I’m giving all of the details over on the Pregnancies page about Labor + Delivery with both Avera and Abraham. In the meantime, in the Fear of Induction post, I promised the rest of the story. To recap, I had written that post earlier in the day prior to going into labor. I was afraid at 40 weeks 5 days the doctors would pressure me to induce with medicine so I was considering more natural ways to go about things.
Later that afternoon, I began having painful contractions. Nothing was consistent or too frequent so I just chalked it up to being end of pregnancy normalcies. Mike had gone to work so I was also trying to keep up with Avera. After her dinner, the pain had increased so I decided to take a bath. It made for the best last night of just the two of us. There is an update in my Mommy and Me post to include that special memory.
Mike made it home just in time to get her out of the tub and put her to bed for me. I laid down myself and immediately began having consistent contractions. This was about 6:45 pm. I began drinking a very large cup of red raspberry leaf tea and had a small dinner just in case. I called my parents to get on the road as they would be watching Avera during the time I was in the hospital. Included in the conversation was a warning that I wasn’t convinced I was in labor and it could be a false alarm.
I was messaging a friend about coming over to stay with Avera in the event that I was in fact in labor. She encouraged me to call the on call doctor. So I did. It was Dr. Alan. She recommended that I come in immediately since I was dilated 4 cm already nearly ten hours prior. So things started moving! My neighbors 16 year old daughter came down to the house to stay with Avera until my parents arrived. Mike and I left loaded the car with the pre-packed hospital bags and hit the road.
At the Hospital
We arrived to the hospital just before 9:00pm. The nurse at the counter warned me that they wouldn’t allow me to walk up to the room or get out of the bed when I got up there. When the nurse came down with the wheelchair, I told her I was more uncomfortable sitting than walking and she agreed to let me walk. Already winning!
When I got to the room, they instructed to me to get fully undressed, put a hospital gown on and get in bed. I was so hesitant in fear that they would try to keep me there. I took my time getting undressed and settled, unpacking and starting a diffuser. Once in bed, they checked my blood pressure, temp, and of course the baby. They also checked my dilation at this time. I was disappointed to only be 5 cm. Another nurse came in who informed me and the other nurses that Dr. Alan had called and instructed them to disconnect me from the monitors and allow me to walk around and use the bathroom as I wanted. I could not have been more relieved to hear this!
Again with the Fear
As contractions grew more frequent, I had Mike start rubbing pre-diluted clary sage on the pressure points on my ankles. Dr. Alan arrived and checked me again around 10:00pm. I was 6 cm and again disappointed given that my contractions were between 3-4 minutes apart. She encouraged me to allow her to break my water. I was scared of this. Again, I thought it was naturally happen when my body was ready.
Also worth mentioning, around this time I was shaking uncontrollably with nervousness. I was thinking about my baby back home and if she was ready for me to bring home a sibling. I was thinking that I was still not ready to mentally, emotionally or physically to have this baby.
I told Mike that I couldn’t do it. He encouraged me and reminded me of what I wanted and how I had prepared. I then agreed to let the doctor break my water. She came in just after 11:30 to do so. Twenty-five short minutes later, I had two strong contractions with two really strong pushes and Abraham was born.
This time, when I pushed, I felt strong. I felt in control. I was helped into bed and he was placed on my chest. Within 15 minutes he had latched and we were sitting cozy with our newest child. Everything happened naturally and better than I could have hoped.
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