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Birth Stories
Ava
Ava Fern K. was born on Tuesday, April 24th at 7:33 pm. Weighing in at 7 Lbs 10 oz and measuring 20 inches long. She is a bright eyed beauty with medium brownish hair, the sweetest angel lips and chubby little cheeks!
On Sunday I had experienced some light bleeding, so I knew things were starting to happen with my body. By Monday night at about 9 pm I noticed my contractions had started to occur every 15 minutes. By 10 pm they were 6-7 minutes apart, though still not particularly strong. I called my midwife, Kathryn? at MCV who I absolutely adore, just to let her know what was going on. I told her I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. She told me to let her know when the contractions had gotten stronger. I put on soothing music and started my work. Early on I wanted to be upright as much as possible so I lunged and squatted and enjoyed forward bends. Kevin and I slow danced. I took a hot shower a few times when the contractions got to be more intense. I was able to breath through the pain and relax when it left. At some point as it got later in the night, I realized I should try to sleep in between contractions to save my energy...that is when things got interesting. I noticed that I was quite uncomfortable sitting or lying down. My back labor was sooo much more intense when I was in any kind of sit or lie.... I just can't emphasize how much harder the pains were to cope with. So I decided to tough it out standing, walking and so forth.? (Thank you yoga for strengthening my legs!!!!)
By 6:30am I decided both the midwife and Kevin had had some nice rest and I needed their support. Kathryn met us at the hospital. I thought the contractions were still about 5 minutes apart. Apparently I'm not skilled with a clock. Kathryn timed them at about 3 minutes apart and I was 4 1/2 cm.... that made me really really happy! I had a burst of confidence and energy and determination to get through this without any drug intervention.
Off to the whirlpool I went. I had dreamed about it for the 8 hours at home. To my surprise it wasn't much relief. Again I found that I could not sit or lie back even in the water. After close to 2 hours we went back to my room... my water broke in the middle of the hall (nice, huh!) I threw modesty out the window at that point. For the next 4 hours I knelt and draped myself over the back of the bed, then stood holding onto the sink. Closing in on 15 hours, my legs started convulsing. We tried the labor ball to no avail. At that point my contractions were now 3 minutes long... something of a mystery the midwife was trying to figure out. In the now 5 hours at the hospital I had only gained one centimeter to get me to 5 1/2. Kathryn had decided a few hours back that Ava was in OP position (head up, not down) and that was why my back labor was so intense and also why I could not sit or lie down comfortably. By the 15 th hour, legs giving way, I had had enough. We had tried so many sitting/ lying positions and I just couldn't tolerate them and it was clear that my legs were not going to allow me to continue on. I had asked for drugs a few times, half heartedly, and Kevin and Kathryn had kept me going on with my drug free plan. They were great support. However, as my energy started to wear down and Ava continued to descend in her OP position, it was time for some rest. I requested an epidural. They were quick to get it to me. I mentally relaxed, though sitting and waiting for the drug to creep up my body was really hard as the back labor continued to intensify. About 15 minutes after being given the epidural I did start to panic. For some reason it was only numbing my legs and not my belly. The anesthesiologist had already given me 2 doses and was now getting concerned. Still in pain and now unable to stand, which was the only way for me to tolerate the contractions, I lost my cool and let fear get the best of me for a moment. Apparently, epidurals work best if you can lie down to help the drug wash up your body. Since I could barely sit, let alone lie back in bed, the drug had stopped where my hips bent. Finally they added a little something to the line and that did the trick, but my right leg and bottom ended up totally numb.... which was not what they wanted.
I got some much needed sleep and was then ready to deliver.... or so I thought.? Apparently the universe had other plans. Long story longer, I was 9 cm at about 2:00 pm and Ava had only 2 small centimeters to labor down before I could push.... with my unheard of 3 minute contractions, you'd think it would be a quick decent....Cruel joke... the epidural stopped my contractions. A few hours later out comes the Pitocin a few hours after that, we finally get to the last inning. With a team of people holding my numb legs during contractions, I pushed as hard as I could. I focused on a mirror to guide me. It was so surreal to have felt my belly and this baby moving inside of me for 10 months and then to not feel anything! Watching her in the mirror was really amazing. Her head looked so small ( well smaller than I had thought it would) as it emerged and then all of sudden she was placed on my belly. Outside of me at last, she then looked huge! I couldn't believe it!? 22 hours after labor began this bright eyed beauty gazed up at me now laying on the outside of my belly. We let her find her way to my breast. It took about 45 minutes and already posing as overbearing parents, it was all Kevin and I could do not to help her! Kathryn had said baby's do much better with latching on if they find their own way to your breast. If Ava is any indication, that is very true. She has a great latch and breast feeding is going well.
She is thriving and we have been blessed with a true angel baby. She rarely cries and I have to wake her up to feed her. In the night we can get 4-6 hour stretches of sleep. Thank you for helping me prepare my body, mind and spirit for this journey. I miss seeing everyone in class and wish them beautiful births and healthy babies. Now I truly know the depth of love.