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Tayo Sex: boy Born: 12 March, 2008 Age: 0 years & 148 days Birthday in: 217 days Starsign: Pisces Development: See the 4 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: 12 hours
Weight @ birth: 6 lbs., 7 oz.
Length @ birth: 20 inches

Tayo`s birthstory

My water broke at 4 am Tuesday night while I was in bed. I heard a small `pop` and then all of a sudden there was wetness spreading down my legs. I wasn`t having contractions though, so I was confused. I had what felt like period cramps that had no regularity--they were anywhere from 3-15 minutes apart and they only lasted about 20 seconds, much like the pains I`d been experiencing over the past week. I called L&D and they said that since my water broke, I should come into the hospital, but it was not urgent.

I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am, by which time the contractions stabilized to 5 minutes apart, 45-60 seconds in duration. They still felt like menstrual cramps that had definite time limits. When I checked into my L&D room, I changed into a hospital gown. I told the nurse I wanted a natural birth with as few interventions as possible, As per hospital policy though, I had an IV needle inserted into my forearm and a sample of my blood taped to it in case I would need to be rushed into surgery for any reason. The midwife examined my cervix and I was 3 cm dilated. After the nurse hooked me up to a monitor (2 elastic-like straps that measured the baby`s heartbeat and my contractions), they left me alone with my husband to labor. Oh, I did ask for and receive an enema because I had gorged on Malaysian food the night before!

Meanwhile, the contractions were increasing in duration and frequency. On a scale of 0-10, 10 being where I would ask for an epidural, the cramps were a 4. I managed the pain by standing with my arms around Roberto`s neck, head against his chest, rocking my hips from side to side, as if we were slow-dancing at the prom. I kept my eyes closed, breathing slowly in through my nose and out through my mouth and counting my breaths from one to five. Roberto counted with me and massaged my lower back. The contractions always subsided by the time I was on my third count and I was back to normal for a few minutes until the next one started.

It was very reassuring to know that no matter how intense the pain might be, it would last no longer than the three counts of 5 breaths I had been taking and that I would have a break to recover.

At about 2 pm, my pain level was at 6. My last measurement at 1:30 had been 7cm dilated, so when the midwife and nurse came in, they almost decided not to check me. But they did, and before you knew it I was told to bring my legs up and start pushing!

Now, instead of breathing and relaxing through each contraction, I was expected to be active and work through the pain of the contractions. I tried different positions, but in each one I had to lift my legs, grab and hold my knees to keep them apart, take a deep breath and bear down as if trying to move my bowels. I pushed with all my might, but I couldn`t feel anything happening so I would give up, frustrated and exhausted. But I focused on the voices of Roberto and the midwife, who assured me that they could see the baby`s head, that I was not failing, that I could do it. I did this through 15-20 contractions that each lasted a minute with rest breaks between. Through the worst of it, I imagined the beach, with waves of blue coming in and going out along sandy beach, tranquil and natural and regular.

As predicted, the moment when they plopped the screaming, slippery, squirmy little creature on my chest was so amazing that it was easy to forget everything else.

From water breaking to Tayo`s arrival, the process took 12 hours. I required only a couple of stitches and felt well enough to walk around a few hours later. The most visible sign of my efforts was that the strain of pushing caused red freckly splotches all over my face and neck because I held a lot of my pressure there instead of directing it to my `bowel movement.`

It has been 2 days and my cooch feels only a little sore, not even as painful as the pubic symphisis stuff that had been plaguing me during pregnancy! I look like I`m 5 months pregnant and I am still waddling a little bit as my uterus shrinks and round ligaments recover, but over all, I feel great! Tired, but much more comfortable physically.

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