My birth story: FTM, struggled for 2 years TTC, told that I would probably never have my own childern so we should look into adoption/donor eggs. Devastated then conceived NATURALLY 😳 after all that. Pregnancy was going great but was diagnosed with gestational diabetes after Christmas. Kind of knew it was coming (despite only gaining 13lbs total) as I'm Asian, 40 years-old, had a history of MCs, and all babies in my family going back 2 generations have all been over 9lbs 😬 I managed my diet as best as possible but still ended up having to do a single insulin shot at night. Monitoring my blood 4X/day and administering the insulin every night was truly annoying, but I was determined to do everything possible so baby boy would have a healthy 9 months.

I kept walking everywhere, ate super healthy and continued swimming until 36w (only stopped bc I became paranoid re early labour at pool). However, at 37w my blood pressure (which had been great) suddenly shot up to the 150s/100s and stayed there. It was decided that I would be induced at 38w4d and I agreed it would be healthiest. However, my bp climbed even higher at my next OB appointment and he decided I should be induced the next day, at 38w3d (so moved up one day).

We presented ourselves to the hospital at 9AM on Friday and thank god I had been told to eat beforehand (I stuffed my face with McMuffins 😂) as it turned out to be a long process. Checked in, did a NST and baby was doing great. My cervix was checked for the first time, and doctor said I was 1cm dilated and about 50% effaced. She said I was a good candidate for the Foley catheter and I liked that it was a mechanical dilation vs a chemical one, so said sure. It was this deflated balloon thing that didn't hurt as she put it inside me. This was done at 11:45AM. She filled it up with water, taped the plastic tail end to my inner thigh and my hospital panties were whipped back on. Honestly, I only felt it when I sat down and only then it just felt like a full bladder. 

At 1:30PM, they started me on an IV of oxytocin to bring on contractions. I walked around for 3.5 hours, dragging the IV stand as I wanted to use gravity as much as possible to help baby along. Pain was extremely manageable. It varies from uncomfortable to pretty annoying (1-3 out of 10). I could walk around, go pee and poo with no issues. Standing against a wall really helped as they continued increasing the oxytocin dosage. I continued walking.

At 7:20PM, the doctor checked me. I was 4cm so the Foley catheter was removed and she manually broke my water. I felt warm liquid trickling out. 5 minutes later, the pain of the contractions jumped to Crazy Town levels! I laid on my side, clinging onto the bedrail trying to visualize calmly swimming through water. In reality, I was shaking & crying bc it felt as though some evil giant was smashing boulders against my lower back. My contractions had moved from the front to the back. After almost an hour of this, I asked for an epidural as I knew it would only get worse and I didn't know if I would be able to hold still after another 10min of this pain. My husband was amazing as he helped me sit still enough - I was ugly crying from the back contractions at this point. They got it on the first go and the relief kicked in within 10 min and was unbelievable as 15 more minutes of the back labour and I would have feasibly shit myself from the pain. 

Under the epidural, I stopped crying & shaking, and managed to breath and rest. No, I didn't nap but I could sip away at some water and not want to die. I was surprised that I could still wiggle my toes and retained full control over my legs - I still felt funny happenings in my vagina but the contractions went way down to a 1/10 pain-wise. 

Within 2 hours of getting the epidural, I was at 8cm 90% effaced and starting to feel the contractions more. At it's most intense, it was still a level down from the back ones I experienced. I could breath through them and though they hurt, I could do it. When I was 10cm and fully effaced, it felt as though every medical staff trooped into the room. My OB was there, 2 other doctors, and a small team of nurses. I was told to wait until I felt lots of pressure in my bum area so when I did, I was told to push. I couldn't really feel any pain in my abdominal area but I retained some sensation in my vagina and it hurt. I almost blacked out twice from pushing as I was straining so hard. I felt myself tearing but by this point, I knew baby was crowning so I was determined to keep going as I knew it would be bad for him to get stuck there. I pushed for 20 min total and was shocked when they put him on my chest, as he was HEAVY. Turns out I gave birth to a 8lbs 12oz baby! All the ultrasounds and doctors told me he was in the 55th percentile, and even at my 37w appointment, my OB said he would be 7.5lbs at full-term. I was induced at 38w3d and Baby HanJoon was born at 1:43AM this Saturday weighing almost 9lbs 😳💕

My husband and I were in love with our new little family but alas, baby was shaking. Turns out his blood sugar was too low and it was common amongst big babies born to mom's with GD. He breastfeed like a champ immediately but even when we added formula, his levels kept falling. At 11:30AM, he was whisked off to the NICU so could receive sugar through IV. I was in pain from the second-degree tearing (I forgot how many stitches I got) but I crawled up to see him in NICU. It was horrible seeing him in the incubator with the IV and all the monitors, even though his only "medication" was dextrose. The thing that kept me sane was being allowed to reach in and touch him through the portals. Above is my husband touching our one-day old baby 😍

I visited him every 3 hours, bringing the colustrum I would squeeze out and was so happy yesterday when he was unhooked from the IV. He still had to stay in NICU though but it was psychologically a huge deal to me. He was discharged yesterday at 3:30PM and has been in my room with me ever since. I am so in love!!

Notes so far: I was in pain all day Saturday. I was weak and it hurt to walk. I had no strength in my arms and my back was sore. I forced myself to drink 5L of water, 2 C of prune juice and walked very slowly back and forth between my room and the NICU. I guess it helped bc the next day, I regained 80% of my strength, could walk semi-normal, and had my first poo after delivery! I had heard horror stories but I think doing the above (along with continuing the healthy diet) turned it into a regular poo for me 😳 Although trust me, it still stings when I clean myself (peri bottle, pat dry gently, dap with Tucks). Hoping it'll get better soon.