Katie Carpenter Instagram – Birth story, part 6
The midwife and nurses told me how to push. It shouldn’t be hard, just get her out, right?!
We tried a few different positions. After an hour and a half of pushing and straining, she hadn’t moved any lower. I was so discouraged. And contractions weren’t coming as frequently, which didn’t help. One of the nurses said “my uterus was tired.” 😭
The midwife brought up pitocin. I was so wary. There are no natural endorphins to counteract synthetic oxytocin so contractions can be more painful. I was worried it could lead to a cascade of interventions.. as higher levels can cause intolerance in the body. What if the baby was stressed from it?
After all our plans and work and pivoting, we were so determined to get this baby out vaginally. But. I agreed with the fact that we needed regular contractions to evict this child. And I’d already been in labor for so long. So they hooked me up to the lowest dose of pitocin. And we geared up for more pushing.
I could have hit the extra epidural button at this point to counteract the intense contractions. But I wanted to feel something! And I did. 😳
The delivery staff were pretty surprised to see that I didn’t need much help shifting and moving anymore.
I wanted to squat, so they had me squat on the bed holding onto a bar. Then I wanted to turn around and hold onto the bed and push. We tried it. But weirdly, what ended up working the best was flat on my back, holding my thighs up, just full spread eagle. The last position I ever imagined for myself 😭 but the midwife was seeing things! She told me there was a black head of hair. 🥺
So I pushed and pushed. For another hour and a half. They kept telling me we were making progress!! The doula and the nurses were excellent cheerleaders. I wasn’t talking. Just waiting for the contractions to push.
I felt intense pressure on my tailbone. They told me we were getting close. I hadn’t had anything to eat in nearly 24 hours, and only ice chips to drink. But I was giving it my all.
Then – the midwife told me if we didn’t get my baby out in the next ten minutes, she’d have to call in an OB to vacuum assist. I was terrified. | Posted on 09/Nov/2023 22:56:11
