Julia O’s Birth Story:
Elizabeth Rebecca Orme was born Saturday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m. I can’t thank you enough for helping me prepare for labor, and here’s why.
At 4:30 a.m. on my due date, I started bleeding lightly and shortly thereafter having contractions 8 minutes apart for an hour. Throughout that day, I bled consistently and had contractions varying from 5 to 45 minutes apart, and they were painful! My husband, meanwhile, was sick and also in a lot of pain. Around 9 p.m., we went to the ER (on the advice of my dad, a former ER Doctor) so my husband could be seen. I labored in the waiting room with my parents for about 4 hours, until my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I used the breathing techniques you taught me and tried to relax my body with each contraction (one great piece of advice I read was “relax your butt,” which helped ease the pain slightly).
Exhausted, I went to labor and delivery with my parents to see if I could get admitted. My husband met me there while I waited in triage. When I was seen, they said I was only 1/2 a centimeter dilated. I was dejected and went home to rest. It was 2 a.m. Of course, I couldn’t rest, and slept only briefly between extremely painful contractions. I took a bath and my husband helped me breath and relax through contractions.
At 8:00 a.m. on the 22nd, I went to my scheduled weekly OB visit. I was terrified I would be on labor like that for a week, which my doctor said was a possibility. In fact, she scheduled me for an induction on July 28 before examining me and discovering that I was 3 cm dilated. She sent us back to L&D, noting I may have to walk around the hospital until they would admit me.
At triage a second time, the doctors discussed whether to admit me at 3 cm, and after some advocacy from a wonderful nurse (my angel) and considering that I’d been bleeding for over 24 hours, they put me in a room. I labored there for a few more hours, ate some snacks, then finally got the epidural I had been wanting since the day before.
After the epidural, I was able to sleep most of the night. My contractions were still irregular, so they gave me pitocin to speed things up. I was stuck at 3 cm for a while. At some point, they stripped my membranes and I progressed. Around 7 or 8 centimeters, the doctor broke my water. Still, I didn’t reach 10 cm until around 4:30 a.m., at which point they stopped the pitocin, and I started pushing. During this time, Elizabeth had a fetal monitor on her head and was doing well. Unfortunately, the contractions stalled and I went 40 minutes with none. They started ramping up the pitocin again, but my contractions didn’t become regular. After about three and a half hours of pushing, a doctor came in to tell me that at four hours, they recommend interventions such as forceps or a c-section. I firmly didn’t want either one and in that moment resolved that I was getting that baby out my way.
I wasn’t fearful – just determined.
During the next hour and a half, I pushed with all my might, longer than they told me to, and in between contractions. I was able to recover quickly between pushes because of what I learned in your class, and I remained very calm and focused. Toward the end, I wasn’t having any contractions but pushed anyway. I never felt the urge to push, even as the epidural wore off. I used the muscles I worked on in your classes, core strength, and sheer will power to finish delivering her as the doctor walked in with forceps.
The moment she emerged, I was filled with elation, relief and pride. I didn’t know what I was made of until that moment. It was the best I’ve ever felt.
Your classes helped give me the physical and mental strength to give birth my way, and I am so happy with how things turned out. I am recovering well and adjusting to my new life.
Healthy Moms for Healthy Babies