Maverick’s Birth Part 2
At 38 weeks, I had a massage, chiro adjustment, and emotion code done to make sure that everything was dandy and in place for baby. During the massage, I was getting some good painful contractions but nothing happened really after that. May 12th came and went. May 15th came and went. (I had two "due dates"--one based off of cycles and another from ultrasound. I prefer to go by due month.) May 16th, Tuesday night I labored all night and got bloody show. Close contractions that would spread out.
Labor stopped during the day. I labored again throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I walked I swear 10 miles in the previous 72 hours. I was exhausted! (This is called prodomal labor, when labor starts and stops. This usually indicates a pelvic “problem”, where it is not aligned correctly and baby is unable to initiate labor fully. The Webster Technique would have helped with this. More on this later)
Around 4 am Thursday (May 18th) morning, I got into the tub to see if the contractions would slow down. They didn't, so I called the midwife, photographer and Jen Cruz. Jen came to stay with the boys until they woke up. We met the photographer and the midwife at the center. Someone was already there and in the room I always pictured myself birthing in. But the room we had was beautiful and roomy. I would walk around and my "entourage" would follow: Mom, Randy, Grace (student midwife), Autumn (photographer).
Once again, as the day approached and the sun rose, the contractions slowed. So we ate breakfast and I was told to walk. I paced around the parking lot and marched up and down the curb which would bring contractions. But I was SO tired and frustrated that things weren't progressing. I broke down and sobbed--I thought for sure they would send me home. (I'm not sure on times, but I remember what happens next.)
I labored a lot on the toilet facing the wall with pillow on the tank so I could rest between contractions. I had to pee every two seconds anyways and every time I sat down, a contraction would come, so to keep things moving, I just planted myself there. I was so exhausted and we agreed that I would shower and rest. Danielle finally decided to check me although we had talked about not checking just to see if anything was even happening. I was laboring so hard but nothing was happening it seemed. I was 4-5cm dilated.
I went to "sleep" between contractions. Danielle gave me some homeopathic pellets to encourage closer contractions. I also started the birth prep herbal drops that I had been taking since 36 weeks but they had me taking it every 30 minutes. Contractions were coming but Maverick wasn't engaging. Lynette decided to see what he was doing during a contraction. So she was checking me during a contraction. Holy Hell that hurt. Turns out he would come down during a contraction and then back up. He just wasn't staying down and engaging. So more homeopathy, rest, leg up on a peanut ball, birth tincture and birth stool (If you haven’t, I would research and learn about how Spinning Babies could help you). Contractions were now frequent and painful, but not really doing anything. I was also shaking pretty bad.
After a few hours, Danielle asked if I wanted to be adjusted by the chiropractor that worked downstairs. I wasn't opposed to it but with the frequent and painful contractions, the last thing I wanted to do was put pants on and walk downstairs. I also didn't want to have a contraction and be too vocal and scare everyone. So Tara (chiropractor) came upstairs and showed Randy how to rotate my pelvis during a contraction. They all were trying so hard to get me downstairs so that she could adjust me on the table. We finally made it down and she did some adjusting and things really got moving. (Tara and Randy literally had to hold my pelvis in place so that it was correctly aligned and Maverick could engage. I know for a fact, if I was in a hospital, I would have been labeled “Failure to progress” and could have had a c-section. Or possibly had been told my pelvis was too small. I know without a doubt that chiropractic saved my labor. I will never deny it. We get to see it frequently at our office, Elevated Life Family Chiropractic, as mom’s come in on their way to the hospital or they have been laboring for days like me. Proper alignment of the pelvis is CRUCIAL for labor and delivery.) Luckily Lynette had brought a bag down because I started to vomit. That's when I knew things were about to get real.
To be continued….