Birth Story By: Brie Rose Willette
Birth Story: A Little Pitocin – Positive Experience
Norah was due August 9. The day came and went….
Due Dates Are Guess Dates
The week dragged on with no sign of labor going to present itself. Friday the 14th I had called my midwifery office to see if they could squeeze me in for a membrane sweep. Meredith had checked me and said that I was 2-3 cm. I had some cramping for a few hours but nothing that was unbearable. Monday the 17th I had an appointment for an ultrasound for amniotic fluid check—all was good—and the OB offered to do another membrane sweep. I was down to 1.5 cm at that point so I was feeling quite hopeless. She did the sweep which caused less cramping than the first one. We scheduled an induction for Sunday the 23rd which would’ve put me at exactly 42 weeks. Tuesday afternoon I took Camden swimming at a local swimming hole. Trying to see if that might help bring on labor. No such luck. Wednesday we went back to the swimming hole. That night I put Camden to bed and couldn’t sleep. Tossed and turned. Went to the bathroom and had some diarrhea which was completely surprising due to my very irregular bowel movements at this point in my pregnancy. I came downstairs and laid on the couch and texted Mom that I thought I might be in the early stages of labor as I was having some severe, period like cramping. She called and said to keep me posted. Thursday morning I woke up and was disappointed that the cramping had disappeared. I went upstairs to wake up Camden as I had a 9 am appointment for another amniotic fluid check and NST. At the appointment the OB checked my cervix and announced that I was 4 cm! I just laughed at her as we had discussed another sweep beforehand. She said the fluid looked acceptable and sent me to my NST. Camden and I arrived at the birth center for the NST. The nurse asked me if I could feel any of the contractions that were being displayed on the paper to which I replied that I could not.
After the NST Meghan the midwife came in around noon and offered to recheck my cervix since earlier in the morning I was 4 cm. To our surprise I was 5-6 cm! She suggested that we “have a baby today!” Mom was already on her way as after my ultrasound appointment I informed her that I was 4 cm. I then called Cody and told him that we were going to have a baby today. Meghan offered to break my water once we were settled into the labor and delivery room to see if that would bring on more consistent and stronger contractions. This happened at about 3:30 PM. I was informed to order supper ahead of time, just in case I was in the throws of labor, and then order an “after supper meal”. I placed my order.
The hospital food was PHENOMINAL to my surprise!
I had supper and waited for contractions to start. At this point it was 5:30 PM. Meghan came in to suggest we try nipple stimulation to get some contractions rolling. I asked for a pump and while I did not get consistent contractions, after about an hour and a half of pumping off and on for 15 minutes at a time, it seemed to be working. Around 7:30 PM Meghan came in to check my cervix to see where we were. I was still only at 5-6 cm. She suggested starting Pitocin. I went to the bathroom and felt like I was starting to have stronger, consistent contractions. (At this point we sent Camden home because we weren’t sure how late we would be working into the night, I felt bad because he really wanted to be there AND wanted to cut the umbilical cord, but I later decided it was probably better that he was not there during the real contractions and labor/delivery). She came back in and I asked her to check me again. No change. We started Pitocin around 8:30/9 PM. I was on Pitocin for the shortest, lowest dose possible. The machine kept beeping because it was starting to be too much. After the Pitocin Meghan checked me again and I was finally at 8 cm. I was between standing and sitting on the bed, I couldn’t quite get comfortable in any certain position. My body tried involuntarily pushing (still at 8 cm). Meghan offered for me to lean over the back of the bed to see if we could get Norah lower into the birth canal. I stayed in that position for about 15-20 minutes. Her heart rate dropped a bit and we ended up switching me to a side laying position on the bed. My body was still involuntarily pushing so Meghan checked me again and said I was at 9 cm but that there was a lip on my cervix [the same thing that happened during Camden’s birth]. She pushed the lip over Norah’s head and gave me the go-ahead to start pushing. I listened to my contractions and felt Norah move down. I pushed three times and she was out! Meghan offered to let me feel Norah’s head but I politely declined stating “I just want to hold onto the bedrails right now”- haha!
Norah was handed directly to me. She was crying the instant she was placed on my chest. I exclaimed that she could be her brother’s twin, only 4 years later! Within ten minutes she sort of flopped her wet body against my chest and we initiated breastfeeding. We had about an hour to an hour and a half of skin to skin. She weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and 20-21.5 inches long (we had two different measurements in 4 days’ time)
*Though I had to have Pitocin I feel like I walked away from my birth with a very positive experience—I had a horrible experience with Pitocin with Camden. I was not pressured into anything I was not comfortable with. My nurse, Samantha, was AMAZING. I did not ask for an on call doula and I am so glad that I didn’t because I really felt like she was a nurse and doula in one. Cody and my mom were present for the birth. Cody actually held my leg while I was pushing—that is a big thing for him as when I was giving birth to Camden he was hiding behind my shoulders and I didn’t even know he was in the room.
Norah was born Thursday August 20th and beautiful!
A Picture Of Modern Birth
This birth story and others from the August 2015 due date group can be found on this blog. They are being shared by mothers who want to give new moms and old a window into that birth looks like today to empower others to make choices for themselves. LittleCrunchy.com fully supports evidence based birth and wants to help however we can. Please feel free to leave comments and questions and check back for more birth stories from this great group of women!
