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| He was born on Sept 1st at 12:59am! ( A week before my birthday!) |
During our 3rd trimester, we were being monitored twice weekly for various things. To begin with, our peanut was measuring small. Small babies run in both our families, but our doctors weren't sure if there was another reason why he was small. We came to find out after my delivery that the umbilical cord was inserted off to the side of the placenta so not a ton of nutrients were making their way to the baby.
We would show up to the doc twice weekly to have ultrasounds and non-stress tests done. Luckily, Saji was always performing so well despite his small size. Also, my docs were worried about preterm labor. My cervix was measuring really short and the baby seemed really low. On top of that, I was getting crazyyyy Braxton Hicks contractions...like more than 6 per an hour and they were kind of painful for "pretend contractions"! My doctor put me on a course of nifedipine to stop the contractions. I think it did too well of a job that it completely stopped any signs of preterm labor and I didn't deliver until 38 weeks!
During the weeks before my delivery, the docs were mentioning induction at every visit. They had no specific plans to induce, but expressed that they felt uncomfortable with me carrying longer than 38 weeks due to the baby's size. The husband and I were not enthusiastic about a medical induction at all. It was pretty difficult being poked and prodded at for weeks and given recommendations that were not based on solid findings at that point.
At one of our appointments, the doctor said that Saji had stopped growing and that she recommended medical induction within 5 days. I was so upset. I didn't want that, but I didn't want to to put my baby in harm's way. I called my primary OB and pled with her to do anything "natural" to speed up the process. At that time, I had been dilated 2cm for 2 weeks and 80% effaced. My doc said I'd be a great candidate for membrane stripping. She signed me up for one on Monday, August 31st but warned me that if it failed, I would need to have a medical induction by Wednesday. Meanwhile, over the weekend I did everything I could to help speed up labor short of eating spicy food and drinking castor oil. (Heartburn and diarrhea just seemed like BAD ideas!) None of my efforts worked.... I just ended up tiring myself out! I even tried that yoga dance that women swear by to induce labor...FAIL!
Monday came around and I asked my husband to take me to my doc appointment because I was nervous! I had a heart-to-heart with the nurse practitioner there. I told her I absolutely didn't want to do the medical induction. She felt my pain and agreed to "effectively strip my membranes" and that I would hate her after the process. I did. OMG...that was the craziest procedure....EVER! She said that if this failed, she would be totally find repeating it again the next day. I was thankful she understood how I felt and helped us to be able to have a more "natural birth" (without Pitocin!). I left the office feeling hopeful.
Two hours later...CONTRACTIONS hit! They escalated soooo fast! I tried to time them and they were jumping from every 5 minutes to every 3 minutes within an hour. I knew that night would be THE NIGHT, so I rushed and got everything ready. I told my husband to go get some food for us so we can eat a good meal before leaving. That was a HUGE mistake! It ended up taking him over an hour to get anything because all the restaurants were oddly busy that night! By the time he came home, my contractions were enough to stop me in my tracks and I couldn't talk through them. I ended up calling the hospital and they told me I could either come in immediately and get checked or wait another hour and then come on in. I think I had too many contractions that I could barely feel the baby move, so for that reason I decided to go in to get checked. Plus, I couldn't imagine waiting another hour and riding in a car when my contractions were a minute apart and having to walk into the hospital...I'd never make it inside if I had to keep stopping to breathe through my contractions.
Before going into labor, I had been learning Hypnobirthing techniques to deliver effectively. I did draw a lot from that practice. It taught me to breathe through those active labor contractions (applying techniques during the transition phase was a lot harder to do for me). It also taught me to breathe the baby down effectively during the pushing phase (I'll get into that more in a bit). And I truly believe it helped me to learn to breathe in an effective way in general to make my contractions more productive.
When I showed up at the hospital, I took forever to walk to the triage area. The nurse, Holly (aka...my angel), checked me and said that I was only 4cm dilated. I felt frustrated because my contractions were intense and coming so frequently. I thought for sure I was further along. She said we could either go home and come back when my contractions were closer together or walk around the hospital for another hour and then come back for a check. I was also Group B Strep positive and was worried about getting my course of antibiotics on time. (It's a really common condition but can cause serious problems for babies born to moms with too much of the bacteria....a course of penicillin is usually all that is needed to protect baby but it needs to be started 4 hours before delivery.) I opted to stay at the hospital. I really didn't want to go home and come back because I couldn't bare to sit in the car during my contractions...standing and bending over felt really good during them...not sitting. I tried to walk down the hallway and that was a definite fail. I think I was just so tired that I just wanted to stay in one place!
