Ava's birth story is really easy to tell. I was over 2 weeks overdue so I was induced. 10:30 PM induction started. 5:30 am started feeling contractions. They called off the rest of the induction and I never started pitocin. 7:30 am I got an epidural. 9:30 am my doctor came in to check on me and said I was almost ready to push. Sometime after 10 am I was doing practice pushes with my nurse (loved her!) and Ava started coming. My nurse ran to call my doctor back and yelled for me to stop pushing. My doctor barely got her gloves on when I relaxed and out came Ava. Mason told me later my doctor didn't even have time to catch Ava and she landed on the tray of tools. Oops! Oh and Ava was sunny side up (the reason for my horrible back labor before the epidural). Also, Ava's nurse had stepped out for just a minute or two and was so upset to find out she had missed everything! Ava was born at 10:45 AM, so about 12 hours after my induction was started. About 5 hours after I started feeling contractions. You can read more on this post.
For Ava it was so easy to remember the times that everything happened, but Milen it is more of a blur. This time I was induced for different reasons than Ava. Mason and I arrived at the hospital at 3:30 pm and I was started on pitocin at 4:30 pm. Times were so much harder to remember the second time around. I guess I just wasn't focusing on the clock.
When I arrived at the hospital, they asked whether or not I was going natural (without an epidural or pain meds) and if I wanted a room with a jetted tub. If I wanted the tub I would have to wait for them to clean it. If not, I could just take another room right away. I told them that I was thinking about going natural and wanted the tub. Spoiler alert! I never got around to using the tub. So sad!
My decision to go natural (without an epidural or pain meds) was for multiple reasons. My nurse was awesome. She told me she had coached many through natural labors and would coach me too if I wanted to choose that route. She asked me if that was what I wanted and I said sure, let's go for it. Now I wasn't all that eager (don't let my words deceive you!) but my nurse was, which was good because she got me through it all. She told me that she would let me know when I was at the point of no return. Mason didn't think I would get there because he didn't think I had a high enough pain tolerance. I proved him wrong, haha! But that wasn't one of the reasons I decided to go natural.
I remember around 7 pm the contractions were starting to become as bad as the ones I had had at home. Yep, those times I almost went to the hospital and then my contractions stopped out of nowhere. Definitely not fun.
We watched several movies including Nacho Libre and some Studio Ghibli movies. My brother Michael randomly texted me around 7 that night not knowing I was in the hospital. He asked me if my boy was coming soon and I said hopefully. Haha! I was really hoping he would come as soon as possible. Anyways Michael kept asking questions until finally I revealed that I was in the hospital. Michael was surprised but bragged that he must have super powers. Probably true because we don't text often so it was quite the coincidence that he texted that night of all nights. He also said he was just trying to annoy me with questions because that's what older brothers do. I actually didn't mind though because it distracted me from the contractions.
Later I called my parents to talk to Ava. I missed her so much and just wanted to talk to her. When I called she was already asleep. I talked to my dad trying to focus on the conversation but my contractions were getting worse and it was getting hard to talk during the contractions so the phone call didn't last long.
Next, probably around 8 pm, my doctor called asking my nurse for an update. I was only at a 4 and so they talked about breaking my water. I wasn't sure because with Ava my water naturally broke just before I had her. I was also worried because Milen was still so high up. My babies just never drop, ugh! My doctor came down and answered all my questions and I decided to have them break my water.
Awhile after they broke my water, I decided it was about time I walked around and try and get Milen to drop. It was probably around 9 pm. It took awhile for them to get the monitors set up so that I could walk around. One of them wasn't working and so they had to run and get another. Finally I was all ready to go. Mason and I walked around, talking when I wasn't having contractions. When I did have a contraction, I would tell Mason to stop. Then when it was over we would continue on. It probably was a much longer walk than I remembered but when the contractions were getting really bad, I decided to head back. My nurse put me in some weird position where I was sitting and once I sat, I did not want to move. She asked me if I wanted to try another position and nope! I did not!
My nurse checked me upon returning and I was still a 4. I'll admit I was crushed. I tried not to let it get to me. I realized that I was still doing fine and I could still keep going. My contractions were still manageable.
