Dimming the Lights and Playing Soft Music Helped Megan During Her Hospital Birth

When did you realize you were really in labor?

I’m a middle school Spanish teacher and was proud of the fact that I had perfectly planned my due date to be the first day of summer vacation, May 29th, but my little Lydia had other plans. Monday, April 28th was a teacher work day, which meant that students did not come to school and we were allowed to work on whatever we wanted. I only stayed at work for about 2 hours because I didn’t have that much to do and I wasn’t feeling very well because I had a bad cold. During that time I put together about a week’s worth of sub plans to use in an emergency (and I’m sure glad I did!) The rest of the day I spent cleaning the house and grocery shopping. I started making an enchilada casserole about 7:00 pm. I didn’t realize how complicated the recipe would be! While I was cooking I started to get some cramping around my lower back and abdomen. I continued to cook but it was hard to focus on the difficult recipe when I was getting intermittent pains. When the food was finished I lied on the couch for a while and watched TV. I took a Benadryl hoping that it would help me sleep. I had not been sleeping well the last few nights because I was very congested with my cold. I did fall asleep but it was only for about a half hour. The pains continued the next few hours and I noticed that they were coming every few minutes. They weren’t intensifying and not causing me a great deal of discomfort, so being in labor never really crossed my mind.
About 1:00 am I realized I was not going to be getting much sleep so I wrote sub plans and requested a sub online. About 3:30 I woke Justin up and told him my pains were not going away even though I had tried all the suggestions to relieve false labor contractions such as drinking a lot of water, changing positions, and applying heat. I had also eaten 2 bowls of fruit loops and toast with jam throughout the night. Justin suggested I take a bath, so I did. The water felt nice and I didn’t feel much pain while I was in there. I used the time in the bath to shave my legs (and I’m sure glad I did!) When I got out I still had what I thought were cramps that would come every couple of minutes. In addition, I noticed that I was having slightly bloody discharge. This concerned me. I consulted Justin and we decided it wouldn’t hurt to call my midwife. About 5:00 AM I called and talked to Cece Norton. She said I might have an infection in my cervix and that I should come in and get checked out. I asked if I could wait until office hours so I wouldn’t have to pay to go to the emergency room. She suggested I should not wait. I told Justin we needed to go to the hospital. He asked if he should grab my labor bags (that were only half packed). I said I didn’t think so, but he took them anyway.

What was the most challenging thing about going natural?

We got in the car and I told Justin there was no need to speed. On the way we joked about contractions in the car that we learned about in birthing class (which we had luckily just finished the previous Wednesday). When we arrived he asked if I wanted to be dropped off at the door and I said no. He proceeded to park as far away from the door as possible. When we arrived I told the admitting secretary what was going on and she asked, “Are you in labor?” I said, “I don’t think so, my midwife just wanted me to come get checked out.” I was wheeled into a room where they hooked me up to monitor contractions. The doctor asked me a whole bunch of questions about my health history and then gave me an enormous jug of water. She said that the first thing they were going to have me do was to drink all of it because cramping can be caused by dehydration. They last thing she did was to check my cervix. With her fingers inside me she started laughing. She said “You’re 7 centimeters dilated!”
At this point Justin and I were both shocked as she told us that we were going to have this baby today! I started crying. The doctor asked if I was crying because I was excited or scared. “Both!” I said. She said she was also surprised. She said she could tell I was uncomfortable but she didn’t think I was in labor either. I asked her what phase of labor I was in and she said “transition,” which I had learned was the worst part. I still didn’t feel that bad. The pain in the beginning while I was cooking was the same in the hospital.
d to go home.

What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?

