Ethan's Birth Story

To my brothers and father, you probably should just skip through and look at the pictures.

To my sister and girl-friends, enjoy!

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As I've mentioned on this blog before, my children like to be in charge of things even from the womb. And as usual, I predicted my baby's birth's timing horribly wrong. I really thought he'd come early, and we waited and waited and waited. Nana had been here a full week!

40 weeks

Three days after my due date I had an appointment for a non-stress test. They also checked my progress. I had been having contractions on and off for about three weeks at this point. When they checked me, I was dilated to a 4 and 85% effaced. Since my labor with Brennan was psychotically fast, I was terrified I would have Ethan at home or in the car. I shared these fears with the doctor. Knowing that Brennan was born 45 minutes after I was pronounced a 5, I started crying in the office. The doctor and I decided that I should go ahead and be induced.

Waiting for a doctor

The next morning (Wednesday), we got to the hospital with an "appointment" to have our baby. Not my plan. They told us to arrive at 10am, but no one from my doctor's office arrived on the scene until 12:30pm. Not my plan. It was a horrible wait. While waiting, the nurse spoke with a midwife from my doctor's office and then led me to believe that I could choose to skip Pitocin and just have my water broken. Yes, my plan!

While waiting, I had several irregular, non-painful contractions on their monitors just like at home for the previous three weeks and on the non-stress test the previous day. I believed (and I still believe) that all my body needed was some mild encouragement (aka breaking my water) to go into full-blown labor.

When the midwife finally arrived (2 1/2 hours late), she told me she would start Pitocin or I could go home. Those were my choices; she would not just break my water. I was devastated. This was not at all what I had planned. Pitocin, I thought, would destroy my chances of having Ethan without an epidural.

My belief is that anyone can endure pain for 3-4 hours, but the horror stories of Pitocin-contractions made me think that wouldn't be possible. Under pressure, Ryan and I opted for a slow Pitocin drip and to continue with my plan to skip the epidural. They started the Pitocin-drip at 12:40 and increased its amount each half hour.

With the artificial hormone, my contractions picked up in regularity, but they were still weak. I wasn't really in pain at all. At 3pm, the midwife marched in authoritatively and checked me. I was still a 4. I was disappointed but not really surprised.

Then she announced she was breaking my water. I was furious and happy all at once - furious because nothing had changed but for some reason now my idea was valid, and happy because now she was going to do what I wanted! Sigh. I hate the medical community.

Anyway, let me tell you - This is when labor started! The moment my water was broken, I started having painful contractions right on top of each other.

Because I was going without an epidural, I was able to try different laboring positions. I was most comfortable on the birthing ball, leaning on the bed with Ryan applying pressure to my lower back. I liked to be in command of my legs through the whole process. I also liked feeling in control, albeit in some pretty excruciating pain.

At 4:15pm, the midwife returned to check me. She declared me "complete" (that's right - from a 4 to a 10 in an hour!) and told me I could start pushing. I asked her if I could wait until my body wanted to push on its own, like had happened with Brennan. This was one of the reasons I wanted to go without an epidural; I wanted to feel the urge to push for myself. She said that was the difference between two more contractions or 20 more contractions. In pain, I opted for two more contractions. Hindsight - I wish I'd waited to "want" to push.

Because - oh my goodness - pushing was horrendous. The first two pushes were beyond painful. The midwife was rude and obnoxious, and I wanted to slap/kick her in the face. Fortunately, my nurse was great. Right before Push #3, the nurse let me know what Ethan's heart rate was dropping dangerously low. Now that's the kind of motivation a mother needs! He was born at 4:33pm on that third push.

Anyway, once Ethan was out, we discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped about his neck, shoulder and leg, hence the heart tone problems.

I think the worst part of skipping the epidural was the "afterwards." I tore, so I had to get a local anesthetic for the stitches. They also had to press on my tummy a few times, and that was rough. My after-birth came quickly enough, but those stitches were something else. I think it is particularly rough at this point because Daddy and Baby are so happy way-the-heck on the other side of the room, and you are so isolated and alone and stuck in the bed. Luckily, my nurse held my hand and talked me through this part.

The best part of skipping the epidural was getting up and going to the bathroom shortly after delivering him. I didn't have the uncontrollable shaking for hours and hours like I did with my first two labors either. I was also able to hold and nurse Ethan almost immediately. Usually I am too weak. I was able to go almost immediately to a recovery room too. Despite the stitches, I feel like I am healing very quickly "down there" too. I'm not as sore, and I can walk just fine.

And now I can say I've had another rapid labor - 4 hours after the first drip of Pitocin. To me, my labor really started with the breaking of my water, which really means he was born after only 90 minutes. See why I was worried he'd come at home? 

 

I also can declare I had a natural, unnatural birth -  natural because I didn't have an epidural, and unnatural because I had Pitocin. My labor was certainly not the way I had wanted things to happen (being induced and having Pitocin), but he is here and we are healthy. I can't complain.

 

And there you have it: Ethan's birth story.