An hour went by, and I was checked again. 4.5cm! WHAT?! I was so frustrated! My contractions were so intense and coming every other minute...how could I only be 4.5cm?! I pled with the nurse to keep me! She was so sweet and convinced the on-call doc to admit me. By the time we reached my private room, I was nearly 6cm dilated! My birthplan had originally asked for no pain meds and as natural of a birth as possible. Because everything was happening so fast, I felt like my body didn't have a chance to catch up to all the changes. I asked for drugs. It made me sad that I felt like I needed them. The nurse ended up ordering some fentanyl for me and an epidural was on its way. She was about to administer my fentanyl, when I felt like it was show-time! I told Holly and I don't think she believed me. Then my water broke! It was go-time without drugs! I didn't even have time to get my course of penicillin. It was all so dramatic and played out like a Lifetime movie.
With my husband holding my left hand and Holly holding my right hand, I had to push! Boy...did that feel great! The breaks between pushing felt amazing....I swear I could have taken a nap between them! LOL! Because it was all happening so fast, the doc barely made it up on time! Within about 30 min of pushing (which felt so fast), Saji was born! I heard him crying while they measured him and evaluated him. Viv and I kept calling over to him and talking. When he heard our voices, he stopped crying! They placed him on me and he hugged my chest and stared at me. It was so perfect! It was like he knew who I was! I was so happy...I remember telling everyone in the room how much I love them...and how I'm sorry for everything I put them through! The nurses got a big kick out of that. LOL!
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| My love! |
Saji weighed in at 4lb 14oz and was healthy. His temperature was a little low but skin-to-skin helped with that. Like withg most babies, nursing was off to a slow start. He nursed perfectly soon after birth, but then fell off the wagon. The nurses were so great and really helped us to get him back on track. His pediatrician also recommended supplementing his diet with some donor breast milk. The hospital we were at has an amazing program where doctors can prescribe breast milk from a bank to babies who really need the extra boost. I really didn't want to start him on formula if I could avoid it because I felt since he was such a tiny peanut, he would benefit more from the immunity boost that breast milk gives.
Saji ended up doing so well that he was discharged early and was able to go home with me! We were worried they would keep him for a few days for observation, but his pediatrician thought he was better off at home with us than alone at the hospital.
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| One-week weigh-in at the pediatrician...also Mommy's birthday! |
Although I originally wanted a natural birth and ended up mentally caving into drugs, it all worked out in the best possible way. My delivery went almost according to my original birth plan...no drugs, no episiotomies, and no manual interventions to hurry along my labor in the delivery room. It's funny how things eventually work themselves out! I read in one of my birthing books that there's no medal for natural birthing, but instead it allows you a deeper understanding of what your body is capable of. I loved that way of thinking. The experience is no less special if you opt for pain medication and natural birthing doesn't make you a hero. What I did want to learn was how far I could push my body before it was "too much". Even though there were times when I felt like I couldn't try harder, I did. I made it through the end!
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| We love our mini outings as a familly! |
I ended up trying out a few things to help me out before labor and thought I'd share my efforts. I'll probably do another post with things that helped me post-labor, but I'm still testing those out right now. If anyone has any natural tips on recovering post-labor, I'd love to hear them!
Pre-labor Prep:
-Red Raspberry Leaf Tea: It's thought to cause more intense and productive contractions during labor. It absolutely does not induce labor itself...trust me...I tried to drink as much as I could the weekend before I was scheduled to be medically induced....no luck! I'm not sure if it was due to the tea but my contractions were very intense and escalated very quickly which caused my labor to only last for a few hours. The contractions are thought to be stronger than felt during labor without supplementing with Red Raspberry Leaf.
-Perineal Massage: I feel like this really helps loosen the tissues and it is thought to help prevent the need for episiotomies. I was lucky to avoid one and had minimal tearing. I like to think it was due to massage therapy.
-Hypnobirthing: I wanted to deliver in a natural and calm way. Of all the pain management options available out there for labor, I gravitated towards hypnobirthing. It teaches you self-hypnotism to zone out during delivery and to breath in ways that make your contractions more productive. Also, it does not promote "pushing" your baby out. You are meant to "breathe the baby down". I found that when they told me to "push" in the delivery room and I would "breathe down" with a little extra force, my "pushing" was more effective. This way of "pushing" is also thought to prevent the need for episiotomies, too. I have to admit that towards the end of my active labor and transition phase, I kept forgetting to breathe effectively. However, hypnobirthing breathing early during my labor was really, really helpful.
-Natural Hospital Birth: This book was really helpful in educating me about ways to have a natural birth in a hospital and also gave me confidence to put my foot down when doctors and nurses were being a little pushy. It's written by an experienced doula and really goes over all of the interventions that may be presented during a hospital birth. I went over this book in detail with my husband so he would be able to speak on my behalf if I was not able to make decisions. A woman shouldn't be expected to make big decisions during labor, especially towards the end of active labor, so making sure your partner is aware of your wishes and educated enough to act for you without you having to ask for help during contractions is really a big help! My husband did wonderfully and I really owe that to him reviewing this book with me before the big day!
-Exercise: Not just any exercise..labor-specific exercise like pelvic tilts, kegel exercises, abdominal pulses, yoga stretching, and walking! It sounds like a lot but I don't think you need to overdo it with all of this stuff...but just trying to do some daily helps a lot.
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| Loving our Maxi-Cosi |
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