Corey's Birth Part 1

When I was pregnant with Brad, I read a lot of the pregnancy books. I was so excited for each different stage and development with him, and loved reading up on it all.

Tyler's pregnancy was a little different; I knew what to expect and only looked at the books a couple of times.

So, needless to say, my third time around I may have looked at one of my pregnancy books once. There was something else I was reading up on, however, that the pregnancy books I had did not go into too much detail on-

I wanted, very much, to have a natural labor, without an epidural.    

(picture taken by my husband)

 

I had wanted to "try" a natural birth with Brad. I was not prepared at all, I just thought, in my mind, that I would tough it out for as long as I could and hope that I wouldn't need an epidural. I had even asked for the one labor room with the whirlpool tub.

Well, that lasted a couple of hours and then I got my epidural!

Unfortunately, I didn't prepare for a natural birth when I was pregnant with Tyler, either.

We were a little distracted during that time, though, because we were in the process of moving.

Again, I tried to last as long as I could, but then asked for an epidural.

I even tried remembering while I was in labor, that my friend, Lindsay, had done it just 6 days before without an epidural when she had her son, Charlie.

My mom even gave me a message via text, that Lindsay said "you can do it!" :-)

While that was very encouraging, I still had not prepared myself mentally for a natural birth and chose to get medicine. 

     

(picture taken by my friend, Lindsay)

After two failed attempts, I was determined to get the natural birth I had always hoped for, with my third baby.

My first two sons were induced because I have had gestational diabetes with each boy. 

I chose to be induced with Brad because they said that the week after his due date they would induce me anyway. I suppose I was a little impatient with my first baby, so I chose to be induced a few days before he was due.

I again chose to be induced a few days before Tyler's due date (they were both due on a Sunday), because it was very easy and stress-free for my husband and I to just go to the hospital at the appointed time without having me be in pain and feeling rushed to get there.

Being induced did not hinder, in any way I believe, my chance at a natural birth. All three of my labors have gone a similar way (about 5 1/2-6 hours each), with the first two being induced and Corey's not. I was even administered Pitocin with Tyler (did not need it with Brad as contractions started very strongly after my water accidentally broke at the hospital), and I do not feel that it made my labor with him more complicated or the pain worse. So, all that to say, I could have chosen to keep on with the first two labors without pain medication- I was just not prepared.

Besides choosing to labor without pain medication, I also wanted the experience (and also felt guilty that I "chose" my first two son's birth dates) of going into labor spontaneously, without being induced.

The Ob/Gyn office that I had been going to, would not have wanted me to go past 41 weeks without being induced, even though my gestational diabetes was diet-controlled. So, a little over half-way through the pregnancy with Corey, in late November, I switched to a midwife office that had an obstetrician as well. It was the best decision I had made for giving myself the boost to really go for the natural labor. The support from the midwives was greatly appreciated and I knew that when the time came, whoever I had for the labor, would be helpful. It was a hard decision, as I do not like change, and I did like that I happened to have the same Obstetrician deliver both Bradley and Tyler, but I felt it was the best decision for myself.

Some encouraging things the midwives said to me were:

~To get a labor coach that I could discuss with ahead of time about what I wanted during the labor.

(My husband was there and was VERY supportive, but it helped to have my best friend there as well.)

~ To not get the IV line in my arm as soon as I was there (in case I did ask for the epidural). This REALLY helped me not give in to asking for the epidural. I knew that if I had gotten the IV line put in, then I could ask for the epidural without too much notice.

~Encouragement that I was doing the right thing that I wanted and felt was best for me and the baby, even though it was more of a stressful time for my family, dealing with the unknown of when I would go into labor.

I took to heart what the midwife said about a birth coach and brought it up to a couple of friends one night at a book study, that I did not know who I was going to ask. I was thinking that since almost all of my friends had children, it would be unfair to ask them because then they would need childcare for their children. And, my one friend that does not have children yet, well, she has a full-time job.

Thankfully I said something that night because it was my best friend herself, the one that has the full-time job, who offered to be my birth coach! I was very grateful!

We met about a month before I was due to go over everything I wanted. A birth-plan of sorts, but it was not set in stone.

I feel very comfortable in the hospital I deliver and I love working with the nurses there. I did not feel threatened at all that they would discourage the things I did not want, such as the IV line put in. I did not type out my birth plan to have organized, or to hand out to the staff at the hospital- my friend, Jen, just brought the notes she had written down when we had met a few weeks earlier and she helped me remember the things I wanted to tell the nurse of how I planned to labor.

I would say that it all went smoothly and I do not regret doing it that way and not having a long birth plan printed out and copies to hand out, like I have read in so many other birth stories. But, like I said before, I am comfortable at the hospital I deliver at. And, I also felt support from the midwife office I was working with.

To prepare, I read a lot of birth stories online, a birth coach blog, natural childbirth websites, and also, I ordered this e-book and LOVED it!

That was the extent of my preparation and I tried to visualize how I would manage the pain that I knew I would be facing.

Towards the end of this pregnancy, I felt that I had read so much that I possibly couldn't read anymore. I was nervous that I was not prepared but I knew I had done my best. I was also a little nervous that I had not hired a Doula or was using a specific birth method technique. I felt though, that trying to visualize how I would manage the pain, was good enough for me. I was afraid that after spending time and money on a technique, such as hypno-babies, or the Bradley Method, that in the end, they might not work after all.

So, this is part one of Corey's birth- how I prepared and what I wanted to do differently than my previous two labors.

I was nervous about what I knew was ahead, especially since I have a low tolerance for pain, but God definitely helped me through it!