We celebrated having Emma Kate for a week yesterday, so I thought it was high time to start her birth story before I forgot everything! If you don’t care about birth stories, sometimes icky medical details and the like, you may want to skip this post and any other birth story posts.
I told you all I had an induction date, but what I didn’t tell you is that it was at 39 weeks 1 day. I had kind of hinted at the fact that baby M was measuring big and I really wanted a vagnial birth and was ok with being induced, but I didn’t want to give an exact day, then I started the baby pool and REALLY didn’t want to give the date!
On the 23rd, I was super nervous all day. I had to go to the hospital for pre admissions and lab work, and I couldn’t believe I was going to be back the next day to have a baby. It was surreal and I didn’t feel like it was really happening. I was instructed to not eat or drink after midnight that night, and was worried about being hungry and weak during labor, so I stayed up until 11:00 and stuffed my face before going to bed. The bad thing about a scheduled induction is knowing the day you are going to have your baby. I slept for exactly one hour that night, and knew it was going to be bad going into the day already exhausted. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30, so I was up at 4:00 to shower and load the car. The poor dogs were so confused and I felt bad leaving them for a couple days.
I took one more belly shot for good measure, I can’t believe I looked like that just a week ago!
We made it to the hospital, checked in, and were brought back to a room by 6:00. At 6:15, I was given my IV, and then it was time for a not so fun enema. I had never had one before, and am glad I didn’t know all it entailed ahead of time because I would have been loathing it as well. Let’s just say it was REALLY not pleasant and not a fun experience, but after it was all over, I was glad it was done with and it was one less thing to worry about for the day (or the next several days!) The nurse was so sweet and made it as easy as possible and I was bummed she about to get off her shift for the day at 7:00!
At 7:00, I was introduced to my new nurse for the day, Laura. I was so excited when I saw her! She was the nurse who helped me when I had to go into the hospital for pre term labor, and she was super sweet and told me she hoped she got to help the day I had my baby, and here she was. Huge sigh of relief, because I know having a good nurse can really change your birthing experience, well, from what I have heard of course.
Before all the fun began
At 7:30, I was given antibiotics and Pitocin through an IV (I tested positive for group B strep). I had heard that once you get the Pitocin, you start having strong and fast contractions, so I was nervous about just how quickly things would progress as far as pain goes. (By the way, I had Bobby write down the times that things happened and I am SO glad I did because I can’t remember them all!)
At 7:40, my doctor came in to break my water. She checked me and I was already at 4 cm, so she said after she broke my water I could have an epidural whenever I wanted. I have to say, the water breaking and that last check were pretty painful, but luckily didn’t last long.
Last selfie before baby arrives!
After all of the commotion in such a short time, there was a lot of waiting around. I had my phone and had posted that I was being induced, so I had a lot of sweet well wishes and texts to read while we waited.
Poor Bobby was freezing cold, we didn’t think about bringing him a jacket or anything to the chilly hospital, but we were able to snag him a blanket while we waited.
I started being able to feel some contractions, like strong period cramps, They were about four minutes apart and strong enough I had to stop talking, but not strong enough that I was in a ton of pain for a long time, so very manageable. At 8:40, my mom arrived and the contractions were amping up a bit in intensity and getting closer together, but were still irregular.
At around 9:30, I decided it was time for the epidural. I was starting to have contractions every 2-3 minutes regularly, and they were getting stronger and harder to get through. I knew all along I was going to get an epidural, so I figured at this point, no reason to be a hero if I am getting one anyway. I told the nurse I was ready and come to find out the girl in the room next to me who checked in when I did had already called for one so I was going to have to wait a few minutes.
Around this time, my nurse Laura came in with another nurse, Athena. Laura told me she was also the nurse for the girl next door and apparently she needed some special attention so she would not be able to be my nurse as well. I was SO bummed out! Laura assured me Athena was great, and she told me she would come back when it was time for me to deliver if she could. She also told me today would have been her mother’s 82nd birthday and so I had to have the baby today. I was really sad I wouldn’t have Laura, but Athena ended up being terrific. I kept telling her how nervous I was for the epidural and how my whole life I had heard horror stories about it. She told me not to worry, that is wasn’t bad, she had one three times, with her three kids. She talked me through what would happen, how I would sit, etc. so we would be ready for when the doctor came in.
This is getting lengthy so I will save the next part for next week!
QOTD: If you were induced or had a scheduled section did you sleep the night before? Did you have a good nurse when you had your baby?
Anyone ever hear epidural horror stories growing up?
