the birth

so this might be a little graphic so beware...22hours of labor three of which were pushing...

So 40 weeks went and passed. At this point I was convinced that I was going to be pregnant and bloated forever. It is not fun being the hugely pregnant at the end of September in the South but I am very thankful for air conditioning. I was bored so I went over to my mom's to rearrange her furniture...crazy you may say but I also finished the upstairs addition of a bedroom, two closets, and a bathroom mostly by myself with the help of my mother while pregnant also. That evening I was getting ready for bed about 10:30pm and was doing my usual going to the bathroom a few times before bed. This time I peed more than I ever had but thought nothing of it at first (I have a large bladder) until I saw this white stuff in the toilet but no blood. I thought it was weird but continued to get ready for bed. A few minutes later I had to go potty again and the same thing happened. I called my mom who thought my water had broken. Then my husband called my midwife who told me to get in the car and start heading to Chattanooga. So my mom drove to our house, the car was packed, my Depends were on, car seat covered with a shower curtain and towels, kitties fed, house locked, and was headed to Carolyn's by 11:30 that night.

The car ride was uneventful. I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so and they lasted about 1 minute. We got there, she put us to bed and I tried to sleep...haha. I woke up about 7am in incredible discomfort. I tried to eat but do not remember what. I stood in the shower for what seemed like forever and it was both comforting and utterly painful as I felt like my rear was going to fall off during each contraction. Somewhere around the same time I went #2 and I must say that I did not know I could go that much...truly amazing to the point that I was wierded out a little.

The day was spent with me sitting on the edge of the bed moaning loudly. I would not let anyone tough me or talk to me unless my midwife had to take vital signs but even that was a stretch. My poor hubby was not allowed to leave the room but nor could he touch or talk to me. I hushed all noises and plotted how I could torture and kill the barking dog down the street (I am an animal lover when not in labor and the dog was not harmed). Going pee was torture and I am thankful I did not do structural damage to her windowsill or tp dispenser which were in my death grip at many points. Overall I tried to remain calm because with out that the contractions were many times worse.

Hours passed. Time seemed nonexistent that day. I was so 'in the zone' that nothing else mattered.

At some point I ended up in the tub which felt nice but my legs kept going numb and I did not push very well there so I cane out. I think the overall order of placed to push were tub, stool, bed, then stool. As effective as the stool was I hated it. It was painful to my rear and needed a better design. Anyway, pushing lasted three hours. I was tired, sweaty, and wanted it to be over with. I remember saying 'help me' a lot but I was told I have to give birth for them to make it feel better....true but not what I wanted to hear. Finally, I felt the head quickly move through my pelvic region and out a head popped. The rest of her squirted out almost immediately. Wow what a relief! She was placed on my left thigh, pink and crying. It was 8:55pm on Saturday.

It took us a minute to figure out we did not know if she was a boy or girl (we never found out with an ultrasound). When we saw that she was a girl we were so happy. Up until that moment I did not think I cared but I soon realized that I would have been disappointed wither any other outcome. hum... Anyway, she had a double APGAR score of 10..yea.

I handed her to my hubby, stood up to go over to the bed to deliver the placenta when a huge gob of blood (2 cups worth) came out at once all over her wood floors in once big splat. I was shocked, sat down and the next thing I know I was given some herbal stuff and shot in the leg a few times with pitocen to stop the bleeding. On my second attempt I made it to the bed adn the placenta delivery was wierd, gross, and something I would rather forget. I will say that it felt great after it was out. It all leaves you with this empty feeling...not emotionally...but space wise, rather wierd.

I think after that I fed little girlie, ate a pizza and a micro meal, drank gobs of oj and water, and was quite relieved. My midwife checked me for tearing. it was one of the worst she had seen. I had double 3rd degree tears internally, ones an episiotomy would not have prevented. I had to go to the hospital via our car. I almost passed out several times on the way to the car but I made it. When we got to the hospital ~1am I was checked in, processed, and brought to surgery. Little girlie was left at the house with my mom, hungry, and confused. It took them over an hour to stitch me up. I do not remember any of it. Little girlie was brought back to my room to nurse and I was discharged about 7am.

We left our midwife's house about 3pm and were home by 6pm after stopping at a drugstore to get my prescription and going somewhere to eat. The trip home was uncomfortable even with sitting on a pillow and prescription painkillers.

It was then that the true adventure was to begin...