I was originally scheduled for a Sunday night induction but got delayed due to L&D being full. Got the call the next morning around 10:30 to head in. Officially got admitted and all set up by 1. I was induced with a foley bulb and it caused some discomfort going in and some cramping. I dilated to 3cm within 3 hours from only about a fingertip when we arrived. Once the foley bulb was out they started the Pitocin and were gradually increasing it every half hour or so. My OB came in to check me and I was at 4.5cm and she broke my water. After this contractions came on fierce! I held on til about 6cm and asked for nitrous oxide to use as a bridge between an epidural. By the time I got the nitrous oxide I felt the contractions were unbearable and asked for the anesthesiologist to place the epidural. Of course I was JUST about to receive it (after a lot of mental preparation) and the anesthesiologist got called to an emergency. So back to the nitrous oxide I went in the meantime to help me through each contraction. Within 15 min we were a go for the epidural! I got it and started to not feel a thing so managed to get about an hour/hour and a half of sleep. Woke up to right side hip and abdomen pain...come to find out baby was engaged and applying pressure to my right hip. I got a bolus of the epidural meds and got comfortable again, about an hour later this same issue returned and again, they did the same thing. I got approved for another loading dose of the pain meds and rested comfortable until the pressure kicked in! Started out as some uncomfortable but manageable pressure in my vagina. Soon it started feeling like it was in my butt, too. They had checked me and I was at 8.5 so they put me on the peanut ball to help me efface the rest of the way and finish dilation. This made the pressure SOOo much worse but that’s how we knew it was working. Finally I called the nurse telling her the pressure was constant and I was getting no relief. Turns out I was 9.5cm and my OB wanted to do a few practice pushes to see if I’d make it past the tiny part of expose cervix left. Well it worked! 30 min later I was holding my 8lb 8oz baby boy! As a first time mom, my experience was really good! I had the best group of nurses and my OB is amazing! My husband and mom were my support people and they did all the right things to make it a smooth delivery process. My heart is so full 💙💙

Peyton John 🥰🥰