Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be able to finally have my go at a birthing story. I spent so much of the third trimester reading about everyone’s birth experiences and looking at adorable pictures of brand spanking new babies (something I’m sure we can all relate to). So now to be able to share mine has me completely emotional, okay okay maybe that’s just my current state as a FTM with a baby who is now a little over a week old.

My daughter, Lucy Marie, was born at 7:55am on Thursday May 24th, 2018. I was scheduled to be induced that same day at 5pm, but my labor began on its own Tuesday evening.

I had been having changes/small indications that labor was on the horizon; such as starting to loose my mucus plug and then having my bloody show. Then on Tuesday I started feeling off and crampy with an increase in bloody mucus. I woke up Wednesday to an obvious contraction around 4:15. I should note that I was determined not to run to the hospital until I was certain something was happening. Therefore I tried to keep sleeping. I would wake up with each contraction, which were getting closer together but still at the quickest 7 minutes apart. Around 11AM I told my husband that I was considering calling the doctor because the pain was getting intense and awfully close together. I’m not sure how many other first time moms were like me, but I was having a really hard time timing contractions. I ended up having back labor and my back hurt constantly. The difference was that during a contraction the back pain would increase with the abdominal cramp and then decrease back to its normal painful status. So I wasn’t sure anymore how close they were together and the one time I tried to focus on timing them they were 4 minutes apart. This made me panic a bit and I decided that I needed to shower and get ready because I was pretty certain that I was in labor.

By 1:50pm I was at the hospital and being examined by the doctor. I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. I had an appointment that previous week and was 2cm, so I was at the very least happy to know there was some progression. On the other hand, I was upset that I wasn’t more dilated because the pain was already getting hard to handle. They told me to walk around for a couple of hours and that I would be rechecked and assessed from there. The first hour was uneventful, but the second hour was intense for me. I would be walking and the contraction would make me grip onto the wall or bed. I told my husband that I really hope things had progressed because I didn’t think I could handle going home and dealing with this until our scheduled induction the next evening. I have a decent pain tolerance and was afraid of what was to come — aren’t we all?

When the doctor came back in to check on me, she instantly told me that I was being admitted. I had gone to 4cm and my water was hanging really low. She said that was probably why the pain in my back was so severe. They got me all checked in and taken to an actual birthing room. I was starting to get overwhelmed with emotions, but mostly the pain. I had wanted to wait as long as possible for the epidural but when the nurse explained that I needed to have fluids pumped into me for half an hour before I could receive one — I requested the fluids to be started. I had been getting more consistently rough contractions and wasn’t sure that I could handle them getting much worse. We started the IV fluids around 4:40 and by 4:50 my contractions were consistently 2.5 minutes apart. I was so glad that I hadn’t waited longer to start the IV because I felt desperate for the relief everyone talks about coming from the epidural. By 6:30 the epidural was administered and the catheter was in place. I was now 5cm and my water was still hanging in there.

This is about the time that I start getting fuzzy on the actual times everything occurred, but I do know the order of events. My doctor checked my cervix a bit a few hours after the epidural and I was 7cm. At this time she comically accidentally broke my water. When she first started the check she mentioned how she thinks she felt a tiny leak and then all of a sudden we heard a pop and my water was fully broken. I’m pretty certain this was around 10-10:30pm and she told us she figured we would be having the baby shortly after midnight.

Unfortunately my labor started to stand still at the 7cm and my contractions went from being a consistent 1.5 minutes apart to being anywhere from 1.5-4 minutes apart. This is when they decided to start Pitocin. Of course with my luck the epidural medicine cartridge ran out just as the pitocin began making my contractions more intense. Up until this point all of the nurses who saw me (even pre-epidural) kept saying that my pain tolerance had to be high and that they wouldn’t even be able to tell I was in labor. Well. Once the epidural ran out it was as though someone flipped a switch. I kept having to grip the bed rail because the contractions were strong enough around my abdomen and back to take my breath away; then of course came the tears. It didn’t help that on top of the normal feeling contractions I had somewhat gotten used to, I also had this pressure in my bladder that made me feel like I had to pee so badly. I was crying over needing to pee while knowing for a fact there was nothing wrong with my catheter. If I’m being honest, the desire to Lee was much worse than the contractions at this point; which I was told meant the baby was moving down lower into the right place. Thankfully my husband kept wetting my head with a cold rag and telling me it was okay, despite me whispering to him that I wasn’t going to make it. Eventually the epidural cartridge was replaced and I was feeling so much better. It became a waiting game. I don’t remember how much time had passed or if anyone told me how I was progressing. I was falling asleep and watching tv when the epidural cartridge started to run out again. I was a bit panicked because of last time. The cartridge did run out and I did feel the pain, but they also told me that they wanted me to be able to feel my legs a bit because it was getting closer to push time. I had a bit of an uncomfortable period at this point because I didn’t want to push the button anymore for more medicine so that I could get this show on the road. I was completely finished with the pain and with waiting, it was now early morning. After being told we’d have the baby shortly after midnight, I was feeling exhausted.

I finally felt the urge to push and the nurse helped me count/push through each contraction. I ended up pushing for 1 hour and 20 minutes before my daughter was born. The pushing was a lot more intense and difficult than l expected. Once I accepted that I needed to push like I was going to poop and really let go of my fear of pooping on the bed, things went smoother. I scared the nurse a bit because she was waiting for the head to be right there to call for the doctor, who would then come in and deliver. Unfortunately I went into “pro-pusher” mode and my daughters head popped on out of me before the doctor was able to get into the room. The nurse tried to hold her head inside of me and I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack as the nurse was frantically screaming for the doctor. Thankfully the nurse then let me push the baby the rest of the way out. I was horrified for that first little chunk of time, thinking that because the doctor wasn’t there that something was going to be wrong. Thankfully, my daughter was placed on my chest and was perfect. My husband doesn’t cry often, but sobbed as my daughter wiggled and cried as we comforted/welcomed her to the world. Despite being awake and in labor for almost 28 hours, I was never as happy as I was in that moment. Lucy Marie was born at 7:55am on Thursday May 24th, weighing 6lbs8oz.