paityn’s birth story
As a doula, I learned so much from being a part of Paityn’s labor. She is so strong and labored beautifully through every contraction. I really felt like we became one unit of support and labor throughout our time together. She is a rockstar mom and I am so honored to be part of this story. Read and enjoy!!
When I thought about what going into labor would be like, I didn’t expect it to be very long. I expected to progress quickly, and I thought that after I started contracting, I would be at the hospital that same day. I knew labor could drag out. I had even heard of women being in labor for 48 hours or more, but I just didn’t think that would happen to me. Everything was going to go according to plan, right? Wrong.
On Tuesday March 10th, I went to my doctor’s appointment, and everything went great, I was 38 weeks pregnant and I was pretty much over it. My doctor offered to strip my membrane, and I agreed. Besides hurting me, it didn’t do much. But the next day I started having contractions. (yay!) …They were 20 minutes apart. I thought to myself, “well this is it; I am going to be having a baby soon.” I even told my work that I wouldn’t be coming in anymore and went home to prepare. I contracted for a solid day, nothing to painful, it felt like light period cramps. Then they stopped, and I was not happy.
Now it’s Thursday and I still wasn’t having contractions, so I went to the mall and walked around for 2 and a half hours, nothing. No more contractions. “How could this be,” I thought?! I didn’t go back to work. I was set on having this baby! So, on Friday, I had another doctor’s appointment. My doctor stripped my membrane again and I prayed to the Lord that this would be my saving grace. I went grocery shopping, prepared for the next few weeks and ate an entire pack of dates to hopefully get this thing going, still nothing.
Saturday at around 4 am, I finally started contracting again! And this time they were closer together, 6-10 minutes apart. (Baby time?) my mom and I ended up going to the hospital with my doula, Sarah. Long story short, it ended up being a waste of time, I was only dilated to 2.5 cm and I wasn’t progressing. So, I went home. Finally, Sunday night my contractions got more painful, lasting about 45 second long. They were consistently close together so me, baby’s dad, and Sarah, went to the hospital again. BABY TIME? Nope. Still no progression. So, I went home. Again.
AN ENTIRE DAY LATER, Sarah came to my house to help me with positions to move baby around, got me through some pain and at around 10pm my contractions starting feeling really intense. I took a bath, and after I got out, my water broke! BABY TIME!!! We went to the hospital, and by this time, I was in quite a lot of pain. When the nurse checked my cervix, I was still at a 2.5 cm. Since my water broke, they still admitted me. Thank the Lord Almighty, because boy was I in some real pain.
A doctor came in and asked if I wanted to have nitrous oxide. I don’t know why that was a question, because my answer was, “Give me all the drugs.” After they gave me the mask, I started inhaling it like it was oxygen, and that made me feel better for a while. I labored for a few more hours, in and out of the shower, until I was ready to get the epidural. My plan was to go as long without an epidural as possible. And I did just that, I got to a 4cm after what felt like a lifetime of painful contractions. I seriously could not have gotten that far without the love and support from Sarah and the baby’s father.
After the epidural, I could finally sleep! Which is exactly what my body needed to help me dilate because after a few hours, I was completely dilated and effaced! I ended up going back to sleep after that news. Which was perfect because all the contractions I was having, caused my baby’s head to travel right down where she was supposed to be. The nurse came in at 9am on Tuesday morning to check me and said she could see her head. They grabbed my doctor and I pushed for about 30 minutes and at 9:39 AM, March 17th 2020, my baby girl made her arrival.
After all of the pain and waiting, it was all worth it. Every contraction I had, every tear I cried, was nothing compared to the love I have for my baby girl. I would do it all again and again to be able to hold her in my arms. Childbirth can be scary and unexpected but with love and good support, it’s so much easier.