( PART 1 of 4 )
My name is Megan Davey, I am a wife, and a homeschooling mom of 4 precious little ones. I am a Doula / Birth Coach, the founder of The Nurtured Journey and I have a passion to educate families to help empower them as they prepare for the birth of their child!
"Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers. Strong, Competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength." - Barbara Katz Rothman
Everyone has to start somewhere
Anytime you're entering into a new experience, you envision how you expect it to go. I was no different! I always knew while I was in high school that I wanted to be a mother, and I was so excited to one day have kids! When I met my now husband back in 2008, I wouldn't of imagined after only 6 months of dating we would be engaged, married in 2011 and expecting our first baby Spring 2012! I was so excited to enter this chapter of our lives. Our first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage that was devastating. We were however fortunate to conceive relatively quickly after our loss and welcomed our first daughter, River, December 2012. During my pregnancy with River, I read the books that my midwife recommended, ate well and made sure to be physically active! I felt fairly prepared. We attended a childbirth class our midwife office hosted and we both felt pretty ready the birth of our daughter.
Like many first time mothers I went " over my due date" and the further I went, the more induction was discussed, so, as an anxiously excited first time mom we accepted the offer to be induced at 10 days past our due date and have my care transferred to the OB on call that day.
When I was checked once we arrived at that hospital I was already at 4 cm and had no discomforts already so they were able to break my water to bring on labour! River was still floating pretty high in my pelvis so they told me that starting an IV and putting me on the drip right away was the best way forward in company with breaking my water. I accepted their suggestions without question, and not really knowing that I had any other options. ( I was being induced after all )
It didn't take very long before I was starting to feel the discomforts of labour. We moved to the tub in our hospital which I was told I wouldn't be allowed to birth in, but was allowed to labour in. While in there I was doing well managing the surges as they came, however the OB that was taking charge of my case wanted to assess me 2 hours after my water was broken. My midwife was still with me the whole time, but was not the one in charge of my care anymore so I was told I needed to follow the recommendations of the OB while under their care. When they asked me to get out of the tub to be checked after only 2 hours I was a bit upset but figured " why not". When I went to leave the tub the discomforts were magnified and with that discomfort coming on so quickly it made me nauseous and resulted in me throwing up.
I got cleaned up and back to the hospital room. When I was checked I was already at 7 cm dilated! With doing my reading I knew this meant I was entering in the what the textbooks called "Transition" Hearing 7 cm got me so excited! I was making amazing progress in good time! I was able to cope with my contractions well and soon i'd be holding our little one in my arms!
Soon didn't actually come soon... Because I was 7 cm dilated the OB didn't want me to leave the hospital room down the hall to go back into the tub. With how quickly I was progressing she didn't want me to go into the shower either. My options were, sit in the bed, stand by the bed, sit on the birthing ball or lay down. I continued to do breath work the way I thought I was supposed to but was getting more and more uncomfortable.
4 hours passed and when I was checked I was still at 7 cm dilated. Zero progress, I was so upset. 4 hours passed again and still no changes. At this point at being stalled at 7 cm for 8 hours I decided to get the epidural. Once I received the epidural and was able to rest, I was more comfortable, I was waiting for my body to do its thing. That time didn't come. After being stalled at 7 cm for 17 hours my cervix was swelling and that was when they decided it was time to perform a Caesarian.
The moments after that came very quickly. I was being put into a new hospital gown, was given a hair net, my husband disappeared, ( he was given scrubs to change into which I wasn't told) I was being rolled away at 5:30 am to go into a cold OR room. Lights were bright, there were a bunch of people I didn't know or recognize. I took deep breaths and then saw my husband was there. My midwife was there and so was the nurse that had been supportive during my labour. My arms were strapped out, the anesthesiologist explained that it was for my safety since It was likely I'd experience a lot of involuntary shaking with my body going into shock... He explained that he was giving me something in my IV so I wouldn't feel anything. The OB was talking to the nurses, I was asked If i could feel anything, I was topped up on more pain medication because I wasn't fully numb.
Once I was comfortable I remember them telling me they were starting, my husband was behind me by my head to my left. My arms were indeed shaking. I remember feeling vulnerable in this position and that didn't feel very comfortable. I felt some pulling, I heard the doctor say I'd feel some pressure. There was a lot of pressure. The anesthesiologist told my husband to stand up so he could watch our daughter come into the world. I remember feeling happy for him and jealous that he got to see her first.
I heard her cry, I saw her quickly. My husband went to be with her while they did her newborn assessment and I was being sutured.
Once we were in recovery about 45 minutes after she was born I was able to hold her and nurse her with the help of my midwife. She was absolutely perfect! Everything I had imagined and more!
We started in the hospital for 2 days and then we were cleared to go home! What I learned from River's birth was how important it was to not skip important chapters on subjects I thought wouldn't apply to me! I didn't know until later, but it was also through going through her birth that I learned that traumatic births are not the same for everyone.
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