Well, I figured it is time for me to try and recall my birthing experience for those of you who might be interested in reading it... I am sure that I have forgotten a lot of the experience, but I will do my best to recall it all :)
Well, May 10 I went into the doctor for my prenatal appointment! She checked me to see if I have made any progress down the road of birthing and guess what??? I was 1.5 cm dilated and about 75% effaced! I was really excited about that because, even though I wasn't very dilated, I was over half way done with the effacement! Anyways, nothing happened that day but the next day, I woke up to nausea and vomiting! I threw up 4 times.... Every time I ate, everything would come right back up! It was quite awful but it was my body trying to get ready to have a baby. That night I had my first contractions... They were VERY light but they were there about ever 7-10 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds -1 min each. I called my mom and sister and told them that they might want to come up. So my mom, sister, Noe and Donata came up to spend the weekend here with us... well guess what? No more contractions! So everyone but Elizabeth went home... Lizzy stayed with me that whole week so she could help me around the house. Everything was quiet till about the 18th (my birthday) I felt pretty good all day just some light contractions. Sam took me out to Olive Garden, Little did I know that would be the last time I would eat at Olive Garden for a long time, I still haven't been back :-(. I had more contractions that night after we got home from the restaurant but they weren't too exciting. The next day, my mom and Timothy came up to be with me just in case I decided to go into labor, I did have contractions all through out the day but they were still VERY bearable, the thought that was mostly on my mind was "this baby is NEVER going to come" I was a little discouraged and frustrated I had to keep telling my self that even though the baby wasn't here yet, she would come eventually! so I waited!
May 20 Adriana's due date... Contractions started in the morning... Pretty uncomfortable but nothing too serious it continued this way all through out the day. Around 4:30 we all decided to take a trip to the mall... I drove! I had one contraction on the way over there. I was thankful that I was at a stop light because it was pretty bad and lasted about 1 minute. We walked around the mall and my contractions started getting stronger and closer together, from about 10 min apart to about 5-7 min apart. I was in Old Navy having a contraction and a worker came up to ask if I needed help finding anything and then she got this look on her face and she asked it was having a contraction... I told her that I was and she got all teary eyed saying that it was sooo exciting! She couldn't believe that I was out at the mall having contractions! LOL... we then decided that we needed to go back home because my contractions were getting closer together and more painful! I decided to let Timothy drive home because I was contraction to painfully! We got home and had some dinner and then Sam and I decided that it was time to go to bed... I was actually in the bathroom, it was 9:36 and I felt this liquid running down my legs... Not a whole lot just a little bit and then BOOM my contractions started coming in waves about 3 minute apart lasting about 30 seconds to 1 minute and BOY were they painful!... I called the hospital in Modesto, ca and told them that I was going to be coming in. After this phone call, I broke down into tears and told Sam "I don't want to do this".
We got all my stuff together and in the car and started down the road for the hospital... That was the WORST 30 Minute drive of my LIFE! My mom was driving and going really fast... we did not want to have the baby in the car LOL! We got to the hospital about 10:30 I got out of the car with Sam and we headed to the entry... On my way there, I had a contraction and while I was contracting, a breeze came and guess what???? It blew my dress up to my head! LOL! Just one thing that made me laugh!... Anyways, by the time I got into the room to be checked by the midwife, it was about 12:00 AM I was 6 Cm and I believe 90% effaced! YAY I was progressing so well! Got into my room, had an IV put in and got my penicillin started (I was group B strep positive) I was on the IV for about 1 hour. When it was done, I wanted to go walking so Sam took me down the hallway... One of the nurses told me while I was out there that she was SO amazed that I was still up walking! She said "most women would have gotten the epidural by then"... NOT ME I was going to do this!
