Cache's Birth Story

Well.... Monday January 2nd I hit 40 weeks. My grandmother Kappos was here in town for Christmas and was staying for the birth of Cache. Her flight out was set for the 4th. On Tuesday the 3rd I was really bummed when nothing different had changed or progressed. So, with the convincing and a little pushing from my family and a family friend....... I took some Castor oil. 2oz to be exact! We mixed it in a chocolate shake to help mask the nasty taste and consistence. I was a little hesitant to take it because I had heard about girls pooping all over the table while giving birth! I really did NOT want that to happen! But...... I was a little desperate. I had tried everything and I really did not want to be started.
My plan for this pregnancy was to go all natural. I didn't have a huge reason why, but I did not want an epidural. My mom had her first three natural and I wanted to do the same. I took a hypnobirthing class to help myself prepare for the birth. I really liked the class and would strongly recommend the class to anyone who was planning to go natural.

Back to the Castor oil. I took it at 2:30pm and went to run a few errands. I had heard that it took about 6 to 8 hours to work. Around 5 or 6ish, my stomach started to hurt. I was at my parents’ house still and decided to come home. I made dinner and sat down to try and relax with Lance. Around 8ish I went upstairs to lie in bed. My stomach felt awful! My brother kept telling me that this was the start from the Castor oil, but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to get my hopes up that this would actually start my labor. I just looked at it as a way of cleaning me out from being backed up. Well..... It definitely cleaned me out. And I must say, in a pretty painful way. I will spare more details! ha ha.. Well Lance came upstairs for bed around 10 and I was still in pain. I wasn't sure if the pain was from the lovely diarrhea, or strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I told Lance to go to bed because I wasn't sure if this was real labor or not. He was planning on going to work in the morning and I really didn't want to go to the hospital unless I was pretty sure something was happening, so we wouldn't just be sent home.  

Well... I paced around the living room, sat on my exercise ball, and ate frozen grapes. Around 1130pm I decided to time my contractions since they were getting pretty strong and I was having to breathe through them. From 1130 to 1200 my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. I was practicing my hypnobirthing breathing skills and relaxation techniques. I decided that this must be real labor and 2 minute apart contractions were enough to go to the hospital. I got all my stuff together (which most of it had been in the car for about a week) and woke Lance up to get going!!!! I still wasn't sure if this was it or not.

On our way to McKay Dee Hospital we had to make a stop at Wal-Mart. I had an overwhelming urge to pee! (and because of the Castor oil, I was worried it was something else too!) haha.. I’m sure everyone at Wal-Mart that saw me thought something was wrong! A huge pregnant woman, walking with her eyes closed and breathing deep breaths! :) By the time we got checked into triage it was around 0100. The nurse told me she was going to check me to see if I was in labor and if I was dilating. This is what I was most nervous for! I really did not want to be told I was not in labor and be sent home, or be told I had barely even progressed. When she checked me, it actually hurt. None of the other times I had been checked had hurt. Well.... she told me I was dilated to a 5 and thinned to 90%!! I was so freaking excited:) That meant that we were staying and that I was really in actual labor! This baby was coming!!
I was able to get the natural birthing suit! I had really wanted this room because it had the tub that I could get in to help deal with the contractions. I got hooked up to the intermittent monitoring, and my contractions were about a minute and a half apart, with Cache's heartbeat looking great! My new nurse told me that they would have to monitor me every half hour for about 20 minutes or enough time to get two accelerations of the baby’s heartbeat. So we filled out some paperwork and I got in the tub! I LOVED the tub. It helped to relax me and get me through the contractions without tensing up my body! After about thirty minutes in the tub, I had the urge to use the bathroom. My nurse wanted to check me before I went because that feeling is a sign of labor progressing and needed to push. She checked me and I was about 7cm dilated and my water had not broken yet.

