The Promised Birthing Story

Ah, Internet, have you missed me? I know it's been forever a while since I posted something. Kind of a bait and switch maneuver, I know - I write and write about my pregnancy than have a baby and completely disappear. Ha ha, suckas! Just kidding. 

So, I had a baby. Let us talk a little bit about how that went.

In preparation for the birth, R and I attended Bradley Method classes, did perinial massage for 8 weeks, practiced positions, etc. etc. etc. for our natural birth. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. There were days filled with escalating contractions that just...stopped. So we waited more. Two weeks past the due date I agreed to be induced.

Here's how that went in a nutshell:

A little strip was inserted up near my cervix around 8pm Sunday night. By 7 am I was declared 'officially' in labor because I was having regular, strong contractions, even though I was only dilated to 2 1/2 cm and about 70% effaced. At that point I agreed to have my water broke*.

*SO gross and my least favorite thing. Even worse than the intravenous penicillin that I had to have because I was Group B Strep positive, and that crap hurts!

By noon my contractions were started to space out. I was dilated to 3 cm. I was still 70% effaced. I agreed to pitocin.

Fast forward through 12 more hours of contractions, roughly 2 min apart, with no pain meds. I was now dilated to 3 cm and was 80% effaced.

The baby had done wonderful. No distress whatsoever. BUT risks and no progress. And no pain meds. That part wasn't horrible until about hour 16 of labor. At that point, my reserves were waning and I was getting a bit discouraged.

So...cesarean.

It turns out that the little guy had turned around and was sunny side up (OP). He wasn't budging. That was why my contractions had stopped so many times in the previous week. My uterus was like, "Dude, this isn't working. I'm gonna take a break and try again later."

Here's how I feel about things:
1) I think the doctors were hung up on the OMG GIANT BABY verdict from the biophysical and weren't looking at other factors. Kinda pissed about that. Side Note: He was above average (7 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long) but not unreasonably so.
2) The relaxation I learned in Bradley Method classes totally worked. I was disappointed that I was hooked up to machines, and that contributed to tiring because it limited my mobility some (though I was on a remote unit and was not confined to bed).
3) The little guy came out 100% awake and ready to eat because no pain meds. Definitely glad of that.
4) My recovery was super duper fast. I was only in the hospital for 36 hours afterwards and I was hiking 2 weeks out. Also, no tears and no incontinence (I've heard some nasty stories from my cohort!).
5) I live in a state that makes VBACs illegal (small government my sweet vagina!). That makes a c-section worse somehow, though I don't know if I want a VBAC.

So, that's that.

I have to go feed my ravenous offspring. I promise not to disappear for so long again...at least in the near future.**

** I have NO time to proof read. So judge gently.