Birth story - Labor was FUN(!?)

I was terrified of labor, so I was surprised at how empowering and really kind of fun it was...

I went to my OB appointment at 38w3d, but I had fire in my eyes to get sent to L&D.; For the past 3 days, my blood pressure had been getting higher and higher, and I felt worse and worse. Something was wrong, and I knew it. Sure enough, I had protein in my urine. They sent me to the hospital for induction right away. This was good news in a way, because I already suspected I had preeclampsia. It was nice to get a formal diagnosis and start the process of getting my baby out of there safely!

3:30pm - 1.5 cm dilated - arrived at the hospital. By 6:00 they started the dilation balloon. Man, lemme tell ya, this was the only part of labor that actually hurt the way I thought it would, that unbearable pain. The balloon sucks, but it was all easy peasy after that.

5;00 am - 4 cm dilated - balloon came out, started Pitocin

11:00 am - 6 cm dilated - epidural time. The epidural is glorious. I was on the fence about it, but I’m so glad I got it. It made the whole experience awesome. I even had one side stop working, so I could feel contractions, but it was so much more mild than going without. 10/10 would recommend.

1:00pm - 6 cm dilated - progress with Pitocin stalled. Very scary and sad. They broke my water about an hour before the stall and I felt awful, like I was forcibly evicting my boy. I felt so guilty for being stalled out, and for ruining his cozy home. Lots of crying ensued. But then...

3:30pm - fully dilated! My son started to show signs of Pitocin intolerance. It was looking like a C-section was imminent. So they did one last cervical check and BAM! Fully dilated, time to push. Pushing was the most amazing experience of my life. I’m crying just thinking about it. I’d had a difficult pregnancy, and I was stuck in bed, helpless, for months. Pushing was the first time that I actually had the chance to DO something to help my son. It was like someone said “you can save your son’s life if you lift that car” and oh my god was I ready to lift a car. So I pushed. I pushed with all the frustration and fear and fury built up from months of having to ‘wait-and-see.’ 1 hour of nonstop pushing, 4 per contraction, no missed contractions. I remember the nurses looking over me to my husband, saying, “wow, she’s a warrior.” I’ve never seen my husband look quite so proud 😂

And at 4:10 pm... I heard my son’s cry for the first time. All I could think was “woah, that baby has a really beautiful voice. I’ve never heard such a pleasant baby cry before.” Then I realized - wait, that’s MY baby!!!

Mycroft Charles was born! 8lb10oz, 21.5 inches long, 37cm head circ

Face a little bruised from being pushed out so fast.

And here he is now, 5 weeks old and 12lbs already! 😱