Well it is 4:30 am and I am peacefully listening to baby and husband sleep. I finally have a minute to myself, so I thought I would post my birth story!

My labor was a total 37 hour process due to being induced because my doctor believed my daughter was going to be a HUGE baby!

I went to my 40 week appointment hoping to not have to spend another minute pregnant. My doctor informed my husband and I that she would be bringing us in for induction within the next week and to keep my phone on. My mom was in town for delivery and was one of my birth partners. Saturday, August 5, at 11am the labor and delivery department called saying that a bed opened up and to come on in! At 11:30am, I anxiously dropped my dogs at my friends and headed to the hospital with a very excited husband. I checked into the hospital at 12:20pm and got settled into my very uncomfortable bed. Little did I know, I would spend the next 2.5 days experiencing an incredibly painful, but beautiful experience.

My doctor came in and checked to see how dilated I was. She said I was just a fingertip still and that this was going to be a long process. At 3:30pm, she inserted Cervadil and told me that she was going home and she would be back to check in the morning.

So, after the Cervadil was inserted (painlessly) I began to grow irritated by how long of a process I was now stuck in. I was tired to begin with (due to being massively pregnant and not sleeping). My mom left at around 7pm and my husband and I tried to relax. at about 8:00pm, I began to feel extremely crampy and could not get comfortable at all. 3:30am rolls around, I am introduced to the doctor who was on the floor. He was there to removed my cervadil. I will add that this man had the largest hands I had ever seen. My doctor is a petite female with small, childlike hands..this guy looked like a Sasquatch! This large handed doctor attempted not once, but TWICE to remove the death string that is cervadil. I have never been in so much pain in my life. This large handed doctor was unable to remove the cervadil and told me that he would have to get someone else to try. 5 minute later, a small Asian doctor walks into the room. He as very kind and explained what he would be doing. He attempted and was able to pull it out a little but not completely or check how dilated I was. I have never felt more defeated in my life. How was I going to be able to push a huge baby out if I couldn't even tolerate the cervix checks? Once the cervadil was out, I was allowed to eat (yay) and took a shower. The doctors told me to rest while they discussed the next step of induction. Once alone in the room with my husband, I broke down completely. I couldn't understand why this took so long or why I couldn't have gone into labor naturally. I begged my husband to just take me home. I didn't want to do this. My husband left the room and called my mom to come in. My mom didn't arrive until 5:30am and I was able to get some sleep before 6:15am when the large handed doctor came in. The doctor discussed with me that I was going to be able to tolerate the Foley bulb catheter and that he would like to do an early epidural or pain medication and speculum to ease pain. The doctor explained that sometimes cervadil does nothing but irritate the vagina and can cause a lot of discomfort. I weighed the options with my mom and husband and decided to take some pain meds and the speculum. At 6:30, the doctor inserted the Foley bulb catheter into my cervix relatively painlessly thanks to Fentanyl. I felt relieved and ready for some rest. I have a horrible time sleeping so the doctor also gave me some Ambien to allow myself to get some real rest. Foley bulb catheter was uncomfortable but not unbearable. At 10:00am, my doctor was back (double yay) and was very sorry to hear about my horrible night. She explained that I needed to start on pitocin right away but that it would be low doses. I started a low dose at 10:20am. At 10:30am, I felt the need to pee, had my mom unhook all my monitors and waddled to the bathroom. As I sat down I felt a lot of pressure and realized the Foley bulb was coming out! And 10:35am, the doctor came in and said I was about 3cm and 70% effaced! This was the best news! I was finally progressing somewhat. They steadily increased my pitocin level every 30 minutes. At 12:00, my husband went to get himself food. My pitocin level was at an 8 and contractions 5-6 minutes apart. At 3:30pm, I woke up to the most intense contraction. I waddled again to the bathroom and realized I had lost my mucous plug. At 3:32pm, I woke my husband and called my mom into the room. I began to bounce on the ball to help speed things up. At 3:37pm, my water broke!!! I was freaking out but so so so excited. I began to experience contractions that were right on top of each other. I was in so much pain but weirdly my body knew what to do. The contractions got worse and then became almost unbearable. My doctor came in and saw that I was very uncomfortable. She checked my cervix and said "oh you're at a 6, you can get a epidural if you would like!" I have never agreed to anything so quickly. The anesthesiologist came about 45 minutes later. I felt like I was dying. I dreaded each contraction. The anesthesiologist asked my mom and husband to step out of the room. He and the nurse set everything up. I was able to sit still during the contractions while he administered the epidural. At 4:35pm, the epidural was placed. I have never felt such intense relief. Not one contraction is as felt. At 4:45pm, my husband and mom returned to see me happily chatting to the nurse. They couldn't believe how happy I was! Lol. Seriously the epidural was the only thing that was enjoyable so far! I slept on and off until about 9:07pm. Two new nurses arrived and told me that they would be my delivery nurses. They were both so kind and I loved having both of them!! The nurses began to use the peanut ball to help me progress. The peanut ball was comfortable and my epidural was perfectly placed so I could move my legs and still have some sensation. At 10:00am I began to feel very nauseous and shaky. I couldn't stop shaking and didn't have much urge to talk. I began to feel very serious and concentrated. At 11:07pm, I began to push. Pushing was probably the most rewarding part (obviously, I got a baby lol) but it was so so challenging. I pushed on my back for about 35-40 minutes and then moved to my side. I couldn't tell when I was having a contraction and the nurses sometimes couldn't tell because the monitor wasn't working the best. At 1:00, my doctor came in as the head had started to appear. My doctor said that I would be meeting my daughter soon. I worked so hard the last 45 minutes. I wanted to see my baby and I wanted to rest!! I pushed so hard and strong, I honestly surprised myself. At 1:44am, my entire world changed and my beautiful baby girl was here! I have never felt such joy and love instantly. Even after everything, I would do it ten times over to have my baby. My husband and I are so very much in love.

Thea Jayne

Born 08/07/17

8lbs 4oz

22 inches long

After seeing how long she was, I realized my doctor was wrong about her being huge. My husband is 6 foot 5 inches so that's why she was 22 inches long (I'm 5 foot 4). Looking back, I wish I would have trusted my body to know when I would go into labor. I wish I would have asked my doctor to send me for a growth scan instead of just blindly trusting that my baby would be huge. Overall, I am just happy that baby and I are both healthy and happy