My Birth Story. Sorry for the superrrrr long post

I'm a first time mom. My pregnancy was relatively smooth overall. I had orthostatic hypertension pre-pregnancy and during my pregnancy I became anemic. I would get dizzy spells occasionally when it was too hot, which was towards the end of my pregnancy since I was due in August. My original due date was August 22, 2018 and then my doctor changed it to August 23. On Tuesday August 21 I woke up at 9:30am to go use the bathroom, as soon as I got up out of bed I felt liquid come out of me onto my underwear. I wasn't sure if it was pee, discharge or my water breaking. I went to the bathroom and it was a relatively large spot on my underwear. Of course I went to google right away and it said that every woman was different, you water breaking could be a gush, or it could be little drops. It was recommended to empty my bladder and go lay back down in bed for half an hour and if I got up again and felt that same leakage, then it was my water. I laid back in bed and happened to fall asleep, I woke up an hour later to cramps, which ended up being contractions. I went to the bathroom again and saw a small blood clot in the toilet, or maybe it was my mucus plug. Anyhow I called my doctor and explained what happened and she told me that it was most likely my water that broke so I should go to the hospital. I couldn't believe it. I was 39w 5d and I for sure thought my baby would go past 40 weeks since it was my first.

I called my husband to come into the bathroom and explained what had happened, he asked what my doctor said and when I told him that she suggested that we go to the hospital he got so excited. We got ready, I, of course, wanted to shower and wash my hair. We were on our way to the hospital at 1pm. I had light cramps but nothing crazy.

We arrived to the hospital, checked in and then waited for the doctor to come and confirm that my water had broken. Once she confirmed that I was in fact leaking amniotic fluid, I was automatically admitted. They took me to my room and the nurse came in to check my vitals, get me hooked up to the monitor and put in my IV. Let me say that my last meal was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate milk at 2am the night before. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat once I got to the hospital but I was so excited I didn't want to stop to eat. (BIG MISTAKE) Because I was dehydrated the nurse had such a difficult time getting my IV in. She got it in and my vein collapsed right away, it took 4 tries! I am pretty good with needles but I have never had an IV before, this hurt SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!

Anyhow they go the hooked up to the machines, the IV in etc. They gave me some clear liquid to drink every two hours in order to speed up contractions and dilation since I was less than a cm dilated upon arrival. The liquid had no taste. I only had two rounds of that liquid and then they gave me pitocin. My contractions were not that bad, I just closed my eyes and took deep breaths through them. By 10pm I was already 4-5cm dilated. The nurse came and asked how my pain level was and by 11 I decided that I would take an epidural. I had wanted to try an all natural unmedicated labor. I probably could have gone longer without the epidural but I know that once you get to a certain amount of dilating, the epidural is no longer an option, so my ideology was, why should I be in pain if I don't have to.

The anesthesiologist came in at 11:15 to get me ready and prepped. My husband had to leave the room so that we could have the most sterile environment possible. She explained that I would feel the pinch and then cold. The nurse let me squeeze her hands through the process. It did hurt a bit when I felt the medicine travel throughout my veins but I knew it would pass. It took a total of 15-20 minutes for the whole process and another 15 for me to be totally numb. I remember my husband coming back in the room and I said to him "I don't feel anything" with the biggest smile on my face. =)

I knew the epidural would slow down dilation but I wasn't in a hurry. The doctor came in at 4:30am to check and I was still only 5cm dilated. When she returned at 8am I was already at 9cm. I was shocked because I didn't expect to dilate that quickly in 4 hours. She returned at 10am and I was fully dilated. She said she wanted to give the baby about another hour to see if he would further descend. She came in at 11:10 and said "its show time." I remember my husband saying "already?!" He was calmly playing on his phone and the next thing you know, we were ready to start pushing. I began pushing at exactly 11:25am, I didn't know how to push but they told me to push as if I were going to poop. Well I did, but I honestly didn't care, the nurses cleaned it up so quickly they were amazing. It took me about a total of 5 pushes. I felt the pressure of the contraction and thats when I had to push. My husband was relatively quiet up until he saw my son's hair. As soon as he told me that he saw the hair and told me to push, I felt so motivated. It's one thing when the nurses and doctor say to push but hearing my husband say it was a totally different ball game. I pushed the head out and my doctor told me to stop pushing, she wasn't ready. That was quite hard because I really wanted to push. She had to perform an episiotomy, once she made the cut and told me to push, my son came right out. My baby boy was born at 12:02pm at 8lbs 6oz and 20.5in. They put him on my chest and I began crying right away, as did my husband. It was the most incredible, indescribable feeling in the world. I remember thanking my husband for making me a mom and he couldn't stop thanking me for the most beautiful gift I could have ever given him.

I was never scared or nervous about labor and delivery. I knew that one way or another my baby was going to come out and as long and he was okay that's all I cared about. I felt so lucky and blessed to have a quick smooth easy deliver, in my opinion. I only pushed for 37 minutes. After I had my son, I felt so powerful, as if I could do anything in the world. Post partum was way more difficult than labor and delivery. I had to have a blood transfusion because I lost too much blood during labor, and the hemorrhoids were torture. I finally felt normal after the 5th day. But all of it was worth it for my beautiful son.

All of you expecting mama's, my advice is not to be scared, try to enjoy it. I know that may sound crazy but it goes by so fast. Enjoy each moment being pregnant, I know some people have difficult pregnancies and I'm sorry for that but it will pass eventually. My boy turn one month yesterday and I take in and try to enjoy every late night feeding, no matter how exhausted I am. If you've made it this far in my post, thank you!