This might be a little long so bear with me!

Yesterday, March 5, 2019, I was scheduled to be induced with my first baby. My husband and I went into the hospital to check in at 6:30am accompanied by my best friend who was in the room with us during my whole labor and delivery. By 8:30 all our paperwork and stuff was done and the doctor came in to check my dilation and insert the balloon and start pitocin. I was only a fingertip dilated when my induction started. I labored for 3 1/2 hours (no pain meds) and then the balloon fell out and I was dilated about 4 1/2 cm. A half hour after the balloon fell out my doctor came in and broke my water and that’s when things got real. I labored for another 4 hours with no pain meds and the contractions were intense. After those 4 hours I had only dilated to 6cm. I was trembling uncontrollably, vomiting, and with every contraction it felt like my heart was going to give out. I had my heart set on an epidural free labor because I have scoliosis and I was afraid of having a needle in my spine, but the pain was so intense I couldn’t stand it and had to give in. It took an hour to insert my epidural because of the curvature of my spine. Trying to hold still through intense contractions sucks! Once he got my epidural finished I immediately started to feel relief. After about 15 minutes I couldn’t feel a thing. They checked my cervix again, still a 6. Another 15 minutes after I’d gone numb I started to feel lots of pressure so they checked me again and I was a 10 and ready to go! We waited for the doctor for about 20 minutes and did a few practice pushes before he came in and the real pushing began. I pushed for 10 minutes and my baby girl was born! My only complaint was my doctor had a student with him and she put a suction cup on my baby’s head to help pull her out, which they didn’t ask my permission on. I was progressing fine on my own and could have done it without the intervention. The student pulled too hard on her and the cup popped off and my daughter now has a very swollen lump on her head. Her pediatrician said she’ll be okay and the swelling will go down in about 1-2 weeks but my poor baby’s head is so tender 😕 besides that, my delivery went well despite a small tear into my labia that resulted in a couple stitches. 9 hours of labor start to finish!

Eliana Lynn 🎀💕

March 5, 2019 @ 6:03pm (40 weeks 3 days gestation)

6 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches long!