So, let me preface this by letting you know a few things: I charted and temped before I became pregnant. I was pretty confident I knew exactly when I ovulated and my due date went off of that information. My due date, according to the day I ovulated, was June 21st, 2012. Of course, like any rational, informed woman, I did not expect that I would actually have my baby on that day. As far as I know, I did not experience any Braxton Hicks contractions. I never experienced false labor. I was prepared to go at least a week, and up to two weeks, past my due date. So imagine my surprise when...
Charlotte Lynne Vanata made her debut on June 21st at 11:08am. Apparently I have one heck of a punctual kid!
Here's how it all went down: I started having light contractions on Wednesday night, around 8pm. I timed them for an hour, and they were pretty short (about the 30 seconds in duration) and anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes apart. Robert was working a night shift that didn't end until 6am the next day, so I sent him a text letting him know I was having contractions, but that I was *pretty* sure it was false labor, so not to get too excited. I was hopeful this was the real deal though, and wanted to help things along as best as I could, so I grabbed my exercise ball and bounced on it while I browsed the interwebz. (Bouncing on an exercise ball supposedly helps move your baby down the birth canal, therefore helping your cervix thin out and dilate. In theory, anyway.)
My contractions continue all night, but they were so mild I started questioning whether I was even really having contractions. I read a tip that said taking a shower could help move labor along, and I figured getting nice and clean before going to the hospital was a good idea any, so I jumped in the shower. It did help, as I had my "show" while showering (I'm not going to explain that... if you're THAT interested, google it. It isn't terribly graphic, but I don't want to bother anyone with details in case they are sensitive.). This was around 4am, as I recall. For the first time all night/morning, I felt a wave of fear. This might really be it! Holy crap!
So I again sent a text to Robert, updating him on my progress, telling him to go ahead and finish his shift but that we would definitely be going into labor and delivery when he got home. I leisurely packed a hospital bag and tried to think of anything we may need to pick up on the way, such as snacks. I decided we would be stopping at Wal-Mart to get snacks for Robert, as I was positive I'd be in labor for quite a while longer, perhaps even into the evening. Oh, I also scrubbed the bath-tub clean, thinking I would want a bath when I came home. Women in labor do crazy things!!
Robert got home around 6:30am and I was still dragging my feet packing, so he started to help me out. I think I was still in denial that I was actually in labor, lol. We finally got out the door a little after 8am. We stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way to pick up snacks, and that was when my contractions started picking up. Before then, I was still able to walk and talk through contractions with little issue. Now I was having to stop and breathe my way through them, and I could not speak. We hurried up with our purchases and got back on the road.
As a side note, let me say that at this point, I figured I was dilated 4cm, mayyyybe 6cm, if I was lucky. Everything I read said that this stage of labor was painful, and that I should not be talkative and rather withdrawn. On the contrary, my contractions weren't super painful in my opinion, and I was talking a lot and even laughing.
So we get to the hospital and get checked in and taken up to triage where I was to be checked for progress before being fully admitted. The triage nurse took a look and declared I was 8cm dilated and that my bag of waters was bulging! WTF?? I was so taken aback, I was not expecting to be that far along! I only had 2cm to go, holy crap!
I was helped into a wheelchair and taken to a delivery room. I took a look at the clock as soon as I was wheeled in: 9:15am. Robert went back down to the car to get our bags (I made him leave them--I was 100% convinced I would be sent back home to labor some more lol). Out of the 10 labor rooms, I was in the last available room, and it was the only one without a jetted tub, which really bummed me out as I was looking forward to that damn tub for months!! I must have looked pretty sad because the nurse offered to check if any of the other rooms had freed up, to which I delightfully replied, "Yes, please check!". I suddenly found myself alone in the room.
I took a little walk around the room, checking out my surrounding in case I was going to be stuck here, when suddenly I was hit with a crazy painful contraction. I felt intense pressure down below and then POP! My water broke--all over my freaking shoes.
I still haven't worn those shoes since. I should probably throw them out. Then again, I'm probably being silly.
Anyway, my contractions got INTENSE after that. Going from 8 to 10cm is called the "transitional phase". It's known to be crazy painful and intense, and is also said to be when most women start begging for an epidural. My plan and hope was to go completely med-free, and this would be my greatest test to that plan.
Thankfully, Robert came back to the room shortly after that. He helped me breathe through the contractions, rubbed me back, told me how great I was doing, and helped me move around when I needed to change my position or walk. Sitting in the shower and letting hot water pour over me helped A LOT. I would say around 10am I started feeling the urge to push, but I resisted the urge, thinking it must be too soon. If I pushed too soon, the baby's head would hit my cervix and possibly cause it to swell, which would prolong labor, and I definitely didn't want that to happen!
Somewhere around 10:50, I would guess, I was laying in the hospital bed. I had just gotten through another contraction and was feeling a lot of pressure and the urge to push. However, neither my nurse nor midwife were in the room, so I told Robert I was going to take a feel around and see what was going on. I'm flipping crazy, I can't believe I essentially did my own cervical check, haha. Anyway, I felt around "down there", and I felt a HEAD! I snatched my hand back up and told Robert to go get my midwife STAT! He ran out of the room to track her down while I laid there, trying to wrap my head around the knowledge that our daughter was going to be born very soon!
My midwife rushed in and checked me and confirmed that yes, it was indeed time to push! She told me to push during my next contraction. Omg, the pain was unreal. I didn't want to push because it hurt, but at the same time, I wanted to push because I was about to meet my daughter! Also, I was terrified of tearing, so that was definitely holding me back as well.
It took three more pushes and Charlotte was out! My midwife had me pull her out of me after her shoulders cleared, which was an amazing experience, I'm so glad she had me do that. She came out screaming! I settle her on my chest and after a short bit she calmed down. The nurse put a little blanket on her, but they didn't take her away for weighing/bathing as per my request to do skin-to-skin contact for at least an hour. Her cord was also left alone until it stopped pulsing, then it was clamped and I cut it (not a neat experience at all by the way, more scary than anything, I was terrified I'd hurt her!).
Oh, and guess what Charlotte did shortly after being born--she promptly peed on me. She didn't waste any time initiating me fully into motherhood, ha! I so did not care though, I was so happy to see her and so in awe over what my body had just done, especially without painkillers.
So, there it is, Charlotte's birth story! As I get time, I'll post some more on how the rest of our hospital stay went. And of course, here are pictures!
