I had my baby boy on February 19th at 10:55pm! It was quite the adventurous labor & I am SO thankful he is here!

Earlier that day, I went into my OB office for a general check-up at 39wks +5 days. I had been having episodes of false labor a couple of times (hours through the nights) & was feeling discouraged that nothing was happening. I had been 3cm & 90% effaced for the past couple weeks & was just feeling so ready. On top of that, I only had my parents in town for the next 10 days & was really hoping baby would come at the beginning so that I could have more help with my toddler after baby was born. My OB asked me at my appt if I wanted to schedule an induction...with how effaced/dilated I was, she said I could be induced for any reason after 39 weeks if I wanted. So I went out on a limb and asked her if I could be induced that same day 😂 She called the hospital & they were having a slow day, so she said “How does noon today sound?!” Yes, please!

Ended up being a good thing we induced because baby was much bigger than they anticipated (he was 9lbs exactly...so not huge, but he was almost too big for my pelvis. They said later that waiting another week might have caused need for an emergency c-section). I went in at noon and had to wait for the doctor to get out of surgery before she could break my water as planned, so they started me on a very small dose of pitocin around 1 just to get things going. Contractions felt like period cramping... I could tell they were there, but they weren’t painful at all & my hubby and I enjoyed playing card games while I sat on a birthing ball or stood up.

Last bump pic!

At 6pm, the doctor came in to break my water. In my head, I was thinking contractions would slowly start to ramp up & I would eventually ask for my epidural after a few hours once they started to become unbearable...but because I had already been started on the pitocin for a few hours, breaking my water REALLY ramped things up much faster than I expected! About 20 minutes after my water was broken, contractions were coming SO incredibly strong & close. They lasted a full minute & I only had a 30-50 second break in-between each one. I had my husband count to 30 once the contraction started so that I knew when it would start to ramp-down again—that really helped me to get through the “ramping up” part. By 6:30, I was asking for the epidural...wanted to hold off longer, but they were coming too close & I couldn’t catch my breath or control my breathing very well through the contractions. I honestly wasn’t sure how I was gonna be able to sit still for the epidural. I decided to take one dose of IV fentanyl right as they were doing the epidural, which really helped me to be able to sit through it. The epidural didn’t hurt at all, it was just that standing/swaying was the only way I could get through contractions at that point.

After he epidural was in, it made it so that my legs were unmovable, but I could still feel all the contractions 😣 This was the worst, but thankfully it only lasted about 20 minutes before the anesthesiologist switched my medication, which worked! Once this kicked in, labor was a breeze—don’t get me wrong, pushing for 2 hours was a lot of work, but it wasn’t painful at all & I was able to enjoy the process—I had a mirror up so I could watch the head coming out, which at first I didn’t think I would want, but it ended up being really fun & motivating to watch!

Overall, my birthing experience was fantastic up until the last 5 minutes, which were the scariest 5 minutes of my life. After his head was born, all of a sudden the nurses started to panic, the OB became very intense, and everyone on the unit was being called into the room...I didn’t know what was happening & was so freaked out. In an an instant, I had two nurses kneeling over me on my bed and pressing down their full body weight on my abdomen to try to force baby out—meanwhile, telling me I had to keep pushing. Even with the epidural, it was the most painful experience I have ever had. I couldn’t stop screaming, and I was panicked because I was trying so hard to push, but couldn’t make myself stop screaming to do it. I literally felt like my baby was going to die and it would be all my fault if I couldn’t push. The nurses kept pushing down on me while the OB had to make a quick decision and cut 2 episiotomies to try to get my baby out ASAP because there was no time for an emergency c-section. Later I found out my baby decided to lead out with his elbow, tearing almost the entire length of my vaginal canal, and making him stuck at the shoulders/chest where he couldn’t breathe. Apparently however he was positioned was very dangerous and they needed to get him out fast.

Thankfully, they were able to get him out & he started crying soon afterwards & was healthy! If it weren’t for the hospital staff acting so quickly, our baby would not be here today! My husband had nearly passed out in the corner when all the craziness was happening, and we were both crying and in shock from it all, but overwhelmed with thankfulness that he was ok!

Reuben Scott was 9lbs, 21 inches long and arrived at 10:55pm on 2/19/19! We are so in love 😍

Meeting baby brother 😍💙💙

Not so sure about dad 😂