A CNM Hospital Birth

I started having some contractions Tuesday evening, about an hour after we got the car seat installed. They got stronger but less frequent during the night, and the pattern pretty well repeated on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. My water broke at 11:15 Friday night, and while my contractions got stronger, they never did get very regular (ever). Finally at 6:30 am Saturday, I decided I wanted to go in to the hospital (Mary Lanning in Hastings) because I had gotten in the shower and it seemed to help, so I wanted to try the jacuzzi tub they have. First, I made my hubby stop at Burger King for some drive through breakfast. I was anxious to meet my new little boy or girl—we didn’t know yet what the baby was.

The first time they checked me, it was about 7:45 and I was dilated to 6–7, but with a contraction, I got to about 7–8. They left me in the tub for a while, and I remember Barb (my CNM) saying at one point I had some floppy cervix left, but I think she was able to pull it back. (Getting fuzzy here.) With my very first push, Jalen nearly crowned. Barb said she thought we’d have a baby within an hour, and she and I were both thinking it would be much sooner than that! However, when Jalen went back in, she got hung up on a pelvic bone, or something.

I think Barb let me push for four hours, and we were not able to get her to budge again. I could tell that some of my contractions were not effective, and I could definitely tell that my pushing wasn’t effective. I knew what it was supposed to feel like, and we weren’t getting it. I can’t remember which came first—all the different pushing positions, or the Pitocin. Regardless, I got hooked up to the Pit and we tried every position known to man and a few probably known only to midwife. I was spinning like a top! I also remember Barb and Rita, one of the best OB nurses ever (well, since Heather got out of the business), both going in and trying to turn her head to get her loose.

When Barb said we needed to talk about an epidural and forceps, I knew in my heart that she was right because we had tried everything. I was thankful that the baby was far enough down that a c-section wasn’t an option. Barb offered to call a different OB to see if he’d come in and do either forceps or a vacuum extraction without an epidural, but I said no. The previous interactions I’d had with him led me to believe he was too scalpel-happy for my tastes.

So, the OB came in, and following an episiotomy, three contractions with pushing, a third-degree tear, and her cord around her neck one time, Jalen was out. Her Apgar scores were 8-9-9, I think, so she came through it very well. I was very disconnected at that point, and for several hours afterwards, due to the epidural. I was able to nurse after they stitched me up and took me back to the labor room, and we had a great first nursing session. I ended up taking advantage of the two days stay in the hospital, with the traumatic way that Jalen came in to the world, I wanted to be as ready as we could be before leaving. The nurses at Mary Lanning were top notch, and it was helpful to get different perspectives on things.

The hormones have been really rough—each day has had its ups and downs but it really does get better. You just can’t prepare yourself for the sleep deprivation, though. Wow. I had a relative who does healing touch come and give me a couple of sessions which helped.

I’ve tried to not dissect it too much, but I can’t help but wonder how my attitude affected my labor. I was somewhat nervous about becoming a mom, and there was some minor discord between my hubby and me (even though he was great through my delivery!). I do believe we tried everything that we could, and that she and I were both capable of birthing her since she just about made it, so that helps a little. I am thankful for my CNM and my natural-birth–oriented nurse—they definitely helped me as much as they could.

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