Alaine's Birth Story-- Part 3 of 4

(Part 1)
(Part 2)


In which a long day turns longer…

We checked into the birthing center around 4:30 pm. When the nurse checked me, I had progressed to 7 centimeters. Dana arrived just minutes later and together, we assumed the birth would occur within a few hours, if not sooner.

We walked down the hall from triage to a LDRP (Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum) room and settled in to labor and wait. I felt wonderful. After a 20-minute strip on the fetal monitor, I was free to move around for the rest of the labor. If I sat down, I was comfortable and as soon as I got up to walk around the room, I had a contraction. I alternated between up and down for awhile and had quiet conversation with Brian. Dana and the nurse, Julie, commented that I didn’t even act like I was in labor. Several hours passed and I continued laboring in the same way. I decided to have Dana check me again for progress and discovered I was still only 7-8 centimeters. I was a little discouraged. I had thought that I would labor in the tub again as I had with Benjamin, but I was afraid I would progress even slower if I was in water or that labor would again stop altogether.

Dana told me that she would put me under no pressure, but that if she broke my water, we would probably have the baby rather quickly. Brian and I discussed it and could not come to a definite conclusion. Do we continue to labor and possibly not progress for many more hours or do we have her break my water and increase the intensity before I am ready for it? Around 8:30 pm, we decided to have her break my water and hopefully, move things along.

The first contraction I experienced after my water was broken was no more intense than the previous ones—milder actually! But immediately, the frequency of contractions changed. Instead of coming in 5 to 7 minute intervals, they came every 3 minutes. I would feel a twinge in my back which built up rapidly and then moved into my lower abdomen. My new nurse, Angie, monitored the baby periodically with a hand-held Doppler and the baby showed no signs of distress. My best coping mechanism was to close my eyes and relax all my muscles, not just the ones feeling the pain. The contractions began coming so fast that sometimes it was easier to not open my eyes in between. However, as a result, no one could tell when I was having a contraction and when I wasn’t, so they weren’t sure when to talk to me!

I began to feel a little nauseous, though not so much that I thought I would get sick. I also felt chilled, though the room was quite warm. At the same time, my ice craving returned! Despite concentrating through the contractions, I knew I was having classic signs of transition. Gradually, the pain increased until I had a very difficult time dealing with it. In my other labors, I had never felt so out of control. I could barely stay on top of the pain and the contractions came so fast that one was barely over before the next one began. Along with the pain in my back and abdomen, I now also had it in my legs. During this time, Dana commented that she was incredulous that I was still pregnant! Dana and Angie continued to make sure that I was okay and asked if I was feeling any pressure or need to push. Though I desperately wanted to reach the pushing stage, there were no signs of it.

Part 4