August 30th, 2010 - 10:46 am
7 pounds, 6 ounces, 19 inches long
~*My Birth Story ~ Marissa Iris*~
I was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, August 29th to start my induction since I was a week late. We were admitted at 4:00 and waited around until almost 10:00 to see the doctor. We were feeling tired, frustrated and ready to go home at this point. We were not 100% comfortable going forward with the induction since neither I nor Marissa were under any stress. We wanted to go home and let nature take its course, but we figured we would stay the night and see what the doctor said in the morning. They had me hooked up to the monitors and I thought I was having a few mild contractions. The nurse said that I was not having contractions and that I would know it if I was. She too was pregnant and due next month with her second child. She kind of snarked at me when I said I wanted to go natural and said “well, a lot of first time moms don’t really know what to expect and don’t know how to deal with the pain.” How frustrating to be in the hospital ready for labor and people are still being unsupportive of my decision to go natural. All of those people doubting me made me that much more determined to prove that I could do this; call me stubborn!
By 10:00 pm when the doctor actually came around to start the cervidil, she checked me and said I was at 3 cm and 80% effaced and that the cervidil was not needed. This was a sigh of relief! She stripped my membranes for the second time; I also had them stripped the Tuesday before at my 41 week check up. She said the next doctor would see me around 7:00 am the next morning to start pitocin and wished me well before leaving us for the night. My mom and I walked the halls for a little while so Danny could go grab some dinner. Once he returned, my mom went home to get some rest, the nurse gave me an ambien to get some sleep and Danny and I called it a night.
Around 3:00 am on the 30th I woke up feeling some pretty strong and regular contractions. Again, the monitors were showing mild contractions which seemed really frustrating to me. I ate a small breakfast and showered to try and relax. The anesthesiologist came in before they started the pitocin to talk to me about an epidural. I was slightly peeved that he even stopped in considering I wanted to go natural, so what he said pretty much went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t stay long after I told him I was going natural.
At 8:15 am the doctor came in to check my progress and said I was at about 4 - 4.5 cm. She decided that it would be best to break my water to get things going. She said we would have a baby by the end of the day. After Danny drilled the doctor with a hundred questions, she broke my water at 8:27 am. I was hesitant, but figured since I was progressing on my own that I was willing to take the chance. They then started to administer the dreaded pitocin at 9:00 am. I don't know if it was my water breaking or the pitocin, but things REALLY got going at this time. They were only able to give me one shot of pitocin, the nurse joked that I just needed a “wiff” of it! I was having severe contractions, having to really focus on my breathing and trying to remain calm. But again, the monitors were showing average contractions. I really wanted a natural birth but I was afraid that if these were considered "mild" contractions I wouldn't be able to go much longer. I sat on the birthing ball, Danny massaged my back with calming lavender oil and I did my best to breathe and not focus on the pain. He turned on the iPod with some relaxing music and we were doing all the natural birth techniques that I had studied and prayed would work during my labor. Around 9:45 am the nurse checked my progress and said I was at 8 cm. Danny and I thought to ourselves, this lady must be out of her mind, she’s just a nurse she doesn’t know what she’s checking! We just kept thinking there's no way I had progressed that quickly, we were expecting an all day ordeal. Around 10:00 am I was starting to feel a lot of pressure so the other nurse checked me and confirmed that I was at 9 – 9.5 cm and would be able to push soon. I was SHOCKED! Note to self: don’t doubt your nurses; they know what they are talking about!
The atmosphere of the labor and delivery room changed dramatically at this time. The nurses were moving chairs out of the way and wheeling out a warming table equipped with all the necessities for Marissa’s arrival. It started to sink in that things were about to get real.
Around 10:15 am I started to feel like I needed to push; I had an immense amount of pressure and contractions were coming faster and faster. We waited and waited for the doctor to come, the nurse checked me again and said I was at a full 10 cm and could push as soon as the doctor showed up. I knew that my contractions were stronger than what the monitors were telling me and the nurses said there must have been something wrong with them. They decided to take the monitors off of me because I knew exactly when I was having a contraction. We went through about 3 or 4 hard contractions before the doctor showed up, there was a point where I asked the nurses to just bring in any doctor that could deliver this baby, I didn’t care who it was. Holding back the urge to push was the hardest part of the whole experience.
When the doctor finally came in I asked her how long she thought I would be pushing. She said most first timers push for about 2 hours. Whew, I took a deep breath and looked at Danny, knowing this would be a long haul. The doctor let me lead the pushing as I saw fit. They would count to 10; I would take a deep breath and continue on for two more counts of 10, with one quick breath in between pushes. Pushing was the greatest feeling in the whole world! It was such a relief. At some point the doctor realized that Marissa’s head was positioned on my bladder and it was blocking her from coming down the birth canal. She decided to give me a quick catheter. It was relatively painless and it definitely made a difference in pushing. I pushed for at total of about 30 minutes and out came our sweet little girl at 10:46 am. It was so fast and I'm so glad that I listened to my body and went natural like I had hoped and prayed for. It was such an amazing and empowering feeling since so many people had doubted my ability to go without pain medication.
From the time I started having hard labor contractions until the time I delivered was about 8 hours total. I consider myself VERY lucky. Danny was so supportive and was such an amazing labor coach. He breathed with me, got me a wet wash cloth for my forehead, counted while I pushed (even though the nurses had to tell him to slow down a little, I think he was a little nervous and excited) and let me squeeze his hand when the pain got really bad. All through my pregnancy he said he wasn’t going to look (you know, down there) but when the time came it wasn’t nearly as bad as he had imagined. He saw our sweet little girl come into the world and had to fight back the tears from such an amazing miracle.
Both of our nurses encouraged me to go natural, helped coach me while pushing and never mentioned a word of pain medication. They said they couldn’t believe how calm I was considering I had nothing to even take the edge off. I didn't even cuss at Danny, I never told him I hated him or any of those other horror stories you hear about! He was so helpful and I wouldn't have been able to go natural without him. When they laid Marissa on my chest for the first time, all the pain washed away. I delivered the placenta 4 minutes after her birth and the doctor stitched up my first degree tear. Since Marissa came so quickly, she had a lot of fluid left in her lungs. They had to suction quite a bit out of her lungs and the cord had been wrapped around her neck. A few minutes later in came a staff of 4 or 5 NICU nurses and I started to panic a little at this time. No one was really saying much and I kept asking the nurses if she was okay. They said they just needed to monitor her and that they would give me an update as soon as she was stabilized. They gave her some oxygen to help her in the transition phase and Danny stood by her side the whole time.
Danny holding Marissa for the first time in the NICU.
They decided it would be best to monitor her in the NICU for a few hours, but before they wheeled her off they laid her in my arms and then the emotions came rolling in. Danny and I shared a few tears and a kiss before he went with her. I was sad that I couldn’t be with them but I knew in my heart everything was going to be fine, and her daddy was with her and would keep her safe.
Now, almost a week after her birth, we are settling into a nice little routine. We’re a family of three and I feel so complete. I can’t imagine Marissa not being in our lives. Danny and I bonded in so many different ways over this whole experience and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Our first family photo
