Lily's Birth Story

From Mama's perspective:
Tuesday September 20th I went in to have my blood pressure monitored and they told me I was having pretty regular contractions, I couldn't feel them though. That evening I started to feel some back pain and was hoping it was getting close.

Wednesday September 21st I started to feel some contractions but they were all in my back, yay for back labor! Barry and I went to bed around 10 but I couldn't sleep. Lying down just hurt too much. I got up around 1am and sat on the birth ball leaning over the couch. I felt so much better. Around 2am Barry came in the living room looking for me. He woke up and I wasn't there and said he was scared because I wasn't there. For about an hour Barry laid on the couch and I sat on the birth ball. The pressure in my back started to get worse and Barry started pushing on my back. It felt so good and gave me some relief. At this point my contractions were a little less than ten minutes apart lasting for about 45 seconds. We decided to go for a walk. We walked around for about an hour or so. At this point my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. We decided to call my mom and sister and let them know what was going on so they would be able to make it in time. We walked for a little while longer and I continued on the birth ball. The contractions were completely bearable, although all in my back. At this point it was about 830am and my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting for about a minute. My midwife had told me to come in whenever I thought they were close enough, we live about a half hour away so we didn't want to wait too long. I was so scared we would go in and they would tell me that this was false labor and to go home.

Thursday September 22nd When we got to the family birth place they put us in a triage room to monitor the contractions. Laying in bed hurt pretty badly but with the help of my amazing husband pushing on my back, I got through it. The contractions started getting stronger and POP I felt my water break. It felt like I had diarrhea and the warm chunkiness was all over me and the bed. It was clear (YAY!). At this point the contractions got harder. I was 5 cm dilated. Now it was about 1130am and I walked to room 8, my labor, birth and recovery room. I got in the shower and felt so much better. I asked for a birth ball and the amazing nurse got me one. When she first put it in front of me I lay against in as I felt a contraction coming on. She said "Wait! It could be dirty, let me get a towel!!" I couldn't have cared less and continued to lay against it. I stood with one leg on the ground, one leg on the bench and laid over the birth ball with the hot water rushing over me. Barry continued to press against my back on each contraction. He had to push so hard it was hurting his wrist. I was in the shower for about four hours when  the nurse came in and wanted to monitor Lily,  in the bed. She helped me into the bed and it hurt so badly. I couldn't stand being in there. At this point I was almost crying because there was no relief lying down. I was considering getting a narcotic to take the edge off but decided against it. My midwife came in and said I was at about a 9.5. Once I got back on the ball I felt better instantly. It was still really painful but I could bare it. I was hot and cold all at the same time, I had no idea what was going on and my legs were shaking uncontrollably. My midwife then asked if I was ready to push. I said yes because I wanted to get it over with. I wasn't pushing though. She helped me get into the squatting position on the bed and I tried to push but was resisting against it because of the pain. The nurse kept saying, she doesn't want to push and I just kept saying I AM PUSHING. I couldn't understand why they wouldn't believe me. Finally I lay on my side with the bed aimed down to work with gravity. I was so tired I couldn't hold myself up any more. I pushed for about an hour and a half. My midwife would sticking her fingers inside telling me to push them out, I think that hurt worse than anything. I just kept saying I can't do it, please help me and just get it out of me. When I was saying please help me all I was thinking was "cut me open right here, right now just get it out". I didn't think I could handle it. I honestly didn't see an end in sight. My midwife kept saying she could see the head and to look and I just kept saying no because I thought she was lying. Finally I opened my eyes and saw her head half out of me. I decided right then that this was it, I had to get her out NOW. So I mustered up all the strength I could and pushed and moaned and pushed. I only felt the real urge to push for about three contractions. When her head popped out I was so happy. The cord was around her neck and she was face up. My midwife slipped the cord over her face and then came the next contraction. In one push I got the rest of her body out and there was instant relief. When they put her on my chest I didn't know what was going on. I didn't realize I would get a baby out of all the pain! We just stared at each other. It felt like I had just been given the gift of life. Nothing could ruin this moment. That moment, when you meet your baby for the frst time, it is magic. My mom got to cut the cord and my mom, sister, his mom and sister were in the room with us. I am so glad they could share it with us. The placenta just plopped out afterwards, I thought I would have to push it out but I didn't. I got a second degree tear because she was face up and I didn't do little pushes like I was supposed to (I just wanted her out and big pushes seemed like the only way to get relief). Overall I only felt about two contractions normally, the rest were all in my back.
Lily Christina was born on September 22, 2011 at 5:37pm.
She weighed 7 lbs 4 ozs and was 19.5 inches long.
She got a 9/9 on her apgars and passed all of her tests, hearing, metabolic screening, etc.

From Daddy's perspective:
I wake up at 230, my wife is not in my bed. I figure she is in the bathroom, I walk into the bathroom, No Chloe. I go downstairs to the basement and she isn't there either, in my head I'm like, could she be outside at 230am? I check the front door and its locked so then I went into the living room and there she was, on the birth ball with a brown blanket over her whole body blending in perfectly with the leather couch color. At this point she is getting back pain every 10 minutes, so this goes on for an hour or two. We finally got dressed in case we needed to go to the hospital soon, and decided to take a walk outside for an hour. The contractions were now 4-7 minutes apart. Apparently when I apply pressure with my hand on her lower back, it alleviates the pain up to 50%. We finally end up going to the hospital around 10 AM. The contractions are around 3 minutes apart, and my wrists are beginning to feel like jello from pushing on her back so hard. Finally, her water breaks and there is nasty goo everywhere.
At this point, she is around 5cm, so they give us a REAL room, not a triage #2. She then goes into a hot shower and it makes the contractions more bearable, all the while I'm still pushing on her back every 3 minutes very hard. After a few hours in the shower, the Midwife comes in and we finally get to start pushing. At this point, she is in extreme pain from not having any medications, but she wanted it that way so she had no choice now. She literally fell asleep in between contractions at the end while pushing. It was really funny, and yet horrible. She would wake up and begin pushing with all her might, all the while saying, I can't do this, somebody please help me.
finally we start seeing the head on the pushes. After about an hour and a half of sleeping pushing every 5 minutes. The baby finally came out!! She was beautiful. The placenta looked so cool, it was like an alien embryo, bright silver with oozing slime all over it!.
THE END!

Warning: The Following pictures are a little rough (it was a long couple of days).

This was the most amazing experience of my life. Through all the pain, all the focus and exhaustion I would do it again in a heart beat. With the next baby, we have decided to do a home birth. Nothing is more magical than the passion of birth, nothing feels better than holding and nursing your little one for the first time. This birth was everything I could have asked for. Pin It Now!