Cora's Birth

Coralynn is here.

AFTER 4 weeks of prodromal labor and 3 days of Latent Labor (3-5 min apart 1 min long, sessions usually all night) and 18 hours active labor... only 45 min of pushing... here she is!!!

No induction, no pitocin (until after for bleeding), just a membrane sweep after the 2 1/2 days of exhausting "real" labor.

The most amazing VBAC Success. I want to extend a very special THANK YOU to every single mother out there who has ever written her birth story down, posted pictures and videos or openly shared wishes, regrets, experiences and plans. My head was so full of ideas that I navigated this exhausting time suprisingly well. Bless you all.

August 28th, 3:07 pm
Coralynn Eleanor Micheal
9 lbs 3 oz, 21 inches long
42 wks 4 days gestation

Labored Monday night 9p-5am 3-5 min appart...petered out.

Tuesday sent my son to relatives expecting that was hold me back - nothing but some good sleep interupted by not as strong 10m apart contractions.

Wenesday night, nursed my son to bed - contrax started...5 then 3 min then 2 minutes apart... I called the doula who arrived at 3am and confirmed labor. Before dawn it began spacing and petering out. She went home around 9:30am exhausted. My contractions were down to 20 minutes apart.

Thursday afternoon I called my Midwife in Disguise to fill her in since she new things had picked up the night before but hadn't heard from us. She agreed to meet me at her office after hours. Around 7:30, we did an NST and cervical check - we were so curious, I tried to prepare for "no news" effect but I was 2 cm (instead of 1) 75% and favorable so on a "whim" I let her do a second membrane sweep.

We were home by 8:30 ...at 42 weeks and 3 days....I treated myself to two bowls of mint chip ice cream. After the second bowl I knew it was moving again at atleast 5 m apart - when we went to confirm it was more like 2-3 with 1+ contractions.

After all we'd been through my husband was skeptical and put our son to bed. I was already thinking "call the troops!". By the time he came out of the bedroom I was really rolling so he started cleaning up the kitchen and taking out the trash, sorting things to stay awake and get things in order I imagine. We had both become pretty good at the skepticisim and I was afraid to correct him since the midwife didn't really provide us with a reason to think NOW!

Anyway I went into my zone, he went online... next to me, keeping nearby. Somewhere along the way we decided the doula would work best at the hospital and when we touched base I didn't really indicate anything special or tell her about the membrane sweep, I told her to get rest.
Somewhere around 10p they became 2 minutes apart, at about 1 min long ( I had NO IDEA my body could or would do this to me!)

Around 10pm I made hubby draw me a bath. I didn't care if it slowed labor I wanted pain relief. Unfortunately I really just irritated the heck out of me and wasn't nearly warm enough. Then I had to drag my sorry, contracting self out of the tub and get dressed again. That took a while. It sucked.

About midnight I tried to ask the contractions to slow down so I could skip one or two and rest and I laid on the couch and asked hubby to rub my feet. That lasted 30 seconds, upon which I violently and imediately had to get UP! I was clearly unable to labor with her lying down. Quickly I was on the floor on all fours screaming for a bucket and threw up - I hated and loved that - it was something really going on...though I was sure it wasn't transition yet. I looked at the clock and thought I better tell Mark to get things moving, but I didn't. I was gonna hang in as long as I could.

Fifteen minutes later it was clear to me I could no longer cope with the contractions alone using imagery and inner talk I had had it and I knew I had a long trip to the hospital to meet everyone and get a frigin epidural. I told hubby to call everyone "NOW" we are going to the hospital. He had a moment of irritation because I was making him wake up 3 different households but he survived. Family was on the way to meet us at hospital along with Doula and MD.

The car ride was fun. I really had to focus not to scream and wake our son. Amazingly he had slept through everything at the house. I managed to be quiet for about 10 contax on the highway.

(hopefully not too triggering, but will mention molestation...)

When I arrived at hospital at about one am I HAD to walk from the door to the elevators and through the halls to L&D. There really was no otherway to handle hand off of son and get me situated. I did it, and mentally turned it in its ear... for all those who weren't allowed to walk in. Amazingly I did it with no actual contrac until I dropped my purse and handed off my medical card. This was quite a feat since I was contracting every two minutes, for a minute for the last three hours.

I met the most worn out nurse. I immediately asked if she had seen my birthplan. "NO but we have routines"... she tried to hand me a gown...NOPE hadn't read it for sure - specifically mentioned don't ask me to disrobe or wear a gown as it would be triggering of a molestation when I was 3 and boys played doctor on me.

