Women labor in love everyday. It is a beautiful gift from above and the stories shared are absolutely amazing. In this series, mothers all over the world share their stories about their labor experiences and advice for expecting moms.
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This is a guest post by Carli from CC Mommy and Me.
On the day before I gave birth to my second child I had my 37-week check-up. I was 37 weeks and 3 days and my regular doctor was out of town due to a family emergency. So I had a new doctor see me that day. Everything was perfect, only had Braxton hicks and a few false alarms up until then.
He checked my cervix at the end of the appointment and I was a little over fifty percent effaced and three centimeters dilated. Before he left he said his guess would be that I would have my baby within the next week. Que excitement!!!
The next day I woke up around eight o’clock with minor period-like cramping. I brushed it off, not wanting to get my hopes up, due to previous false alarms. I convinced myself it was just because of the cervical exam the day before. The cramps then subsided and I let the thought leave my mind.
Around noon the cramps returned. They started out very small, just barely noticeable, and then after a couple hours, they started to get stronger and harder to ignore. Around three o’clock the contractions started, except they only felt like Braxton hicks.I could still easily breath and talk through them, so I knew not to worry. I continued with my daily list of chores. Later, I began making sure we had everything in our hospital bags…. you know, just in case!
The contractions kept coming, becoming more and more frequent and easier to time. By five o’clock the back labor began. It wasn’t too bad at first, but then they slowly started getting stronger and making it harder for me to talk through. Each time a new contraction came I had to stop what I was doing and really concentrate on my breathing.
At five-thirty my husband got home from work and we called labor and delivery. The nurses asked me the obvious questions like are the contractions getting stronger, are they able to be timed, and are you sure you aren’t just experiencing back discomfort? I knew exactly what back labor was, because I had it with my daughter. Since I had my daughter at 36-weeks and 6 days they decided to have me come in… just in case I was right. My mom, my husband, and I then packed everything up and headed for the hospital.
I live 35 minutes away from the hospital and let me tell you, riding in a car with back labor is NOT fun!! It felt like the longest ride EVER! It also seemed like every slow driver out there decided to take a ride that day. And we just happened to get stuck behind every one of them.
Finally, around seven-thirty, we made it to the hospital and up to labor and delivery. We were then brought back into a room for me to be examined. They proceeded to ask me more questions like when the contractions started, how often they were coming and how long they lasted, and if I was sure it wasn’t false labor.
By then I was getting so annoyed by the questions. I just wanted to scream! The nurse finally checked me and I was ninety percent effaced and five centimeters dilated and my waters were bulging…. Great. I was then asked to change into a gown and was brought back to one of the delivery suites.
Eight o’clock comes around and I’m being set up with an IV and having blood samples taken. Now, remember, I’m having back labor and they’re making me lay back in a bed with contractions that are coming every four to five minutes. They then place the monitors on my stomach and MAKE ME STAY IN BED!!!
If anyone has ever experienced back labor, you already know how horrible it can be. However, when they make you lay in one position it makes it one hundred times worse. The pain went from my lower back all the way down my legs. It was the worst pain I have ever felt!!
At around eight-thirty they checked my cervix again. I was one hundred percent effaced and seven centimeters dilated. They then continued monitoring the baby’s heart rate because with each contraction his heart rate dropped. With that being said, they had me lay on my left side to try and help it. It helped the baby, but it made the back labor worse for me.
For the next half hour, I had my husband going out and asking the nurses if I could get some type of IV meds to help take the edge off. I just needed to relax since I was stuck in bed. For that half an hour they told him they wanted to wait because they ‘weren’t sure if I was even going to deliver tonight.’
Again, at nine o’clock they came in and checked me again. I was almost nine centimeters, so by then, I couldn’t receive any IV meds because I was too close to delivering. Being absolutely frustrated by then, I told the nurse that I wanted to at least labor on the bed on my hands and knees so I wasn’t in so much pain. It helped me rock through the contractions, but still didn’t give me enough relief.
A little after nine o’clock the nurse came in and let me know that the on-call doctor was on his way. She then tried to check my cervix while I was on my hands and knees in the middle of a contraction… uhm, NOPE!!! I made her wait until it was over. Even then she couldn’t get an accurate measurement because my waters were bulging so much.
At that point, the urge to push started to come and go with each contraction. Slowly the urge became stronger and stronger. Trust me when I say, fighting the urge to push is NOT an easy thing! I had to fight that urge for almost fifteen minutes while waiting for the doctor to get there. The struggle between me and my own body brought me to tears. I begged the nurses to have the doctor hurry.
Finally, right at nine-thirty, the doctor casually walked into the room. He put his robe and gloves on and sat down. I instantly turned over onto my back and as I sat down my water broke. The feeling of my water breaking was almost like a water balloon popping, I even heard it pop! As soon as my water broke it was an instant relief. However, since my water bulged so much the entire labor my son was crowning almost instantly.
My body was pushing him out on its own with how forceful the contractions were. By the time I had control of my body again, I pushed once and he was out. Once the doctor delivered the placenta he looked at the umbilical cord and found the reason why his heart rate dropped with each contraction. In the middle of his umbilical cord was a ‘true knot.’ Even though he was born a little over two weeks early he was perfectly healthy and latched like a champ!!
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5 Questions to Help Moms Labor in Love
- Did you receive an epidural or pain medications? I did not receive the epidural or IV meds.
- How did you deal with your contractions? I tried to relax my body as much as possible. If I were able to get out of bed I would have rocked on a birthing ball or had counterpressure to help deal with the back labor.
- What would you have done differently or will do differently next time? One thing I would do differently is breathing techniques. Once the pain became unbearable it was hard for me to focus on my breathing, which made it harder for my body to progress at a faster pace.
- Funniest memory: The funniest memory would have to be the fact that my doctor thought he would be there for a few hours for the delivery rather than fifteen minutes. He was actually able to go back home and finish dinner with his wife.
- Tip(s) for new moms for when they labor in love: Trust the process of labor. Your body knows what to do! Us women were built for childbirth. Also, speak up for yourself if you feel like the nurses aren’t listening. With my first labor, I felt so alone because the nurses kept trying to make decisions for me without letting me think things through first. It’s your body, listen to it. Don’t just do something because it makes it easier for the nurses.
Meet Carli!
Carli is a stay-at-home-mom of two beautiful children. She has a daughter and son, both who are under the age of two!! You can learn more about her and her blog at CC Mommy and Me where she shares her personal knowledge and experiences she’s had starting with pregnancy and everything thereafter! She can answer any questions or concerns that you may have, whether it be about labor and delivery, or even just day-to-day tasks of being a stay-at-home-mom.
Enjoy this Labor in Love story? Check back next Monday where we meet Natalie from Nursing Shoe Heaven and learn more about her experience laboring in love.
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Wow, how brave you are! Glad everything turned out well in the end!