We got to the labor and delivery room and I was given penicillin since they were going to do the Strep B test at my next appointment, they wanted to be better safe than sorry. Cece, the midwife arrived shortly. Bridget, another midwife came too. Cece’s shift was over but she ended up staying for the entire delivery, just because she wanted to. (So in total, the people attending my labor were Cece, Bridget, a nurse, and Justin) Next I got in the tub for a while. We dimmed the lights and played soft music. It was very relaxing and I hardly felt any pain. From the tub, I called my school and gave them detailed instructions on what to do with my classes. I then called my family and said, “Hey, guess what?! I’m having a baby!” They told me that the contractions in the transition phase (which I was in currently) were as bad as they were going to get. I was asked if I was sure I didn’t want any medication and I said no. I thought that if this was as bad as it was going to get it would be a piece of cake! (Boy was I wrong!) By the time I started pruning up I got out of the tub and we walked the hospital halls for a little while. I was still in a good mood and was joking around with Justin. We stopped by the snack station and I grabbed some graham crackers. I went back to my room and asked if I could eat them. Cece said “Yes, if you don’t mind seeing them again later.” I told her that I hadn’t thrown up in 14 years and was not going to now, and I ate my graham crackers.

What surprised you about your birth?

Although I was approaching 10 cm, my water hadn’t broken yet so Cece broke it with a hook. That water coming out was one of the weirdest sensations I ever had. It made me laugh! Shortly after that the contractions actually started to bother me and it was time to push. I pushed in various positions- on a birth ball, squatting, holding a bar on the bed, sitting on the toilet, and on my knees in the bed.

Mentally prepare! Envision yourself having a smooth, easy birth.

What pain relief strategies worked best?

At this point the pain was awful and I almost regretted not getting any medication. For every contraction they wanted me to hold my breath and push for 10 seconds, 3 times in a row. Pushing was really hard for me. I kept wanting to push through my stomach and vaginal muscles (the ones I had been focusing on with my kegel exercises), but every time I did that the midwives told me I was pushing wrong and had to push through my butt like I was having a bowel movement. I also had a hard time holding my breath and pushing for the entire 10 seconds. I would usually only make it to about 7 or wouldn’t be able to do the 3rd push. I never did feel that “urge to push” that most women talk about. I NEVER wanted to push, and in fact, may have pretended not to be having a contraction once or twice so the midwives wouldn’t make me push.

What position did you end up delivering in?

The last position I was in was lying half propped up holding my knees open. I didn’t like holding my knees though and the midwife kept having to remind me to do it. I was thinking, “I’m paying you, why don’t YOU hold my legs?! I’ve got enough work to do pushing this baby out!” I still had a little time between each contraction and used those blissful moments to rest and regroup. I would even call those few seconds of rest euphoric. I would close my eyes and feel like I had left my body, and then another contraction would jolt me back to Earth. The head coming out was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. They didn’t want me to scream, but rather to focus that energy into pushing. I couldn’t help but scream once or twice though.

How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?

After an hour and a half of pushing, Lydia finally arrived. She was placed on my chest but from the position I was in I could only see her face before she was rushed off. Justin went with Lydia. He told me later that the baby team who had come in at the end of the delivery were surprised to find out that I didn’t have any medication. They thought I had an epidural. Back in the delivery room I was given some Pitocin to help deliver the placenta. Afterwards, I had a surface tear in my labia that needed to be stitched up. I was given some numbing shots in the area but I still was able to feel the stitches. Also during this time I was shaking violently because, I was told, of the change in hormones. I was worried about getting stitches while shaking so much but they seemed to go fine. The last painful moment was when Cece had to push on my stomach/abdomen for some reason involving blood clots.
After that I was wheeled up to a recovery room. A little bit later we were able to go down to the NICU to see Lydia. She was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and was in an incubator. I was very sad I wasn’t able to hold her. We were only able to touch her through the holes in the incubator. Each day she continued to make progress and received less and less monitoring. Two things that were concerning were that she had a high sodium level and low potassium level, and that her heart spiked up a few times. These things both resolved themselves.
The last 2 days we were moved to a more private room that was bigger and had its own bathroom and couch/bed. The last goal was for Lydia to eat all her own meals (rather than having breast milk pumped into her stomach) and gain weight. After 8 days of being in the hospital, Lydia passed all her tests and we were finally allowed to go home.

What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?

Mentally prepare! Envision yourself having a smooth, easy birth.