Labor and Delivery of Madison Lucille Grubbs

Soooooo here's our story about Little Miss Madison's birth day:

On Tuesday, August 24, 2010, I began to notice my irregular Braxton-Hicks contractions become more regular and noticeably more painful.  Around 8pm that evening I began timing my contractions to see if they were anywhere near regular enough to be real labor.  They lasted for about a minute and were on average about 9-10 minutes apart for a good 4 hours.  When I went to bed around midnight or so, I called Matt to let him know that my contractions were quite regular and quite painful.  They'd gotten as close as 7 or 8 minutes apart at this point, so I saw it necessary to at least warn him. He asked me if I wanted him to come home and I said I wasn't sure.  He said he'd go ahead and leave early so he could take me to the hospital if needed.

By the time Matt got home around 1am I was in the bathtub using the hot-ish water to soothe my contractions.  Shortly after getting out of the bathtub I went to rest in the chaise lounge that's in our guest room, thinking it may give me a better angle so I can try and rest a little, and even better, maybe sleep a bit.  This was a pipe dream.  I could NOT get into a comfortable position.  Matt decided to lay down for a little while with Abbigail who'd already fallen asleep in our bed.  We both could foresee the long night/morning ahead of us.

I then moved from the chaise to the glider chair in our bedroom.  This didn't help much and I found myself more comfortable standing and holding onto the side of the co-sleeper at my side of the bed.  By this time, my contractions were now 5-6 minutes apart and insanely painful in my lower back.  Sitting on the side of the bed it became most relieving (but still extremely painful) to use my fists for counter-pressure on my lower back through contractions.  I decided to go ahead and call the midwife on-call to see if they wanted me to go ahead and head into the hospital.  Nikki (Nicole Chesser, my assigned midwife) happened to be the midwife on-call.  She asked if I was able to wait another hour to see how things go, and I said I'd give it another half hour or so.  Their general rule they use for most of their patients is the "4-1-1" rule: wait until the contractions are 4 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, for at least an hour.  When I hung up, no kidding, my next contraction was only 4 minutes 10 seconds after the last and every one after that was 2-4 minutes after the previous one.  I called her back after about 4 more contractions and said we were heading in.  She had no objection and said "Yes, please come in!"

Matt got our bags in the car and loaded Abby in her car seat.  I worked my way down the stairs, grabbing a sweatshirt on the way (since it was quite chilly outside).  The coolness of the air, to my relief, actually slowed the contractions down the next couple contractions.  I sent a text to some family and friends on the way to the hospital and called our neighbor friend, Carmen to see if she could meet us at the hospital to stay with Abbigail.  Carmen, being the trooper that she is, was able to work something out with her husband as to how to get the kids ready for school and such, and she took her little 5-month-old with her to the hospital to hang out with Abby for a while.

We got to the hospital around 5am, I got hooked up to check Madison's heart rate and my contractions, and I got hooked up to an IV for Penicillin since I tested positive for Group B Strep. (Giving me Penicillin helps to prevent transfer of Strep B to the baby).  Nikki checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced.  Hooked up to the monitors, I had to stand by the side of the bed to breathe through contractions while Matt applied counter-pressure to my lower back.  Nikki told me that Madison had weaseled her way around in my belly, putting her back against my back, and she was facing up (not ideal for labor).  She suggested I try to get on all fours as much as possible to encourage Madison to flip back around so she'd face down.  Her face-up position is what was giving me such bad back pains.  At this point, Carmen arrived with her little baby, Tyler.  Abbigail had woken up and was absorbing the action in the room from the sofa.

After about an hour or so of breathing through contractions Carmen took Abbigail out of the room so Nikki could check my progress.  I was now 5cm dilated and 100% effaced.  I asked if I could move to the tub in the bathroom until they got the birthing tub set up in the room.  The warm water in the bathtub helped immensely with the contractions, and the slanted edge at my back was perfect for pressing my lower back against during contractions.  After finishing my second bag of penicillin I was able to change into my swimsuit top to wear in the birthing tub.

When it was full, I was able to move to the birthing tub and work on finding a workable position.  By this time another one of the midwives, Jessica, had come to relieve Nikki.  Jessica and Matt helped me through contractions by applying pressure to my lower back.  I constantly felt like I was just on the edge of losing control, but I held on and worked through the pain.  As the contractions grew stronger I began to feel the urge to push.  Jessica said to go ahead and push when I felt the need...that I would know.  It was amazing to just listen to my body.  She was right.  I began pushing and shortly after that my water broke.  It was a strange feeling.  I remember when the doctor broke my water with Abby, but it was different this time.  It was like a small explosion (quite graphic, I know, but that's what it felt like).  Jessica then had me turn over to lean back so she could clear the cervix for Madison's head.  After a number of hard pushes, she had me reach down to feel Madison's head.  It was bizarre, but amazing!  I flipped back over to my knees and continued pushing. 

Quite quickly (or so it seemed to me), I could feel every movement, every bit of progression, and before I knew it, her head was out.  A couple good, strong pushes later Madison's body slipped out.  Jessica said, "pull your baby out".  I reached down and pulled Madison out of the water.  It all happened so fast, but I still remember it like it was in slow motion.  When I pulled her out of the water, I held her up against my chest and looked into her beautiful eyes.  She was so alert.  She cried just a bit, but for that first hour or hour and a half she was wide awake and looking all over.

Overall, I enjoyed the water birth immensely.  I am so happy I did it.  It was everything I thought it would be.  I just wish I didn't have such bad back labor.  I did end up with one tear, requiring 3-4 stitches, but otherwise, all went well.  I would suggest a water birth to anyone and everyone!  It does take a lot to psyche a momma up to dealing with the pain, but that goes for any natural birth.  As for the water part of it...it was amazing at helping with contractions.  Hot baths have always helped me with cramping, so a water birth was a perfect option for me.

After all was said and done, Madison Lucille Grubbs was born on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 8:13 am, weighing 6 lbs 11.5 oz and measuring 19 inches long. 

If you have any questions for me or are interested in water birth, feel free to email me at: maalemenow@hotmail.com .