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Time sure has flown right by, but in a really weird way. Just 9 months ago, I didn't even know what a contraction was, today however I'm well aware of what it is, exactly. I am proud to say that I labored at home and gave birth at the hospital naturally, with no epidural.
With 7 days till due date, I paid the doctor a visit. It was a Tuesday and I remember feeling excited knowing that any day now, my baby would show face. I was also very scared because I didn't know what giving birth was like. I carried really low the whole pregnancy and had a pretty small belly to show for. Anyway, during my visit to the doctor, what I remember her saying was, "he's right there, I'm going to sweep your membranes." And at the blink of an eye, she swept my membranes. She didn't even explain what she had done with her fingers, so I googled it when I returned home (membrane sweep).
At home, I felt really light cramps and after about 48 hours, they became a lot stronger. I didn't know it, but I was in the early stages of labor. Up until that point, I felt no pain during my pregnancy whatsoever. I thought I finally had the fake contractions, also known as braxton-hicks. But no, I would find out later on, that these were the real deal contractions. Check out Pregnancy For Dummies
Contractions are like really strong menstrual cramps except that they come and go. As for me, at 11 am Thursday morning they were official cramps, so official that they woke me up from a nap. The "contractions" lasted about a minute and a half and they would come every 20 minutes or so. By 3 pm, they were 10 mins apart. I remember everyone telling me go to the hospital because they "knew" it was labor, so I went. I arrived at the hospital, I checked in, was measured and told that I was only 3cm dilated. I remember one of the nurses said, "You're not in labor yet. This is the beginning though, you should be here by the weekend. If you were in true labor we wouldn't be able to have this conversation right now." It made me chuckle.
It was a Thursday and I was sent back home. The pain continued to increase in frequency that evening and eventually came every 7 minutes by 9pm. I tried to eat dinner, but couldn't. I took a few showers because they made me feel a little bit better. I was constantly using the bathroom as if I had diarrhea. I laid on the bed, stood up, laid down again and stood up for hours. I felt restless. Since they said I would be going into labor by the weekend, I remember thinking, wow, another day and a half of this pain is going to drive me nutts.
By 1am, I had the urge to push as if I had to take a realllly mean dump! I looked at my boyfriend and said, "Holy shit, I have to push! I feel like I cant stop the push, We have to go, right NOW!" then the push went away. We hurried out and after 3 minutes, the push came again and I stopped on my way out of the building and let out a "Grraaaaaahhhh". Then we continued to the car. Luckily for me the hospital was literally minutes away. Again, while looking for parking because I didn't want to go in alone, the push came. We parked on the wrong side of the hospital and had to walk around to the er. While on our way there, guess what happened? It was the push again. Finally, I walked into the ER, told them I was in labor as they made me wait in a corner. So I started screaming after about a minute because the push came again along with pain. So they realized I was ready to go, threw me in a wheel chair and literally ran me through the hospital up to the 5th floor.
Once there, I remember them asking if my water broke, I remember saying that I wasn't sure. Then I screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhhh". Probably scaring all of the women there that were nice and calm. I screamed because the push came once again and I almost knelt on the floor.
I was undressed, put in a gown and then on the gurney and rolled into the deliver room. Everything was happening so fast that at one point, there was no one in the room with me. So I shouted, "Somebody help me, I have to push. ahhhhhhh!" Then some nurses at the nurse station yelled back, "ok, ok!"
My son was born at 1:36 am. No time for epidural or anything fancy. One doctor delivering, one nurse holding one leg and my boyfriend holding back the other. By the third set of pushing, he was out! They placed him on my chest, asked me if I wanted to breast feed, which I said yes, but I didn't want to do it at that moment. (Which I should have because then breastfeeding would have worked for us, but I didn't and it didn't. If there's a next time, I will be sure to breastfeed right after delivery because there is something in the amniotic fluid that tells babies this is where you get food from, not a bottle. But once that fluid is wiped off and they are given a nipple, that's when nipple confusion sets in and if they are happy with a bottle nipple and not your nipple then guess what, breastfeeding is really difficult.)
Women are definitely built for labor. Once it was over, I remember cramps but then they gave me some tylenol and that was that. We are amazing creatures!
