Rowan's Story

Here's a link to pictures, it's taken me forever to write this and I'm too lazy to spend time uploading pictures.
Look on Flickr


This is really long, but I don't want to forget anything about this amazing day!

Wednesday night was when it all started, even though I didn't know it was starting. We went to Sweet Tomatoes with Derek's mom. I had been craving it for days and wanted to go before the little guy got here. I joked that maybe the super full stomach would push him out, I guess it didn't hurt! On the way home I had a few contractions, but nothing out of the ordinary.
When we got home Derek started to build our new computer and I watched him on the couch as I continued to have contractions that were anywhere from 20-40 minutes a part. I fell asleep and he woke me up when he left for work. I continued to have contractions throughout the night and would wake up in immense pain but was able to fall back asleep when they were over. Finally at 3 I woke up and the contractions were 5 minutes a part. I really didn't believe I was in labor so I just decided I would see if they lasted. Obviously they did. I browsed the internet, watched tv, and ate some food. They were now about 3 minutes a part and I decided to IM Derek and let him know that perhaps I was in labor. He asked me if he should come home and I told him not yet because I wasn't sure. I decided to go for a walk around 5 to see if they would stop. Walking with contractions is not fun. I got back inside and told him that he should probably come home because by this time they were about 2 and a half minutes a part and Super painful.
When he got home I had a bit of an emotional breakdown and started crying during the contractions. I had been fine with them until he got there! We decided to shower to make sure that didn't stop them before we called our Doula over.
Around 8 our Doula, Amy, came. The contractions were about 2 minutes a part with some coming right after the previous one stopped. Amy was at our house for about 45 minutes before she decided we should head for the hospital.
At this point I was still in a bit of denial that I was in labor. Remember just 3 days before my doctor told me that this baby wasn't coming on his own. Contractions in the car are not fun and I had a few on the way over. Luckily the hospital is about 5 minutes from our house. Walking into the hospital wasn't exactly fun either. I borrowed a truck to lean on and a sign in front of the door to brace myself during them. People kept looking at us and asking if we needed help. We finally got up to labor and delivery and the nursed asked if I was here to be induced. I was thinking "HELLO CAN'T YOU SEE I'M IN LABOR HERE" Once I told her I was in labor they took me into a room to get changed and checked to see how far along I was. I remember thinking please be at least a 5 so I don't get sent home! After a few more contractions I was ready to be checked. I almost screamed with joy when she said I was already a 7! This is the point when I finally believed that I was in labor and going to have this baby TODAY!
I decided to get in the tub to try to relax. I wasn't being a very good relaxer like we had practiced and I needed to calm down. The tub felt SO good, but it didn't really relax me. My doctor stopped by while I was in the tub and said how surprised he was that I was here and had progressed this far without any help. Amy helped me with contractions as Derek filled out paperwork. After about a half hour I got out of the tub and began laboring on the birth ball we brought. My birth ball was my best friend and I labored most of the time on it. When I was checked again I was a 9 and my water was still intact. They asked if I wanted it broken but I told them no. I kept telling Amy and Derek that I couldn't do this, but they kept reassuring me that I could do and I was doing it. The pain was a lot more intense then I was expecting and I was not able to relax during the contractions like I had hoped. Instead I moaned and groaned and squeezed whatever hand was closest to me. Amy did a lot of hip squeezes to help me through the contractions and had all sorts of smelly stuff for different stages of labor. She had this orange one that helped with the nausea a ton! I'm so glad she was there to help us through. At around 12:45 my doctor came back to check me and said that I was still a 9 and baby was at a 0. I decided to let him break my water to try to get Rowan to move down. That was a really weird feeling having all this warm water gush out of you and having no control over it. The contractions became so much worse now that I didn't have my water. My insides felt like they were on fire. It was not pleasant. I was starting to feel the urge to push and so the doctor checked me again. I was finally at a 10! They got the room all set up and a lot more nurses were there. At 1:20 I began pushing our little man out! The pushing felt amazing. It was so nice to be able to do something to make the contraction pain go away. Apparently I'm really good at pushing and only did so for 25 minutes and didn't even tear! I believe I didn't tear because I could feel what my body wanted me to do, when to push and when to stop. That's one of the perks of natural labor.The feeling of him coming out was the most bizarre and amazing feeling I have ever felt. I could feel his little head trying to make it's way out and when the doctor told me he was crowning I felt a huge sigh of relief. I think his shoulders coming out hurt worse than his head. I had meconium in my water so Rowan had to be suctioned when he came out and I wasn't able to really hold him until he had been checked out. It is not how we had planned things but I was prepared for things to go differently then planned so I was ok with it. I remember staring at his cute little face laying on my stomach as Derek cut his cord. I couldn't believe that he had been inside of me. He was perfect. It seemed like forever until Derek brought him over to me. I couldn't stop staring at him. He didn't want to breastfeed right away due to a tube being shoved down his throat but a few hours later he decided to start.
I still look at him and back on the experience in amazement. Things went so well and we couldn't have asked for anything more. He is completely healthy and my recovery has been great. I was able to get up and walk right after his birth because I wasn't numb and didn't have to come down from any pain meds. Rowan was so alert after birth and the hours following because he didn't have any meds making him sleepy. I won't say that natural childbirth was easy but I will say it was worth every ounce of pain. Knowing that I let my body do what it was meant to do was an amazing feeling. Not to mention the great natural high you get afterward.
He's now 10 days old and as cute as can be. He's a really great baby and only cries when he's hungry. He LOVES to eat and does so quite often. He had a bit of jaundice when we went to his follow up visit but it has gone away on it's own. We also took him to the chiropractor to make sure that everything was aligned right (when doctors pull babies out a lot of times it makes them misaligned) The chiropractor hangs them upside down from their knees, it was the funniest thing! Rowan didn't even care. He said he was perfect, and we couldn't agree more.