After months of wondering and waiting, Charles is finally here! I wanted to write down as much as I can remember about the day before I forget it, so this may get a little long :)
It started Monday with operation get baby out! I went mall walking with my pregnant friend Jamie who was due 5 days ahead of me. Then I got a pedicure and sat in the massage chair on high settings. I made SPICY chipotle seasoned tacos for dinner. I had Joe do acuppressure points that induce labor, and the kicker, that night was the full moon!
With all the old wives tales on my side I woke up around 3am and felt wet. I looked but it was just wet in my underwear so I figured it was just discharge. I got up a few minutes later to put lotion on my face and a huge gush came out of me. I wasnt sure if my water broke so I called Joe in to come check it out. While he was looking at it I gushed again making us believe this was really it!
I wanted to wait a while to go to the hospital since I planned on having a natural med free birth. I knew once I walked in the doors I would be on their time and schedule. I wasn't contracting so we went for a little walk and had breakfast. I called my OB to let her know and she suggested going in a few hours. I arrived at Labor and Delivery around 9:30am and was admitted right away after my urine test indicated I had broke my water.
I was only 1 1/2cm dilated so Joe and I walked laps around the maternity ward. My mom came to visit for awhile as well as Joe's parents and my sister in law and nephew. I wasn't progressing at all so I agreed to let them strip my membranes and they would check in 3 hours. I didn't want pitocin and was against anything that would be "unnatural" which the nurses respected. 3 hours later I was only at 3 cm. We decided to break the rest of my water as there was still some bulged around the babies head. They did this at 7pm and my contractions started getting stronger. They said they would check again in 3 more hours.
Joe and I walked more laps and used the birthing ball. It was getting harder to walk without stopping so almost every lap we had to stop so I could get through the contractions. At 10pm the nurse came to check me again and I was at 3 1/2 cm. I was so frustrated I wanted to cry. I feared that I would need the pitocin which she suggested. I asked if I could have 1 more hour to try and jumpstart things and if nothing happened I would agree to a small pitocin drip. The nurse called my OB and miraculously he agreed to forgo the pitocin and would allow me to progress naturally on my own until 4am. Then they would reevaluate and see where we would need to go from there.
The nursed switched and I had a fabulous one named Chi. She was very supportive of my natural choices and said that she thought I was stuck at 3cm because of my LEEP procedure I had a year ago. She described that scar tissue was built up there and as soon as charlie could push past that labor would go pretty quickly. I of course thought she was lying to me and I would be in labor forever! I was in the tub at this point which felt really good. I couldn't walk anymore and my contractions were right on top of each other. Joe was an amazing coach. He kept telling me I was doing great and that I could do this.
When I got out of the tub she was in the room setting up for delivery. I thought that was mean because it felt like I still had a long ways to go.....she must have known! I crawled into the bed and couldn't talk or move it hurt so bad. It felt like a brick scraping up against my back/butt. I was only 4 cm dilated at this point around 3am. I got on the birthing The nurses switched again so when she came to check me I was at 8cm. I went from 4-8 in about 40 minutes!!! The nurse left and I started feeling like I had to push. I told Joe who rang for her to come back in. She checked me and I was at 10 cm +1 station....all in another 10 minute time period. Chi was right...I did progress fast.
This last part is a blur because the pain was so intense. I hurt so bad I couldn't talk, move or focus really. My OB was still not there yet so they wouldn't let me push, which was IMPOSSIBLE because my body was doing it naturally. That is when I started screaming. It felt so good to push and they wouldn't let me! Finally they said I could and I screamed with every one I had. I pushed for about 20 minutes and finally at 4:09am Charles Robert Cincoski was here. He weighed 6 pounds 11 ounce and was 19 3/4 inches long. I was able to have the natural pain medication free birth I dreamed of. I can't wait to see what the future will bring.
