Sorry for the long story in advance! Baby boy was due on 9/16 but came into this world on 9/12. I had my last OB appointment on 9/11 and I was finally dilated at a 1! My induction, if he wasn’t born on time, was scheduled for 40+1 (on 9/17). I’ve heard so many stories on inductions and the Pitocin causing much stronger contractions, that I wanted to try to avoid it. I have a pretty low pain tolerance (perfect for child birth right?!)

So I got a membrane sweep at my appointment and hoped for the best. My husband and I went to get a few things at Walmart after and I was cramping but I knew it was normal after a sweep. Once we got home, we ate and I tried to get some rest. By 11pm, I was having pretty strong cramping and then by 1am, intense contractions. They started to become closer apart and more often if I was standing rather than laying. We decided to go to the hospital around 4am. They checked me and I was still at a 1 but the pain was about an 8 or 9 for me. They decided to give me a few IVs and see what would happen after. They were either going to send me home or keep me if enough changed. Well sure enough, I dilated to a 3-4 and they decided to admit me. My OB broke my water. I eventually got the epidural and it started helping. By the way ladies who are worried about getting it, it wasn’t that bad. I was worried for nothing. Well eventually the epidural slowly stopped working and pressing the button wasn’t giving me any relief so the anesthesiologist came in and increased the dose. It worked within 15 minutes and I only felt pressure. Fast forward to an hour or 2 later and the pain sky rocketed to a 10 and the epidural wasn’t doing anything. He came back in to increase the dose but 20 minutes later and no relief at all. My doctor came to check me and I was at a 5 but hadn’t progressed at all. She inserted something to help increase the contractions and hopefully let me dilated more but when she checked on me later, I was barely at a 6. Then to my surprise, she asked the nurses in the room what time I was given Pitocin. They all said I hadn’t gotten Pitocin so she had the nurse that was suppose to give it to me called and her reasoning was that I was progressing and didn’t need it (she was wrong). This is when my OB got the concerned look on her face and started talking about a c-section. I started bawling my eyes out, partially in worry and partially because I was in extreme pain. 20 minutes later, the room flooded with nurses and I was being prepped for a c-section. I was told that I’d be awake for it but they ended up putting me under due to how much pain I was in. I remember waking up when they were finishing closing me up and I could barely open my eyes. I opened them barely to see my baby boy. When I finally opened my eyes, I was in recovery and was going to be going to my room shortly to be with my baby boy. When I got up there, we got a call that he was being sent to the NICU for low glucose levels. I started crying and asked to see him for a minute because I hadn’t seen him at all and I was on bed rest for 12 hours. They brought him to me for 2 minutes before sending him upstairs. I was so upset. Well, eventually I was told that I had developed an infection (Chorioamnionitis) and I had a fever most of the time that I was in labor and this contributed to the emergency c-section. Baby boys heart rate also dipped very low 2x for too long so this was a reason I was rushed for a c-section. After 4 days in the NICU, we both finally got discharged. He got to spend half of his last night in the hospital, with me in my room and I was finally content to have him with me. No one has given me a reason why his glucose levels were so low so I still don’t have an answer to this. Because he was a big baby, I’ve been asked multiple times if I had gestational diabetes. I did not. I had a pretty healthy pregnancy. Because he wasn’t with me right away in the hospital and I wasn’t pumping enough, he had been given formula and a paci. Even with a nipple shield, we are still having massive nipple confusion and latching problems. I’ll hopefully be visiting with a lactation specialist soon. But anyways, thank you for reading if you made it this far! This is my big boy Jackson Myles born at 9lbs and 21inches, born on 9/12 at 06:09pm.