I went in Monday 3/6 at 5am for my induction. They started me on pitocin at 6am and broke my water 5 mins later even though I was hardly dialated. It seemed very scary to me to do it so early but I went along with it. The pain was extreme from the start. I had no chance to gradually work my way up. I had an epidural around 730am and it worked great until they raised the bed and had me sit up with my legs spread to make her lower herself. All of a sudden I started getting shooting pains up my spine. I was immediately terrified because I've heard a lot of horror stories about epidurals. I kept pressing the button to kick the epidural in but no matter how many times I hit it nothing was helping. I was screaming and crying in pain. My spine felt like sharp things were stabbing it and my right side felt the same from my shoulder down to my mid calf. I was crying to my mom that something was not right and that I was scared it had done permanent damage. They checked me and I was dialated to 5 and fully thinned out. So they had me try to push through for another hour. It was now around 330pm and I could not handle the pain anymore. I was having panic attacks and my blood pressure was through the roof. My midwife suggested I get another epidural since that one had worn off and I still had half way to go. I told her I was scared of it doing permanent damage to my back and she said that I would most likely end up having to have a c- section if I didn't get it, so I agreed. The guy came in to give me the epidural and I was trying so hard to keep still but I was in SO MUCH PAIN!!! He was taking way longer than the person who did my first one so I was starting to panic even more. He kept asking if I felt numbness in my legs and I said no it's in my back and he said "tell me if you feel it in your legs". A few minutes of pure hell go by and I tell him that my legs are numb and as I was saying that I added that everything else felt numb too. My nurse who was holding my hands to keep me calm asked if I felt any pain. I told her that I don't feel anything and that it feels like I'm high even though I don't even know what that would feel like cause I never have been. She said "So you're not in any pain? You can handle the contractions?" I said "I don't feel anything at all and I don't think I can sit up any longer" and I started to lean towards falling off the bed. She grabbed my head and said "I need you to keep eye contact with me and keep talking". I looked her in the eyes and said "I can't feel anything. I'm going to faint." As I said that I fell backwards on the bed and the epidural doctor is yelling for me to move my toes. I started panicking because I could not move anything and was starting to have trouble breathing. I looked at my nurse and said "please help me, I can't breathe" and at that moment my eyes rolled back and all I can do is hear people talking. I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't see, all I can do is hear. I heard them yelling some hospital code and to find the oxygen mask. They kept yelling out all of their medical numbers and at that moment I thought I was dying. They put the oxygen mask on me and I was finally able to breathe but was not able to communicate at all. I heard them yelling to get the crash cart and that my babies heart rate was dropping rapidly. They paged my midwife and doctor. It sounded like there were 50 people in the room. The last thing I heard was my nurse yelling "we need to get the baby out now!" and that is when the oxygen stopped working and I could no longer breathe and I felt myself slowly drift away. I woke up and again could only hear people. I kept hearing someone say "Melissa, look at your beautiful baby girl. You did it!" I was able to open my eyes and all I could see was my baby held right in front of me and my family and the nurses behind her. I thought I was dead. I remember yelling out "where's Cody (my boyfriend) and Cathy (my midwife)." My midwife says to me "Melissa you're awake and conscious you had a c-section, Chloe is beautiful and healthy" I was finally able to fully wake up and meet my baby girl who is the most perfect thing in the world. This was the scariest day of my life but I couldn't ask for a better staff of nurses and doctors. They literally saved me and my babies life. Chloe Renee 7lbs 5oz, 20 in long 💕😊