Birth Story

I was admitted to the hospital on Thursday night (Jan 19th) to be induced. That night they were going to place cervadil to thin out my cervix more & then the next morning start me on Pitocin to help my body labor & dilate. When the Dr. came in to check me & place the cervadil she told me I was still barely a centimeter dilated & asked me if anyone had ever talked to me about my pelvic bone. She proceeded to tell me that I had a flat pelvic bone where most people have a curved pelvic bone & that she thought this would be to my disadvantage of birthing her on my own. She said we would definitely try, but to be prepared for a c-section. So, I basically took the rest of the time before I went to sleep to mentally prepare myself for a c-section. It was something I was not opposed to, but of course I would rather try to birth my baby.

We went to bed shortly after trying to get as much rest as needed, but all in all that was completely impossible for me. With my nerves, the anxiety, & having to get up & pee every hour due to the IV liquid drip I maybe slept for a good hour on & off. The nurse kept coming in to check on me, check the monitors, & see if I needed anything for pain. I kept telling her I was fine. Then about 3:30am I woke up with what felt like mild menstrual cramps & of course had to go use the bathroom again. I told my husband what I was feeling like & he said to mention it to the nurse. Of course I didn't want to because I felt like it was too early in the game to be asking for anything at all, plus they weren't unbearable.

Around 4am the nurse came back in & they were starting to get a little stronger. Once again she asked if I needed anything for pain. So, I told her what I was feeling & she said she had noticed the contractions on the monitor but just thought I wasn't feeling them. She told me she could give me a mild dose of pain meds in my IV that would help take the "edge" off & allow me to get some rest. She told me it would immediately make me feel drunk out of my mind but just to go with it & rest. She was definitely right and for the next hour and a half that was the BEST sleep ever.

Closer to 6am the meds started wearing off & they were getting ready to come in & remove the cervadil. I was starting to hurt again & asked hubby to come over & check the monitor to see if I was starting to have some real contractions. He told me it looked like I was but he didn't know exactly what he was looking at. At 6am they came in & removed the cervadil (which hurt like you know what) because unfortunately the Dr. forgot to leave the string hanging to pull out, so a Helga look alike nurse came in to "dig" it out for me (she was really nice, but she looked like a Helga) and that's just what she did...dug for it...3 times. By this time I'm starting to be in a lot of pain - from her digging to my contractions getting very strong; my emotions got the best of me & I started to lose it. Hubby helped me get focused again & then we had shift change of nurses.

When my new nurse came in I told her I was starting to really hurt & asked when the Dr. would be by to check me. She told me that she normally made her rounds about 8 or 8:30am. It was 7am. She told me she could give me another dose of the pain meds & hopefully that would take the edge off until she could come in. So she did, but they did not work at all! I felt no relief & they kept getting stronger & stronger. It felt like they were coming every 2-3 minutes. So, I asked hubby to look at the monitor again, this time he could see the difference but still thought it was reading right because it said I had had 3 in the last 9 minutes lol. Oh it was definitely reading right because I was feeling it all. I had him sit on the bed with me & just rub my arm to try to take my mind off of the pain when it hit. That lasted about a minute so then I asked him to come rub my back & apply pressure when I was having one. Once one would hit I would grab the side of the bed, close my eyes, & breath really hard through it all while he would massage/rub & apply pressure to my lower back. We did this for quite some time until he went looking for the nurse ;) The nurse came & I told her I was very much in pain & either needed something or if she could call the Dr. & see what we could do. This was all before starting any Pitocin. So the good sign here was that I was laboring on my own. She made a call to the Dr. & she gave an ok to go ahead an order an epidural & she would be by very soon to check me. Time she had gotten there I was at 3cm & the epidural came shortly after. Epidurals are wonderful let me add. I was able to breathe through the contractions, but they were coming so fast it was hard to even have a minute of rest in between.

Then around lunchtime I was starting to have some pressure pain in my back again that was causing me to be uncomfortable. I laid there & tried to rest & tolerate it but again it kept getting worse & worse. I asked the nurse was this normal for me to feel pain like this with an epidural, she told me she would add a little more medicine to the epidural to see if it might help, but she couldn't guarantee it. I'm glad she did because it worked wonders. Then around 1:30 my Dr. came back to check me & meanwhile during all of the pain I had just experienced, I had laid there & dilated to 10cm. She then broke my water for me & it was time to get the show on the road. She said she would be back in just a few minutes & we would be ready to push! I was a little confused so I asked about my pelvic bone & all of the talk about having to have a c-section. She said nope, everything has worked itself out. You have done all of your labor on your own w/out meds having to help & the baby's head has already positioned itself below your pelvic bone. Praise the Lord! I was so happy! Hubby on the other hand was nervous out of his mind & couldn't believe we were at this point! I was very relaxed & wasn't feeling any pain at this point. I wasn't scared out of my mind like I had been the whole week before. It's like a calming had come over me.

Once the Dr. & nurse came back in we were all in our positions to start pushing our baby out. I pushed for an hour & out she came. The most beautiful baby girl of all! I was complete! She made that whole day worth the pain. During the whole process all I could feel was a little bit of pressure. My epidural was a good one & even though I tore a bit I didn't feel it at all. Of course until the numbness wore off :/ I was just thrilled to have her in my arms finally! She is just precious!

Hubby was a great coach, he thought he was going to stay at my head the whole time, but since he wanted it to be just me & him in the delivery he had to help hold my other leg ;) So he was in full action. He did great, he motivated me so much & helped me through it all! I couldn't ask for a better lifetime partner to share those moments with. We were both so proud & happy & we look at our little Mattilyn everyday & say to each other, she is perfect! It's amazing the love you have for your own!