My turn! 0% as expected

This is a very long story so if you like to read this one is for you.

In a short summary, one single piece of advice is to follow your instincts, but go in with an open mind. 0% of what I expected happened.

So my original plan was to go all natural, I had practiced hypnobirthing and everything, I was so mentally prepared to have a nice relaxing birth in the tub at the hospital and labor at home as long as I could. However, my baby is stubborn just like me and didn’t want to come out. She had never dropped so I was still at a -3 (high in my ribs, nowhere near the birth canal) and my due date came and went. For 5 weeks I was 1/2 cm, 50% effaced. On my due date they checked and it was still that way, it was just a waiting game. Over the weekend at 40 +4 I woke up to period cramps, and I thought maybe this was the start, since I had NO symptoms or signs of early labor at all. The cramps turned from that to little waves of pain every 6-12 minutes and lasted like 30-45 seconds, so I was excited to get things started. But they lasted like that for two days and then went away overnight, and it was more annoying than painful to have those slight cramps for so long. I went to my appointment at 40+6 hoping that it had changed my cervix, but it didn’t. So the doctor told me “well since you’re not progressing we’re going to have to induce you, you just ran out of time. It happens a lot” so I was thinking they would schedule me a few days from them to be induced. He walks back in and has admissions papers for 18 hours from then 😱😱 so I was a nervous wreck because my plan had already went down the drain.

I got to the hospital at 5am on 6/11, and they signed me in, explained what was happening, they were super reassuring and talked me through everything. I was scared of the IV because of trypanophobia and past experiences, but the nurse took about 10 seconds flat to set it up and I was shocked that it didn’t hurt. I started cytotec (pill up vagina to soften cervix) at 6:23 am, and was bedridden for 2 hours to let it stay in place. After about 30 minutes those tiny cramps came back, and I was being monitored for heart rate, Bp, and contractions so I had tons of straps on. After the two hours I walked around to try to get things going for an hour, then just sort of sat and hung out with hubby, and then my friends came and said hi at about 10am. At noon they checked me, and I was 1cm 80%. They started another round of cytotec and since the cramps didn’t go away I requested a small pain med just so I could get some rest since it looked like it was going to take awhile. I forget what I received, but I think it was fetynal? I took a nap until 1, and woke up to contractions. I knew these were real and doing something because they were suddenly much stronger, and felt much lower in my pelvis. I went to go to the bathroom and when I stood I had a contraction so strong I thought my water broke, but it turns out it just pushed all the pee out of my bladder 🤭 I went to the bathroom and sat in bed for the other hour but the contractions had gotten super strong and 2 minutes apart by then, lasting 45-1 minute. I was just super uncomfortable since I wasn’t allowed to move, and as soon as 2 hit I walked around for 15 minutes but had to hunch over in the hall because it was suddenly to intense. I was about 20 steps from my room but I didn’t even make it that far before another one and it made my eyes water and took my breath. I called my nurse over and asked her when I would be going to delivery, so she timed the contractions and said let’s go right now. We waddled over to delivery, where it took me another few minutes of contractions and by the time I got to the new room I requested the epi, my natural birth was totally gone I just needed a break to be able to recoup because they were STRONG and so fast. Luckily I never needed pitocin because they came on so fast. So they call anesthesia and she gets there, I was struggling to stay still and they did the epidural. I only felt the numbing needle which was a small pinch, a small burning sensation, then instant cooling relief. I didn’t feel the needle whatsoever, but she had to redo it twice because I was moving so much. I was put on oxygen for hyperventilating. The epi took and I breathed and cried through contractions for another 10 minutes or so until the meds kicked in, and then layed down. By then it was about 5pm. They put the catheter in and let me rest. I could still feel my legs completely, but my skin was numb, almost like my legs just fell asleep. No pain though. The baby’s heart rate dropped for about 30 minutes, not dangerously but enough that they had to turn me constantly. At 7 the nurse checked me and I was at a 7, and then accidentally broke my water in the process. I could feel her touching the water sac and felt it rupture, followed by a ton of blood for the bloody show. She told me she would check on me at 9:30 unless I needed anything and turned out the lights. However as soon as she broke it, I felt pressure. Like the slight urge to push but not bad. The pressure got worse for 45 minutes. I called her back in and she checked me, I was at a 9. They called the doctor in. He came in and we did some practice pushing just to relieve the pressure I was feeling. I got on my hands and knees since I could still feel everything, and rocked to get the pressure to go away during contractions. I dilated to a 91/2 and started to push for real, but she wasn’t descended, there was a small lip of cervix not there yet. Her head slipped past for one push, and then slipped back, which caused me a very strange pain that was horrible and I can’t even describe it. I hadn’t felt any pain until that point, just pressure. The doctor told me to resist the urge to push and just get through contractions until I dilated enough, so I wouldn’t tear my cervix. This went on for an hour, the pressure

Got so bad my body started pushing for me and nothing helped. I was hysterical and screaming, I ended up ripping off all my wires, tubes, mask, everything but the Iv and catheters. The anesthesiologist had to come back and give me another round of medicine, 3x the recommended dosage for my size. I have a weird toleration that makes all pain meds not work in normal dosages. Always have. But at this point the doctor waited for another contraction and in doing so, pushed the piece of cervix out of the way. It was brutal and the worst pain of the entire thing. I felt incredible pressure in my rectum all of a sudden, and knew she was actually in the canal, although I felt like I was pooping and kept asking if I was because my butthole felt inside out 😂😂 it was so weird feeling. I started to push as hard as I could and she got stuck, so I had to have a vacuum extraction. I’m only 5’ so they were anticipating her getting stuck. They placed it on her head and I pushed for about 10 minutes. When she was crowning I felt the ring of fire, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and lasted for maybe 10 seconds. Her head came out and two more pushes and she was born. She wasn’t crying at first because there was lots of meconium in the fluid, but she ended up with an apgar of 7/9. I hemorrhaged during placenta delivery, but pitocin was started and it was under control within five minutes, but I did feel the gush of blood. As soon as the baby was born I felt no more pain and felt completely normal like myself again, just very sweaty. It was insane how it suddenly went from the worst pressure and pain I ever felt, to feeling like I was just laying there on a normal day. I got to hold her and she latched right away and for the most part have been totally fine since, no other complications. She did have a bruise on her head from the vacuum but didn’t cause any other problems and went away by day 4. She was 6 pounds 15 oz 19 1/2 in., born at 10:33pm on 6/11, I was 41+0 and head over heels in love, it’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever felt and I would do anything and everything for her.