Matthew's Birth Story

On Tuesday May 14, 2013 I reached 38 weeks pregnant. I had a normal appointment with my midwife and I was going to see if she would be willing to strip my membranes. At that point I was 3cm and 70% effaced. My midwife went ahead and stripped me and noticed that I had lost some of my plug and I was almost 3cm dilated already. I had my appointment at 10am and by the time I got home at noon with Nathan I was cramping and a bit uncomfortable. I spent the rest of the afternoon bouncing on my labor ball since I already knew I wasn’t going to make it to my due date and I just wanted to get the show on the road. Though the afternoon I started timing the cramps/contractions and they were 5 mins apart and last about a minute and thirty seconds. This continued until I went to bed that night.

On Wednesday May 15^th I woke up and I was a bit crampy. I felt pretty off almost like I was coming down with something. I knew I was going to see my midwife again to see if stripping me had done anything so I got up to take a shower. I lost my plug then and knew that Matthew was going to be here soon since I never lost that with Nathan and I knew if I lost that then I had to be dilating more. Soon enough Daniel, Nathan and I jumped in the car for my appointment. By this time I was contracting again and having hot flashes. We got to my midwife and she checked me again and I was almost 4cm and she could feel my bag of water. I decided to go and walk Wal-Mart and I walked every isle from toys though camping gear to electronics to baby stuff. My hips where killing me and contractions were once again at 5 mins apart last about a minute. I finally decided I couldn’t take it anymore and told Daniel we needed to head to the hospital because I was done. We called Deena who was going to be watching Nathan and she met us at the house and Daniel and I left for the hospital.

On the way to the hospital I broke down crying because I was in so much pain and I was also scared for what was to come. We got to the hospital about 1:00pm and I was 4cm and my contractions where showing up on the computer screen so I was admitted. We called my doula Jessica because we knew we were there to stay. I was told to walk the halls to try and get contractions closer together and stronger. So we walked for an hour and then headed back to the room. I sat on the labor ball for a while and Jessica pushed on my hips though my contractions. I was then put back on the monitors and I was stuck in bed. Because I wasn’t able to move my contractions slowed down but they didn’t lose their intensity.

At around 6pm my midwife came into the room to discuss my options. First was to use Pitocin, second was to break my water, or I could go home and see if things pick up. I was not going home, I had worked too hard to get to 4cm and I was in too much pain to be sent home. I decided on the Pitocin and it was started. I was extremely nervous because I had Pitocin with Nathan and it instantly made me sick and I was constantly throwing up, so I was really worried that that was going to happen again. I told everyone let me give the Pitocin a shot, let me get through 30 mins on it and see if I need the epidural. They started and it took a bit for it to start working with my contractions. It got to the point where I was having three contractions on one screen and I was so excited because I was still doing it on my own and I was able to breath though the contractions. I think it helped that the woman in the next room was also in labor but further than I was so I heard her laboring and moaning and I was so excited for her that I forgot about my own pain. Pitocin was bumped up a notch every 30 mins. I was still sitting in bed breathing through them. Jessica would put her hand on my leg to give me a touch to focus on and occasionally Daniel was there and would rub my neck for me to focus on that.

By 10pm Pitocin was up to an 8 and I was starting to struggle a little bit. I was starting to get nervous about my water breaking and I knew once that happened that the contractions where going to get more intense and that I might be in a lot more pain. I decided then was a good time to get my epidural. So I sat though that while holding Daniel’s hand and breathing though the contractions until the epidural started to work. After the epidural was placed I was checked again and I had made it to 4-5cm. Pitocin was once again bumped up. Daniel pulled out the couch and decided to go to sleep while I stayed up and just kind of hung out with Jessica. We would just kind of drift in and out of sleep.

At about 3am Matthew’s heart rate started to go down and I was checked again (5-6cm). My midwife wanted me to sit straight up in bed because when I was checked Matthew would float back up and wouldn’t stay dropped. So I sat straight up in bed for the next few hours and tried to sleep as best as I could which is almost impossible in that position.  By this time I was once again ready to be done and have Matthew in my arms because we thought he would be here by 1 am.

At around 6am I was checked once again and I was 6-7cm and my bag of water was bulging. Matthew had finally dropped enough for me to be able to lie down and I was losing the epidural in my right leg. So I was told to lay on my right side for my epidural to even out.

8am I was shocked to see my midwife walk in the door because she was supposed to get off call at 7am so I had given up hope that she would be delivering Matthew. Nope she was sticking around just to deliver him! She wanted to check me and I was at an 8-9cm with just a tiny rim of cervix that she could stretch. As she was checking me my water broke. She wanted to check on another patient in labor really fast but she wasn’t going to go far since I was so close. Almost right away after she walked out the door I started to feel pressure. I told my nurse who stayed with me and she let my midwife know. Everything was getting prepped for delivery since my pressure was getting really intense very fast. By this time I was making fists and trying very hard not to push because I could feel Matthew right there. A mirror was pulled in so I could see my progress with each push, my doula Jessica grabbed my camera and started to document it. With the first push we got our first glimpse of Matthew’s head and all of his hair. Each push brought me closer and closer to meeting my new son. This whole time Daniel was by my side cheering me on telling me how amazing I was doing and I could hear the camera clicking away, but my eyes hardly ever left the mirror. I remember saying that it was a big head and my midwife said she might be wrong on her guess for the size judging by how big Matthew’s head was. Now I finally had a good portion of his head down and I was losing my momentum. I told Daniel he was going to need to tick me off so I could take my anger out on my pushing. So everyone started to say random things until my midwife said the magic word, cars. That was it, I said urgh cars and just saying that was enough for Matthew’s head to pop out. With one more push right away and he was completely out.

He was wiped off a bit and put right on my chest. I was in complete awe that it happened so fast. It took me 10 mins to push Matthew out. I laid there just looking at him shocked I remember playing with his hair and telling him it was nice to finally see him on the outside. Now I knew what this little boy who caused all this trouble looked like! We waited until the umbilical cord stopped pulsing before it was cut. While Matthew was still on my chest we called parents to let them know that he was here and I sent a picture to my sister. He was then taken to be weighed and get all of his shots and wrapped up.

I had done it. My birth plan was followed to a “T” and I wouldn’t change a thing. Matthew decided on his time to come. My doula was there the whole time and my midwife delivered. Everything I had dreamed of had come true. It was a picture perfect birth and now I get to hold my boys in my arms whenever I want. Daniel and I couldn’t be happier.