Asher Joseph's birth story!

Finally, here it is.....

AJ was due on Nov. 11 and my mom assured me that no one in our family ever goes early, so I didn't think much when I woke up on Halloween morning with cramps and a back-ache. I figured it was that late pregnancy discomfort I had heard about. The cramps and aches continued all week and by Sunday I was thinking "I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next week or two with all this pain." I was having a hard time walking all day and was relieved to go to bed around 9:00 after our dinner company had left. By 9:30 I started to think "maybe these are contractions" so I started to time them. They were coming every 6 to 8 minutes, so I decided to get in the shower to see if that would stop them (I still thought this could be pre-labor). I woke DH around mid-night because they were coming every 5 minutes. We timed them until around 3:00am when I decided to get in the shower again to see if it would help with the discomfort, but by now they were coming every 3 to 4 minutes, so I decided to call the midwife. She told me to come in. So we set out at 3:30 in the morning. The drive was amazingly peaceful and we made it from East Northport to Stony Brook in half an hour since there was no traffic.

When we got there we were greeted by Nurse Cranky in triage -- apparently it had been a really busy night. She took one look at me and said "So, what are we here for?" I was like "Um, I'm 39 weeks pregnant, it's 4:00 am, what do you think I'm here for??" Anyway, she started monitoring the contractions, but I had to wait an hour for the midwife because she was delivering a baby. Finally she came in and checked me. I was 100% effaced and 4 cm dialated. Since I was GBS+ she decided to admit me right away. I was a little disappointed I wasn't dialated further, but I couldn't believe I was getting admitted and that my baby was going to be born that day. I still wasn't sure I was "really" in labor. Nurse Cranky returned to stick me several times until she found the right vein for my IV and she took me to the L&D room. I ended-up having back labor, which was much more difficult than I had expected, but I had a wonderful L&D nurse who had had 3 natural childbirths herself and she was wonderful about helping me move around, get in the shower, use the birth ball, etc. DH was also gave great support.

Finally, around noon I started to feel really sick and shaky and I was wondering if this baby was ever going to be born -- I never felt like I needed drugs, but there was a point I honestly felt like I couldn't do this anymore and I was just going to be in labor for the rest of my life! Things had gotten really intense and every time I tried to change my position I got a killer contraction, so I decided to just lay on my side on the bed. I was afraid my labor had stalled because, although the contractions were super-intense, they never got closer than 3 minutes apart and my water still hadn't broken. My midwife checked me and I was 10 cm -- ready to push. His bag of waters was pushed so tightly against his head that she couldn't feel it and asked if I thought it had broken while I was in the shower -- it hadn't and finally ended up breaking while I was pushing him out. It took me another hour and a half of pushing to get him out. I wore myself out by trying to push so hard in the beginning, but the midwife just kept calmly telling me everything was fine and all this was normal. The only scary moment was when he started crowning and she could see that his cord was wrapped around his neck -- it was getting pinched and he started registering distress. The midwife suddenly said, "OK, get this baby out now!" I was scared and pushed as hard as I could right through the "ring of fire" -- honestly that was the worst part of the whole birth. I have never felt anything like that before!

The best part is that as soon as his head came out the rest of his body felt like it just slipped out. The midwife unwrapped the cord and Asher was fine. DH got to cut the cord and they put him right on my chest. He breastfed right away in the delivery room and his been a great eater since then. I didn't end up with any tears and felt great (but tired) after the birth.

For anyone who is pursuing natural childbirth I just want to say you can do it! It may be hard, but it really is the most incredible feeling in the world! I know there are other girls on the board using the Stony Brook Midwives and I just want to say that they are absolutely amazing. All in all it was such a wonderful experience. I will post pics soon. Asher was born on November 6 and 2:25 PM and weighing 7 lbs 5oz.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congrats. Great story!!!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congratulations!! You are brave and your little one a real trooper!!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Wow. I am really really scared of childbirth now. That sounds horribly painful.

Message edited 11/27/2006 3:27:21 PM.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

congratulations your new little boy!!

what a nice birth story-happy for you.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

You are amazing.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Posted by johnsae

Wow. I am really really scared of childbirth now. That sounds horribly painful.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

congrats and great story

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

I think that was a wonderful story...and good for you; I'm glad you had such an amazing natural experience!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

What a great story...you certainly are a trooper with the pain. Thanks for sharing your story! Congrats and lots of love and happiness to you and your family!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congratulations & welcome baby Asher!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

What a great story! Congrats!!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congratulations on your beautiful birth. I have to agree that natural childbirth is so worth it. It's hard but for me it was truly the most amazing experience ever. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congratulations!!!!!!!! I love your son's name - and I hope to deliver w/o drugs myself - so I really appreciate reading your story!!!!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Thank you for posting this wonderful story and congrats on your baby! I am hoping to do a natural childbirth and stories like yours really make me feel great about that.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

congrats again on the birth of your and welcome to the world Asher!!!

Thank you for your sharing your story!

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Posted by johnsae

Wow. I am really really scared of childbirth now. That sounds horribly painful.

Re: Asher Joseph's birth story!

Congratulations on the birth of And thank you so much for sharing your birth story. I plan on natural childbirth also. I enjoyed reading the story from someone who experienced it.