Fletcher Elliott: A Birth Story

I woke up at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26th with what I thought were gas pains. I took some gas-x and laid down but the pain wasn't going away. It took me about 30 minutes to start realizing that maybe these were contractions. I had to be induced with Archer so I never really experienced normal contractions before. Dave called L&D and I spoke with a nurse who confirmed that I was most likely having contractions and they were 2-3 minutes apart. I got off the phone, finished packing our bags and headed to the hospital. On the way there my contractions started hurting really bad especially in my lower back.

Once at the hospital they checked and I was almost 6 cm's dilated so I was admitted and I immediately asked for the epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived at 5:15 a.m. and as I sat up to get the epidural my water broke. I had gotten the epidural with my first labor so I knew what to expect this time around. It started to numb half my torso so I had to turn and let gravity help numb the other side too. I was able to move my legs this time around which I actually appreciated and it did not affect the epidurals effectiveness.

I tested positive for group B strep so they have to hook me up the antibiotics, but I am allergic to penicillin so I got a bag of a different antibiotic. Also, because my labor was quick they only were able to administer one bag so we had to stay 48 hours in the hospital instead of just 24. Anyway, back to my birth story. By about 7:40 a.m. I was fully dilated to 10 cm's but I did not start pushing until 9:05 a.m. because Fletcher's head was not as low in my birth canal as the nurse would've liked so I sat up and let gravity try to force his head lower. He was also sunny side up so the nurse had me do some practice pushes to see if he would try to turn on his own. He didn't until the very end though.

I ended up pushing for 1 hour and 45 minutes. With Archer I pushed for 2 1/2 hours so this was a slight improvement. My labor nurse was awesome! She had be try pushing in a few different positions to see what worked best for me and the baby. With my last delivery I just sort of laid there the whole time. My last 3-4 contractions were probably when I felt the most "pain". Fletcher's head was crowned and I had to wait until the next contraction to push again. Dave, my Dr. and nurse were just standing there having a normal conversation as I was laying down with a head half way out of my vagina. The pressure was intense, way more than I felt when delivering Archer. It made me love the epidural even more.

At 10:50 a.m., just 8 hours after feeling my first contraction, Fletcher Elliott was born. He was 8 lbs., 10 oz and 21 1/2" long. I had a second degree tear that needed stitches but considering he was a full 2 lbs. heavier than Archer I think that was pretty good. My recovery this time around is going so much better as well. I am just taking over the counter Motrin for my cramping and tearing pains and even then I only need to about once/day. Fletcher was born very red because he had an excess amount of red blood cells. He also spent 2 days in a billibed to treat his jaundice.

We have been home over a week now and things are going well. He breastfeeds like a champ and sleeps in between nightly feedings. Archer is starting to show some interest in him, but is still pretty ambivalent. All in all, I am very pleased with this labor and am loving being the mother to 2 boys.