Yoga Ball, Shower, Heat Pack and Doula Techniques Helped Elyse During Her Hospital Birth

When did you realize you were really in labor?

I lost my mucus plug around 7pm on Friday night. I was so excited to see some actual physical signs of progress. That evening I didn't sleep much at all due to frequent contractions. They were still just uncomfortable not painful so I tried to rest but was pretty excited. Saturday I called midwife to report early signs of labor and became irritated at her response. She basically said I sounded scared and that my fear caused my previous providers to be scared and complete the CS. I told her I wasn't scared, just trying to follow directions especially since we live further out from this hospital. My regular contractions stopped after that conversation and went into an inconsistent pattern. I went to brunch and pedis with girlfriends. It was nice but I was tired and wanted to go home and sleep after brunch. I couldn't nap when I got home. My toddler woke up and we played for a while and went for a long walk. We got her down for bed and I wasn't hungry for dinner. I called MW back after she left message to check in and she said to just eat soup and try to sleep. Contractions became very strong sat night but still not a great consistent pattern. Sometimes every 7 mins, 5 mins or 10 mins. I slept horribly. On Sunday morning my mom took My older daughter to her house so we could labor at home.
We did so all morning then went into hospital Sunday late afternoon.

What was the most challenging thing about going natural?

Well it didn't work out the way I had planned so natural wasn't an option after...

I was checked by student intern and was told I was 5 centimeters and pretty well effaced. I was so excited. It Felt like all of my hard work paid off. Our Doula came to meet us and we kept laboring at hospital. I asked for the tub to help me relax and they needed to check me again first. The new MW on shift said previous student mw was wrong and I was not even a 1 yet. I was so emotionally defeated and incredibly tired. I hadn't slept since Friday and eaten a meal since Saturday at lunch.
The MW recommended a medical sleep intervention and gave me morphine to help me sleep. It made me very tired but I still had to wrestle through each contraction complexly awake. It was horrible sleep. I was checked again the morning and still unchanged. Barely 1. So overwhelmingly frustrating. We went home to labor and rest at home. It was horrible. I wasn't able to empty my bladder and was only getting small amounts of urine out at a time. I was in a lot of pain. I saw an acupuncturist and the appt was painful because I was so uncomfortable. I couldn't bare to sit or lay still. I went home and still couldn't eat much at all. I had half a sandwich. It was the most I'd eaten.

I was trying to pee after each contraction but getting up and down caused more contractions.
The MW prescribed ambien to help me sleep at home that night and planned for me to come into office for check up next day. I took Ambien and still woke with every contraction (7 mins) and when I woke up 3 hours later I was completely disoriented. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I was having active delusions about non reality based things. I stayed like that for a few hours and continued to try to labor so confused. My husband tried to me through what was going on but I was a mess. I called the doula and she came over to help talk me through things and provide some pain relief techniques. The plan was to keep waiting and go in for appointment next day. I took a warm shower around 4 am to try and help and couldn't make it through. I told my husband we needed to go back to hospital to get relief. I was too exhausted and my bladder was on fire. I got there and was just pathetic so they took pity on me and admitted me for some relief. I was about 2 centimeters then and a little rejuvenated that I made a tiny bit of progress. I got an epidural and catheter. The catheter was amazing and helped me to give relief as well as well as the epidural. I slept for an hour and half. It was glorious.
I labored and slept and and then started pitocin and peanut ball. It was going well initially and I made some slow progress. I got up to a 5 with lots of manual manipulation from the MW checks. The epidural stopped working on my right side and I got a few extra doses which were not effective.
The baby stopped responded well to the contractions. He was having decels and was not active or responsive to all of the attempts to rouse him. I was being flipped every 5 minutes so couldn't get any rest. Plus I was anxious about his dipping heart rate which didn't help me to rest.
They broke my water with hopes of getting baby to come down off my pelvis bone. There was meconium in the water. After water broke he continued to have so many Dips that MW recommended c section. My initial reaction was so upset. But also relieved that I would be getting out of this horrible labor and exhaustion. Part of me wanted to keep going but another huge part of me knew that I had done everything I could to get this VBAC. Chiropractor, doula, the right providers, lots of research, positive thinking, processing previous birth trauma, birth art, etc. I did it all. I went into labor naturally and it just wasn't working. I was too tired and so was the baby.
The MW did a great job of helping me get through the csection and though I did have the shakes through it was a better experience. I ended up needing a spinal since the epidurals weren't working.
I got skin to skin after a few mins of checking baby and they talked me through everything. They even lifted him over the drape so I could see and briefly touch him. And he even latched in the OR. He was so tired and slept for 10 hours without eating the first night. I felt like my initial recovery was much quicker though once I got home, dealing with a toddler made things a lot more complicated. He had a lot of trouble with his latch but became better at breastfeeding after about 2 weeks. I am having a little more trouble bonding with him than with my daughter. I think between my sadness over the failed vbac, exhaustion and breastfeeding issues- it was harder. This pregnancy was also really hard the entire time. I was sick until 37 weeks and really felt crappy most of that time. Very different than with my daughter.
I'm so thankful we are both healthy and love how much my daughter loves him. I can't wait to get past my recovery period and feel strong again. I am looking forward to seeing what life is like once things settle down.

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

Going for a natural vbac I feel like I tried everything.
Chiropractic care, diet, exercise, education, support group, provider who was on board, doula, etc. It didn't end up working.

What surprised you about your birth?

That after all of my effort, I still had a c section. I'm sad but so glad it wasn't as traumatic as the first and glad I know I really tried everything.

I'm so thankful we are both healthy and love how much my daughter loves him. I can't wait to get past my recovery period and feel strong again. I am looking forward to seeing what life is like once things settle down.

What pain relief strategies worked best?

Yoga ball , shower heat pack and doula techniques.

What position did you end up delivering in?

CS

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

So good.