Meleah's birth story

Before my nurse could administer the Pitocin, I had two contractions less than a minute apart. She decided to wait on the Pitocin. A little bit later, they took my blood pressure, and it was high (of course… I’m in labor!), so they made me lay on my left side to re-take it. I felt a “pop” in my stomach and a “whoosh!” of something down below. I looked at my nurse and Shane and said, “Um, I think my water broke.” Yup, it did, all by itself. I was really excited because I actually went into labor by myself. They checked me, and I was only dilated to a 3 (you have to get to 10), so we figured it would still be awhile. It didn’t take long, and the contractions started to hurt. And, I wasn’t getting a break; they were constant. I have a high pain tolerance, but I really didn’t understand why they hurt so badly; neither of my other births felt like this. I said something to the nurse, she offered pain medication, and I said I would wait. I have always had an epidural (it numbs from the waist down), and planned on having one this time. WRONG! I told Shane that I felt pressure, and wanted to push. I finally decided that I might want some IV meds, when the nurse checked me again. Now remember, this is around 7:30 am. I’ve only been in labor for a little over an hour. Abby Grace was 22 hours, Reese took 11 hours. The nurse’s eyes got HUGE and she said, “You aren’t going to believe this, but you are a 9 and ready!” That’s when the chaos started. My two nurses were running around, getting the tools and pads and baby stuff ready as fast as they could. It was quite comical. They gave me the IV meds really fast and kept telling me not to push. I didn’t push, but she was coming anyway. The midwife wasn’ there yet because it was right at shift change. One of the nurses ran to get the doctor on call. He was getting ready for a c-section. He comes running in, trying to get his gown on, and says, “I’m going to try to get these gloves on before I catch this baby.” Meleah was coming without any help from me, and the doctor didn’t know if he was going to have to get her bare-handed! As soon as those gloves were on, her head came. Three pushes total (and that’s because they made me stop), and she was born. But, even though I didn’t push, she was coming anyway.

It is the most incredible feeling to give birth. It didn’t hurt at all. It was so awesome. I watched the entire thing. It was just Shane and me (and one doctor, and two nurses). The doctor was in our room less than five minutes. Meleah came in about 2 minutes. Meleah Faye Estelle was born at 8:00 am on Wednesday, September 3, 2008. She weighed 7 lbs, 4.9 oz, and was 19.6 inches long. She is perfect.

Tagged as: My girls