Friday April 17th
8:45pm- I go to the bathroom and lose bladder control.
8:50pm- Complain to Nan that no one told me about this.
8:55pm- More loss of bladder control. I ask Nan about water breaking and all of that (she gives me some comment about how I'm not allowed to yet.)
9:00pm- I ask if she's sure. She say's that if it is my water it's leaking not breaking. We come to the conclusion that it is leaking so we call Cathy (my midwife) who heads out.
9:10pm- I call thePirate and we decide that he's to go right to bed and when Cathy comes we'll give him another call about how soon she thinks Matey is coming.
Saturday April 18th
3:00am- Cathy arrives and say's that things are still a ways away so to try and get some sleep and we'll look again in the morning. I call thePirate and tell him so he goes back to sleep and plans to head out in a couple of hours.
9:00am- I wake up and wander around for a bit, people are setting up the birthing tub and making sure they have everything. I seem to be un-needed so I go watch TV (the fugitive) for most the day.
1:00pm- I try to take a nap and it doesnt work.
3:00pm- Labor officially starts (ask Nan if you want to know why now, I think it's because my contractions were close enough/often enough to count?)
4:00pm- thePirate arrives! I give him kisses and we're told again that we ought to take a nap. So we try but neither of us can sleep.
6:00pm- I am offically bored and decide that I want to get into the tub now. Contractions are there but still nothing more than a bad menstral cramp.
6:15pm- I tell Cathy I want things sped up so she gives herb tinctures.
6:30pm- I have a TV brought in to were I am in the tub and thePirate and I watch A Muppets Christmas Carol. The contractions get worse through the movie but are still manageable with help from people squeezeing my little toes (It works try it next time).
8:00pm- thePirate wants to watch Fern Gully and I'm not really caring so in it goes. I don't recall really watching any of this one as contractions got worse and worse. They wern't unbearable but they did call for more assistance as people pushed on my lower back.
*at some point the movie ends and the TV gets shut down, the lights also get turned off and people start to talk quieter*
10:30ish- I want to push now. I don't feel a great need to but these contractions suck and I want to be done. I tell/ask Cathy and she checks me and say's I'm not at a 10 yet but if I want to I can do little baby pushes. After being checked I swear I'm not going to say anything again about pushing unless I REALLY feel like I need to.
11:ish- This time I do feel like pushing (although it's not a great need to but a definite feeling) and Cathy tells me I can if I want to without even checking me.
*the next hour and a half is spent with me in the tub not being able to push correctly. i can't tell the difference between what i'm doing when they say 'good job' and when they tell me to do it 'differently'*
Sunday April 19th
12:30am- Cathy makes me get out of my lovely tub because I'm not getting it right and has me sit on the birthing stool (Google Image it). To her credit I did feel a difference in how the pushing went after I got out of my lovely tub.
*for the next 20 min or so I push (the right way apparently) and feel as though my bum is going to explode. people tell me to stop yelling so i do (a miscommunication- they were telling me to put all my energy into the pushing which at the time i took as a 'shut up' when they just wanted to remind me that i needed to concentrate on baby coming out, the screaming was fine.*
12:45am- I want to go to the hospital now. Well, I want the baby to be OUT now which is something that will obviously never happen at moms house. However I keep the comment to myself because I can feel internally where baby's head is and figure that with travel time Matey would come out before I got the hospital anyway.
12:50am- Let me set the stage for this one: I'm on the birthing stool with thePirate behind me supporting my back and saying things he thinks is encouraging into my ear. I'm not really sitting down but sort of squating with by back arched and resting up against the stools edge and thePirate. So thePirate is up by my head and Matey is at the other end, things are getting more exciting down where Matey's coming out and thePirate isn't going to miss seeing anything even if it means pushing me forward and craning over my body. It was the plan all along that he would catch Matey so I holler that someone needs to change places with thePirate and tell myself I ought not kill him.
1:05am- With a hearty push and what I can only describe as a 'pop' Matey gets his head out.
1:06am- Finally my body kicks in and without me doing anything theres another big push and the rest of Matey tumbles down into his daddy's arms.
*so i've been hovering for half an hour in labour my legs are shaking, my bottom isn't supported by anything and my hands are fused to the grips on the birthing stool and these people are trying to put a squirming mess into my lap! After a minute of 'take him'/'no YOU take him' he's handed off to thePirate and I'm helped to a position where I can safely hold Matey.*
*i wake up eventually- it was apparently very traumatizing to those watching, my eyes stayed open and everything- and realize that people are looking highly upset although i'm feeling pretty good for having just fainted. They give me oxygen and check me out and stuff, after a false start it's declared that i'm not move from the couch until i can sit up straight without help and without fainting (an task that will take 2 and a half days for me to accomplish).
i'm just glad that i'm really not in a hospital cuz no way they'd let me leave there after doing all of this.
Matey is given to me at some point and he's a very good baby and latches right on and starts sucking away.
I spend the next couple of days on the couch then am moved to the bed then can move about entirely by myself.*
All in all labor lasted 10 hours, I pushed for 2 hours and thePirate got head butted twice and told to 'shut up' numerous times. It did not go how I had thought or expected (especially not getting the hang of pushing) or wanted to a certain extent however I am completely happy with my decision to have the baby at home and would not of had it in the hospital for anything.
3 comments:
Good post! I'm glad to hear your side of the story. I told Tamra about the whole thing today and her comment was "I'll bet she regrets that now!" and my reponse of "Oh no, if she ever has another baby it will be the same way" shocked her :)
I think everyone involved got told to shut up at least once, well maybe not Cathy. Brent and I replaced thePirate as 'support' persons and he was so thrilled with catching his son that he declined cutting the cord... he was WAY shaky after the baby was handed to you, I thought he was going to have to lay down! I must say, you would not have gotten such devoted, around the clock service at any hospital on earth! We love our Tiney. And I will publicly post what I told you right after Matey was born. "I am going to spend the next 20 years being good to you, not that I haven't been nice the first 21..." you were so amazing and worked so hard! I just think I haven't 'treasured' you enough. Le was right, it was hard for me to stand by helpless at the last, knowing you had to do it and that it had to be hard... but I knew I had survived it and I didn't do labor nearly as well as you ~ still it was hard not to be able to "fix" it all better. I love you amazing girl! xoxoxox
Great post, thank you for the details, when can we expect the book? Do you have an agent? Wow,my baby is a mom!!! Who'd a thunk?
Post a Comment