finally after 6 weeks- my birth story.
Just getting around to my birth story after almost 7 weeks. So here it is.
My due date was March 4th and at my last appointment prior to my due date my midwives said if I hadn't gone into labor by the 6th we would have to start discussing induction. They checked for dilation, I was a "tight 1cm" and she attempted a membrane sweep. I did not want to be induced and I did not want to use pitocin. So I tried everything to jump start labor at home. By Monday March 6th i still hadn't gone into labor. At my appointment my midwife discussed with my husband and I the risks of going over. She said it was our decision and we could wait another week if wanted. But being first time parents we were terrified of the risks so we decided to start induction. However I still didn't want pitocin so we all agreed to try alternative methods first. I got to the hospital around 5pm Monday and they inserted cervidil which was suppose to help dilate me. The cervidil had to be inserted for 12 hours and I had to be hooked to the monitors so they could make sure baby didn't react negatively to the cervidil. After a long 12 hours (it was now Tuesday morning) and almost no sleep, I still hadn't dilated any. But I was having cramps. They let me rest for a few hours before deciding what else to do. We then tried pumping (nipple stimulation) for 10 minutes every hour for 6 hours along with another membrane sweep. When my midwife did the sweep she got me to 3cm immediately but the pumping did not help. The pumping did cause contractions though. By Tuesday night around 8pm we decided to try another method where a two balloons would be inserted, one on the inside of my cervix the other on the outside. They would be filled with water and then the physical rubbing and bouncing together was suppose to help me dilate. During this i got into the laboring tub. I was having contractions but only every 5-7 minutes and about 45 seconds long. The balloons were suppose to be in for 12 hours or they could fall out on their own at 6-7cm. About 4-6 hours after inserting them they came out on their own and I was 6cm. My midwife broke my water at 3am and agreed to give my body a couple hours to see if it would take over. But she said I only had 12 hours after breaking my water to give birth or they'd have to do a c section. After a few hours (7am Wednesday) and still no progress we decided to finally start pitocin. They put a monitor inside to keep track of contractions and baby's heartbeat so that I could still get up and walk around. I hated the pitocin, I was literally having 15 minute long contractions on it. I would peak into a contraction and before my body would relax completely I would contract again. No breaks in between for a lot of them. I went all day without being checked for dilation and when my midwife came back to the hospital around 4 I was finally 10cm and 100%. I was ready to push. And at 5:31pm on March 8th 2017 our surprise baby came. We had a girl! Lenore Claire Smith. 8lbs 1oz 20 1/2in long. 💕💕
After delivery, they couldn't stop my bleeding so they had to put me to sleep for surgery. For me that was the worst part because I said from the beginning that I didn't want and epidural or to be put to sleep. The doctor that came in to give my midwife a second opinion about the bleeding was awful. He looked at me and said be happy you had a baby in a hospital in 2017, if it had been the 1800 you would bleed to death. I was terrified. I went from my happiest moment of my life to being told I was going to bleed to death if they didn't get me into surgery immediately. They ended up doing around 20 stitches in 4 different spots. I was out of it for awhile even after waking up. I was too groggy and in and out to hold my baby girl for a few hours. Thankfully she has the best daddy in the world and he held and took care of her while i was in surgery and recovering.
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