Sooo. I asked for the alternative. Strip. Great!... that felt all wrong... so I got the old "Screw this" thing out of my back pocket and hid in the shower for about 30 minutes till my team was there. Everyone there knew my story - knew about all the therapy and work and "rules" I came up with to feel safe.

I put on an old ratty shirt I had worn years ago at Reiki retreat...

I was checked and found to be a 5 !!! I just kept saying "All by myself! I did it.". Five was such hard work on Pitocin with the birth of my son (requiring a folly bulb, and I never progressed past 5cm) three years ago.

I asked for the epidural upon which my amazing doula said 'O.K. but lets just try first to calm you down, lets just try'. And for two amazing hours I stared into her eyes as she talked out my focus for each contraction, growing roots... and then I started falling asleep between contractions. I was amazed. Her faith and focus helped me SOOOO much. But eventually the contractions started to really wear me down and I couldn't get "Epidural" out of my head (my thinking based on stories I have read was that sometimes we have to focus on the big goals, not be too stubborn, which I am very guilty of. I had to consider my energy level and whether I would be able to push when we got there.)

I really wanted to have something to give when it came to pushing and I needed rest after all the prodromal labors and latent labors had stolen so much energy reserve. My Doula mentioned getting checked before being sure... and I was at a 7 !!! and so elated I had made it to 7!!! and now give me the epidural... even if it slows things down. Beside Epidurals take so so sooo looong to get established. (wished I had presigned everything just in case).

The epidural was in by 4am, and I tried to sleep but couldn't. I ate peanut butter and honey mix. I closed my eyes and I made myself stop using the epidural button because i wanted to feel my contraction enough to breath for them and be tuned in. Hours and Hours went by, nurses changed shifts. I kinda plateaued at 8+ cm .

It took a while for me to care to get this moving, my energy level was worrysome. I tried making out with DH, which was nice. They broke my water bag and had me sit up to put more baby on the cervix. Still not to much going on.

I called my son to get some "give some" mommy hormones flowing... just after I hung up, I felt Amniotic Fluid gush and gush... and was told she must be moving down with the contractions or turning. What a wonderful sensation.

My amazing MD mentioned maybe a little pitocin was needed. I looked in her eyes... nodded and said "can anyone get me a breast pump?" In wheeled the double milker (lame lame lame but..) I did it, sat there knowing full well I have milk and not really seeing any flow, but I could feel after a bit the contrax get stronger. My annoyance picked up and I asked DH to go get me a sandwich. Chick-fil-A original and Iced tea. Imagine, he was suprised when I ate the whole thing and he had to run off and get another for himself. Turns out I pumped for over an hour and then put it down and told MD about my sandwich and how I could feel more pain. I wanteded a bolous of Epidural. That got her encouraged apparently.

The bolous arrived and while we were discussing how it wouldn't do much for me I said "Wow I can really feel this and I feel poopy". I got my bolus and we decided that all that sitting up must have blocked the epidural too much. But I had my legs. And thinking it was an experimental gesture and asked if we could see how I might work out on my knees they lowered the bed. I flipped right on over. WOW cool, stronger than an epidural.

Then I felt kinda stuck with these poopy feelings... and really wished I could just stop for a minute and go poop. The MD said if it felt pushy then I could push, and she checked me during a contraction and I wasn't "complete" because I was 10 with a "lip". IN my head I got hung up on not being "there yet" but she let me do my thing. If I felt pushy she was fine with that, and she kept her hand in there to tease back the lip.

I heard calls for mineral oil and heard drapes and things... but I didn't feel official and kept asking if I was at the pushing part yet... My doula told me to get out of my head - What mattered was what I felt .... I felt pushy, big POOPY pushy. Anyway my MD coaxed my cervix along and I pushed when I felt the need and really made myself let off that feeling and breath and oxygenate until I couldn't help those pushy feelings any longer. At some point I was calm enought to fix my hair and then...PUSH.

And then it was happening and I was that women or that other women I'd seen in home videos doing it, really doing it, me and my girl were really gonna have our moment... soooo surreal. Still interagting it. I reached back and felt her come at crowning. I pushed though it all and the funny thing was when she was supposed to slide all the way out an I was suppose to feel the big relief my daughter put her stamp on the event and got stuck at the hips, with what they jokingly called later, hip distocia. I had to come up with more to get her out! That was really tough for a moment, where the heck was I suppose to get what I needed to push again? Somehow I found it in me. Then there she was and I was sooo proud of both of us I could hardly speak, breath or cry.

Lots of Blood, probably standard afterbirth experience, and an overnight pit drip for my fairskinned, redheaded bleeding. I had one extremely minor tear thanks to the mineral oil rubbing my MD did and some controlled pushing at the end.

Baby and Momma recovered quickly and are falling in love.