After using the bathroom, I breathed through more contractions. I sat on the laboring ball, I walked around the room, I was doing little dance moves with my hips; all to help with the contractions! I hated having to lie in the bed. I wanted to be continually moving, with nothing ever being too comfortable, I just knew that I needed to be moving! We also kept having problems with the monitoring system. The one monitoring the baby’s heartbeat was having difficulties! It was so touchy and kept not reading. I had to hold it in place to make it read. I remember hate that thing! But it probably helped take my mind off the contractions a little bit. About maybe an hour later my contractions were getting pretty strong! I remember being extremely tired during this time! I was just about falling asleep in between the contractions! This next part gets a little blurry though……

The nurse (which was an AMAZING nurse!! She was so supportive with me going natural!!) checked me and said I was about an 8 and a 9 during contractions and 100% thinned!! I was so excited that things were moving so fast! While she was checking me my water broke. I think that with my water breaking, my contractions got much stronger! The nurse said she was going to call the doctor to come since I was moving along so fast! Other nurses started coming in and getting things ready. One of the next contractions I had, pushed more of the amniotic fluid out, but at the time I didn’t think about that. I remember saying, “I think I just peed!” haha… I realized later that it was just the amniotic fluid.
The nurse comes in and says to not push because my doctor was at Ogden Regional doing another delivery. By this time my contractions were super intense! And I found out that I am a very vocal person! Hahaha…. With going about this completely natural, I knew when I needed to push and could feel the overwhelming urge! I told the nurses that I was not going to wait for my doctor! I just couldn’t not push! So they called in more nurses for just in case. I remember looking around and seeing everyone just pretty much staring at me. It was really weird. So with the contractions, I pushed! Nothing seemed to be happening. And during this time is when I was the loudest! Screaming, you could say! Ha… if you’ve ever had a baby and remember going and hearing someone screaming and getting scared…. That screaming person was me! I’m a little embarrassed!

Well my doctor did end up making it! I don’t think that I could have pushed him out without the doctor being there because his head was so big! Lance tells me that the doctor was just pulling and tugging away down there! OUCH… no wonder I was screaming! :) My contractions were super long during this time! Some of them were lasting up to two minutes! The nurses were all surprised they were lasting that long!

I must have started tearing because my doctor said that she was going to need to cut me. I remember saying no! I didn’t want to be cut. She told me to hold my breath and give her a good push on the next contraction and snip! Lance said that it was: push, snip, out!! It all went super-fast like that. (Lance says I probably pushed for about 30 minute’s total.)  4:41am they put my handsome baby boy on my chest! He had pooped a little while coming out, but everything was perfect! 10 fingers and 10 toes! He weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces and was 21 inches long! I was so blessed to have had such a short labor! Only being at the hospital for a little more than three and a half hours before giving birth and laboring at home for about two hours.

Lance was amazing throughout this entire time! He was so supportive and there for everything! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband to stand by my side through my goal of going natural. Without him there, I'm not sure I could have done it!

My doctor started stitching me up at this time! Well after the placenta was delivered. She used some topical numbing stuff, but for some reason, it didn’t numb me! I remember feeling everything she was doing! She even says, “I’ve numbed you as much as I can! I don’t know why or how you are feeling this!” Another OUCH! But not nearly as bad... :) She said that I had ripped/torn to a 2. (But I swear it was much worse than that!) I remember through out the process of her stitching me up and for a little while after, shaking uncontrollably! The nurse told me it was because my body had just gone through so much. It was like my body was in shock! I was freezing and couldn't stop shaking! It was the weirdest experience!

They took Cache and cleaned him up and gave him back to me all swaddled up. I immediately nursed him (19 minutes after delivery), which he did amazingly at latching on! I was instantly in love!! It amazes me how much your heart can grow and how fast I knew this little boy was my whole life! Lance had said that he had tons of hair, which I never once had heartburn while being pregnant, but I couldn’t tell because he had a hat on.  

About an hour after delivery I was able to get up and walk to the wheelchair to go to my other room. I loved being able to walk right away and to never have lost any feeling! I loved being able to know that I had to pee soon after getting to my new room! And I absolutely loved how I could finally pee a good long pee! Haha… I am so glad I made it through my goal of going all natural! I loved the feeling of power that it gave me and being able to do and feel what my body told me! It was the most intense pain I have ever felt! But I would not change a thing!!