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.
This guest post is by Kim from This Mama Needs Chocolate.
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The Magical Medicine
With both pregnancies I chose to work up until the end (gotta save that vacation time, and if I were home I would go stir crazy). It was the day before my due date. I had a meeting that morning and planned to work the rest of the day, but my boss sent me home. I stopped by the office on my way home to drop some items off JUST in case. My son had karate class at 5pm that night. We went per usual. My husband decided to go fishing on his way home from work.
As I sat and waited for class to end I started feeling some pressure or discomfort. It had been 4 years since my son was born and I kept second guessing myself that I wouldn’t know I was having contractions. After class we drove home. I was prepping dinner as my son ate. At that point I started to feel contractions that weren’t just Braxton Hicks. They had short pains and tightness along with them. So, I called my husband, telling him “I think this is it you better get home!”
I started to track the contraction times and length on my phone. I kept prepping dinner, it kept me busy. Labor this time around required extra planning since we have my son to worry about. My husband called my MIL to come watch my son. As the contractions became more frequent and lasted longer I called the doctor and my husband again, rushing him to get home and asked where my MIL was. It was coming on quicker than my son, but I knew we had some time. My bag was set to just grab and go.
As we drove to my hospital (15-20 minutes away) the contractions became even more frequent and stronger. Go figure…what seemed like immense pain to me turned out to almost not quite be enough to admit me (Ugh). This was because I was not dilated enough for admission. Luckily the other symptoms I had along with some walking helped to speed up the process. Thankfully I was admitted. Going into this pregnancy I knew I wanted an epidural again. I also knew it required wait time between the blood work and bag of fluids before that magical medicine came.
Nonetheless, I used my Nature Sounds app to help with relaxation. I gave myself a countdown until the epidural was coming, a replacement thought when the pain was too bad, knowing this was the last time I ever had to do this ever again (we do not plan on having more children). During the process of the epidural BAM I felt a gush of water. I didn’t pee right? Okay that must be my water breaking. I never experienced my water breaking before and I am glad I was in the hospital (not at work or the store).
The process sped up very quickly from there. It was just before midnight. I could feel the pressure despite the epidural. We decided since we had some more time, we’d wait to allow the epidural to do its work. Before long there was no more waiting and I felt the urge to push. The epidural did its job with reducing the pain. However, I did still feel the pressure. I pushed 3 times and watched as my beautiful baby entered this world at 12:22 AM. This delivery was quicker than the first. I held my breath as I waited to confirm she took her first breath into this world and then I heard her cry.
5 Questions to Help Moms Labor in Love
- Did you receive an epidural or pain medications? Yes I received an epidural for both my deliveries.
- How did you deal with your contractions? I used deep breathing. My nature sounds app was also relaxing and helped keep me focused on it and more relaxed. With my last delivery I had a “go to” replacement thought such as “only 40 minutes until the epidural” or “this is the last time I have to do this ever again”.
- What would you have done differently or will do differently next time? I would not have done anything differently.
- Funniest memory: My water broke while getting the epidural. The doctor said she had never had that happen before. I now know what it feels like to have my water break, my water didn’t break with my first child.
- Tip(s) for new moms for when they labor in love: You don’t need everything you think in your hospital bag. Snag all the items in the hospital room, hey you paid for them. And be prepared that you might have a plan but it doesn’t always go as planned.
Kim writes at This Mama Needs Chocolate.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my birth story
Great tips