It was getting early so I decided to go back to my room... Sam and I took a shower... That felt SO good! after the shower I decided that I was done standing up so I started taking my contractions in a chair... By this time, my support team, Donata, Mom, Lizzy and Sam were quite tired so they started sitting with me in shifts, One watching three sleeping and me, well I slept between contractions! At about 6:00 AM I decided that I wanted to take another shower so Sam got in the shower with me and I was able to relax a bit in the warm water for about an hour! It was so nice to have the hep lock and not have to be hooked up to a monitor the whole time! at about 7:30 my midwife, Walleen Stodard, came in and checked me... I was 9 CM! After she checked me, I decided to go for another walk. I got half way down the hallway when a nurse came and told me I needed to go back to my room because at this point, my water still had not broken and she didn't want it to break out there in the hallway! I thought that made a lot of sense so we slowly contracted our way back to my room! Walleen had to leave at 8:00 which made me sad cuz I really wanted her to deliver the baby, my nurse however stayed on with me past her shift, she said "I have never seen a completely natural birth before and I want to be able to tell other women that it is possible not because I just know but because I have actually seen it happen" It was really neat to have her with me the whole way... sometime just before 8 I moved to a more comfortable chair that had a foot rest... My legs were SOOOOO Swollen they hurt and I needed to put them up. Donata and Sam were out in the hallway eating some breakfast when it happened... I was right in the middle of a horrible contraction when all of a sudden I had this weird popping sensation and just like that my water broke! At this time, all hell broke loose! everybody wanted to get me up out of my comfy chair and into the bed. As soon as I stood up though, I NEEDED to PUSH! the nurse kept on saying "don't push don't push" oh I was in tears I wanted to push SOOOO badly but they didn't want me to until I was in the bed so while they collapsed it into the birthing position, I stood there in utter agony wanting to push but not pushing... those were the WORST few seconds of my LIFE! finally I got up into the bed and they had me put my feet up on the feet supports this was the position that I did not want to be in but in the moment, I couldn't really tell what I wanted to do.... GET THE BABY OUT i guess... so I pushed... and I pushed... and I pushed! I believe it was around 8:30. I remember thinking that this part was never going to end! It hurt so bad and all I wanted was for it to be over and for me to be able to hold my darling little girl! I really didn't think that I could do it. I remember screaming and the midwife telling me to use my lower register and do a deep oooooo rather then the high pitched eeeee... so I did I listened to everything they said.
At one point I wanted to feel the babies head because I wanted to know that she was coming out... I remember thinking that it felt more like a leg or arm then it did a head after I felt her head, I think that gave me the strength to continue and get her out! It was around this point that I had a funny thought... "I sound like a howler monkey" I didn't voice this thought but it was funny to me and put me in better spirits :-D a few more contractions later my midwife was telling me that the baby was coming and that I needed to slow down and not push so hard. I couldn't slow down. My only thought was, I have got to get this baby out of me! I wanted to hold her so bad! So, I pushed with all that I had and guess what? Out she came! Sam cut the cord and I had my little baby in my arms.........
What a special moment that was for me! Thinking back on it now, I want to cry! I remember crying and not being able to stop the tears from coming... I felt like I couldn't breath, my life was so complete and perfect at that moment! How could I ever have lived without this feeling? It was the one thing that was going to keep me alive for the rest of my life! I just cried and cried completely unable to keep the sobs from coming! I had done it! I was a real woman after all!
Well, it wasn't long and the midwife, Kimberly Powel, was saying that I needed to be stitched up! so down she went and Oh MY Goodness! Did you know, since there is mostly fat down in that area, it is literally impossible to numb???? well it is true and guess what??? It feels awful having sutures pulled through your skin! They tried numbing it and they gave me a narcotic through my IV but I felt EVERYTHING! I had 2nd degree tearing... OUCHY! well that finally got done and I was able to relax for a bit and just spend time holding my new bundle of joy!
My life was complete and I had just started down the road on my journey with my daughter, Adriana Alyce Gramajo
labor Stats: started labor 9:36 PM May 20, 2011
started pushing 8:30 AM may 21, 2011
Had baby out 8:59 AM May 21, 2011
labor 11hours 23 minuts
pushed 29 minutes
baby stats: 7 LBS 14 Oz
20.5 in long
12 in head circumference ( I think)
