Scott's Birth Story, as told by his mother

Here is the birth story I wrote while still in the hospital recovering:

Little Scott is here!
Born 6 March 2008, 4:14 PM
at 38 weeks, 3 days gestation
8 lbs, 1 oz. 20.5 inches

At my 38 week appointment (Wednesday, March 5), my midwife found me to be 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced (I had no idea I would be that far progressed!). I have been battling gestational hypertension for the last month, and my reading was extremely high that day, so after conferring with the overseeing OB, my midwife highly suggested that I be induced the next morning. This was a huge shock to me, as I was trying to do it completely unmedicated. I started crying right there in the exam room from the sudden rush of trepidation and excitement, but it felt right, so I said yes.

All that night in a rage of nesting I frantically got the last-minute details done, then tried to sleep. I had a horrid backache and the runs and didn't get hardly any rest. I kept telling myself that this wouldn't do, I HAD to get some sleep or I would never make it through labor on the day to come. It wasn't until morning that I realized that it was back labor and that my body was going into labor all on its own! (Just another testament that our bodies know what is best for us, and what we leave alone usually turns out well enough in the end).

Got a call at 6:20 AM on Thursday, March 6 from the L&D nurse saying that they were really busy and might not have a bed for me because they had a lot of walk-ins that night. She said they would call me back at 8 AM to let me know if anything had opened up--I told her I had back labor all night, and I would probably be coming in anyway, even if it wasn't for an induction :) She told me to keep timing the contractions and wait for her call (unless they got really close together, then to come in). I was a bit disappointed to have to stray from the plan (I like things planned out!), but I knew I'd be having this baby soon anyway, so a delay of a few hours didn't bother me. I was calling my mom to tell her not to make the drive from IF yet, when the hospital called me back, told me that they called another nurse in for me, and to come on in at the scheduled time. So at 6:30 AM we were off to have a baby!

After my awful night of back labor, I was hoping that I had progressed enough to continue on my own. I was up to 4 cm and 90% effaced and the baby's head was at -1, but the back labor was too irregular and had slowed down, so on to the pitocin drip it was. I knew this would make it hard for me to stay "natural" (read: unmedicated and with as few interventions as possible), since for one thing, pitocin is a medicine, and for another, pit-induced contractions are so much stronger and closer together than the body naturally does, so I knew I was in for a harder labor than I had at first hoped. I gave myself the mental option that, if I absolutely needed it, I would ask for an epidural or something in my IV to take the edge off.

The contractions were very manageable for the first 4 hours, but I was stuck at 4 cm. They kept upping the pitocin as the day wore on, and at about 11 AM I started to have awful back labor that I thought I could never get through. With every peak of a contraction, I wanted to get the epidural. The baby was also posterior, and that was a scary thought that, if he didn't turn or if he should get stuck, an emergency C-section was looming on the horizon. I tried some different labor positions (standing lunges on a chair, the birth ball) to help him turn the right way and to manage the pain. Brandon and Sharon, my mother-in-law (an L&D nurse) were great at giving me counter pressure to help with the back labor. At this point, my contractions were lasting 1.5 to 2 minutes and were only 30 seconds apart. It was intense, and I didn't think I could make it. Little did I know, through all this doubt and pain, that I was progressing from a 4 to a 7 in just about an hour's time. I also managed to turn the baby, although we wouldn't know that until delivery.

My midwife checked me and found me to be 7 cm, and I allowed her to break my water--wow, was THAT a strange sensation! They took me off the pitocin and I was finally able to go labor in the birth tub like I had always planned. It was HEAVENLY to finally be in the water, and I quickly (as in, about 20 minutes) went from 7 cm 90% to complete. I wanted to push in the birth tub and would have loved a water birth, but the tubs at Madison are too small and therefore water births are not allowed. Bummer.

So, we all go running back to the birthing room with me ready to push. The baby began at a -1 station that morning, and was now at a +3, ready to go. I pushed for 15 minutes and Scott was born! He came out with his arm against his face (which hurt like the dickens!), but amazingly, I only tore a tiny bit and needed no stitches. He was a little blue, but did very well after the first few minutes of life. I did it all with no pain meds and am very proud of myself for sticking to my goal, while allowing needed interventions to happen.

I could not have done it without my Alba training; Brandon's coaching (especially in the tub, when I had to "hoo-hoo-hee" for about 3 big contractions while the midwife checked me to make sure I was complete); my mother-in-law, Sharon, who knew exactly what to say to me while I was pushing to keep me going; my mom, whose calm presence is always such a comfort; and my midwife, Rachel, who always spoke positively and respected my wishes while offering great options and doing what needed to be done, especially when Scott came out not breathing. Thanks to all of those people and to Heavenly Father, we are well and healthy, and I had a great birth experience.