These two vastly different birth stories come from fellow mom blogger Michelle Hetterscheidt of Moms, Munchkins and Muscles. Michelle is a wife and mother to two girls as well as being a teacher.
The contrast between her natural birth and medically induced birth is a great example of the courage and strength required of a woman to give birth no matter the circumstances!
Michelle’s Birth Stories
Natalie Ashton
April 8, 2016
The morning of April 7, 2016, I woke up out of bed and I stood up. I felt a gush of something come out, so I quickly stopped it and went to the bathroom. I noticed in my underwear that it wasn’t pee, it was white and smelled fishy.
I walked out of the bathroom with a confused look on my face. My husband said, “What’s wrong?” I told him and he said I should call the midwife. I called and they said I would know if my water broke. They said to keep an eye out today on contractions and what not and call back if anything changed.
My husband then went off to school (he was in graduate school) and I stayed at home. I made sure to take a shower and was quite lazy that day. I was having braxton hicks contractions quite frequently throughout the day.
My husband came home mid-day to check on me, and I was having braxton hicks like 5-7 minutes apart. I called the midwife again, and she said that I would know if I were having real contractions.
Keep in mind, this was my first, so I had no idea what anything felt like or what I was doing.
We decided that it would most likely happen soon. My due date was April 9th.
The hospital I was delivering at was at least 40 minutes away through the downtown area of Atlanta. If you know Atlanta, then you know it has lots of traffic. We had to drop my dog off at doggie day care. We decided to drop him off and then go into the hospital to get checked.
When we arrived at the hospital, I filled out the forms and then I got checked out. I was only dilated 2 cm. I was like, “What the F.” I thought I was going to be a lot further. They told me I’m not where they would like me to be in order to keep me.
Since we were far away, we were going to stay in a hotel nearby in case something happened, but my husband realized he forgot his wallet at home. We did not want to be away from home without his wallet. So we drove home (it was like 5pm when we started driving home).
We then decided to get wings for dinner on the way home. I ordered and we got some spicy ones. I usually do not like spicy wings, but I decided to give it a go as I heard spicy foods could help.
After we ate, we hung out and then went to bed early. I was laying in bed (not sleeping) feeling my tummy and tracking my contractions through an app. They were getting more frequent again.
Around 10pm, I felt and heard a break and then gush. I stood up and ran to the bathroom. It was my water! It broke. I got cleaned up and went to call the midwife. She asked, “What do you want to do?” I said I wanted to come to the hospital.
As my first time going through this, I did not know the timing, as well as I did not want to have her in the car. I was still leaking, and when I was on the phone with her, I had my first big contraction. It was something I have never felt. I couldn’t talk or breath.
We traveled in the car and drove to the hospital. I kept having strong contractions. We got to the hospital. I had to fill out more paperwork and wait for them to get me. I remember saying to my husband, “I just want the water! I had a water birth!”
I got into the room, and for the first 30 minutes, I had to get hooked up to monitors to get vitals and check on me and the baby. I was having a water birth, so they got the tub and started to fill the tub. After the 30 minutes, I was able to get in the tub. This was probably around midnight. I was in the tub the rest of the time. I labored in the tub.
I remember the contractions were tough, and when they came, I swam back and forth in the tub to help ease the pain.
Around 5am, I felt like I had to push and my husband went and got the midwife. She came down. I never was rechecked for dilation or to make sure the baby was good.
Throughout my time in the tub, my husband had to take water out and put warmer water in the tub. This was because the water could only be room temperature and it was not fun when it was cold. It did not help the pain.
She said if you feel like you have to push, then push. After each contraction, I started to push. Nothing really happened. I don’t really remember the timeframe, as I was in a state of pain and not really paying attention to the clock. I would say around 6am, I really started pushing. Her head kept going in and out and I would get frustrated.
When it felt like forever of pushing, I finally pushed out her head! Now, because I was in the tub, and the midwife helped me with the birth after I birthed the head, she could not reach the head without getting in the tub. The tub was not big enough for that. As well, you do not want the head in the water for too long.
So with the head out but body still in me, the nurses, midwife and my husband lifted me by the legs and put me on the bed. That part I did not enjoy, nor did I want to do that again.
