Bumpy Roads really help you to go into labor

by Rachel
(Ireland)

Well apparently bumpy roads really help you to go into labor. The day Liam was born was a beautiful sunny one, so we decided to go visit the bird sanctuary and take a long walk. Before we left I had a small bit of `pinkish or bloody` show. I was not overly concerned since I still had 15 days to go and had no contractions.

I had been having tightness in my belly that came and went regularly, which I should have paid more attention to. So we went for a walk and fed the ducks and geese, then didn't feel like coming home so we decided to take a nice drive in the mountains. The road was very bumpy and I guess there is something to be said for that.

When we returned to town we decided to check the price of some tires. I got out of our van and felt a little slimy discharge feeling. I had to pee so walked in to the store to get the key. A lady in front of me looked at me and said `I think you need this more then I do` at the time I thought it was because I was pregnant. I walked into the bathroom and SURPRISE! My pants were soaked, my water had broken. So we rushed home, dropped our dog off and headed to the hospital.

At the time I was amazed I was having no pain. Just again tightening of my belly and pressure in my crotch. Apparently that was what my labor pains would feel like. When they checked me I was 3cm`s dilated and fully effaced but the baby`s head was still up and movable, not where it should be. My midwife figured he would slide down and come quickly. She hooked me to the monitor, and his heart rate was a little high, then lowered to a normal pace so she let me back up to walk around.

The pain never increased past being mild but the tightening continued. My water kept leaking like crazy and my midwife even checked to see if I had been diagnosed as having extra since there was so much. After an hour or so she decided to check the heart rate again and this time his rate was well up over 200!!! It should have been lower then 160. So she watched it for a moment and it dropped down to around 60 or so, at that point she called the OB to come.

After that it just went downhill, he checked me and I was still 3 centimeters dilated. He had no idea why this was happening and wanted the baby out right away because he was worried he would not survive. So it was emergency c-section time. They rushed me to the operating room. I got to say a quick goodbye to my boyfriend, who couldn't come in because first they wanted to knock me right out.

Once inside the OR the baby`s heart was a little better so they opted for a epidural. I was FREAKED out by that and wanted to be knocked right out. The anesthesiologist tried to talk me into the epi, and said if I was his wife and that was his baby he would do it that way because its much safer. Then he said he would knock me right out after the baby was born, which was a total lie but it got me to agree. lol

So they did the epi, it was not too bad, not as bad as I thought it would be anyway. The second the anesthesia kicked in they were cutting me and they had him out within 5 minutes, resuscitated him, suctioned him, and then he began crying. They let me see him for a minute, give him a quick kiss and took him away and finished the rest of the c-section on me.

Unfortunately the freezing took too well and I was frozen from the throat down, the recovery nurse had never seen someone frozen so much. Normally they make you wait until you can wiggle your toes before they send you to the maternity wards. She eventually, after an hour and I was still frozen from right below my breasts down, sent me up to the ward and I finally got to see him! Birth stories are great, aren't they?