My little precious Zachary Robert was born on January 9, 2008 at 1:32 PM, weighing 7 lbs 2.6 oz and 20 inches long. I had him through natural childbirth (no drugs!) which really wasn't all THAT bad. Here is how it happened:
During my entire pregnancy I had zero Braxton-Hicks. Zero, nada, nothing! I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect from labor contractions and wanted to feel at least a little Braxton-Hicks so that I would have an idea what the beginnings of labor might feel like. I was even calling my friends asking them what it felt like and how I would know I was in labor. The response I got was all the same, "You'll know!" or "It feels like menstrual cramps magnified by 100". Well I've been one of the lucky women who don't really get cramps during "that time of the month". So my question remained... how will I know???
My last day of work was Friday, January 4, and I was due on the 10th. So I had the weekend to relax and then I was hoping Zachary would come a few days early. On Tuesday, Jamin and I went to SuperTarget. On the way out of the store I got a very sharp pain in my lower abdomen. A few seconds later it happened again. Now me, not knowing what cramps even feel like, didn't realize it was a Braxton-Hicks contraction. Late Tues afternoon, we decided to try to help things along. We took a long walk in the evening, ate spicy food, and tried a few other "natural" methods of jump-starting labor.
Well, something must have worked because I went into labor about 1:00 AM Weds morning. But I wasn't sure at the time that it was labor because it was uncomfortable, but really didn't hurt all that much until about 5:00 AM. And it only hurt in the lower front, like sharp gas pains (nothing like any menstrual cramps I've ever had.) I tried to sleep through it. Jamin woke up about 6:00 AM and found me in the guest room. I had just started timing the contractions at about 5:30 AM and they were pretty steady at 5 mins apart and lasting 45-60 sec. I got up, took a shower, got dressed and made sure we had the camera, batteries, etc. for the hospital.
We called my labor coach about 8:00 am and she came over about 9:30 thinking we still had plenty of time. She checked me and the baby was right at my cervix. She couldn't even tell how dilated I was because all she could feel was the baby's hard skull! We left for the hospital and got there about 10:30 am. On the way, my contractions started getting pretty hard, but still bearable. After I got checked in and the nurse checked me I was already 7 cm dilated.
I had written a birth plan and made sure that everyone on my medical team had a copy. I did not want any interventions unless it was a life-threatening situation. I did not have an IV or constant fetal monitoring. I wanted to be able to be up and moving about. I stood, walked or sat on the birthing ball for a while. Zachary's head was so low that I couldn't sit anywhere else. I felt like I was sitting on him.
At about 8 cm I started having the urge to push. I knew I couldn't really push, but I pushed a little which relieved some of the pain and also caused my water to break. At that point is when the contractions got really painful. I went to 10 cm in about 10 minutes and that is when I was about coming off the table it hurt so bad. My doctor finally walked in about 15 mins before Zachary was born. I'm sure they don't do many natural births at The Woman's Hospital of Texas so I think she didn't think I would actually be ready to deliver just 3 hours after I arrived at the hospital. The nurses rushed around getting everything set up and I pushed for about 15-20 mins. After Zachary's head popped out, the doctor told me to wait a minute while she turned his shoulders. What I found out later is that she needed a second to cut the umbilical cord that had wrapped around his neck! But my precious Zachary Robert was born healthy and safe and we are so grateful for him!
Natural childbirth really wasn't all that bad. I was really glad I did it and I had no other interventions. I want the best for my baby and it started with my plan for his birth. It was really important to me and I am so glad that God made it possible.
