The Breuers: Birth Story

I want to document our birth story, mainly so that I can remember it in the future. I enjoyed reading birth stories while preparing for childbirth, so there may be people interested in mine. But for some people, this may be too much information - I apologize in advance :)

My goal was to have a natural childbirth - no medications for induction, labor augmentation, or pain relief. I also hoped to have a water birth. I put my plan in place, but I also tried to be prepared in case interventions were needed. Obviously having a healthy baby was the most important goal, so I was not planning to decline all suggested interventions - I just planned on making informed decisions after evaluating the risks and alternatives.

Now for the day I went into labor. My due date was August 12, and I was fully expecting to be late, so going into labor at 39 weeks 1 day was definitely a surprise. It's probably easiest to present this as a timeline.

Tuesday, August 6 - 2 a.m. - I woke up when Joseph came to bed and was about to get up to go to the bathroom when I felt my underwear get wet. I thought maybe it was my water breaking, but it wasn't a lot of fluid, so I wasn't sure. I decided to go back to bed. But I did tell Joseph that I thought my water broke, which resulted in neither of us sleeping very well because we were excited/anxious.
4 a.m. - I woke up and was wet again. Now I was convinced it was my water breaking.
8 a.m. - I called the on-call midwife to see if I should come in. I had my 39-week appointment scheduled for 10:30 a.m. that day, so she said to just wait until the appointment and she would confirm that my water had indeed broke. I kept waiting for contractions to start, but none came (other than small, Braxton-Hicks sensations).
10:30 a.m. - Joseph and I went to my appointment, and the midwife, Gloria, confirmed that my water had broken. She checked my dilation, and I was only 2 cm. She told me to go home and go for a power walk to try to get the contractions going. Then she said I needed to come back at 2 p.m. to be admitted. She said that they like women to deliver within 24 hours of the water breaking, as the chance of infection goes up after that. I had Group B Strep, which required me to be given antibiotics during labor, so she wanted me in at 2 p.m. since it would be 12 hours after my water broke and I needed to be in the hospital for at least four hours to get my two doses of antibiotics.
12 p.m. - I walked two laps around the block while Joseph went to fill up the car with gas (of course it was almost empty - I had planned to fill it after my appointment that day). Then Joseph joined me and we walked in the park for about 45 minutes. Still nothing was happening. We ate lunch and started packing up the car. It certainly wasn't how we envisioned going to the hospital. We thought we would labor at home for a while, and then it would be a rush to get in the car and drive to the hospital. But we just slowly got ready and made sure we had everything we needed. We said goodbye to Lucy and headed out.
2:30 p.m. - We checked into Atlanta Medical Center and got setup in Labor & Delivery Room #2. The on-call midwife, Linda, came to see us. She recommended that I get started on Pitocin since it had been over 12 hours and I was not showing any signs of active labor. She said it was up to us, though, so we decided to wait six more hours and see what happened. In the meantime, they hooked me up to an IV to start giving me antibiotics. Luckily I just had to be on it for 30 minutes while I was administered the Penicillin and then it was removed. I was also monitored for 30 minutes to check the baby's heart rate (good) and my contractions (slim to none).
7:00 p.m. - With no labor in sight, Joseph decided to head home to feed Lucy and let her out. He also picked up dinner at Zesto's and brought it back for me. A greasy cheeseburger and soft serve ice cream probably weren't the best thing to eat while in labor, but it was close to our house and quick.
8:00 p.m. - It had been 18 hours since my water broke. Gloria was now the on-call midwife, and she came to see us. She also recommended Pitocin. I was really torn because Pitocin scared me - I had read that it usually causes stronger contractions, so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to cope with them and would want pain relief. It also meant I had to be hooked up to an IV and have continuous fetal monitoring, which would prevent me from moving freely around the room. But I also knew that my labor wasn't progressing, and I didn't want any harm to come to the baby or me. I asked Gloria what she thought, and she said if I was her daughter, she'd tell me to take it. So I agreed. Gloria said they'd start me at the lowest dose of 2 ml and then move me up to 4 ml after an hour. She thought this would get me going slowly and allow me to rest for a bit, since it had been a long day. Then when I was ready to get into full labor, they would increase it more.
