Ryan Cole Labor Story

To be honest, I had fully intended to completely abandon this blog, but I figured that I might as well try to keep it limping along. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually keep up with it again... and maybe not. Anyway - so much to update on, so I'll keep it to the big stuff (or the stuff I remember anyway!) Firstly, this past December - the 28th to be exact - we welcomed a new addition to the family. The following is the labor story... posted mostly for my own benefit and not for any sort of bragging or the like. I'm not shy about sharing the story, so here it is for those who care to know my journey through labor and delivery. Hopefully, it might inspire someone else to try for a drug-free labor, because I don't think there is anyone that is more of a baby in regards to pain than me. SO, if I can do it, certainly anyone can. Ryan Cole was born 12/28/12 at 2:07am after a short(er) labor compared to the other two boys. I think I was only in hard labor for 3ish hours. I don't know if I can attribute that to going into labor completely naturally or because I didn't have/need any drug interventions during labor. I was actually sent in to the hospital to be induced because the amniotic fluid levels were really low (which meant my placenta was starting to die off). I was very disappointed knowing that I wasn't going to get my drug-free labor that I had been envisioning and preparing for. As luck would have it, when I got to the hospital and hooked up to the monitors, I was actually contracting every 2-3 minutes on my own already and didn't know it! I didn't feel a thing and was already 4cm (from almost 2cm at the doctor's office earlier in the day). The midwife from my doctor's office was the one on call, so she was there and figured that she'd break my water and see if that gets my labor kicked into high gear and maybe I could avoid getting pitocin. That was roughly at 8pm and then family started showing up, so my room was full of people (and a doggie, too!). They started trickling out and were gone by 10pm at which time my contractions were getting to be more than just cramps. They were still super manageable, though. So, Josh, my Doula, and I were just sitting there talking. I decided that the rocking chair was just not working anymore, so Josh started to blow up the exercise ball for me to sit on, which ended up being the best thing at that point in labor. The whole L&D floor was busy that night, so they finally got around to bringing in all the papers to fill out and sign at that point... so between contractions, I'm filling out paperwork that is asking me questions I feel I have already answered a bazillion times already. It was probably 10:30-11:00pm and I decided that the ball wasn't comfortable anymore, I need to be a little more supported during contractions (was getting afraid of falling off the ball!) so I moved to the bed to be on my hands and knees. What ended up happening was that the head of the bed was elevated about 45 or so degrees. I ended up kneeling backwards and laying over the top of the bed between contractions and then sitting up on my knees during contractions. This was my position for the remainder of labor (and the poor nurse was having to hold the heart monitor to my stomach because it wouldn't stay with all my moving around.) I soon got to the point where I was starting to cry and saying I wanted to go home and that I was done - in all honesty, that was my way of asking for the epidural without actually saying it. Josh knew what I wanted, but refused to acknowledge it, so he and the doula just kept on ignoring my request and telling me that I was doing great. The doula was wonderful because she kept my mind from going into dispair and reminded me to stay on top of the contractions. As long as I stayed mentally strong, they were manageable - but don't get me wrong, they were still the most painful thing(s) I have ever experienced. I just had to keep my mind "in the game" and not mentally give up. At this point, they called the midwife back to the hospital because they knew that I was getting close. I was confused as to why they were having her come already when I probably had lots of time left to go. Keep in mind that my other labors were over 12 hours long and we were only on (from what I could gather) about maybe 5 hours since my water had been broken. When the midwife came in, they had me turn over on my back (the most excrutiating position ever) so that she could check me - I was 8cm at this point. I can't recall how that made me feel knowing that I still had 2cm to go. I think my mind was focused on getting back into a more comfortable position and just getting through the next contraction. They kept asking if I felt like pushing, and I didn't so they suggested that I "grunt" the baby down during contractions. If it brought the baby down or not, I don't know - but it certainly gave me something to focus on and a "job" to do during contractions. I can't recall when it was decided that it was time to push. I faintly remember being checked and only having the anterior lip left to dilate, so I think the midwife just figured that it will only be a couple contractions from the full 10cm. I don't have a clue how long I was pushing because I could not for the life of me open my eyes but a crack here and there. It was almost like sensory overload or something. I also had trouble letting go of the rails and holding my legs back - I had to have the nurses and Josh hold my legs up for me. The coolest thing about pushing was that without the epidural, I could really feel my body doing the pushing for me. I wasn't pushing correctly until my body did it involuntarily and I could push with that. And honestly, once the pushing started, the contractions weren't painful at all. At the point where it felt to me like my baby's head was crowning, was probably the point where his head was just peeking out... because when he was crowning, I was the classic screaming woman in labor. That was the one and only point where I screamed during the whole process. Something I'm semi-proud of after the fact, but nothing I really strived for during labor/delivery. I just felt that if I screamed, things would get worse because it was like i was letting my body give up and I really needed to stay in control. During crowning, I guess I let myself go because it was so close to the end... and that ring of fire was truly the most aweful experience of it all. It wasn't so much of a "ring" as it was more of a semi-cirle of pain, but still fire-like nonetheless. I was screaming to have them "get it out". Thankfully I had a midwife deliver because Ryan came out as 9 pounds 4.3 ounces and not a tear in sight. In comparison, I had an episiotomy with Tyler (7lbs 4.6oz) and tearing with Levi (7lbs 14oz), so it is truly awesome that I pushed Ryan out with no damage. I was surprised that he was so big... the ultrasound earlier in the day had estimated his weight at 9lbs 6oz, but I didn't believe that to be accurate. Afterall, weights are not very accurate late in pregnancy, and how in the world could this baby be so big when my belly measurements were usually on the smaller side and my other two children were not even close to that size. And I gained something like 10 pounds less with Ryan than I did with Levi and about 20 pounds less than with Tyler. It just didn't make any sense why I would have such a large baby... but I did. To be honest, I never had intentions at first in going drug free... afterall, when there's a way to do it pain-free, why would you go through that? I changed my mind when I watched "More Business of Being Born" on Netflix. I had already watched "Business of Being Born" awhile ago, but this was more in depth on certain topics. One topic in particular was on Ina May Gaskin who is considered THE midwife, and "The Farm". I think they also discussed the role of Doulas and how they support the woman in labor. I wanted to know more, so I looked for a class to take that wasn't associated with any partiular method (like Bradley) and I found one called "Birth Outside the Box". It was something that you could take online where they would email you the class little by little or you could just buy the whole class in a book (which is what I did) I read that book in a matter of a few days and it really solidified my desire to give drug-free an honest try. My desire to do this came from wanting the best start for the baby - I wanted him born alert and free from anesthetics with the hopes that breastfeeding would start off effortlessly. I wanted to have an easy recovery and I didn't want to risk of having the epidural complication I had during labor with Levi (BP bottomed out). Besides, the process of getting the epidural isn't the most pleasant experience and it was stressed to me that I should get it before labor gets too intense to hold still. I got it pretty early on with Tyler and Levi and I remember that it was hard enough holding still for that without a contraction. In the end, I'm so glad/proud that I was able to experience labor and delivery the way God and nature intended. I feel without the Doula, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. I highly recommend using one if you are thinking of a completely drug-free labor. She kept my mind at ease and I had complete trust in her that she was going to take care of me. It was all mental, and I knew that going into it. I had faith that my body could do it and I had faith in her to support me.