Home / Community / Birth Stories

Our birth story. REALLY LONG.

Fay • Tue, Dec 27

November 30th was just another day in our pregnancy journey. I woke up feeling ok, got ready, dropped my girls off at school & headed to work. We had a doctors visit & I was looking forward to seeing my baby girl at our usual weekly non stress test appointment. Seeing her squirm around inside me was always the highlight of these appointments. I was hoping that at 36.5 weeks, we would see some signs of labor in our near future. I must admit, I was completely over being pregnant at this time & just kept pep talking myself through each day. Soon as I arrived to my appointment, I was taken back pretty quickly. I hop on the ultrasound table & quickly realized that something was wrong when the technician asked me how my water intake had been that day. I drank tons of water throughout my pregnancy, so I was a bit confused by the question. I was supposed to leave & come back due to how the appointments were scheduled, but she said I needed to hang out & she would inform my doctor that I was ready to be seen. She could see the fear in my face as she walked me out because she grabbed me & said, mom, take a deep breathe, everything is going to be ok. Ok, I said, with tears running down my face. A million thoughts were running down my face at this point. I waited a long 5 minutes to see my doctor for her to tell me that my amniotic fluid levels were extremely low & I needed to head straight to triage in labor & delivery to be monitored for a few hours. A few hours in triage, turned into us being admitted into the hospital for possible induction that very same day. I don't think I've ever had so many emotions run through me in such a short period of time & I wasn't ready. I thought, would my baby be ok, would I be ok? I have a million things left to do, our bags aren't even packed! Wait, my toes, can I get my feet done?! (I know, so insignificant looking back) What about groceries, we need groceries! Who's gonna watch my girls?! Ugh! These were just a few of the things running through my mind. Two of the longest days in the hospital consisted of me being hooked up to an IV for fluid, 2 steroid shots, one in each leg to help mature baby's lungs, tons of blood work, several ultrasounds to monitor baby, & some urine analysis to rule out any preeclampsia. Turns out, my 24 hour preeclampsia test came back with high levels of protein. In the 650's to be exact (they like to see those levels under 150 during pregancy), but I wasn't showing any other signs. My doctor was in complete shock with those results because I was doing so well, aside from the low fluid. I soon received word that I would not be able to go home & my doctor would be inducing us in 3 days at 37 weeks. I was heart broken. The first thought that runs through your mind is, what could I have done differently to hold my baby inside for just a little bit longer? 😔 I was afraid her lungs wouldn't be fully developed and we would have to spend some time in the NICU. I've heard so many stories of mommies having to leave their babies behind after birth & I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to handle it. I wouldn't be as strong as those other women who so bravely come & go as their babies need them to. During all of this, I never cried. I was a bit angry. For the entire day Thursday, I spent my night in the hospital being angry at the world. I didn't want to be, but that's how I felt. Day 2 in the hospital, I realized that none of my anger would change my situation & that I needed to come to terms with how my birth story would go, so that I could be fully prepared to deliver a healthy baby girl. I finally cried and I prayed. I realized that I was never in control & the sooner I let go & let God, I wouldn't be angry anymore. So that's what I did. Saturday morning (day 3 after already having an ultrasound that morning ) a nurse came in bright & early & said, I have some great news, do you want to go home?! Shut up, I literally yelled! Haha. She said, I could, or I could tell you the good news! Turns out, I was being released by my OB under strict conditions & I was to return Monday afternoon to start our induction. I was FREE! Baby girl would be making her arrival in 2 short days. Fast forward to Monday afternoon - we were admitted to the hospital to start on cervidil & I would labor with that for 12 hours. To everyone's surprise, I was taken off the cervidil 5 hours early because my body was responding a little too well. Contractions were just uncomfortable at this point & then pitocin was started Tuesday morning at 7am. Shortly after, doc came in to break my water. Probably the most uncomfortable part of my entire pregnancy. Not even 5 min after my water was broken, contractions started & quickly went from a 3, to a 10 on the pain scale. I was only 4cm dilated & decided I would endure a bit more pain before asking for my epidural. My entire pregnancy, I wanted so bad to have a natural labor, but because I've already had two daughters that I was also induced with, I knew the pain on pitocin would be unbearable for me. So I waited about another hour or so, until my contractions were so bad, that I couldn't focus on anything. Anesthesiologist came in & my epidural was placed in about 5 minutes. Soon as that was done, I immediately felt an intense amount of pressure. I told my nurse, who said, let me check your cervix. She said, oh. I looked over & said, what does that mean? She said, you're about an 8/9 dilated and 100% effaced & I can feel the babies head. She said, I'm going to go ahead & call your doctor so you can start pushing. I didn't even know where my husband was at this point. He & my best friend had taken my daughters who had just gotten there to get some lunch & apparently, the nurse said I requested that they all stay out of my room at this time. We do & say some strange things when we're In pain. Haha. I was pretty bummed at that point, only because I realized that if I had waited a few more minutes, I wouldn't have had to go through with the epidural. My body was ready & I just didn't know it. At 37 weeks, December 12 at 2:14 pm, my baby girl was born during 2 contractions, with 2 big pushes all in about 5 minutes. She weighed 5lbs 11 oz, 19 inches long. Thankfully, I didn't have a single tear & didn't have to have any stitches. Looking back, I don't remember laboring so long with such painful contractions, but I did & I couldn't be more proud of the work my body endured mentally & physically. Labor is hard, but so worth it!