Third Time's a Charm!

So, after a few detours, let's get back to the story of Lily's birth. Although this was my third birth, this was the first birth that I felt like I was prepared and was in total control of. I knew I wanted a natural birth, with a supportive care-giver. After much searching, I found Marcia. Marcia is a wonderful CNM who is helping women in our area get the birth they desire despite the hospital setting. She was wonderful throughout the whole pregnancy!

On Lily's due date, December 23, there was no action. No signs of labor. Nothing. We had Christmas as usual, but I was feeling very poorly. I thought that surely labor must be just around the corner, but no such luck! I tried everything recommended by Marcia, but nothing seemed to be helping. Finally, at 1 week past my due date Marcia said that we had to schedule an induction. I really wanted a completely natural birth, and an induction was not part of the plan. I let them schedule the induction and went home. I got to thinking about it and decided that I wanted to cancel the appointment. I wanted to give Lily the full two weeks that the OB over Marcia would allow her to wait.

The next week came and went with no action, so I was induced on January 7 - a full 15 days after my due date. When I got to the hospital that morning, the nurses started their regular rituals. The first was an HIV test despite the fact that I had already been tested and was in a monogamous relationship. I tried to decline because I knew that I would want my hands to be pain free when positioning myself in different ways to try to get through labor naturally. The nurses told me that if I declined the test they would take my newborn away from me after birth to test her for HIV. Of course I didn't want that, so I consented. Well, the nurse put the needle in wrong somehow and my hand started swelling to a huge, painful size. She removed the needle and tried again a few times before getting enough blood for the test. Finally that was over, and Marcia arrived to try to rupture the membranes as a first attempt to start labor. She was unable to break my water, so the IV was started with pitocin and Marcia left to attend to her patients until I needed her.

The contractions started to pick up fairly quickly. I had warned the nurses that my previous labor with Karlie had only been 4 1/2 hours, so they were keeping a close eye on me. About an hour after they started pitocin I was already at 7 cm. They called Marcia to head back over, and she arrived soon after that. At the time, I was managing contractions by sitting next to the bed on a birthing ball. I wasn't able to move around much because of the IV, monitoring strips, and blood pressure cuff, so I was staying close to the bed. Thankfully, Marcia instructed the nurses to set me free from all of the devices and helped me walk into the bathroom. She shut the door and I was able to move around however I wished without interference.

Finally, I was ready to push. Marcia requested that I move back to the bed because she didn't want to deliver in the bathroom. I pushed a few times and then told Marcia that I couldn't do it anymore. I then told her that it hurt. I was losing control at that point. I felt dizzy and out of it. The nurses gave me oxygen while Marcia talked to me. She was so calm and sweet about it when she said, "It's going to hurt, just push the pain away." Her calmness helped me so much, and with the next push I felt the "ring of fire". If you have never felt this, it's hard to explain. It is SO very painful, but a relief at the same time. After that, the pushing felt more like a strong pressure and not so painful. Lily was born about 4 pushes later.

One of the nurses was excited, and I laughed when she said, "It's just like I've seen on TV!" I guess she hadn't been around for many natural births. I had so much energy right after the birth - it was a birthing high! Although I had had to be induced, I was still thrilled with the way the birth had gone.