Eli's birthday :: birth story

This story starts on Saturday morning, May 12th. I woke up Saturday morning and took my blood pressure like I was instructed to by my midwife. I was not really worried since my blood pressure for the last few days had been looking really well. On Friday I had some labs done to include a 24 hour urine test to see how much protein was in my urine. When I took my blood pressure it was 157/84...not good, I also felt like I had a lot more swelling that morning. I called Kathy, my midwife, she said to try to relax and take my blood pressure again in an hour. She said if it didn't go down within the hour she wanted me to go into the hospital for a non-stress test. She warned me at that point that if my blood pressure was still high they would probably keep me and induce me that day. I spent the next hour coming to terms with the fact that my home birth was probably not going to happen and I was mentally preparing for a hospital birth. I took my bp again an hour later an it had gone down under the danger zone. Kathy also was able t check on the results of my blood work from Friday and she said my blood work looked good. The results of my 24 hour urine test would not come back till Monday. At this point Kathy said it was my choice at that point if I wanted to go to the hospital or not. Eli was still moving around a lot, and I was feeling pretty good. I promised her I would check my bp throughout the day and call her if anything got worse. She also said she wanted me to drink Caster Oil that night to see if we could get things moving. I was really nervous about this as I have heard and read some horror stories, but I agreed to try in hopes to evade the preeclampsia that was rearing it's ugly head.

We went about our day, Marcus had a work function that morning, Garrett and I had a school picnic in the morning and then in the afternoon we were all headed to our Goodbye Picnic. I took my bp in between events, it was good and I also took a rest while Garrett took his rest. At 8:00pm Marcus and settled in to watch the last Harry Potter movie on HBO and I took my first dose of Caster Oil. I was instructed to drink 2 oz and then two hours later another 2 oz. I mixed it with OJ, plugged my nose, and chugged it. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Within 30 minutes of my first dose I could feel the affects. My stomach was churning. I was not really expecting anything to happen. I was expecting to have many trips to the bathroom and then eventually it would end. I took my second dose at 10:00pm and by 11:00pm our movie was over and I was pretty much cleaned out. Marcus went to bed and I stayed up for a few more bathroom trips and a lot of cramping. I was pretty uncomfortable, but I was expecting the cramping to stop in a couple of hours. The cramping did not stop...it felt like I was having diarrhea cramps and menstrual cramps all night and it felt like I had to go to the bathroom all the time. I kept thinking the cramping would go away, but by 4:00am they were just getting worse and I felt like I needed to get outside and walk a little bit. I woke Marcus up and asked him to walk around to apt complex with me. He asked me if I was in labor and I told him I did not know, but that I was really uncomfortable.

We walked the big loop around the complex and then I had to use the bathroom again. At 4:45am I started timing contractions. They were pretty irregular, between 3 and 5 minutes apart lasting anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute and a half. We called Kathy at 5:15am to ask if she though this was labor. She said things still seemed a little irregular and to call her back in an hour. Right after I got off the phone with her my contractions got super close together, a minute and a half apart lasting about 45 seconds. They were very intense, at 5:40am my water broke. Marcus called Kathy and she said she was one her way and would be here in about an hour. It was not till this point that I really believed I was in labor. I got a little nervous right after my water broke because all of the sudden I had a really long break between the next contraction and then my contractions got really regular. They were about three minutes apart, lasting for about 1 minute. I was laboring really well. The contractions were uncomfortable, but manageable. I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees rocking through them. It felt good to rock and sway, it felt good to sit on my yoga ball and make circles with my hips. Things progressed like this for about 2 hours. Kathy got here around 6:30am. It gave me a lot of confidence when she got here. I felt like I could really do this. I asked her to check me so I had some idea of what I was up against. I was at 8 cm. I was very happy with that. I knew the end would be here soon and I just needed to keep doing what I was doing. She suggested I try to labor standing up for a while to get Eli moving downward.

I got up and moved to the end of our bed so I could use the foot board for support. I labored this way for a little while when I started feeling like I wanted to push through the contraction. It was not that feeling of needing to push more like it just felt better to bear down a little during my contractions. At this point I was getting more an more uncomfortable and my legs were getting so tired. I moved into the bathroom, I sat backwards on the toilet so I could use the tank to rest on in between contractions. Plus the cold toilet felt so good cause I was so hot and tired at this point. I am pretty sure I started going though transition at this point. I was talking crazy talk, I was saying that I didn't want to do this today, I was saying that I couldn't do it,  I was crying, I felt fear, and it was very painful. I just wanted it to be over with. I finally got back on my bed on all fours so I could get ready to push. Once that urge to push came it came strong and there was nothing I could do but push. Pushing a baby out is the most surreal feeling I have ever felt. It hurts in a good way and it is so amazing how your body just takes over. I screamed and yelled while I was pushing. It somehow made me feel better. I felt like I was going to have to push forever. Kathy finally told me I could feel him and that he was coming. I reached up there and I felt my babies head and I knew I only had to endure this a little longer till my baby was in my arms. I think at that point I gave it all my energy and pushed about 4 or 5 times. I could feel him coming down further with every push. Finally he crowned and I felt the "ring of fire" at that point I just wanted another contraction so I could get his head out. I pushed one more time and his head was out, the next push his body came out. Marcus was able to catch him and he was the one to hand me my baby.

He was absolutely perfect. He just laid on my chest for about an hour before they took him for weight and measurement. Marcus cut the cord after I delivered the placenta. Garrett was with us just an hour after Eli was born and it was so great to have my whole family together. It was so nice to recover in my own bed and in the comfort of my own home. Eli made his debut on Sunday May 13, 2012 at 8:53am, he was 6 lbs, 12 oz, and 21 inches long. He was absolutely perfect. My labor and birth were exactly what I wanted. I would not have changed a thing and I would totally do it all over again.