This has been a very emotionally difficult pregnancy for me and so I am thrilled to have my sweet little boy here and starting to feel like myself again as I am recovering from my delivery. Marshal Lloyd Robison was born on February 26th, 2015 at 3:46 pm. It was also his due date. My desire for this delivery was to be able to go into labor on my own. Because my belly was getting very big and uncomfortable we decided to schedule an induction on the 26th. It happened to be the day that worked into my midwife's and my schedules the best.
On the evening of Tuesday, February 17 I started having some contractions and wondered if it was the start of my labor. In my previous pregnancies I had never had my body start contracting on it's own so it got me excited. I went to bed that night and when I woke up in the morning they were gone. It wasn't until a week later on Monday that I started having periodic contractions throughout that day. I had been trying to walk at least 30 minutes a day at this point in order to get things moving. Which I was able to do that day and then that night I took a bath and went to bed. I started contracting that evening and it seemed my body had been contracting though the night because the next morning I woke up at about 6 am and my body was sore as if it had been working all night and I was still experiencing contractions here and there. I kept moving trying to keep my contractions going until about 9 am. At that point I was tired and decided to lay down for a nap. When I woke up there were no more contractions. Tuesday night as I went to bed I had a little gush of water and thought maybe my water had broke. I called the midwife on call who told me to get into dry clothes and if I was wet in the morning or had contractions that night to go ahead and go to the hospital. If I was dry then it was most likely discharge or a leaky bladder due to pre-labor. Wednesday morning when I awoke I was dry and again disappointed.
When I scheduled my induction my Midwife (Julie) told me if I changed my mind and wanted to have a little more time to go into labor on my own we wouldn't have to do the induction. I talked to her on Wednesday and she reminded me of this, but at that point I was mentally unable to fathom another day of hoping to go into labor only to be left disappointed. Wednesday night the hospital called and told us to call at 6 am to find out when we could come in for an induction. We ended up going to the hospital about 8:30 am and by the time we were checked in and got everything ready to go I was started on pictocin at about 9:30 am. I was laboring in the bed for a few minutes with contractions when I realized that laying in bed was NOT going to work. When the nurse came back I asked if I could get up and walk the halls. She said yes and got me all set up and Kent and I walked the short labor and delivery hall for about an hour. I wore my hospital gown and blue running shoes (because of the planter fasciitis I had experienced this pregnancy) and all the nurses said how much they LOVED that I had my running shoes on. I was amazed at how much easier it was to walk through contractions than to lay there and try to get through them.
At about 1:30 pm my Midwife came in to check me. I had been at 3 centimeters and 70% effaced when I arrived and by now I was at a 4+. When she asked me if I wanted her to break my water I was torn with what to do. I knew that once the water broke the hard part would be here, but I also knew that I'd be frustrated if I kept laboring for 4 more hours with little progress. I went ahead and had her break my water and knew the hard work was coming.
A couple of thoughts as I labored through the hard part. As much as I wanted to tense up through my contractions I knew I had to relax as much as I could. I felt silly saying it, but often I would say out loud to myself "Let it go." I knew I had to give in to the pain and breathe so my body could do the hard work it needed to do. There was no easy way about it. I remember telling the nurse that I wanted to push and being so discouraged when she said I was only at a 5. In my mind that meant I had a LONG way to go. It seemed not long after that I was crying because I said I wanted to push, but I knew it wasn't time yet. I was thrilled when she said it could go that fast and that she would check me. I don't know what I was dilated to at that point, but I do know that she called my Midwife who was at the office seeing patients and she and Kent kept telling me to wait for Julie and then I could push. I'll be honest it took about 15 minutes for Julie to get there and I was getting to a point that Julie not being there was making me mad. The nurse suggested I grown lower to keep myself from pushing. As soon as Julie came in I was more than ready to start pushing. I don't recall, but Kent told me that I was able to push Marshal out in 3 contractions in about 5 minutes time. I delivered him on my hands and knees on the bed.
I'm unsure at what point the nurse told me that the baby was not doing too well during contractions, but I do recall a moment of worry when she said that she was going to be putting an internal monitor on his head. She also put me on oxygen which I had never had before during labor. At that point my mind flashed to emergency c-sections and I was worried, but I refocused and went to work taking care of my body and was thrilled when I was able to deliver vaginally.
Marshal was born 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches long. With my first boys I had the desire to nurse right away, but when I delivered Marshal I was shivering so much and so consumed with relief that I was done that I didn't even think to try and nurse him right off. He cried and cried and cried the whole evening and when I did try to nurse him he didn't nurse well (most likely because he was too upset). In the end he has learned to nurse well and we had a wonderful experience with great nurses and staff at the hospital. I am very thankful for a wonderful team who helped me deliver my beautiful baby boy.
Finally I can't end this birthing experience without sharing what a wonderful support my husband was to me. After three children he has learned how to support me through child birth and I am so thankful for his hard work. He was so good to walk with me in the halls and to apply pressure to my lower back and be ready to do whatever was needed to help me be comfortable. I couldn't have asked for a better birthing coach. I am truly thankful for his help and support in bringing our children into this world!
