Lila's Birth

I don't know if anyone cares to read this (especially since it is very long), but I am posting it anyway. I am ALWAYS interested in peoples 'birth stories' and so I am putting mine up. So, to start out, Lucas was born 7 days early, they say that the second baby comes sooner than the first did (maybe thats because they also say first babies are usually late) either way, it wasn't the case for us. On Friday, the doctor stripped my membranes, and that caused mild contractions for about 8 hours, then they stopped. I was so upset, 8 hours and then nothing. So I went in for my next appointment on Wednesday, and the doctor stripped my membranes again. At this point I was dilated to a 3, and had been for almost 3 weeks. The doctor talked to me about having her break my water. I wasn't sold on the idea, so she said to take a few hours to think about it. So, I did. Meanwhile I was having some more contractions, but figured it was because of her stripping my membranes, and I didn't think they were 'real' labor. But I decided if I was going to have contractions anyway, they might as well mean something. So, I called and they said "come on in!" So, we quickly packed up everything and headed to the hospital, where Grandma Andreason met us and took Lucas for the night and the following day, after which my mom and sister took him until we were released. Thank so much to all of you for taking him, it was a relief to know he was in good hands!! So...I got to the hospital and they hooked up the monitors, and the doctor came in and checked me and said I had already dilated another centimeter, and said with the contractions I was having, I would have been in the hospital that night anyway. She broke my water at 6:30 (about), and very soon afterward the contractions got hard! I wanted to walk around thinking that would help, so I set off. At this point Matt, was helping transfer Lukes car seat, and my doula, Emilie, wasn't there yet. So I was by my self, and was having to brace myself with every contraction, so I headed back to my room. I was standing leaning on the couch when my water "broke" again. Of course it didn't really break again, but it certainly gushed. I was so embarrassed, it was ALL over the floor and my shoes, and the couch, the nurse had to come help me clean up and even helped me get into the shower (I thought that would help the pain too). I was SO hot, I was weak and sweating profusely. As I was getting in the shower Matt got back, and helped me. But after about 1.5 seconds of being in the shower I was freezing cold and the hot water wasn't helping. So they got me about 5 heated blankets and wrapped me in them like a baby. At this point Emilie was there, thank heavens! Matt was doing a fantastic job, saying all the right things, doing all the right things, and being such a support. But it was SO nice to have two people there, focused on me. As the contractions got harder and Matt could tell I was in serious pain, I could hear him asking Emilie, "what should I do?" And she would give him suggestions, and all worked great! I had Matt rubbing my forehead (sounds odd, but very relaxing) and Emilie doing counter-pressure to help with the pain. I feel like at times I was rude to her though. I would find myself almost yelling, "that doesn't help" "that hurts worse" and things like that. So Emilie, if you are reading this, I am sorry.
So, I think it was about 7:45 when they checked me again, and I was at a 7. I remember at this point asking if it was too late to get an epidural, and the doctor (knowing that I really wanted to go natural) said it isn't too late, but that I was so close. And then Emilie pointed out to me that they were getting everything ready for delivery. I was so focused on the contractions, that I could be mistaken but I believe Emilie also said that she has never seen them get babies stuff ready that early. So that gave me motivation to keep going. And Matt did. I had been wanting to go natural since before I was even pregnant, so he knew how much I wanted it. I found myself saying (quite often too), "I can't to do this anymore" and Matt would say, "yes you can" and I would say "but I don't want to! I want an epidural!" And this is where I would get mad at Matt. He would just ignore it. He never responded to those kind of comments, it was as if I didn't say them at all. I would get really mad. There was one time he responded though and just simply said, "you have been planning this for so long, we are not going to give up now, not when you are so close." So, that gave me more motivation. They checked me again, I think it was only like 20 minutes later, and I was still at a 7, but the doctor stayed in there this time. It was fun to listen to my doctor and my doula talking together about different positions to help with the pain, and different message, counter-pressure and all of that stuff. Now I felt like I needed to push, but I knew I was only a 7 or maybe 8. But I couldn't hold it in. It was a weird sensation not being able to control your body. They kept telling me to wait (again I was so focused that I am not really sure what was happening, but I think there was an issue with my cervix, like it wasn't thinned out all the way. I don't know. All I know is they didn't want me to push, and I couldn't hold it in). They were having me do fast short breaths to hold it in, and it wasn't helping. The doctor said we could hold the pushing, or she could hold the cervix to the side (again, I might be getting this wrong, she might have been talking about something else). She said it would hurt more to hold it to the side, but it would be faster, so I chose to do that, mainly since I couldn't hold the pushing and I wanted to be done. So then I started pushing. Lila's head was coming out, but so was her hand. I guess her hand was by her head, and they came out together. So, this made her shoulders misaligned so it was really hard to get her out. I am not sure who said this, but someone said that I had to push harder and longer than I would have if her hand was away from her face. But still pushing wasn't long, I don't know how long it was, but it seemed like 20 minutes, max. So, they broke my water at 6:30, and Lila was born at 9:05. Not bad huh?? :)

The recovery for this one is MUCH better than Luke's. As far as stitches, bleeding, emotional well-being, and everything else, I am doing great! Of course, I am still sore and obviously recovering from giving birth, but I am not complaining since it is so much better than Lukes. Just to clarify things, I have nothing against Epidurals, I had one with Lucas, and loved it. But, I really struggled with nursing Lucas, and ended up stopping after only 2-3 weeks. That is why I chose to go natural. I wanted the full opportunity to nurse, I wanted my hormones to be the best they could be for nursing. And well, it paid off! I am not a pro at it by all means, but Lila and I are doing it, I have more milk than I did with Lucas, and she is doing great! So, overall, I am extremely happy I did it natural, although it hurt like crazy!! :) Also, I am SO happy I had Emilie there!! She is a friend of mine and I have grown to love her even more after seeing how she loves and cares for me. She helped me so much not only during labor but throughout pregnancy. She was always willing to come over and help me, and talk me through things. I love and appreciate you Emilie! And Matt, what can I say. You were fantastic! I loved your support and willingness to help me through it all. I couldn't have done any of it with out you. I love you!