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Susan's Birth of Tala
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Our baby was born 12:35 am Friday the 9th of November at home w/ Thad (my husband) and Rene' (our 6 year old son) (and our 3 dogs :) ) present. It was a bit fast, like driving 90 m.p.h. when 60 would have given a better view. <g>
Tala was born 1 day shy of 39 wks and she is 8 lb. 10 oz., 22" long and has a 14" head.
A bit of history:
My mucus started coming out at 35 wks (so I never had any 'bloody show'), my water started leaking at 36 wks and actually broke at 36 1/2 wks. We tried some 'natural' induction methods but they had very little effect, if any, so I guess she just wasn't ready. :) So, I spent the 9th month waiting, being very wet, drinking lots of water and not taking baths etc. :(
Anyway, on Thursday night - Nov. 8th - around 9 pm the pre labor contractions I'd been having for at least a month seemed to become regular and a bit more frequent though they were still very mild - I was aware of them but they didn't affect what I was doing, in fact it took me nearly an hour to realize they were fairly regular :) then, at 10pm, I told Thad and Rene' that I just may be going into labor. Rene' was really excited. I told him that it was fine to get his hopes up but not too high that he would be disappointed if it didn't happen.
By 11pm I thought I should shower just in case. I had 3 contractions in the shower but they were still rather mild but stronger than the earlier ones. By 11:30 the contractions had become clearly regular and significantly stronger, stopping me from talking or wanting to hear anyone talk <g> Now I was convinced the birth was imminent. :)
At this point the contractions came fast and furious and actually took me a bit by surprise because they were much more intense than they were w/ Rene', at least it seemed that way :) and, to be perfectly honest, they bordered on unbearable, but I kept reminding myself that they were finite and would come to an end.
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You see, 4 yrs ago, when I had experienced the onset of Still's disease (a rare autoimmune disease of the connective tissues) the pain was the worst. It took a month and intense drugs for me to even get a bit of sleep. It was worse than the pain I experienced birthing Rene' but, when the contractions came on so hard, it tapped into that memory of pain.
So, I knew needed to consciously separate the 2 in my mind - one being destructive - the onset of an autoimmune disease, and one being constructive - the necessary physical changes needed to birth a baby. Once I managed to do this (which actually happened in a instant, but not until after the first pushing contraction) the wild look in my eyes (Thad told me this :) ) left and in its place was one of confidence and realization that I did know what to do and though the pain, for me, was still very high it no longer made me 'crazy'.
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So, by 12:30am, give or take, I shifted from the 1st to 2nd stage of labor without missing a beat.
At this time I was in the tub and had had the last 2 very strong first stage 'contractions' while 'lying' in the tub but the water didn't really ease them. Then the next contraction - the first pushing contraction - sent me flying to a stand. Thad said he hadn't seen me move that fast since I had gotten sick <g> it was so huge a contraction that Tala immediately crowned which scared me. I knew I would rip if I let her head all the way out, so I instinctively pushed her back in and 'jumped' back down in the water in time for the next contractions.
I supported my perineum w/ my hands while pushed her head out and w/ the 3rd pushing contraction I pushed her all the way out.
So, hard labor started right around 11:30pm and she was out by 12:35 am.
Thad immediately lifted her from the water and placed her on my stomach. She was naturally purple but she started crying immediately so pinked up right away- all but her feet, which took a while. Within 15 mins of birth she was nursing. So, for the next 2 hrs, we stayed in the tub waiting for the placenta and Tala established a sort of cycle of crying, nursing, dozing, crying, nursing, dozing, crying, nursing, dozing, ... :)
Finally, I was really sleepy and was sick of waiting, not to mention getting a bit pruney <g> and Thad suggested that we at least change the water so, with Tala's cycling beginning to fade into mostly sleep, we stayed in the tub. Thad drained it and I slid to a more upright/sitting position and the placenta popped out. I thought, "Dang, if only we had done that earlier we could be in bed now!" - lol Oh well, live and learn :)
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Post birth - all is fine. I tore a bit and have some abrasions, mostly on left side, and my hips, particularly my left, are stiff. Arnica, 'golden' salve and rescue remedy seem to be helping quite a bit.
I lost 2" around my waist from the birth (I was hoping for more :) and another 4" to date (nearly 48 hrs now ). I'm sweating a lot and the bleeding has changed to a very pink and slowing discharge and my milk is in.
Tala is perfect! She pooped within 12 hrs and has had 5 total and she has been peeing a lot as well. She is a tad jaundiced but no biggie. Her heart sounds very nice and, well, her lungs proved themselves at birth - lol - So no signs of trouble.
Oh yes, we were planning a lotus birth but I just didn't have the patience and since Tala did not react to any poking or pinch of the placenta or the cord we decided to cut it and she actually slept peacefully while Rene' cut the cord, which was done about 10 hrs after birth.
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