I had tossed and turned all night in discomfort and went to bed with a backache. I had laughed to myself thinking 'woudln't it be great if this backache was early labor pain?' but was only half serious. Around 9 in the morning I was awoken with 'cramping'-- strong cramping that felt like a bad period or like I needed to go number 2! I laid in bed aching, wondering what was wrong- went to the bathroom and had some loose stools, figured that'd be the end of it. However I laid back down and the cramping returned. I started to realize that the cramps would come and go, in fact they'd do this every 4 minutes on the clock. That was enough to convince me I was indeed in early labor. I stayed in bed resting for the big day as long as I could (I was feelign a bit restless knowign what was coming up). I woke Tony up and told him "I think Eli is coming today" he replied with his eyes closed "no, not today" and rolled back over, haha! Him and Bianca were still out and so was Landon, so I packed the rest of my hospital bag, straightened my hair and double checking everything. I texted my doula letting her know that this was it and let her know I'd call when we were ready to go in. I labored around the house for a few more hours, snacking and trying to pay attention to the kids as much as I could between contractions. Around 12-1 pm I decided it was time to take Bianca to Tony's mom's house (my mom was here taking care of Landon) because she was a little worried about what was going onw ith me and it was getting harder to focus on her. We went there and I called my midwife on my cell, since I am GBS positive she had me come to her office to be checked-- I was 3-4 cm. She wanted me to go in and get my first round of antibiotics so that's what we did-- contractions were still nice and tolerable at this point. I called my doula in the car on the way over to the birth center side of the facility; I let her know she had time to get a shower and whatever else because it would probably be a little while before the baby made his appearance. When we got to our delivery room my stomach nerves set in as I looked at all the monitors and other hospital related items, but I tried to swallow that fear and relax. The monitoring part was just awful! All i wanted to do was walk around and get my labor going! Sitting around while contracting HURT! Especially while being asked hundreds of questions! When the time came for them to put my IV in for the antibiotics the nurse had a LOT of trouble and it took a few tries... *sigh* I just wanted so badly to get out of bed an dthat's all I kept saying. Finally after getting that in (and my Doula was now here!) I was able to get up! I first sat in the rocker weighting for all my meds to go through. That was nice, I liked the motions. But then my awesome doula, Nicole suggested I try out the birthing ball-- I feel like I did some of my best laboring on that thing! It was so comfy and helped me to open up. Nicole, my husband and I sat around chatting as I bounced on the ball, soft music was playing on the radio and an aromatherapy machine was giving off a lovely lavender scent-- finally I felt in my comfort zone! Nicole even guided Tony to massage me and that was so nice. Contractions were nice and manageable still, even the bad ones! I felt like I was rocking this labor! Nicole suggested Tony and I take a walk around the halls to get my labor going and to have some time together-- I was all for it but first felt the need to go pee really bad (the first urge of MANY) and every time I saw on the toilette I would have amazingly powerful contractions! And although they were so powerful, I loved it-- it meant progress! Laboring on the toilette was actually, probably my favorite place to labor, THEN the birthing ball-- maybe it was the privacy? Who knows, all I know is it helped! So-- Tony and I took a walk around the hospital and would stop ever 4-5 minutes so I could hold onto his shoulders and rock back and forth-- as soon as they stopped I was back to myself jabbering away. We came back in time for more monitoring, and then there was more birth ball bouncing, bore bathroom trips, more walking (with Nicole this time!) And I was informed when I got my 2nd dose of antibiotics I would be checked by the midwife and if I wasn't progressing we'd talk about breaking my water. I kept telling Nicole and Tony how STARVING I was and got myself some nummy food ordered! Pesto Chicken, Rice Pilaf, cup of fruit, cranberry juice and chocolate ice cream with angel food cake! MMM! Soon, I was checked and I was still only 4-5, I was SURE I would have been at a 7 by then! It felt like I was laboring forever! This was around 7ish I think? It's a little foggy what time everything took place and in what order, but I'm trying! After weighing the pros and cons of artificial rupture of the membranes (breaking my water) with the midwife, nurse and my doula-- I finally decided that I would do it. I was far enough that it was SO unlikely that I would go long enough that this would be an issue, plus the bag was very tight and didn't seem to be budging and this seemed to be what was stopping me from progressing more quickly. The breaking of the water was painless, but the mess was icky! I stood up and greenish water was everywhere, only to find out it had meconuim in it, which scared me a bit-- but my midwife was totally at ease about it which quickly calmed my nerves! A few contractions later I feeling the labor more than ever! I was so ready for the tub to be filled! When I had got in it was instantly relaxing, the aromatherapy machine was now sending out peppermint scents, mmm. Although the warm water and jets brought such nice relief, the tub was very hard and awkward and I could not get cozy whatsoever. I sensed it early on. I was feeling some pressure and my midwife told me to go ahead and give some little pushes if it made me feel better, so I did. But the uncomfortable-ness of the tub was making it so hard. As I started feeling more and more pushy the discomfort was only worse! I felt like I was going to slip back in the tub and I didn't know where to put my legs. The midwife checked out was was going on and noticed I still had a lip of cervix and the baby's head couldn't get passed it-- and this was one of the worst parts-- she pulled back my cervix (yikes!) and had me push as hard as I could. Over and Over, trying to get Eli's head out--- ow ow ow ow!!! I kept calling him, "C'mon Eli, c'mon baby let me see you!" I was losing my cool, I was freaking out and trying so hard to just focus on Eli to make myself keep on going and keep pushing no matter how hard it hurt to push! The longer I tried the more clear it was that i was NOT going to do this in this tub! If I wasn't comfortable how in the world could I focus on birthing a baby? So, even though everyone thought before I should stay in and keep trying, that was it, and Nicole agreed-- enough was enough I was getting out of this tub! They helped me out and I made a dash to the bed in between the pushy contractions! (YES! You can walk in labor!) Immediately I was so much more comfy and ready to go! His head came out before I knew it, they wanted me to feel his head crowning but it hurt so badly I just couldn't! And I thought after pushing that big noggin out the pain was gone- wrong! His shoulders were wide and the body didn't "slide" out as they usually do-- pushing those shoulders and that body out took everything I had in me, and as soon as he started to come out I reached down and grabbed my beautiful boy and pulled him up to my chest/stomach-- I couldn't believe I did it and he was here! I felt so filled with joy and emotion and all kinds of feelings! We did skin-to-skin contact for so long, it was amazing, I didn't get that "freezing" feeling either that I had gotten with my other two, he was keeping mama warm and I was keeping him warm! :) It was lovely. The tearing and stitching however.. was not. And during all of this, during the hard moments I kept saying that I was never going to do this again, and why did I do this... but now, as all moms know, I know that it was all SO worth it and the pain is so temporary, it's nearly forgotten! I gladly take those statements back, I would never deny such a beautiful blessing from happening again one day. :)
Elias was 8 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches. He was born at 10:16 pm on August 9th, 2011. <3
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