Dash's birth story

Well dash will be one month old on Friday and I am JUST getting around to writing the story of Dash's birth!

I was completely obsessed with reading birth stories throughout my whole pregnancy. I read every birth story and watched every A Baby Story on TLC that  I could get my hands on. I decided that I wanted to try for a water birth since my local hospital offers them and they are becoming increasingly popular. Hot water is an amazing pain reliever and needles scare me to death so I decided a drug free water birth was for me. No IVs or epiderals. Ok now on to the actual story...

On April 9th I had an appointment with my midwife. It was two days before my due date so I asked for a cervix check to see if I was dilated at all. It turns out I was still completely closed but his head was extremely low. I believe the term she used was "locked and loaded" haha. Anyways, I was discouraged. Even though I hadn't reached my due date yet, I was getting bigger and more uncomfortable by the day. I wanted Dash here now! I couldn't go one more snoring, heartburn ridden, fat, uncomfortable night. (And I wouldn't have to!)

That night at around 8 PM, I took a bath to soak my sore everything and try to relax.  Upon getting out of the bath I noticed some *warning* slime type substance on the bath mat. I kindof just stood there and stared at it. I then noticed I was feeling especially wet in general. And no amount of wiping with a towel was drying me off... If you catch my drift... I called to Mike from the bathroom saying "Mike, I think something is happening!" We both stood there in a what-the-hell-do-we-do trance. Iwasn't  expecting my water to break before contractions began! We called the midwife and she said to wait for contractions to start and if they don't start on their own, then to check in to the hospital at 6 AM. Luckily, contractions began at around 11 PM. Nothing too eventful happened throughout the night. I couldn't sleep out of excitement and the pain of the contractions. (Biggest mistake!) In the morning, Mike, my parents, and myself headed to the hospital. I was in pain, but managing the contractions by breathing and what not... Things weren't that bad. After being checked and told I was 2 cm dilated, I was taken to my labor room.

 

 

 

I just pretty much did my thing for a while, while family and friend showed up. I was tired but feeling good. Contractions were steady and painful but very manageable. At around 1 PM my nurses wanted to check my progress. A young, new nurse was checking and started to look perplexed which of course freaked me out. She was up there for a WHILE then says she needs to get another nurse because it feels like I'm 7 cm but I'm much to calm to have progressed that far without knowing. Sure enough, another nurse confirmed that I was 7 cm dilated. Wow. This was too easy! My midwife whisked in and told me to walk around. I really didn't want to seeing as I was exhausted and in moderate pain but Mike and I hit the halls and started doing laps. The contractions were getting more intense and I had to stop and bend over through them while Mike pushed on my back. I was also making a strange cow moan that made the pain more bearable. Hey, whatever works. Plus, it's true what they say, when you're in labor, nothing else matters but the task at hand. After walking, I tried bouncing on a yoga ball for a while and laboring in a warm shower. By this point my water had been broken for around 20 hours or so (who's counting) so the nurses insisted that I get an IV of antibiotics. I was horrified. I was a bigger baby about getting the damn IV in my wrist than I had been throughout my entire labor. It still sticks out in my memory as being one of the worst parts of my labor. My midwife wanted this baby out soon since when your bag is no longer in tact, there's a much bigger chance for infection. So I was checked and sent to walk some more. I was getting more and more exhausted and uncomfortable. Upon returning, my midwife decided that I needed pitosin to get this show on the road and an epideral for me so I could take a nap before pushing. (Goodbye water birth) I started crying. mostly from exhaustion but also from disappointment and pain. I was beginning to lose control of my pain and was terrified of the pitosin. I was checked and was at 9 cm. This is where things got a little crazy. All I can really remember is laying in bed, my contractions one on top of the other, moaning and crying, refusing to be touched. The breaks between contractions were so short and my contractions were so painful that I was panicking and squirming around in pain. I also vaguely remember swaying my legs back and forth as I held my belly and moaned. All the friends and family I had in the room up until this point started leaving as they were prepping me for the pitosin and epideral. I was very much in my own world. Everything looked and sounded like a dream. Transition was no joke... I thought I was never going to make it. The best way I can describe a contraction is a very strong, localized, pressure pain in my lower abdomen. If I could see the pain, it would be around the size of a tennis ball. Whoever said that contractions are like strong menstrual cramps is full of it. Ten fold different. Anyways........

Finally after around an hour, the anesthesiologist, aka my best friend, came through the doors exclaiming "I do epiderals!" I was in so much pain that the epideral needle felt like butterfly kisses. No. Big. Deal. It was now 7 PM. I hadn't slept the night before and I was exhausted. The epideral was amazing.I wasn't entirely numb, but I couldn't feel pain. I wanted to cry from happiness. Actually, I might have. I was in and out of napping for the next two hours. I had an AMAZING nurse who helped me to "labor down" even after I reached 10 cm to bring him down farther. Essentially, so I wouldn't have to push as long. After a while I started to feel like I had to push. The midwife scurried in and I was prepped for pushing... Husband holding one leg, my amazing nurse holding the other. (My mom was there somewhere too... What a privileged character haha) I pushed for 40 minutes, 3 or 4 pushes per contraction and taa daa! Dash came flying out, all in one piece! No head first then working out the shoulders business... That moment was unreal and gives me butterflies to think about even now. As soon as he came out, i looked at Mike and I will NEVER forget the look on his face. He looked shocked, amazed, teary eyed. Dash was immediately put on my chest and I burst out in tears saying "oh my god oh my god!" He was a screaming, purple, sticky dream! It didn't hit me until that moment that I had an actual real life baby. And he was perfect.

Dash's birth didn't go exactly as planned but I am so happy with it regardless. Now the not so fun part of the story...

Since my water had been broken for 25 hours before Dash was born, he had a high white blood cell count and needed to be monitored for infection. He was also slightly jaundiced. I was exhausted and so of course the thought of something being wrong with my baby seemed much more horrific than it was. The next day, more tests, more waiting. To add insult to injury, we were having trouble breastfeeding and Dash was losing too much weight. Long story short, I arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning and we didn't get to leave until Sunday afternoon. Everything with infection, jaundice, and breastfeeding (which took another two weeks of hard work to get the hang of) was good enough for us to take our little bundle home at last! 

Dashel Mickael Schmierer

April 10th, 8:54 PM

7 lb 12 oz 20 in

 

 

 

He started sucking is thumb immediately!

And just for fun, this is where Mike had to sleep the whole 4 nights we stayed at the hospital.