Eleanor Rose's Story
August 12, 2011
Submitted by Colleen
Starting at around 38 weeks, I began to feel a very strong nesting urge. For the next two weeks, I was cleaning every day and working hard to stay on top of the kitchen, the laundry, etc. Every day, I felt the need to be extra prepared in case labor started. Beginning at around 39 weeks, I noticed that my body was showing more and more signs of change. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get comfortable, sleeping was more challenging, and my Braxton Hicks contractions were getting more intense and frequent every day. Some nights they would fall into a regular pattern for an hour or more, but then back off. They remained focused in my belly, however, and they were never painful.
On Thursday, August 11th (nearly 40 weeks), I experienced a low back ache for most of the day. I also began to feel a real strong urge to finish last minute errands. I did a full round of food shopping, and at night I drove back into town to buy a gift for Amelia. I just knew it had to be done that night. I went to bed as usual, but at 2am, I realized that I was waking up to contractions that were now causing back pain. I was able to go back to sleep, but each contraction would wake me up, and it was very uncomfortable being in bed during them.
At 4am I finally got up because I could not get comfortable. I made myself some peanut butter toast and orange juice, and began walking around the living room. I turned on low lights and George Winston on Pandora, and it was an incredibly peaceful time. I knew there was a real possibility that the baby would be coming soon. It felt best to sway my hips side to side during each contraction as I leaned over the counter or the back of the couch. During this time, my contractions were approximately 5-6 minutes apart and 30-60 seconds long. I sat down in the rocking chair at 5:30am, and relaxed to the music. My contractions spaced out to 10-30 minutes during this time. At 7am I returned to bed and was able to sleep until 8:45am. I experienced only around 3 contractions during that time.
Upon getting up, I found that the contractions mostly ended, but that movement encouraged them. Dan stayed home with me because I was unsure whether labor would pick up again. I thought that maybe it would be a starting/stopping prodromal labor, but I also knew that it could kick in at any time. We let our midwives and doula know what was happening, and promised to keep them updated. At 11am, I experienced my first bloody show during the pregnancy, so I knew things were happening.
In the early afternoon, Dan and I took Amelia for a 1.5 mile walk around our block. I didn't experience any true contractions during this time, but it was nice to get out in the beautiful, sunny weather. We all sat down to watch a movie together around 3pm. I tried a little nipple stimulation to see if it would trigger contractions, and it easily started very hard contractions that I had to really focus on relaxing and breathing my way through. While sitting in the rocking chair, my contractions were 5-10 minutes apart and alternating from 45-80 seconds long. I got up to walk around at 5pm, and the contractions quickly changed to 2.5-3.5 minutes apart and 30-60 seconds long. The low back pain was very intense, so we made the decision to have our doula come over. Our midwife Eloisa asked us to keep her posted, and she would remain ready to come out. My fear was that I was calling people too early and my labor might easily slow or stop again. I realized, however, that it was in my best interest to have them around me sooner rather than later, and they would forgive me if they had to go home and come back another time. We also arranged for Grandma Ann and Aunt Hana to come over to help with Amelia.
When Jen (our doula) arrived, we quickly settled into a routine together. While not terribly long, my contractions were quite intense, and she provided constant low back counter-pressure during the contractions to ease my pain. I continued the low moaning during each contraction that I had been using all afternoon to ease through the difficult contractions. Eloisa, the midwife, arrived at 8:20pm. By this time, Grandma Ann & Hana were transitioning Amelia into a bath and getting ready for bed. My contractions were still hard, but they had spaced out quite a bit. It was so interesting to see the psychological component of labor at this point. Up until this time, the house had been well-lit, more active, and my daughter was a very vocal presence. I was also trying to direct things like getting her dinner and a bath. As soon Grandma and Aunt Hana took her into her room to go to bed, we dimmed the lights, lit some candles, and got the soft music playing. It was like a switch instantly activated and my labor became even stronger and more intense. I realized that my body had been holding back until my daughter was in bed and being taken care of by others. There was no question about it being hard, active labor at this point. Letting others take over helped me to fully enter into my labor, an there was no slowing down from there on out.
