July 30, 2010
10:41 PM
7 lbs. 10 oz.
19.5 inches
(Hospital picture taken on August 1st)
*Before continuing, know that this is a birth story so there will be some mentioning of dialation and things of the like.*
I woke up on the morning of July 30th around 9 or 10 with some mild constant pressure but I had been having some mild contractions/cramps/pressure in the 2-3 weeks prior to that so I really didn't think much about it. I headed to Keller to hang out with Angela and the girls for a bit before my afternoon 40-week appointment scheduled at 3:20. The pressure gradually increased throughout the next couple of hours but nothing that significant. On the way home from Keller, I noticed a couple of times in the car that the pressure became more intense for about 30 seconds then subsided. It really didn't feel different than the other contractions that I had been having the weeks before that. Over the next couple of hours, though, I had several more of those with a little bit of increasing pressure/pain. I figured they'd be able to tell me at my appointment what my progress was.
At my appointment, I told the midwife what I had been feeling that day and she checked me. I was 2 1/2 - 3 cms dialated (which I had been at 37 weeks) and 90% effaced. She then hooked me up to do a routine non-stress test where they watch the baby's heart rate and my contractions. During the next 20 minutes they told me I had 1 mild contraction and they weren't able to see what they were trying to see so I'd have to drink some juice and do another 20 minute test. Again, I had 1 or 2 mild contractions but they still weren't able to see what they were looking for so they sent me to triage at the hospital where again I had another test. During this test things started changing. While I was lying on the table, about 4 times I felt that constant pressure get more intense like I had been feeling but it was lasting a little longer and was a little more uncomfortable, actually getting to the point where I felt a little bit of pain. However, when the midwife came in to check the test, (everything looked good with her heartrate) I told her what I was feeling and she said it looked like I had a few insignificant contractions that weren't anything to write home about. When we left the hospital it was a little after 6.
In the car ride home I had several more of these contractions. We got home around 7 and I went to our bedroom so I could get on the bed on all fours and stick my butt straight up into the air to hopefully give me some relief from the intense pressure. I'm sure I looked ridiculous but it helped some so I didn't care! I heard Brandon coming down the hallway and I told him not to make fun of me. Now, at this point, I still had no idea I was in real labor. I just thought I was feeling like that because I was 40 weeks pregnant and just getting really uncomfortable. I also just figured if I was the nurses and midwives would've been able to tell me that at my appointment. Over the next hour and a half it kept getting worse. Whenever I would feel the pressure get more intense I would also touch my stomach to see how hard it was. My stomach didn't actually feel that hard and because of my appointment, I kept thinking, "if this isn't real labor and these aren't contractions I'm feeling, there's no way I can do natural labor!" I know I told Brandon at least 2 or 3 times my whole birth plan may have to be thrown out the window; I may need drugs! Around that time Brandon started timing. I told him when the pressure increased and when it lessened. He did that a few times and told me it was happening every 2-3 minutes and lasting for over a minute. WOW! He at that point said, "How the heck are these not contractions?!" So, I called my midwife and told her exactly what was going on. I told her I was feeling a lot of pressure and every 2-3 minutes it was getting really intense and lasting for a minute. However, my stomach wasn't getting hard. She then told me I was probably in early labor and just to try different positions and try getting in the tub and relaxing ( I had already tried this and nothing was really that helpful). I think it was somewhere between 8:30 and 9 at this point. About 10-15 minutes later I decided to go ahead and call my doula, Tamara, and get her opinion. I told her what I was feeling and while on the phone with her I had 2 more of the "pains" and I couldn't talk through them and was really breathing hard. Her response was "I know I'm not a doctor but it sounds like you're having real contractions. You need to go to the hospital and I'll meet you there!" So, about 10 minutes later we were in the car headed to Baylor All-Saints in downtown Fort Worth.
In the car I was miserable. I was hardly getting any sort of relief or break from the pain and I couldn't move around like I could at home to figure out what relieved it somewhat. All I could do was moan/scream/grunt through the pain. After what seemed like forever, we got to the hospital at 9:55 and Tamara was there waiting for us at the front desk. I actually looked at her and said, "There's no way I can do this naturally." At the time the reason I kept saying that is because I thought I was in early labor. She then said, "Ok, we're going to try to do this without drugs. Let's just get in there and see what your progess is." About that time I started having another contraction and all I could do was pretty much collapse into Brandon. They got me a wheelchair and wheeled me back to triage. As soon as I got back there, I had another one. Then they wheeled me into a room to put a gown on and get checked and I had another one! At that point I just fell down to the floor on all fours because I really didn't know what else to do to help with the pain. Then the nurse told me to get on the bed so as to not have the baby on the floor and so she could check my progress. It was then that I was told I was having a baby and that I was fully dialated! I was shocked and just looked at Brandon in complete disbelief.
Then, about 3-4 nurses started bustling about around me to get me wheeled into labor and delivery. In that moment, I started getting an intense urge to push and all I kept saying was "I need to push, I need to push!" The nurse looked at me and told me that I couldn't and to just breathe through it because the midwife wasn't there yet. They got me wheeled into the room and just a few minutes later the midwife arrived. I immediately looked at her and told her I needed to push and she told me to go ahead. So, over about the next 40 minutes I did just that...until Amoriyah arrived at 10:41!! As soon as she was born immediate relief just swept over me. The pain was gone and my emotions took over; she was beautful and healthy! We immediately started texting friends and family to let them know she was here :)
Everything happened completely different from how I thought it would go but looking back on it it couldn't have been better. I'm so glad that I decided to go without drugs and was able to (possibly because I got there so late, not necessarily because of me!).