Then I had another contraction, I pushed and out came her whole body. She did not cry right away and she was a little blue. So the nurses took her to the lamp, wiped her off, cut the cord and then she cried. After that, I got to do skin to skin and nurse her. She nursed like a champ.
After the skin to skin, they took her for measurements. She weighed 7.62 lbs, 19 ½ inches long and was born at 8:08am on April 8th.
Amelia Nicole
September 24, 2019
Amelia is a totally different story than my first. In fact, with Amelia, I did not want to have a water birth. I wanted an epidural. With the water birth, I felt all the pain. It was a natural birth, and I thought the water was going to give more of a pain relief.
Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was expecting to have more contractions and be more dilated then my first. I was hoping and praying to have this one just come shooting out like a slide.
I would go to my appointments and no dilation. I was scheduled for my 40 week appointment and she said I was barely dilated. At my 40 week appointment, I was 1 cm dilated and 0% effaced. I was barely having braxton hicks and wasn’t feeling anything. She was moving a lot less but probably because she was running out of room.
At my 40 week appointment, I scheduled an inducement for the following week. I did not want to go too long, as I was done and was afraid she would get too big to birth her. I did not want a c-section, as I was unsure how I would recover from having a toddler and newborn. My doctor didn’t want me to go into 42 weeks because of complications.
So the week went by. I still worked as a teacher through my 40th week. On Monday, September 23rd, I went in for my induction. When I got all settled in, they checked the position and I was ½ cm dilated and 0% effaced. Basically nothing. I was not happy. I thought with second kids it’s supposed to go by quicker.
So they told me that they need to open me up first. They stuck something up me, and then I had to sit on the bed hooked up to the monitors for 12 hours. I watched TV all day for 12 hours, only getting up to pee.
Then after the 12 hours, they took it out and checked me again. It was 9pm at this time. I was only like 3 cm dilated with 50% effaced. I was getting worried that I would have to have a csection as I was not progressing.
I wanted them to break my water as I knew I would progress then. She did not want to break the water as she was -2 from being effaced and it could take awhile and lead to complications. So then they stuck 2 giant balloons up me to manually dilate me.
As soon as they put it up, I had the worst contractions I ever had. They were horrible. They hurt so bad, I cannot describe it. I would lay on my side and just cry in pain. I had that in for 6 hours.
Towards the end of the 6 hours, I asked how much longer. The nurse told me, “It’s the doctor’s choice.” I asked to get an epidural during this and they said no as I was having bad contractions. They said they would give me a really high dose of pain meds, but my husband advised without it as I do not do well with a high dose of drugs. I decided to wait it out.
Around hour 5, I was in tears and just done. I was ready for her to be out and I was nearing the 24 hour mark, which was making me feel defeated. The doctor came in around the 5 hour mark and saw how I was in distress.
The doctor pulled it out of me and I was 6 cm. It was 4 am, and she said I need to have an epidural so I can get some sleep and rest for when I need to push. I agreed.
By the time I got the epidural it was 5am. They put me on my side and put a peanut ball between my legs. It looks like a peanut and is supposed to open you up more. I needed to lay on my side for the blood flow and with the medicine.
Since I couldn’t move my legs, after an hour, they came in and manually moved me. I passed out as soon as they got me situated. Around 6 am, they moved me, and I got another new nurse and went back to bed.
Around 8am, I woke up and felt the contractions again. The nurse told me that sometimes that happens when it gets closer. They checked me and I was 9 cm! Whohoo!
They told me to go back and rest some more. I woke up as I thought my water broke. It wasn’t a gush, but I felt something. The nurse said it wasn’t the whole thing but a little of it.
The doctor came in to introduce himself (the other one went home). He decided to check me and I was about 10 cm, and she was like 2 inches from just falling out. They were like “Oh, we gotta get moving.”
I was starting to feel the contractions and wasn’t liking it. I put more of the medicine through me. The nurse told me not to push when I have a contraction because they were not ready yet. When they got all ready, she told me to push on the next contraction.
I pushed and then her head went in then out. Then I pushed again, and it was a big push. My water broke and she came out! I didn’t have to do anymore pushes. They put her on my chest and she was born! She was born, in fact, on my mom’s birthday!
Amelia Nicole – September 24th, 7.13 lbs, 20 inches long.
If you enjoyed Michelle’s birth stories, be sure to read these other birth stories:
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