Maya's Birth Story

Hello Everybody!
It has been exactly one month since Maya was born! I can't believe how fast this month has gone by! Sorry it took me so song to post this, but here is the story!

On Saturday we went to a water park with our birthmothers. I had slightly crampy contractions all day, but I have had regular Braxton Hicks contractions since I was 20 weeks pregnant, so I didn't think much of it. My contractions were about 10 minutes apart which was normal. At 9 pm I decided to start keeping track since they seemed to be getting closer and stronger. Over the next few hours I kept track and they went from 9 minutes, to 8....7....6...5. I wanted Mr. Lucky to get some rest and he was already in bed, so I let him sleep as long as possible. At midnight I finally went to bed, but didn't sleep long. At 12:30 the contractions were too painful to sleep through, so I woke up Mr. Lucky. By 1 am they were so painful, Mr. L.  called the midwife to give her a heads up. We went upstairs and set up the birthing pool, and got the bed ready, and any bulky things out of the way, and all the supplies out. The midwife said to prepare for a long night and a long day. I have to say that I didn't really believe her. Out of the people that I know, almost all of them have had pretty short labors. My sister only labored for about 5 hours with both or her children, and one of our birth mothers only labored 3 hours, so I pretty much thought that I would have a baby my morning.

I labored through the night with just Mr. L. It was really hard. I had a hard time coping with each contraction and was pretty paniky with each one. By 7 am the midwife came to check me and I was only dialated to a 3. Normally she would go home and come back later, but saw what a hard time I was having and said that what ever I needed was fine. I needed her so bad, so I am so grateful that she stayed. I was in labor all day and by 6 was still at 3 to 4cm. Throughout the day I got more in control and had a easier time with my contractions, even though they were more painful. I also had figured out what possitions were best and Mr. Lucky Bud and I were more in a grove.

 I was sooooo exhausted at that point though and could hardly keep my eyes open. By 6 my contractions were so painful and I was so tired, that I begged and bleeded to go to the hospital. My midwife reminded me that it was 45 minutes away and would be a terrible trip in the car, that I would have to check in at the hospital, and then they would want me on an IV for an hour, and I remembered how after Baby Lucky Buds Birth Mom decided she wanted an epidural, it still took the Dr 2 hours to get to her, and then 1 hour for him to do it. As I thought of all these things, I realized that going to the hospital would not bring me the instant pain relief that I wanted and I decided to stay home. My midwife said that I was just feeling this way because I was so exhausted, and that I just really needed some good rest. She gave me some benydril and Mr Lucky and I layed down on the bed for a nap. Laying down, my contractions actually slowed down to about 8 minutes apart and we were able to sleep in between. After an hour I was feeling so much better.

My midwife had to go home to take a break in order to be ready for the birth, and also to be rested for other births that were coming up that week. We decided to see if a doula was available, and we are so lucky that someone was. Amy was AMAZING and got me through some of the most difficult parts of my labor. After my nap the contractions stayed far apart, but were much stronger and went on forever. I continuted to sleep inbetween contactions, but eventually had to get up and walk around to get things progressing. Eventually my water broke and I came upstairs and got in the birthing pool. Amy called the widwives. I started having the need to push with my contractions, but was very nervous to push at all because I was afraid that I was not completely dialated and I was afraid of swelling. It felt like my midwives took a million years to get there although it was only 20 minutes or so. My contractions were 10 mintues apart still, so they had plenty of time to set up before I was ready to really start pushing. Once I started pushing, it only took 4 contractions for her to be born. When I was pushing, inbetween contractions, I kept saying how happy I was that I had not given up and gone to the hospital.

When Maya was born I was so happy. She was finally here, I couldn't believe it!  She was placed on my stomach, but the cord was short and they were worried about her being so close to the water, so they had me get out of the pool onto the bed. There was a lot of blood, so the midwives were trying to determine if it was from the birth, from my tear or from hemorrhaging. Eventually they were able to determine that I was hemorrhaging. After the placenta was out they massaged my uterus, but it was still pleading. I had a couple injections and some pills, but it wasn't working fast enough. They tried grabbing my uterus from the outside, and eventually had to grab it internally. It hurt really bad, but the bleeding started to slow down, and after more massaging from the outside they got it under control. At the same time, Maya was not breathing great, so it took a couple people and a little time to take care of her. The midwives were very in control of the whole situation and came prepared with everything they needed to take care of us. The had oxygen, pitocin injections and everything went smoothly.

It took until 4 am until they were done monitoring us and cleaning up and we were finally able to go to sleep! My wonderful midwives tucked us in and we went to sleep with our new baby!
Having Maya at home was a great experience, and I would do it again for sure. I love my little girl and feel so blessed.

I hope that those of you who are still waiting for your little ones will have them soon.
It has been fun sharing our fertility story with you.

Okay,  Lucky Bud signing out! Prayers and hugs to you all!