Labor and Birth Story

I am finally home and want to write down my labor and delivery story before I forget.

I was pretty upset because it seemed like I was going to have to be induced.The weekend went by with no progress. Monday rolled around and I danced around the house like crazy and bounced on my ball trying to go into labor naturally. Tuesday morning I woke up and when I got out of bed I felt a warm gush of liquid. I stood there for a second confused and then felt more come out so I ran to the bathroom. I was gushing out clear liquid. In the back of my mind I knew my water was breaking but I didn't want to hope. I changed my underwear and waited. 20 min later I felt the same rush of warm liquid. This time it wet my entire sweat pants. I called my mom to let her know what was happening and we were so happy. It seemed labor was starting on it's own. I went through five undies before I was convinced it was my water and finally put a pad on.

I called my doctor's office and explained what was happening. They called me back with orders from my doctor that instead of Wednesday to come in that night at 7pm to be induced since they want to start the procedure 12 hours after my water broke. They also said if the contractions got worse to come in. So far my contractions were like small menstrual cramps and I still had the lower back pain I had been having all week.I got off the phone and took a shower and started packing the last minute things for the hospital. I text N and told him what happened and to stay at work and I would update him.

The rest of the day I just bounced on my ball and drank my Raspberry Leaf Tea. Marissa came over to be with me and we just hung out. My mother kept calling me worried because my water was breaking I should be at the hospital now but I told her everything was going to be fine. N came home at three and we all just relaxed and talked. This was not the way I pictured my labor. Sitting around eating pizza and watching my husband and best friend drink beer. While we sat there I started getting little contractions. It was very relaxing. N finished packing his things and installing the car seat. I called the hospital to confirm our arrival at 7pm. We all bustled around and got things ready and then we were off.

We checked into the hospital and they took us to our room. It was HUGE!!! The room was so nice. I swear it was like a five star hospital room. We settled into the room. I changed into the hospital gown and was even excited to see a nice pink birthing ball. I planned to use that later. The nurse came in and started to put my IV in. OUCH!!! She kept messing up and poking me. She also had to take some vials of blood and we all know how bad I am with that. I was not very happy. She finally managed to get it in and we settled in for the night watching T.V. My water fully broke as I was laying in the bed and they decided it was time to start Pitocen.

We all fell asleep and about 1 am the nurse came in and told me to change positions because the baby's heartbeat kept dropping with every contraction. She checked me and I was two centimeters and 100% effaced. My contractions were ten minutes apart and lasted a minute. She decided to call the doctor on call and they monitored Logan's heartbeat for awhile but after it kept dropping with each contraction they decided to take me off Pitocen. N and Marissa were sound asleep snoring away and I tried to get some sleep as well.They had told me I would be having the baby the next day in the evening anyway. Within an hour of them taking me off Pitocen is when hell began. My contractions started coming faster and stronger. I layed in the bed concentrating on my breathing. I kept telling my self I could do this. I could skip the epidural but by the second hour I knew I was going to get the epidural. The pain was soo unbearable.My contractions were now coming four minutes apart. I asked the nurse my pain options and she gave me something to take the edge off.

At one point during the night a bunch of nurses rushed in and put and oxygen mask on me and made me get up on all fours because Logan's heartbeat kept dropping. One doctor explained they might have to do an emergency c-section and since I had not gotten the epidural I would have to be put under for the surgery. I was scared and upset to think I may not be awake for the birth of my baby. They also gave me something to completely stop my contractions to see if the baby's heartbeat got better. The on call doctor came in and introduced herself as I was on all fours. She apologized for having to meet me that way.

Logan's heartbeat stabilized while I was on all fours and when I layed on my side it was still stabilized. The huge rush had woken N and Marissa up. They were standing around looking a little scared. I told the nurse I wanted the epidural as soon as possible. I looked over at N and told him I had tried for two hrs but the pain was to much. He assured me I was not a failure for getting the epidural. I had also begun shaking very bad from the pain. The anesthesiologist came in about fifteen minutes later to give me the heavenly drug. They made me sit up and I did not feel anything but a little pinch. He explained the effects and I told him my feet were starting to warm up and he said that was natural. He was a little concerned since they had given me a drug to take away my contractions how would we know if the epidural had worked.

The on call doctor came in around this time and checked me. I was four centimeters and completely effaced. She told me she was going to try to put in some fluid to see if the baby's heartbeat would do better. They hooked me up to the fluid and also put something on Logan's head to monitor his heartbeat better. She knew I did not want a c-section and was trying as hard as she could. We waited it out and I was feeling wonderful. The pain was gone. They even started the Pitocen up again. I still had the shakes very bad but I felt very relaxed. The only thing was his heartbeat was still dropping. N called my parents around three to let them know what was going on. My parents rushed over and my mom and me kept monitoring his heartbeat but with each contraction I got his heartbeat got lower and lower and I knew I was going to have a c-section.

The on call doctor came within a half hour and told me I was going to have to have the c-section. I agreed and she told me the good thing was it wasn't an emergency and therefore would be calmer. She went away and the nurses came back in and started prepping me. My mom started crying because she knew how bad I had wanted to avoid it. N and Marissa put on their scrubs and N called his parents to let them know. They wheeled me away to the OR. I was very scared and nervous. I kept praying everything would go wonderful. They made the epidural stronger and got to work. N sat by my head the whole time and the epidural god stood by my side as well talking to me. I could hear them working on me and concentrated on their talking. I could also feel Logan kicking me as they worked.

The next thing I knew N was standing up over the sheet to look over and I heard my baby crying. I was soo relieved and excited and anxious. They then told us that the reason his heartbeat kept dropping was because he was holding on to his umbilical cord with his hand. They were all amazed because they had never seen a baby do that. My little man really didn't want to come out. They cleaned him off and gave him to N. N came over with our son in his arms and I finally got to see our precious boy. He had so much hair and was just beautiful. They whisked him away to weigh him and N went with him as they worked to stitch me back up.

After I was all done they wheeled me to the recovery room for two hours. The whole family was now there. They came in with Logan and N told me he his Agpar's were 9's. I was finally wheeled into my post partum room which was a lot smaller than the labor and delivery room. Everyone came in and started taking pictures and talking. I was soo tired and out of it. They all stayed for awhile and then left so I could get some much needed rest.

My doctor came in everyday to check on me. I got the feeling she was kind of disappointed she did not deliver him. I was kinda of emotional because my milk had not come in and I was scared it wouldn't. The nurses would come in every three hours to check on us and even offered to take the baby to the nursery but N and I said no.We wanted him in the room with us at all times. They took my staples out on Saturday and also circumcised our little man. My doctor was the one who did the circumcision. N went in and told me he did great and only cried when they poked him with a needle. Just like his mama who hates needles as well.

My milk came in on Saturday and I tried to latch him but with no success. I was very upset and got emotional. We ended up having to feed him formula from a bottle. I was happy my milk came in but upset he wouldn't latch. The lactation consultant came in and made me feel a lot better. We are still trying to latch everyday.

We are sooo happy and blessed with our baby boy. He is just precious. N is an amazing father. He takes care of his son so well and is a diaper changing pro:) We had to stay in the hospital for four days. The stay sucked because they bugged you every three hours. We really could not relax. N stayed in the hospital with us the entire time and barely left our side. My recovery has been a little difficult but I am feeling well over all. I am happy to be home with my boys. We are having so much fun learning about our son.