Around 9:30pm, we decided to administer the antibiotic dose I needed due to being GBS+. Up to this point, I was still laughing, talking, and interacting well with everyone between my contractions. This lulled me into a false sense of being less advanced in my labor. During the antibiotic administration, I quickly started experiencing shakiness and nausea during the contractions, sure signs of transition. I remained relatively lucid, however, in between the contractions. The one thing I wanted more than anything was to get into the labor tub as soon as possible.
When the antibiotic was finally finished (about 15 minutes) I moved upstairs as quickly as I could. I had one contraction leaning over the edge of the tub as soon as I reached the bedroom, but I then quickly took off my clothes and climbed in. The tub was so amazingly soothing, and I knew that I wouldn't ever want to get out. After one contraction reclined back, I quickly turned over onto my knees, leaning over the edge of the tub. Jen soon brought a towel to cushion the edge of the tub, and I stayed in this position for most of the remainder of my labor. The water didn't take away the labor pain, but it felt so good to be immersed. I had been standing all day since I hated sitting or lying down, so the water helped me to relax more fully. My contractions were incredibly hard and just burned in my lower back. I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin to escape the pain and make it all stop. Many of the contractions were incredibly long, the kind that feel like they are going to ease, but then they just go on and on. Those were mentally exhausting for me. If I had been in the hospital, I would have been sorely tempted by the available medication. As it was, I knew I was too far away from the hospital and too close to the birth to even contemplate this option. Luckily, my birth team was so amazingly supportive. My husband, my doula, my midwife...they were my lifeline. While I moaned as low and loud and long as I could and repeated over and over in my head, "I can do this...I can make it through this contraction...it will ease soon...", they were there every step of the way encouraging me, telling me what a great job I was doing, applying counter-pressure, wrapping my forehead in cold washcloths, etc. This went on for less than an hour, and soon it was time to push.
What was so amazing is that I could really feel our little girl moving down with each contraction. I was fully aware four or five contractions ahead of time that I would be pushing soon, because I could feel the building pressure down low and the changes occurring in my body. Shortly before 11pm, I began to experience small, grunty pushes at the peaks of my contractions. I was encouraged to simply listen to my body and do what felt natural. Nobody did a vaginal exam, nobody directed my pushing, I was simply allowed to turn inward and listen to my own body. It was such a wonderful and empowering experience after my first birth with directed pushing. I was soon pushing during the whole contraction, and again, was aware of my daughter's descent through the birth canal as she came closer to birth. At this point, the pressure was intense, and it didn't really ease between contractions. I kept praying for relief, but none was forthcoming. As my daughter's head began emerging, the stretching, burning sensation was incredible, but I worked really hard to listen to my body and let it gently stretch after each hard push. It was so hard to do, because I really just wanted to get her out as soon as possible. After each hard push, however, I waited and let the burning ease a little before pushing again. Since I didn't tear this time, I know that waiting between pushes was definitely the right decision.
Close to the birth, both my husband and the midwife had their hands at the perineum to feel the baby's progress. Before the birth I had been sure that I wanted to feel our baby coming out, but during the pushing I found that I was afraid to feel because I was scared that I wouldn't feel enough of her head to assure me that progress was happening quickly. I was so ready to be finished. At 11:12pm, I finally pushed our baby out into her father's and the midwife's waiting hands, and she was brought up onto my chest as I reclined back for the first time in hours. I was able to discover her gender myself, and it was simply a glorious feeling to be done!
While we had a good, natural birth experience in the hospital with my older daughter, I can't rave enough about our home birth experience. To be so wrapped up in a cocoon of warmth, love, laughter, encouragement, trust, and understanding was awe-inspiring. I feel so truly blessed to have experienced birth as it should be.
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