I've read many birth stories to prepare myself for my own labor and delivery experience. I felt like if I didn't have the pain then the experience was less than what i wanted but I still prepared myself for if I couldn't handle the pain and needed an epidural. I wanted to feel like I conquered something in life since I half-assed any other situation I had before.
So here we go!
It all started 5 o' clock Sunday morning March 3. I was in my 38th week of pregnancy. I woke up feeling low back pain. I thought I was just having braxton hicks (basically fake contractions) so I tried to go back to sleep. I wake up later with another contraction so i stay awake but sitting up in bed to see if they go away by doing that. Well they don't and they kinda hurt more than usual. I try walking around and sitting higher up on the couch. At this point they are coming pretty often so I contact my friend who was also pregnant at the time with her second baby. I am also timing my contractions at this time. I got some advice from her that I may be in labor but not quite sure yet. Soon my contractions started getting farther apart and less painful. At that time I started to feel sad because I had been really anxious for my baby to come and I was really excited. After about 20 min the contractions pick back up with more pain. It was so much pain that i now knew that I was in labor. The pain wasn't unbearable yet but now I had to sit down thru the contractions. At this point I decided to wake up my husband and call my mom. It was probably about 7 o' clock now. I felt like I really needed my mom now more than anything. Happily her phone was on and she was awake. She told me she would be here in about 3hrs since she was in augusta at the time. I got back in contact with my friend (lol she was so hype about me being in labor) and she told me she would find a nurse hotline number for me to call to find out a good time to go to the hospital. After I got done with that I told my husband to run me a hot bath because I heard that can be relaxing during contractions. I sat in the tub for a while and it did make me feel better, but only for a little while. Pain started to get more intense so I hopped out of the tub to get into a more comfortable positions..Unfortunately at this point there is no such thing as a more comfortable position. Earlier I could describe the pain as menstrual lower back pain but now they felt like my lower back muscles were being wrung out like a towel. It hurt so bad but this was only the beginning. At about 10am I was looking forward to my mom coming. She called us for extra directions but at this point it was even hard to talk on the phone so I gave it to my husband but his english isn't that great and its hard to understand for my mom..She ended up getting lost for 30 min or so and that was dreadful to hear since she was in or around the area but not quite here. BTW my mother is a doula....When she finally got here I was on the toilet..felt like i had food poisoning but it was my body getting ready for birth..I had her call the hotline number my friend sent me and they told her that it was probably a good idea to go in and get admitted to the hospital..I was so happy to hear those words.
Off to the Hospital!!
We finally get to the hospital and its hard to even function properly. I give them all my information and they take me to a room to check on the baby heart beat and hook me up to other monitors. I'm in there for about 10 min then we are taken to another room..this would be the room I give birth in...It's about 11:30 or close to 12:00 now. I have to sign all these papers and whatnot and they tell me my options on pain management. She wasn't pushy at all and all the nurses were quite pleasant that day. I think I may have been 5cm dilated at the time..don't remember really..I just absolutely dreaded those cervix checks throughout the day.
Pain Management Choices
Basically you have the choice of epidural or narcotics of some sort. An anesthesiologist has to administer the epidural thru a catheter in your spine using some big ass needle and the narcotics are administered by a nurse after every so thirty minutes to an hour thru your IV. Epidural can completely take the pain away and narcotics just take the edge off. The nurse said that if I wanted narcotics I could have them now but if i wanted an epidural that I would have to wait about 30min..I chose narcotics because my contractions were more intense now and they reached from my back to my pelvis and also because I'm not too fond of needles going into my spine..the pain was causing me to shiver at this point.
Transition.....
Now I really felt like I could die..I was shaking all over and my contractions were lasting longer than before...Its 8pm and i feel like hell...I have been in labor for 15 hrs now and I don't know if I can take it any longer but I still push on..I am about 8-9 cm now..almost there!...At about 8:30pm I'm begging for an epidural but its too late..I'm crying and the massages my mom was giving aren't really working anymore..the nurses come in at about 9:00pm to check my cervix but I haven't really progressed since before..the doctor tells me my baby is in distress and that its time to push..they start setting up the table and everything...I am scared....Now I'm in push position. I have to push through a cervix that isn't completely open and I don't even have the urge to push..this is gonna be interesting..They tell me to push through each contraction..that was painful and I felt like I was getting nowhere..all the while the doctor has her hand in my vagina..they tell me they are gonna need a vacuum to get him out and I think what a relief because I don't think I can push any harder..I don't remember when they used the vacuum but I do remember my skin giving way because the doctor gave me an episiotomy..she basically cut from the opening of my vagina to my asshole..Then all of a sudden the baby came out! I think my mom started crying or she was crying beforehand (husband was there too)..All I could say was "Oh my God!" 5x....I don't really remember the cutting of the cord but I'm sure it happened or he still would be attached to me..My husband went to see the baby while I got all stitched up..First time I got stitches and def didn't think my vagina would be the first place I would get them haha..after all that I got to hold my little baby Ian
Ian Nesta Kim born March 3, 2013 at around 9:20pm, weighing 5lb 14oz
