Friday January 10th- When I saw my midwife sulk into the room with an OBGYN, I knew we were headed down a bad path. The OBGYN introduced herself and said that because I was failure to progress she would need to break my bag of waters. I couldn't believe that only 30 minutes after so many interventions, this doctor felt she couldn't wait any longer to break my bag of waters. I told her I wanted time to think about it, in which she said I didn't have time. Then I said I at least wanted my husband to be there. She said breaking my bag of waters wasn't anything special that he needed to be there for. This was the point I knew I was going to have to fight for what I wanted. I called S and had him come back.
In the room was my doula, the nurse, the midwife, my husband and this douche OBGYN. Tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Excited OBGYN went from wanting to break my bag of waters to mentioning c-section. It's all quite a blur to me because I was so angry with how things were going. I didn't want any interventions and had already agreed to so many and yet she wouldn't give my body time to adjust to the pitocin or epidural. I told her I wasn't saying no to her requests, only wanted some time to think about it, digest it and to give my body some time to do what it can do naturally. She said I was at an all time high risk for hemorrhaging. My husband asked how my risk would increase if we waited about an hour or two, she responded A LOT. That's a fantastic informed answer. I was shaking so uncontrollably at this point, I asked her to leave the room and give me time. After she left, the midwife apologized saying she didn't agree with her but that she was her attending physician. It was obvious my midwife was in a very difficult awkward spot.
In the meantime, I felt warm fluid trickle down me. My bag of waters had broken on it's own! I was so excited to tell the OBGYN to shove it, but then my midwife checked me and realized only part of my bag had broken. The OBGYN was adamant that the rest of the bag needed to be broken and she also wanted to insert an internal monitor so they could better monitor contractions and adjust the pitocin more accurately. For me it felt like one medical intervention after another being thrown at me. At one point the OBGYN said I didn't have options, she obviously didn't know who I was or what I was ready to fight for. I felt defeated at this point and frustrated that people couldn't just let me be, however I also wanted the ordeal over, so agreed to breaking the rest of my bag of waters and inserting an internal monitor. The internal monitor is a plastic device that rests next to the babies head that can monitor the strength of the contractions, so although "invasive" wasn't harming or at risk of harming my babe. Finally people left me alone.
About an hour passed when I started feeling contractions again and also the urge to push. I didn't want to say anything for fear of being told I wasn't progressing appropriately or that another intervention would be needed. I really didn't want anyone coming into my room anymore. I waited a bit but my doula noticed I was once again breathing through contractions. The midwife checked me and finally. FINALLY. I was complete! Fully dilated and effaced and it was time to push.
I must have a high tolerance to pain medication because I was still able to move around with the epidural, which was nice to be able to get in different positions on the bed. I pushed about 2.5-3 hours. The ring of fire is NO JOKE. It's a burning feeling you get when the baby is crowning. It's a crazy feeling. Even with the epidural, I felt her come through the birth canal and out into the world. The most exciting part was when they had S gown up and get ready to assist in delivering his baby girl. Everything happened so fast in the end, I couldn't believe my eyes when she was placed on my chest.
On Friday, January 10th at 10:58pm, we finally welcomed our baby girl Avielle Mariya to the world. She's a chunker 9 pounds 11 ounces and I couldn't be prouder that I was able to deliver her vaginally. I worked hard to bring her here. I look back at my story and realize it's quite a unique one, and although I didn't get the natural birth I had hoped for, I wouldn't change any of my decisions that I made along the way. I fought as long as I could for an unmedicated birth, but my body had other plans.
**I found out recently that this case was being brought to the attention of other medical staff and that the OBGYN was written up for her poor behavior. It was quite the ordeal and I am so thankful for the nursing staff that helped me through and supported my decision to fight back against the physician who wanted to push the limits for no reason.
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