Hear ye! Hear Ye! Now announcing the arrival of the long-awaited Joash Levi Beauchamp.
Even though his mother was beginning to think he'd never arrive he made his grand appearance. Here is the story in it's entirety:
So Thursday (maybe wednesday) of the week before last I started having contractions. They were pretty strong, lasting about 30 seconds (not long in the grand scheme of things) and they were about 10 minutes apart. They stopped after 4 hours. I was a little disappointed to say the least. The next day I had contractions that started at 11pm and they were also pretty strong. They started out lasing about 30 seconds and were about 8 minutes apart. They eventually got to be about 45 seconds and 5 minutes apart. They lasted for about 8 hours and then stopped. I was REALLY upset this time, we had even had David's dad come over at like 3 am because we thought I'd be going to the hospital to deliver the baby. Throughout the weekend I had contractions about every 15-20 minutes, all day. Fourth of july, I was having some contractions, about 10 minutes apart, and I slipped on some mud while chasing Solomon. I didn't fall, but I did overstretch something in the front of my belly/hip area and it was really painful. Joash meanwhile wasn't moving nearly as much as he had been and I got worried. So Sunday morning we called the doctor and he sent us to be monitored. They hooked me up to a Non Stress Test and Joash looked fine. But the dr was concerned and wanted to induce with cervidil and Pitocin. We decided to wait...(at this point I was 1cm dilated and 0% effaced, which is what I had been at my weekly check up the monday before) after all I had a check up the next day and if things didn't look right we could induce at that point. So we went to walmart and walked around for a while, then we bought pineapple and I ate about a pound of the stuff and then we enjoyed an evening with Solomon in bed early. We go to the dr and he tells me that I'm 2 cm dilated and 30% effaced. YEAH!!! we don't need cervidil, this is good, we don't like cervidil. Apparently pineapple and grown up time works just as good as cervidil. Dr decides to do an ultrasound just to check on my amniotic fluid and the baby...and he says that the amniotic fluid looks low...he usually induces when it gets below a 6 (a 6 what? is the question I'm asking in my head) and mine was at a 5.8....We decided to wait and schedule an induction for Thursday if I hadn't gone into labor on my own by then. The risk of Joash compressing his umbilical cord due to low amniotic fluid was about 1 in 200 so, we were concerned, but willing to give it a little time. Anyway, He also scheduled us for another NST on Tuesday morning, just to make sure that the baby was doing ok. Needless to say, neither was necessary. Tuesday at about 3 am I woke up with contractions that were REALLY strong. We waited a few hours, and then called the dr, when my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, called David's dad to stay with the baby and waited. Contractions remained regular, we went to the hospital and they remained regular for several hours. And then...they stopped!!! AGAIN!!! I was not a little frustrated and in tears and emotionally drained, especially since we were facing the prospect of induction. So we decided to try some methods that we'd researched that seemed to have worked in getting things started. We walked, then we bounced on a birthing ball, then we tried something else, and the something else (you dirty minds, not THAT! well not exactly THAT, just close...anyway) it seemed to do the trick and contractions picked back up. The nice part about the pause in contractions was that it gave me a chance to sleep and the dr agreed to let me eat...By now it was after 10 am and I was tired and hungry and shaky. So contractions continued throughout the day and on into the night. Slowing down once or twice more and then starting back up. Finally at about midnight the Dr was becoming concerned. I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced, but had been stuck there for a while. Joash's heart rate was spiking to 170's -180's and his base line heart rate had raised from 130-140 to 150-160. Not necessarilay a good sign. He encouraged us to let him break my water and start me on pitocin. So we agreed to let him break my water. He watched for a few minutes to see what would happen and then decided not to give me pitocin (YEAH!). about an hour later I was at 10cm, 100% effaced and ready to push! So we started, and at 2:21AM Joash made his arrival. They laid him on my chest after cutting the cord and I got to hold him and snuggle before they did any exams. By the way, the child moved more during labor than he did at any other point during my pregnancy...and came out moving, awake and very alert. The Dr even declined to give me the standard dose of pitocin to encourage birthing the placenta and helping the uterus to clamp down
...said I didn't need it. I was very excited about that. Then Joash nursed for the first time, like a champ, at 35 minutes old.Now, let me just say that having natural childbirth was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life...and probably close to the most painful. I'm not going to try to be some superwoman and tell you that it didn't hurt. It did, at times it felt like someone was grabbing at my pelvis and ripping it in half. But, even after being in labor for so long and even after only sleeping for two hours right after Joe was born, I felt GREAT Wednesday. Tired, but great. The Dr told me that he was proud of me and that I had done a marvelous job..he told my mom that he was amazed that I'd had the strength to push Joash out without any help...my mom's response was,"you have no idea how determined this girl can be!" I say Darned tootin'! Anyway, Dr came in to see me late Wednesday afternoon and told me again that I'd done a great job and that it was a very neat experience doing a natural childbirth. And then told me that if I wanted to I could go home the next day. HOORAY!!! So Joash and I spent the night in the hospital and went home thursday evening, a full 24 hours earlier than usual. So, all in all it was a great experience, I feel much more energized than I did after Solomon's birth, and I feel like I'm recovering faster. I think I like this no drugs thing...maybe we'll try a water birth next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment