Birth Story: I had a 42 hour labor that ended in a vaginal birth. If I didn’t stay fit, though, it would have been very different

river1221

New member
I know that many woman here are able to say they had a 4-8 hour labor that they credit to their fitness. I want to give a perspective of what happens when shit hits the fan and how fitness is even more important in those circumstances.

My waters broke at 3:40am on May 22nd. I was GSB positive, which meant I had to go in ASAP to get started on every-four-hour doses of penicillin. I took a quick shower while my husband got together our grab bags, and then off we went to the hospital.

Once there, I got started on my first dose of many penicillin injections. I was checked by the nurse and only 60% effaced and 1 cm dilated. My contractions were still minimal and nonproductive, so I tried numerous things to try to naturally kickstart active labor: power walking, nipple stimulation, and flexing my abdominal muscles. After 8 hours, my midwife visited and told me that chances of my labor starting naturally were very low. I was allowed 4 more hours, at which point I’d start pitocin. While I could get contractions going with walking and nipple stimulation, they’d subside if I rested and tried to let my body take over. I started pitocin at 4:30 pm on May 22nd.

The pitocin definitely helped get my contractions going, and I began a consistent active labor later that evening. Around 11 pm both myself and baby started having trouble coping because the pitocin was causing contractions that lasted 6-8 minutes. Both our heart rates dropped, so I was given air and the nurse turned down the pitocin. I continued my pitocin-induced labor through the night and into the next morning.

By 9am, the pain was excruciating except in one position on the labor ball with my husband pressing on my lower back during each contraction. My midwife came in to check me again: 70% effaced and 3 cm dilated. In addition, the baby’s head was descending, but my cervix was still thick and posterior. I was instructed to try laboring on my side with the labor peanut to encourage her head to move back. I grinned and sobbed through each contraction on my side before I gave up and went back to the labor ball with my husband behind me.

At this point, my husband started talking about seeking pain management. He listened to the nurses explain our options, and helped guide me to an epidural. Now 32 hours after my water broke and 20 hours of pitocin labor, I received an epidural.

I hated no being able to move freely, but I still had full use of my legs. I could feel the pressure of contractions, but the unbearable pain was gone. My girl was a champ and had a healthy heart rate the whole time until delivery. At this point, I hadn’t had any solid food since I started pitocin - I was completely sustained on Tailwind Recovery drink. Seriously, get this for labor. I never felt hungry or physically tired since I was able to stay well nourished.

There was some concern about the final phase of labor and my exhaustion. Frankly, I fucking ROCKED the pushing part. I was finally at 10cm dilation at 8:50pm - my beautiful and healthy daughter was born at 10:02pm on May 23rd after only 12 pushing sets.

While I stayed fit during my pregnancy because of the promise of an easy labor, my fitness was key to being able to meet the biggest physical challenge of my life. In addition, my daughter was used to mom’s cardio routines and used to these types of stresses. If I wasn’t focusing on my fitness during pregnancy, though, I’m positive I would have had a C section or dystocia. I’m incredibly thankful to my husband’s advocacy and the skills of the L&D nurses and my midwife.

TL;DR: Had a 42 hour labor, 20 hours unmedicated with pitocin. Despite long labor, I had a quick vaginal birth and a healthy, vibrant baby girl. Being fit was the only reason we finished the labor strong.
 
@river1221 Holy shit. Way to go! My labor was something like 20 hrs but both dad and I hadn’t slept for 2 days and were rocking colds. I didn’t keep up my fitness at ALL (I played volleyball right up til 38 weeks but only once a week and that ain’t fitness) after my harrowing, nightmare of a birth experience I have often wondered how different my experience might have been if I’d had my health i.e. not being 50lbs overweight, maybe having slept in the last 72 hrs and perhaps not at the peak of a cold. The fact that you labored twice as long and are singing praises about bringing babies into the world makes me suspect my approach of taking the easy way out (not exercising) was actually taking the hard way out in the end:( Way to be awesome!
 
@joanna24 Honestly, I had doubts myself. Especially on paper, it looks crazy.

Being sick definitely increases the difficulty of everything, so don’t be too hard on yourself! At least you know for next time, if there is one. :)
 
@river1221 Thank you for the link! The tailwind I have on hand has 35mg of caffeine per serving. Definitely different. I haven't tried the recovery kind. How much/how often did you have this during labor? Trying to figure out how much to buy :D

Might also come in handy for actual recovery from exercise until delivery. I'm 37 weeks and still running but recovery just gets more and more punishing the further along I get.
 
@justmeinoregon Each serving contains 250ish calories, so I was having a serving every 3-4 hours and just sipping it continuously. Normally, I only use this after races or double digit mileage days just because it is so caloric. I originally only brought two servings to the hospital, but ended up having a friend run and get a bag of it from our local running store. I continued to use it after labor, and I’m still using it now to help support lactation, though just one serving a day.
 
@justmeinoregon My understanding is it all comes down to calories and water. I know I suck at eating enough, so drink mixes help me get the calories I need. I’ve also been focusing on getting 2-3 servings of oats per day and making my calories count. So far, I have no issue producing enough, but YMMV. Some people also take lactation supplements and herbs, but I haven’t done that myself. (Definitely made this response while nursing her. 😂)
 
@river1221 Heh heh!

So...how long did you continue trail running during your pregnancy? I’m not pregnant (but trying) but have wondered how being pregnant could affect my time on the trails. Wondering if at some point I would need to switch to road to be less afraid of tripping and landing on my belly.
 
@roderobin Until about 28 weeks. Granted, I wasn’t doing anything hilly or rocky after week 20 or so. I completed a very flat trail 5k race at week 27 and that was my last trail run.

And I totally did fall on trail. I tripped on a tiny rock and, simply because of my new center of gravity, I couldn’t catch myself. I landed on my hands and knees - i rather have those banged up than my stomach! That’s when the hubby actually said no more rocky/hilly trail runs (though I still hiked them with him on weekends).
 
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