10:00 p.m. - I started receiving Pitocin. Joseph had been getting sick all day, and I was exhausted, so we both laid down to rest. But while Joseph was able to go to sleep quickly, I started having contractions almost immediately.
11:00 p.m. - The Pitocin was increased to 4 ml. I was lying on the bed trying to rest, but each contraction kept causing more and more pain in my lower back. I stood up and that helped. I decided to accept the fact that I was in labor and would not be getting any rest, so I woke Joseph up and told him it was time for us to start laboring.
Wednesday, August 7 - 2:00 a.m. - After laboring for a few hours and realizing the contractions were getting stronger and closer together, we decided to call in our doula, Carrie. We had delayed calling her since I hadn't been in active labor earlier in the day, and we thought the Pitocin would take a while to kick in. But now we were ready for her.
2:30 a.m. - By this point I was having very strong contractions, with the pain mostly in my lower back (which made me think the baby could be posterior). They were unbearable unless Joseph or Carrie (or both) were rubbing my back. We decided to call in the nurse and see if we could turn down the Pitcoin to 2 ml. She checked with Gloria and said we could do that.
3:00 a.m. - Turning down the Pitocin did not slow down my contractions, so we asked if I could go off of it completely. This would allow me to move around, get in the shower, and eventually get in the tub. Gloria agreed, but after turning it off I would have to remain monitored for 30 minutes. If everything looked good, I could get off the monitors and remain off the Pitocin for another hour. If my contractions slowed, I would have to go back on.
3:15 a.m. - I was taken off of Pitocin and the IV was removed. I remained hooked up to the monitors so that they could watch the baby's heart rate (still good) and my contractions (definitely getting stronger and longer).
3:45 a.m. - After 30 minutes of monitoring, I was told I could get off the monitors. This made me so happy! Joseph and Carrie took me into the shower, where they sprayed hot water on my back. It felt wonderful. It was so nice to be able to move around, and the warm water worked wonders for the pain.
4:45 a.m. - An hour had passed since I was taken off the monitors, and my labor was still progressing, so I was allowed to remain off Pitocin.
5:00 a.m. - I was starting to feel ready for the tub. Generally they want you to wait to get into the tub until the end of your labor, so that it is your last resource for coping. It also allows you to birth the baby in the tub if you want. We called in Gloria to check my progress. I didn't want to know my dilation, but she said I was definitely ready for the tub, so that was a good sign.
6:00 a.m. - The tub was filled with warm water and ready for me. When I say "tub", it's really an inflatable pool, maybe 4 feet in diameter. They bring it into the room and put in a liner so that it's sanitary. Then it's filled from a hose. The water is about 100 degrees, so really nice and soothing. The fact that it was an inflatable tub and not a regular tub was actually wonderful - I could lean over the sides and be cushioned, and the whole bottom was cushioned and comfortable to sit on. The warm water felt great on my back pain, and being in the water allowed me to move about more freely.
8:00 a.m. - The next couple of hours kind of went by in a blur for me. I was utterly exhausted at this point, having had hardly any sleep since Sunday night. Between each contraction, I pretty much zoned out and felt like I was falling asleep. Joseph and Carrie kept me motivated, and at some point, I started pushing. I have no idea how long I pushed.
8:39 a.m. - Lola Maryon Breuer was born. I felt her head come out first and thought I was done, but then I realized I needed another push to get the rest of her body out. I had been squatting in the water, and after she was out, I sat down and leaned back against the tub. Gloria took Lola out of the water and handed her to me. I held her while Gloria did a quick examination. Joseph was behind me outside of the tub and hugged both of us. Lola was blue (which is standard for babies born in the water), but she slowly awakened and cried for us, so we knew she was healthy. I held her in the water for 5-10 minutes, and then Joseph cut her cord. It was truly an amazing experience, and I still get teary-eyed thinking about it.

While I ended up getting Pitocin for labor augmentation, which wasn't in my plan, I'm still so very happy with the birth. It appears my body needed the Pitocin to kickstart labor, and I'm just happy that I was allowed the freedom to labor naturally after that. I was able to birth without drugs for pain relief, and I was able to birth in the tub, so those two goals were met. And the most important goal - a healthy baby - was met as well.