Natalie Ann's Birth Story

We arrived at the hospital at 8am. The sweet nurse had a hard time finding a vein for an IV. The first one blew a vein. It was REALLY painful! The 2nd vein wouldn’t be budged. FINALLY another nurse got an IV in the top of my hand…weird!

The nurse called Dr. Lamar and they decided to start me on a low dose of Pitocin which would be increased hourly. I was already having contractions every 2-3 minutes ( I was only feeling them every 6 minutes or so). They were all in my back, so I immediately knew she was posterior. BY this point I was already a stretch 3 (before the pitocin). Which was neat because it just means she was MEANT to arrive that day! About 9:00 Dr. Lamar arrived and I was dilated to a 4 and he broke my water. It did NOT hurt like I expected! Immediately…hard contractions began. I had not ever cried during labor with Cole because of pain…until the end. By 9:30, I was crying because the contractions hurt so bad. We discussed an epidural…but decided to try & work Natalie to an anterior position. I wouldn’t be able to do that with an epi. I got Stadol instead (intravenous pain reliever). As soon as it went in…I felt the benefits. The nurse only gave me a half dose because I’m small. As soon as she left, I burst out laughing. I could NOT stop & was laughing for no reason. Justin was worried. I laughed so hard that I completely wet the bed! We continued the stadol…in the mean time my sisters and parents arrived. I finally convinced the nurses to get me a birthing ball. I was on all fours on the bed trying to turn her and sat on the ball and bounced. By about 12pm, I wanted everyone out of the room. I was in a lot of pain. The nurse said if I didn’t take an epidural THEN…I would have to wait until about 1:30 or so because the anesthesiologist was going to be in a c-section. We decided I could make it another hour! Turns out…the pain was HORRIBLE! That was the longest hour of my life! My nurse went on lunch and the stand in decided maybe I needed a full dose of Stadol. From that moment until it wore off…I lived in “marshmallow land”. Not real sure why…but I called Justin a marshmallow and told my mom that I lost my butt. I asked her if she could go find it. I still felt the pain of the contractions…but lived in a different world. It was strange and I wanted out! My regular nurse came back and was pretty upset! Anyway…I got the epidural when I was dilated to a 7. It was WONDEROUS! Why, oh why did I ever try to not have one? I felt no pain in the contractions. Until about 4:30 or so. I felt my contractions on the right side. By 5:00, I was dilated to a 9 and almost ready to push. The nurse got the anesthesiologist to give me something in my epidural to make the pain go away. It worked! ALSO…she turned! The pain was GONE when she turned! By 5:30 I was pushing. It took me a little while to figure it out…but once I did I just pushed as hard as I could! She came from a “0 station” to a “-2” in no time. Soon they could see her hair (I could also…in the reflection of the TV). I pushed one more time and her head was out. I was amazed…then once more and her shoulders “popped” out and the rest of her. I could NOT believe it & was in shock. The doc had to ask me twice if I wanted her placed on me. Finally I said yes. She was SCREAMING, so I talked to her and she calmed down. I touched her…all gooey & bloody & she just looked at me with these big curious eyes. Justin got to cut the cord and I remember him saying, “I’ve always wanted to do this!” They took her away to clean her. I felt the placenta come out. I laughed at the doc because he really wasn’t sure I’d be able to VBAC! Then…he said, “Have some bad news…you tore…4th degree”. He spent the next 20 minutes fixing that up with THICK string. He showed Justin EVERYTHING down there…bleh! By that point Natalie was SCREAMING and they brought her back to me. She immediately calmed down and I sang her our song, “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid. I breastfed her and she latched on right away.

The whole experience was amazing and everything I could have hoped for. The only downside was the tear…but it turns out that the recovery isn’t too bad! I’d take this over C-section!! (I say that NOW…3 days ago…not so much! Ha!)
My mom & sister Jessica were in the room with me the whole time. I’m glad they were there. My mom kept me sane and “nice”. I hope Jessica wasn’t scared to have kids! I was happy to share the experience with them. My mom cried.