Birth Story

I stayed home with contractions for as long as possible (almost 24 hours) and they were about 8 minutes apart most of that time. I went into the hospital Saturday night and they had me go walking for a couple hours. I went out and DH and I walked 5km and then did stairs for the rest of the time.  The nurses were really surprised because it turns out they meant just kind of wander the halls for a bit. So by midnight we decided to go to sleep at the hospital (we weren't admitted but they gave us the option since it is such a small hospital.) They were convinced it was false labor and I was pretty upset that I was in so much pain for nothing.

The next morning at 7am they gave me a paper with info on false labor and were telling me all the stuff about when to come back and I got very discouraged and started crying saying "then why does it hurt so bad??" I guess the nurse felt bad and decided to check one last time and when she did, my cervix was at 4. They said they would admit me but it looked like it was going very very slowly.

I was told I would have to walk around again so I got into the shower and relaxed for half hour before we would start that.  They came to check me and I was at 6.  I asked about pain med options, I planned on going natural but it seemed really painful so I was starting to get interested in the epidural.  The doctor broke my water and I talked to my mom and Tommy and told them to tell the doctor to come back and just give me the epidural. 

The doctor came right in and checked me first and to our complete surprise I was 9cm (this was before lunch). So they told me that I would not be getting drugs. I was a bit worried but it ended up working out like I had originally thought anyway so I just concentrated on the contractions. I stayed at 10cm for a long time until finally it was time to push.  

Burke got stuck on my pelvic bone so good thing I didn't get an epidural because I had to push on the commode as well as on my hands and knees to dislodge him. Eventually I was able to get close enough to use the vacuum.  The doctor used it 7 times and it was intensely painful with no medication. After 3 hours of pushing, Burke was born at 2:53pm.  When that morning nurse that was going to let me go home came back that evening she couldn't believe it went so fast after she left.

 I had 2 tears and an episiotomy that took 1.5 hours to fix up so I am having a very very rough recovery. That has been by far the hardest part of becoming a new mom... the pain! I am very proud of myself though and my husband is pretty amazed at the pain tolerance as well as usually I am a big baby!