People often commented this fact to me leading up to my labor. "Don't get too set on your birth plan," they'd gravely say. "Things never go the way you think they will" was the sage advice. But I was indignant--just because OTHERS had traumatic, over-the-top labors didn't mean that I had to. In my wet behind the ears estimation, I had done "everything right." I was taking a very expensive, high-quality packet of pre-natal vitamins daily for a whole year before I got pregnant...just to get my body ready. I exercised nearly every day and ate very healthy (especially if you call dark chocolate healthy) :) I was ready~ "Bring on the childbirth", I thought!
And then, as happens in all good plots, things went awry. I started to get a whiff of it when my due date came and went without even the hint of a Braxton Hicks contraction. Then a week overdue came and went. No Braxton Hicks. Two weeks. Nada. Now I was getting nervous. Did I happen to mention that sweet little baby girl ME was 18 days overdue? "This can't be happening to me," I thought as the days passed glibly by.
And then I did it. I'll admit, I was warned. But the promise of what that bottle of Castor Oil could do for me was just too tempting. At 15 days overdue I drank a castor oil smoothie. And it actually tasted good! I wondered what would happen next... I waited. And as I had anticipated, I got sick. But then, it happened! Labor began! We packed the car and headed up to the Cities to stay with family so we could be closer to the natural childbirth center where I would have a natural water birth attended by a Nurse Midwife. (Clearly, I had it all planned out).
Labor lasted all night, but fizzled out in by morning. I was SO BUMMED. I did a lot of walking and waited it out. Labor resumed that evening and lasted all night--but in true form, fizzled out again by morning. Just so we're on the same page, that's now 2 nights of little sleep between contractions. The next day (Day 3) I had contractions interspersed all day. By 11pm, they were very regular and increasingly STRONG. I labored all night (third night of labor) and didn't really sleep. I labored all night and all day the next day and then on into the night. By 2a.m. the next morning (28 hours of strong, unmedicated labor later) I fizzled out. My body started shaking and couldn't stop. My ketone levels were really high. I began having the kind of "out of body" experience that happens when you're in a lot of pain and your body doesn't know how to handle it. Add that to the fact that my dilation began to regress and you have a grim picture.
Two I.V.s later, I began to beg to be taken to the hospital. I truly did not think I had the energy to push the baby out. He/She felt very stuck.
"Why else could my labor be lasting so long?"
I'll spare you the movie-quality, adventure-packed story of my crazy transfer to a hospital and all THAT entailed, but let's just say, "Honey, it wasn't pretty." 36 hours of labor in total, and I pushed my sweet 9 lb. 21.8 inch baby BOY into this world. Sweetest victorious moment in my life.
Life sometimes happens in stark contrast to our dreams. But we're okay and I'm thankful.
