I was out with my friends on Thursday, May 16th when my mucus plug
came out. I knew losing your mucus plug doesn't mean labor would start
right away, so I didn't think much of it. My mucus plug continued to
come out for the next day and I was spotting.
Friday morning came and I felt nothing. I was already scheduled to get
induced the following Tuesday, so I thought the baby was going to wait
until then. I decided to take a nap after having breakfast with Perry.
I napped for two hours and had lunch. I started getting vague, period
like cramps and began texting Perry that I was feeling something. Not
thinking much of it, I decided to go on the treadmill for 20 minutes.
The cramps began getting closer and closer, about 15-20 minutes apart.
Perry came home from work early and started packing our delivery bag.
We watched TV together to relax and had dinner together. I took a
shower and washed my hair. At this point, the pain level was
manageable, maybe about 3 out of a 10. The contractions started
getting closer together around 8pm, about 10 minutes apart, so we
called our doula and she came over to help us.
Between the hours of 8pm and 2am, our doula helped us get into many
positions to help make the contractions stronger and closer together.
We walked outside, up stairs - sumo style, she gave me massages, had
me lay in positions to open up my cervix, did lunges, took a 45 min
shower and also took a nap. I went through about 70 contractions by
2am before I decided I wanted to go to the hospital. By then, I was
having contractions every 5 min or so and the pain was at about a 6.
Still manageable.
I got to the hospital and got checked right away. I was 5cm dilated
and 90% effaced (you start pushing at 10cm, so I still had a long way
to go). My doula and I did a series of activities to help speed up
labor: walking up stairs, walking around, doing lunges, taking a
shower, etc. At around 6am (I was at 7cm at this point), my doctor
broke my water and that's when the contractions really started to
hurt. From 6:30-10:00, the pain level went from a 6 to an 11. I
continued doing the activities with my doula and the contractions were
coming every two minutes or so. The last thing we did was take a
shower. I couldn't stand up on my own through the contractions because
they hurt so bad, so we brought a medicine ball into the bathtub and I
leaned on it, knees bent on towels, while Perry sprayed water on my
body and pelvis through the contractions. I was crying by now and
couldn't focus on anything, could barely talk. The thought about
getting an epidural crossed my mind so many times here, but I just
pushed through it. Contractions at this point were about every minute
now and pain was about a 12. Perry held my hand every time a
contraction came. I squeezed everything out if it!!
It was about 10am when the doctor said it was time to push. From
10:00-12:30 was one of the most painful things I've experienced. I had
to push through each contraction and they were now 30 sec apart. The
pain tolerance by now was at a 15 (still out of 10!!). I didn't even
have time to think or rest. All I know was that it was absolute heaven
whenever the 30 seconds came. Each time I had the 30 second break, I
really wasn't sure how I was even going to make it through the next
contraction, but just dealt with it each time it came and breathed and
screamed through it. The contractions I had to push through lasted two
minutes. There were times I thought I was going to die. Perry and my
doula helped me get into each contraction, every time; they played
such an instrumental role during labor. I wouldn't have been able to
do it without them.
11:30am came and the nurse said I'll start feeling a "ring of fire",
when the head starts to peep out. Fire was correct. I can't even begin
to explain how much it hurt. Every push seemed like it made such
little difference and I really couldn't see the end of the tunnel. At
12:39, the doctor said it was my last push. By then, I was completely
exhausted and had given it my absolute all and gave it one last push
and Jorah's head came out. Then she pulled the rest of his body out
and instantly all the pain went away. OMG it was the best feeling
ever.
He was worth all the pain. I'm so in love!!
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