Baby Girl's Birth Story long PIP

jessica_gail2 · April 2013

Sorry this is so long, but I can't help myself!!

I went in at 9 p.m. on Thursday , April 18th, to begin induction. We checked in, I changed into a gown, got my IV, was checked (I was "nearly" dilated), and hooked up to a monitor for LO's HR and my contractions. They started the pitocin at 10:55 p.m., and increased it every 30 minutes until they got it to a 6, which happened at 12 a.m., and I remained at that dose for the night. They had told me I would probably feel cramping; instead, I started feeling contractions. Unfortunately, I kept feeling them in my back and ended up having some pretty intense back labor. At 2 a.m., they checked me again and I was at 2 cm. Just before 7 a.m., I was checked again and still dilated to a 2, almost a 3. My dr broke my water and said LO must have a lot of hair because the tool used to break my water got stuck in it!

At around 10, they checked me and I was dilated to 3. They changed my position in bed to be more of a "throne", with the bottom of the bed dropped, a "shelf" for me to sit on, and my back straight against the back of the bed. This was a painful position but was meant to help her start dropping down. At that point, I was still having pretty intense back labor. Contractions were very painful and were less than a minute apart. I rarely had rest in between...sometimes there would be two or three right after the other. At 10:45 they checked me and I was finally dilated to 4, which is where I needed to be to get the epidural. They had kept the anesthesiologist on standby, so he was in there within minutes to give it to me. He accidentally went into a vein at first so had to try again. During that time I was scared to death they wouldn't be able to administer the epi and I would have to endure all the pain for the remainder of labor and delivery. But, he got it in! A little after noon, the epi was done and a catheter was in place. I hadn't gotten any sleep all night or day, so once that was in place, I slept for about 45 mins.

At 1:45, they checked me and I was at 6 cm. They said to expect to dilate another cm per hour. I could feel the pressure of her moving down with contractions, but couldn't feel the pain of the contractions. They put a heart rate monitor on her head since she was moving down and the monitor on my tummy wouldn't be able to pick her up as well. I was 100% effaced at that point. They began to turn me from side to side about every 30 minutes, except sometimes more often because LO's heart rate would decrease if I was on one side for too long.

At around 3:20, they checked me again and I was at 9-10 dilated. They said to let them know when I felt constant pressure, and very soon after I felt constant pressure. Then, to let them know when it felt like I had to push, and at about 4:15 I had that feeling. I called the nurse to let her know, and she and another nurse that had been helping came in along with two student nurses. They asked DH if he wanted to hold a leg, and at first he did but said he didn't think it was a very good idea, so they had the student nurses hold my legs while he stood up by my head. (side note - one of the student nurses about passed out and had to leave the room!!)

One of the nurses evidently turned my epidural down slightly so I could feel better to push. They had told me to expect to push for 2 hours but I only pushed for just under 1 before our precious baby girl arrived. I did have to have an episiotomy, which a nurse later told me required about 7 stitches. EEK!

We are absolutely in love with LO. She's beautiful and such a peaceful baby. Her little personality is already showing. I am trying to BF and am having some supply issues which is really bumming me out. But, hopefully we can overcome that soon (we're supplementing with formula for now).

I can't thank you all enough for all of the support and encouragement during my pregnancy. I don't know that I could've made it through without you all!

Congrats to all of you, and best wishes for a very smooth remainder of your pregnancies!