Alexis' Birth Story:
Friday May 29th at 11am I had a non stress test at the hospital. I had a few contractions during it but nothing uncomfortable just the same I had been having for the last month or so. We went on our way and Keith went back to work for the afternoon. At supper I started to notice them getting a little uncomfortable, I even made some grimaces and Logan laughed at me. After supper we went downstairs as a family to watch Scooby Doo 2 (Jonah's pick) an hour into it I had to go take a bath to relax, which helped but the contractions did not go away which they have in the past if I took a shower or bath. We put the boys to bed and played some Mario Kart together, but I was having contractions every 10 min while playing and they were starting to really distract me, Keith started timing them. We decided to take the boys and dog to my parents so we could try and relax through the night and not worry about them in the middle of the night if this was it. We slept every 1o minutes for the rest of the night. The contractions would wake me up and I had to breathe through them so I knew they were different then before. We had breakfast and called our Doula and made our way to the hospital. We got there at 10am and when assessed I was 5cm. I was very happy to hear that, seeing as wed. I was barely 1cm and completley no thinning out.
We got our room and started setting things up, my boys pictures, the ipod for my music. We just hung out and relaxed in our room, I used my birth ball for a while, leaning back on Keith or over it on the bed, just kept chaniging positions. By mid afternoon I started to use the pool, and it was awesome! I have heard so many things about it and was very anxious to experience it myself and it is a staple in my mind for every laboring woman!!
By supper I was 9cm, my water did not break on its own and now that I was almost at pushing my doc broke it but had another stubborn lip of my cervix like I had with Logan, with my doctors help we got Alexis' head past it so I could now fully push. I pushed for 30 minutes and she was born. I had an aboslutely drug/intervention free birth and it was so empowering! It can be done and I had so much preparation for this one and I know the pool and doula played a big part in the whole experience. Keith was not sure when I told him I was using one this time, but he warmed up to her through the pregnancy and now after the fact he says he would have it no other way too!
Alexis was placed on me right away and I held her for the next 30-35minutes. We did not cut the cord right away and she was attached to me for 5-10 minutes until it stopped pulsing. Doing research I found out it is healthier to let the blood course back through the cord into the baby after birth, they recieve extra immunity and stem cord blood cells as well. When the time came I cut her cord (Keith has never cared to). She even got to nurse a little right away. All of the after procedures on me were done while I was holding her and hers were delayed that first hour. Finally after our long cuddle I was anxious to know what she weighted as did my doctor, she thought she'd be huge judging my tummy, but I had a lot of fluid, she was 8lbs 10oz a nice size, right in the middle of her brothers birth weight.
All in all it was exactly what I had wanted and hoped for.
Arrival at hospital 10am and 5cm, YAY! still smiling.
My "hospital gown"
I chose this time to bring my own clothes to wear for the labour and birth.
After 12 noon and still smiling!
In my favorite place, my pool!
Again.. still smiling, what is going on I do not remember labour being like this, wierd!
Coming to the end and a kiss from daddy
She's here, so happy!
Daddy's little girl
8lbs 10 oz
Our Doula Tara
Our Doctor Marlene
(Of course my mom's name is Marlene and Rose is my mom's middle name, where Alexis got it from and my doctor's middle name is also rose!)
Tara and Alexis
5 comments:
That really is a POOL isn't it?! In the hospitals down here, the birthing rooms are equipped with big tubs. That's what I used when I was laboring with Maya. It is great to have. We also learned in our pre-birth course that we have many options at our disposal. We could keep the chord attached as long as we wanted and wait to have the baby weighed until we were ready. So we opted to wait a couple of minutes on the chord as well. The babies were weighed right away though. Glad you had a wonderful experience. I feel so far removed from it now that we are DONE so it is fun to live vicariously through other women.
She is darling. Congrats to you and your family.
I am so glad you were able to have the birth you wanted.
Glad to hear everything went the way you wanted it to. She's so precious. Congrats!
It sound like things went very well, I am so happy to hear that. Did you have any problems with the Dr. trying to change your mind on any of your decisions? I think the birthing pool thing is awesome. Did you buy it of rent it?
Your little girl is beautiful, enjoy her and all the pink she will bring to your life.
Hey Jenn,
No, my doc is actually a big part in why everything went so well! I found her through my Doula and she was in a natural childbirth clinic in St.Albert. Very intervention/drug free which is the key to having a birth like I did! I was very pleased, both my Doula and Doctor helped me prepare with all my decisions before and the nurses as well read my birth plan and respected it and everything happened the way I planned it. I know that doesn't happen all the time but the way everyone assisted my choices helped for sure!
Post a Comment