Well here is my birth story. I was diagnosed with ICP at 32 weeks. I had been having symptoms for over a month by the time I was diagnosed so it was no surprise when I got my diagnosis. That is when my OB decided an induction for 37 weeks was in the cards for us and set the date for June 28th which made me 37+3. So Friday 6/28 at 5:00 am we made our way to the hospital loaded the car and made the 30 minute drive. After we made it and got checked in it was about 6:00 and we had to wait on my nurse. So many babies were being born that they had to call in a backup nurse. My nurse showed up and we got things started around 7:00. She checked me and I was at 1 and 50%. So we had made a little progress. So they did a dose of cytotec and we waited....waited a long 4 hours. By this time I had some contractions and felt we had made progress. This is when my OB came in and talked with me about what was going to happen next so she checked me. I was only at a 2!! So they did another round of cytotec and a few hours later my OB came back placed a foley bulb and applied traction to it. The traction was literally a bottle of sterile water tied to the end of the catheter hanging off the bed 😰. This really got things going and the contractions really started up. By 2:00 pm it was time to check for progress and possibly do a third round of the cytotec but the bulb finally fell out and when the nurse checked me! That meant I had made it to a 5. I was so excited so they called the doctor and about 3:30 she came in and broke my water and started the pitocin. This really intensified the contractions so I decided it was time for some pain management so they gave me a dose of IV pain meds. This was wonderful I was able to talk and breathe during the contractions. They encouraged me to try and nap but I was just too excited and with all of the people coming in and out of the room there was no way I was going to sleep. So 6:00 pm rolls around and it’s time to check me again finally dilated to a 7 and the IV meds are starting to wear off. The pitocin has to get turned down because it was causing me to contract too frequent and have no relaxing between contractions. So My nurse told me now is the time if I wanted an epidural I needed to get it before it was too late. So I told them to get the anesthesiologist. Let me tell you that 2 hours was probably the hardest part of the entire labor next to the pushing part. Back to back contractions waiting for the pitocin to start to wear off was rough but finally the anesthesiologist got in the room and somehow I managed to sit up on the edge of the bed and sit still during contractions until it was in. Let me tell you the epidural was instant relief but this is when they put the peanut ball between my legs and had to turn from side to side every 30 minutes. I was finally able to relax and closed my eyes and breathe through the contractions I was still able to feel everything and move my legs but the pain was much better. So fast forward to midnight. I tell my mom I feel like I need to go to the bathroom and have pressure in my butt. She goes and finds the nurse. I finally was complete and the baby was starting to make his way down! So by 12:50 she had me start practice pushing. This was easy but I could feel everything my epidural was only working in my stomach because of the position I was in. They called the doctor and by the time my OB showed up things started to get problematic. My contractions were back to back and my uterus wasn’t relaxing. My heart rate was in the 200s and the baby was also having accelerations in the 200s. They tried to get me to breathe through every other contraction and that is the worst pain ever. Having the sensation to push and not be able to makes me want to hold my breath. Finally he was crowning and I got the go ahead to push. The only thing I remember from this was them telling me to breathe and me crying telling them to just get him out because I couldn’t do it anymore. After 1 hour of pushing we finally had our healthy little man! So at 1:52 on 6/29/19 Bryant Alan Schiffelbein made his appearance and was completely healthy at 6 pounds 14 oz and 19 inches long. He did have a nasty bruise on the top of his head from getting stuck but he was out and had no breathing problems like they were expecting so we got to avoid the NICU! It took me the past two weeks to type this up without crying but today we are celebrating because it’s his actual due date! I’ve also included a few pictures. Fist is right after he was born. About 12 hours old, one week old, two weeks old, and the last 2 are today 2 weeks 3 days old on his actual due date!