babymakes3
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Logan - July 20, 2010
(This is long but hopefully worth the read to somebody!)
I was due on July 10, 2010. The date came and went and no sign of  making his/her appearance. After having a negative experience with induction/pitocin with my first child, I was determined to let things happen naturally with this one. I even switched from OB to midwives to further support my ideal birth experience.
At my 40 week appt (7/8/2010), I was 2cm dilated but not effaced. The midwife stripped my membranes at my request. She did the best she could but my cervix was still very posterior. I lost my mucous plug 5 days later.
At my 41 week appt (7/15/2010), I was still only 2cm dilated with little effacement. I suggested induction only because my mom was in town from OOS for the birth and it was nearing her departure date. The midwife and I decided on going in for induction at 41w2d (July 19, 2010). I wished, prayed and hoped that I would go before then. I walked, swam, went to the beach in the awful heat, ate spicy food to try to get things going but to no avail.
July 19, 2010 - I wrestled all day with the idea of canceling the induction. The induction plan was to start cervidil in the evening, and pitocin in the morning. I gave myself until 4pm to decide (had to be there at 6:30pm). Just before 4pm, I got home from shopping and jumped in the shower. I had 3 contractions in the shower and kept having them as I was getting ready. I didn't time them but decided to go ahead with the induction. In triage, I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced but still posterior. I was still having contractions and they were regular, every 3-5 minutes. They decided to skip the cervidil and go straight to the pitocin. The midwife told me I might only need a "touch" of pitocin, so I was happy to hear that. I got the pitocin around 9pm and they started me at 1, the lowest dose. The contractions got a little irregular after that and they upped it to 2. Contractions weren’t too bad yet and DH and I tried to use this time to relax and watch a little tv.
July 20, 2010 - A couple hours later, just as I was getting ready to try to sleep, they upped the dosage to 3 and 4. I was feeling more pain and needed to move around to manage it. I stood up and rocked, sat on the toilet, used the birthing ball and just breathed through each contraction. Laying in bed hurt the most. The contractions at 4 got really strong and unbearable, peaking off the strip and coming every 3 minutes. The midwife checked me and said I was at a 4 and almost 100% effaced. Since I knew I wouldn't be able to get an epi, I suggested we turn down the pitocin and see what my body does. (I have a low platelet issue during pregnancy and couldn't get an epi with my first either.) They turned it down and the contractions stayed regular and weren't shooting off the strip anymore. They actually became bearable. My body took over the show completely and they shut the pitocin off soon after.
I worked very hard at visualizing my cervix dilating and working with each contraction and not tensing up during them. At this point, I alternated from the birthing ball, the toilet and kneeling backwards on the birthing bed for about 3 hours. It took all my energy and concentration to get through this part. DH was so attentive and had ice chips at the ready and rubbed my back and shoulders the entire time. 
At about 4am, I was hanging on the back of the birthing bed and felt the intense urge to push. I never had that sensation with DD and holy cow, it was strong! I pushed and my water broke. I started shaking uncontrollably. They started prepping the room for birth and checked me and said I was a good 8-9cm. My body wasn't ready yet and they told me to keep going and push when I felt the urge. So, for about 2 hours, I pushed when I had the urge. The urge wasn't consistent with every contraction. No one counted during my pushing and they didn’t force me to push with every contraction. I pushed on my terms.
My water breaking and having that urge threw me off and I thought the end would be soon. So, two hours later, I was starting to get whiny and asking my DH when this will end. Poor guy  . He and the staff kept encouraging me. I was doing all the work, they were just waiting.
The last half hour was a lot of pushing with the urges and at this point, they wanted me lay down. I could feel my son inching down the birth canal. When his head was about to crown, I had to wait until my next urge to push and it seemed like forever! It was excruciating and I was getting loud at this point (I was pretty quiet until then ). I had the urge again and pushed the top of his head out. Then his whole head with the next urge. Then at 6:31am, as I was pushing his body out during the next urge, the midwife told me to reach down and grab my baby. I grabbed him under his arms and laid him on my belly. DH announced "it's a boy!" Best surprise ever. I wrapped my arms around my baby the best I could, and rubbed his slippery body and wrapped him in the blanket they laid on my belly. They let him stay there for a little while the cord pulsated. DH cut the cord, they covered us with more blankets and we spent a few moments looking at him, kissing him and crying. The little guy was hungry and started rooting for a breast right away. I put him to my breast and he latched on and went to town. 
Of course, I wasn't done until I delivered the placenta and that happened in the next half hour. I felt the need to push again, and it came out and gave me total relief. While the midwife was waiting for the placenta, she said that because the birth and pushing was slow and controlled, I came out with just one tiny nick that needed one stitch. (In contrast, with my first, I had two second degree tears and hemorrhoids the size of golf balls. I think that was due to being forced to push before my body was ready.)
Recovery was great. I was surprised how much the after-birth contractions would hurt but that’s normal after your second child. I still felt great and wanted to leave the hospital the next day. Three weeks later, I feel fantastic and can't wait to  .
I'm so glad that my body was preparing on its own when I went in and that pitocin didn't have much of a role in this birth. I couldn’t have asked for a better birth. After my first, I was a little traumatized and didn’t even want to think about having another for a long, long time. This pregnancy was actually a surprise. Within moments of giving birth to Logan, I was thinking about #3. It was a beautiful experience.
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