Hunter's Birth Story, Part II

Read Part I here...

My parents arrived at my house about 11pm. My contractions were coming steadily about every 5-10 minutes, and they were painful. Still doable but challenging. Around 11:40pm, they were close enough together and strong enough that we decided to head to the hospital. 

When we arrived at the hospital and was being checked in triage, it was 12am, and I was 5 cm! I was elated that I had progressed to this point before arriving. Even though I had been in early labor for a full day, I was so glad that I had at least been at home the entire time and not stuck in a hospital. This was also the first of my pregnancies where I had gone to the hospital without my water breaking first.

I got a room, and Eric, my mom, and my doula, Pam, all went in with me. This was also the first of my births with so many people present, so that was a new experience. But it was all going pretty smoothly even with everyone there. Eric was still very present and the most important person there, and Pam and my mom were more in the background. It was then that I found out that my doctor was not on call, even though I thought she was, and I was definitely bummed out. Fortunately, I didn't know then what I was in for with the on call doctor, or I would have been much more stressed about it (spoiler alert: she was awful).

So, time moved on, and I was breathing through my contractions pretty effectively. Pam and my mom kept commenting on how gracefully I was dealing with labor, and that of course made me feel good. It seemed like I was still having enough space between contractions to have time to relax and interact, which made a big difference. At about 2:30am, I was checked again, and I was 7-8 cm! Woohoo! I desperately wanted to sleep more than anything, so I just tried to relax as much as I could between contractions. I think the reason things weren't so crazy intense was because my water still hadn't broken yet. I had approached this labor without even a thought about getting an epidural, and there really wasn't even a moment when I felt like I was going to change my mind. Definitely the gift of having gone through this before and knowing exactly what I wanted (barring unforeseen circumstances, of course). I just felt prepared, and I think it also helped me to manage the pain better.

At about 3:15am, I was checked again, and I was 9cm! I was so happy! However, this is when the contractions kicked into super high gear. Oh man, it was rough. But I also thought for sure that I would be pushing within an hour and that carried me through. However, an hour later, I was still exactly the same, and I couldn't believe it. It was definitely discouraging. I was trying different positions to get things moving, but it was hard, too, because the pain was so intense. After a while, the nurse (who was awesome) asked if I wanted to have the doctor break my water. I wasn't sure just yet because I kind of wanted to see what would happen without that being done. However, as time moved on, I decided that if I still wasn't progressing, I was going to go for it. At around 4:50am, I was still 9cm, so I said let's do it! I was so ready to get the show on the road.

The doctor came into the room. This was the first I had seen of her, even though she had been in the hospital since I had arrived, so I'd been hoping she would at least stop by to introduce herself, but she didn't. Immediately, I just felt this abruptness from her, but I was too focused on the contractions to really concern myself with it. She went in to break my water, and let me tell you that having your water broken at that point is very painful! The baby is so low and you're constantly contracting, so it was not a pleasant experience. But it was then that she realized the baby's head was turned the wrong way, which had been preventing me from fully dilating. So, this was definitely the best decision. Within minutes, I could feel a change, and when I was checked, I was almost fully 10cm! I could feel my body start to push.

The nurse got the doctor, who then reprimanded her since I wasn't fully 10cm yet. I felt bad for the nurse, who was super sweet and only trying to do her job. But the nurse told her it was because she thought things were going to go fast, and she was right. Within a couple minutes, I was ready to go! The pushing was as I remembered from Ava - very painful! But it really motivates you to push with all your might to get that baby out asap! Within 10 minutes, she pulled him out completely, and I think that was the most amazing feeling in my life. To go from intense pain to suddenly feeling amazingly light and free as this big baby gets released from your body! It's indescribable.

The second Hunter was placed on my stomach, I just felt so full of joy and amazement. I could hear my mom sniffling, and I was so happy she had been there to share the experience. I think because I was so busy this pregnancy with my two other kids, I just didn't have a lot of time to really focus my attention on the baby growing inside me, but it's so amazing how the second you meet him, you just fill up completely with a huge amount of love, and it just overwhelmed me.

And as for the doctor, I could write several paragraphs about her, but what it boiled down to was the fact that she just lacked a decent bedside manner and made me feel like I was an inconvenience to her. From stitching me up when the local anesthetic hadn't kicked in and she didn't even care (by the way - that was so crazy painful it rivaled the actual labor and delivery!) to being annoyed that I wasn't doing everything exactly the way she wanted it done, I just felt that her patients' wishes and desires are less important than how she wanted things to go, and I just didn't like her approach at all. And I also felt that she was unnecessarily rough with certain aspects when it wasn't necessary (after giving birth 3 times, I've never experienced so much discomfort after the delivery as I did this time). She was the polar opposite of how my own doctor is, and after going through the journey to find a doctor who would be supportive of natural childbirth, it was utterly disappointing to end up with someone like this.

But I was just so grateful that my birth went smoothly, and Hunter was healthy, so this doctor had minimal interaction with me. Hunter was 8 pounds 14 ounces - my biggest baby yet! He looked so healthy and perfect, and I was so excited to finally have him out in the world!

We still hadn't chosen a name, so I turned to Eric and told him to pick. The name Hunter had been on our short list, although we still weren't sure even when we arrived at the hospital. He picked Hunter, and it felt right to me. We chose Michael as his middle name because it's my dad's first name. I'm so glad we were able to include a family name in there.

So, all in all, I'd say the birth was fantastic and everything I hoped for (minus my doctor not being there), and I'm so grateful it all went well, and now we can enjoy our awesome baby boy, who was born on his due date, just like his big sister!