My nurse was asking me questions to fill out her chart when my doctor arrived. My doctor decided to check me and when my nurse told her that I was a 4, my doctor said no, an 8. That's right, in 15 minutes I went from a 4 to a 8. Hallelujah! It was such a relief to hear that my walking did something. My doctor stepped out to let the nurses station know that I was about ready. My nurse pulled up by my side and said that this was IT, the point of no return. Not going to lie, I was pretty scared.
I guessing it was probably about 10 pm then. The nurses and my doctor started prepping for our boy. I had warned my doctor early on in my pregnancy about how fast Ava came (Ava was delivered by my previous doctor). So they didn't want to take any chances this time. But this time instead of the nurses and my doctor scrambling to get ready, they were just waiting. My doctor told me to let her know when I felt I needed to push. My body already felt like pushing, but I knew it was too soon so I delayed letting my doctor know. Finally after it was unbearable, I let my doctor know.
I think I probably pushed the same amount of time with Ava, but this time it felt like forever. With Ava it hurt to not push, with Milen it hurt to push. Pushing was so painful with Milen. I know it was a natural labor and Milen did have a bigger head, but still, with Ava I felt relief with pushing. I knew better when to push too. The contractions seemed so much longer with Milen. It felt so much harder to focus on pushing because of all the pain. Despite the pain, I was laughing through the delivery and telling my doctor and nurse that I must be really crazy to want to go natural. I also told them that my mom was crazy to say that she liked her natural deliveries better than her epidural ones, haha! My doctor and nurse just told me that I was doing great and that they had never known someone to smile and laugh during a natural delivery. Smiling and laughing, I think, was my coping mechanism. I just tried to tell myself it would be all over soon. My nurse was great in talking me through it and helping me stay focused.
After what seemed like an eternity, Milen was born at 10:54 pm. My doctor placed Milen on me just like I had done with Ava. I couldn't get a good look at Milen so I had Mason tell me about him. I tried counting his toes and fingers just like I did with Ava. I focused hard on Milen, because I was still having strong contractions. My placenta took awhile to deliver this time around. With Ava I didn't even notice and Mason said it was fast with her. But this time it was really hard. I thought I would find relief when Milen was born, but I was in still so much pain until my placenta was delivered.
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| This boy loves his hands. |
After that they gave us what was supposed to be the first hour alone, only it didn't feel that long. I tried to get a picture to text everyone but barely got the picture when they said time was up and I was being moved to the maternity ward.
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| Poor guy was born with long nails and scratched his face right away. In his ultrasounds he often had his hands by his face and he is still that way today. |
I think I'll continue the rest in my next post, but first I'll answer a question you are probably wondering. Which do I prefer, epidural or natural? Which way will I go next time?
First let's compare:
- People say that natural is more spiritual because you don't have pain meds. I found this to be untrue with me. Both of my deliveries were very spiritual and there wasn't a difference between the two.
- People say that you get this amazing feeling delivering naturally that you don't get with an epidural. Again, not true for me. I don't think that I got an "I'm on top of the world" feeling with either delivery. I was happy and it was wonderful to have my baby in my arms, certainly had adrenaline in me for several hours both times, but nothing crazy. And again, both deliveries were the same. I didn't feel like I was better by any means because I had delivered naturally. I was just happy to have my baby there. Proud to be a mother. And thankful they were healthy.
- People say that babies don't respond right away with an epidural and that they struggle to nurse. Also didn't find this to be true. My babies came out very responsive and wanting to nurse right away. I nursed both in the first hour. Both had a strong sucking reflex. Again, I found no difference.
- Both times I was up walking and moving around pretty quickly and the recoveries were the same.
- So the only differences I found was one had pain and one didn't. One I found harder to push, the other easier. One I felt less in control, the other more.
So for me, I found that an epidural works best and I will be choosing that the next time I have another baby. I think the main difference was that the epidural relaxed my body and pushed Ava down without me doing a lot of the work. Milen I had to do all the work. With the epidural, when it came to the actual time to push, I was able to concentrate on pushing rather than the pain and that worked so much better for me. So I choose the epidural because I felt it was a much easier delivery and I felt that there was no added benefits with going natural.
Now I know that everyone's bodies are different and every delivery is different. That's why I think it's important that everyone goes with what works best for them. Just because something was great for one person, doesn't mean that it is for another. I am lucky that both deliveries went smoothly and were quite fast. Both of my babies were healthy and I am so grateful for that.
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