because I need something to encourage me but I was still an 8. Realizing this I told my mum, nurse Jackie and Joe it was time for the epidural. I knew if I still wanted any chance to push the baby out I need some rest and I was very tired. The lovely anesthesiologist was able to come and by 5am I was lying in my bed crashed out to the world. Of course I forgot that once you get an epdiural you can't get out of bed but in that moment all I knew was that my body needed rest in order to finish this delivery. I went to sleep till 7:15am at which time they checked me again and I was still an 8!
Oh gosh! Well this was also about the time the nurses change over and Michelle was our new nurse. She had me roll over to my left side as I had been on my right side since 5am. She said I should change positions each hour. I was feeling a little anxious about still being an 8 but I was also relieved with my decision to get the epidural, I couldn't image still laboring away and still being an 8 after so long.
At 8:15am the on-call doctor came into tell me they wanted to put an internal monitor in and also start me on pitocin as my contractions had spread out to 6 minutes apart. I started feeling more anxious because I felt my VBAC slipping through my fingers with all the things that were now happening. However the doctor decided to check me first and low and behold I was 9.5 and completely effaced! In one hour I had dilated another 1.5cms (In all seriousness I had been saying a lot of prayers during that hour and I cried when they told me I was 9.5). The doctor said I wouldn't need the internal monitor anymore.
The nurse still suggested starting pitocin to bring my contractions closer together because she said when it comes time to push you don't want contractions to be 6 minutes apart otherwise you have to wait to long between pushes. I agreed to the pitocin. I thought that I would be a 10 in no time but by noon I was still a 9.5. Michelle was great, she told me that their was no rush and that we could take our time but I was getting to the point where I really wanted to see my son and so I asked her if it was possible to kinda push pass that last 0.5cm. She said that the cervix was in fact very soft and so in another hour she said she would come back and I could try some practise pushes. She said that because I had not had a vaginal birth previous that I would probably take a while to push baby out.
Well I was determined to prove her wrong. I had already gained some feeling back in my legs and because I knew the time was close I could feel myself getting pumped up for pushing. At 2pm she came into to teach me how to push. I had a go at it and it still felt strange because I was pretty numb down there but she was a great coach. My mum had one leg and Joe the other and we worked well as team. My mum did the counts for breath (4 * 7sec count) and Joe would blow in and out with me between pushes. After about 20 minutes of pushing Michelle suggested bringing in a mirror to help me push. I was a little apprehensive about this but she explained that it often helped women understand what was going on down there) After she brought it in and got me to push and showed me were little Joes head was and I loved that mirror. I was able to understand how I needed to push or bear down and 10 minutes later they were calling the doctor to get to the hospital because I was close to delivery.
The doctor said he would be 20 minutes but I knew that baby was a lot closer. Michelle actually asked me to stop pushing because she said she was afraid she would have to catch the baby herself. I told her I stil need to push to relieve the pressure so while we waited for the doctor I would blow through the contractions and push very lightly. The doctor arrived 45 minutes later, I still don't know how I managed to hold out for that long but as soon as he walked in and put on his gown I told him I had a contraction and could I push? He said sure, I gave one push and little Joes head was out. I started to cry and so did my mum, the doctor told me to stop pushing. I was watching his little head in the mirror in amazement, the doctor reached up to rotate his shoulders and without my help to push little Joe just flew out of me. I actually shouted "WOAH" really loud when he came out because I felt my tummy rebound with the force. I have to say that when the placenta came out as well I was surprised by how much that thing weighed! IT was huge!
And there he was! 3:50pm in the afternoon on April 5, 2011. My handsome little boy! It was the most amazing experience ever. I still relive the moment over and over everyday and I know it is a memory I will treasure forever. He latched on straight away and doesn't have a problem nursing. The recovery from this pregnancy is so difference from my C-section. I feel amazing but more importantly I have been able to let go of a lot of the hurt and anger that I was carrying around from my C-Section. I always knew my body could bear children and I know I want more children. This experience reaffirmed to me that I am in control and that WOMEN are made to have babies. I was able to deliver little Joe using my body and listening to what I knew my body could do. I know that Heavenly Father played a huge role in the safe arrival of my little boy and I am so grateful.
