So the Saturday before my due date my husband and I decided to go to breakfast I know it probably would be the last time we could go just us a couple. We dined on French toast and eggs and everything was going very well until I went up to go to the bathroom and the first of liquid and realized my underwear as well as my pass we're soaked. Honestly part of me thought it was my water broke and the other half of me thought I definitely peed myself. I go to the bathroom and clean myself up head back to the table and tell him it's time to go home.

We get back to our house and I let my two dogs out and go lay down to see if I will fill a pad, but I also decided to call into the hospital just to get an opinion thinking that they would tell me to labor at home. Instead they told me to head to the hospital and to be checked out. We make the 40-minute drive I even walk the long walk from the parking garage all the way to the third floor to delivery. Both my husband and I figured we would be sent home within a half an hour even told the resident as we walked in that sorry to be wasting everyone's time.

The hospital was very filled so we didn't go to a triage room and went directly into a labor and delivery room to be checked out. The doctor comes in and before even checking me informs me that there's been an issue with some blood work that I had from the week before. I had three blood vials pulled that Tuesday 2 had come back normal the following day and I figured nothing was wrong with me just that I had slightly itchy hands even my doctor said it was probably nothing but let's test just to be on the safe side.

Turns out my bile salt test came back high and I had to be induced on the spot. Turns out I had cholestasis. My only birth plan wish other than not going to C-section was not to be induced and to let the labor happen naturally. Slight panic attack. I get to my panic attack they test my fluids and my cervix and I mow to 60% effaced which I had been for the last 3 weeks. Test comes back my water has not broke but while I was sitting there waiting for everything I actually start getting contractions on my own the first contractions of my entire pregnancy baby was going to come anyways in the next couple days.

Now the fun begins, I contact my doggy sitter I set that up while I wait to get an IV started which I knew was about to be a nightmare. They blew the first three veins, I was not surprised I'm a very hard stick. The 4th nurse to attempt it was able to get to work that only took 2 hours I say sarcastically. This time was actually blessing because now I could accept that I was going to be induced and had come to terms with that.

I was given one tablet of cytotec would you place inside my cheeks and let dissolve. They will check on me in 4 hours and go from there. I had imagined laboring in the shower and using peanut balls and bouncing balls really trying to put off an epidural as long as I could. The first 3 hours were not bad the contractions were steady slightly painful but manageable. Unfortunately they could not allow me to labor in the shower the peanut ball was way too big and everything else though smaller was taken and even the yoga ball was too small so I lay in bed the last hour waiting for them to come back in the worst pain of my life.

Now the icing on the cake is that on top of going to labor I have Hardware in my back and the anesthesiologist does not know if an epidural will even work. The contractions were so bad I don't think I could have kept going. The four hours were up they came in to check me and I now dilated to 7 centimeters and 90% effaced. At this point the doctor decides to just let me labor on my own. They don't think I will need any other assistance and joke that my induction really was just a tap in the right direction the Kickstart my labor that was going to probably come in the next 2 hours anyways.

The anesthesiologist arrives and they place my epidural in which honestly I did not feel any of it but again Hardware in my back and the nerves are damaged back there so it was a blessing in disguise for this time around. After about 30 minutes we realize it's only working on the right side. They have me lay on my left side and up the amount and allow me to push a button every 15 minutes to give me even more. The machine breaks during this they replace it and they realize they need to adjust the epidural they pull it out slightly hoping that would work. They upped the amount the machine gives me again. Still no luck and they adjust the epidural one last time. Finally relief on both sides.

Shift change happens and no one realizes I want way too much epidural meds and nobody told me to stop pushing the button every 15 minutes so I did that for several more hours. My new nurse realizes I have no feeling at all from the waist down I can't even feel pressure. They do the cervix check and I had dilated to 9.5 centimeters and they decide they would like to break my water. All the doctor had to do was poked me with her finger my water is going to break with in minutes even if they hadn't.

Again I have a panic attack, and they gave me 30 minutes to come to grasp that I am about to push a baby out. My husband puts on music including Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Abba, and the soundtrack to Across the Universe. I was diffusing young living Valor Oil. On the television we were playing a panda documentary on repeat. My labor and delivery nurse spent the first two hours with just me her and my husband pushing. Now I had no feeling in my waist down and I could not help hold my legs and anyway. My husband has to be very hands on I meant everything the nurse did on my left side he did on my right.

We labored in a normal position for most of those two hours. We switch to the squat position for about 5 pushes. One of the most difficult issues was I could not feel any of my contractions so we had to use the monitor to know when it was time to push. I never once had the urge to push on my own. I was very calm the whole time and don't really have a problem pushing a baby out because honestly I didn't hurt. The only reason my labor was taking so long was my contractions worse till 5 minutes apart. He started crowning pretty early and I Knew by the first hour that he had a full set of hair.

My labor and delivery nurse called in the doctor and residents. I pushed another 30 minutes still not feeling anything until I got to his shoulders. I open my eyes during the middle of pushing at that point and saw half a baby coming out of me and pretty much what oh my goodness as they said no talking keep pushing. Within two minutes he was out and placed on my chest. Initially I was shocked that my husband I just made a human being. Within 30 seconds of Rush of hormones hit me like a wall and I burst into tears. I've never felt that intense emotions towards anyone or anything.

We did skin to skin while the nurses and doctor stitched me up after I had delivered the afterbirth. he latched within a couple minutes. After an hour they did his measurements he was 20 and a 1/2 in Long and weighed 7 lb 13 Oz.

we spent the next two days at the hospital learning everything I could about breastfeeding and caring for a newborn. That is the birth story of my son Finnegan born February 17th 2019.