Inspiration

Birth Stories

August Lane S arrives into this world . . .

Thurs. Nov. 15th, 10:50 am, 7 lbs. 10 oz. 21” long.

“Babies are bits of star-dust blown from the hand of God. Lucky the woman who knows the pangs of birth for she has held a star.“

—Larry Barretto

What an incredible experience giving birth is. As most of you know from my last yoga class, I was having mild pregnancy induced hypertension and the doctor wanted to induce me on Thurs. am, Nov. 15th. This was frustrating for me because I really wanted to go into labor naturally and was advised that we could help the dilation process along with some good old-fashioned lovin’. So, Mon. & Tues. we got busy lovin’. I felt a lot of discomfort Tues. evening during and after our class and thought could this be labor? I was also looking forward to my last day, Wed., of relaxation, a nice dinner out with my husband and early to bed before the big event. Much to my surprise, my doctor called early Wed. morning and said that she wanted us to be at the hospital by 5:30 pm, Wed. pm because she was going to start me with cervadil to dilate the cervix. My relaxing Wed. came to a crashing halt and the tears began to flow. This wasn’t according to my plan, but I tried to remember a few things. First, to remain flexible in my thinking and second, that everything happens for a reason. So off to the hospital we went Wednesday evening, November 14th. When we arrived I was very nervous, never having been more than a visitor in the hospital, I wasn’t even sure how to put the gown on. I can do this, I kept thinking. When the doctor arrived to check me, much to both of our surprise, I was already naturally dilated almost 2 cm and had already been having very mild, irregular contractions. Yes! I was so excited. No drugs to dilate the cervix. Things were looking better by the minute. I looked at my husband and said, “See I told you it would work. . .” I quickly asked the doctor if she would prefer me to come back tomorrow as planned, she said to stay the night because they would start pitocin around 3 am. So we ordered a nice to-go dinner and they monitored contractions all evening. They were so mild and still irregular I really couldn’t feel a thing. They let me out of bed for 45 min. to walk the halls and do some of my yoga stretches. That felt so good! The nurses wanted us to get as much rest as possible before 3 am. So we got settled for bed, put a CD in the player and rested. My contractions started to get a little worse after midnight but still nothing that I couldn’t handle. Around 3 am I got the IV and they began the pitocin. By 4 am my contractions were getting a little stronger but still not bad. The nurse quickly offered Nubane and I said “no” I just want to keep going naturally, if it felt a lot worse I might change my mind. By 4:30 am the contractions were a lot more uncomfortable so I asked for the Nubane. I really just wanted to get thru the night because the doctor would be there first thing in the am. So, I figured if I was a little out of it while I was trying to sleep that would be ok.

By 6:30 am, the contractions were much stronger and my husband and the nurse were both helping me to breathe thru them. It was getting more difficult even with the nubane b/c the contractions were so much stronger. By 7:00 am, I was so uncomfortable I asked for the epidural. I think the effect of the nubane made getting the epidural a little easier. I got the epidural at 7:30 am and my doctor came to check me at 8:00 am. I was now 3 cm dilated and she broke my water. I advised her that both my Mom and my sister had babies rather quickly, but she still prepared us for a delivery around 6-7 pm on Thurs. Nov. 15th. By 9:00 am I was feeling a lot of pressure in the rectal area and told my husband to get the nurses b/c I didn’t think the epidural was working correctly. The anesthesiologist came back to up the dose. 15 min. went by and I was feeling major contractions very low. Again, I asked my husband to get the nurses to see when the epidural should take effect. By this time, my sister, Mom & Dad had arrived anticipating a morning of labor. I told my sister that something must be wrong b/c of the amount of pain that I was feeling and the pressure of feeling like I was going to have a bowel movement. She quickly got the nurses. They checked me to realize that by 9:45 am I was already 10 cm dilated and he had slid to a –2 position and I was ready to push. They called the doctor and I pushed for about an hour and at 10:50 a.m. I held my star! He had the most precious cry and when they handed him to me he opened his eyes wide as if to get the biggest glimpse of his mama. Again, the tears of joy began to flow. It was the greatest experience I think that my husband and I could ever have. We are truly blessed. I wish each an every one of you a miraculous birth experience, the courage to push thru labor and the joy of holding your own “little star”!

Many Blessings,

Jill

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