36 hour induction

After three miscarriages, we finally had our rainbow baby on the way. I had a difficult pregnancy with an auto immune disorder and an incompetent cervix. I had infusions for the first trimester, then a cerclage at 14 weeks, handfuls of pills and weekly progesterone injections.

At 36 weeks I had my cerclage removed and my doctor told me there was a 50/50 chance I'd go into labor. Removal was fast but painful. I dilated to 2 cm immediately, but no labor. My liver function had started to deteriorate, so the dr started daily membrane sweeps. Still nothing. My cervix was very scarred and the dr was afraid it may not open enough. After 6 months of modified bedrest to avoid preterm labor, she didn't want to come out!

At 38 weeks we went into the hospital for an induction with cervadil. 12 hours of reading and movies later... still nothing. Dr gave a second dose and we moved to the maternity ward from l&d; to get some rest.

6 hours later I started to feel some contractions. We moved to l&d; again and although I wasn't in too much pain, I asked about an epidural as I had always planned on one. As my dr was already scheduled to check on us in two hours, the nurses asked if I could wait. I said ok, but suddenly my contractions started coming hard and fast with less than 30 seconds between them. My water broke and my whole body started shaking. We called for an epidural and THANK GOD. For those who surf, I can only describe the contractions as getting tumbled by a set of waves. The first one hits you and you are being tossed around under water for a while and come up for air only to be hit by another wave. Apparently I had a delayed reaction to a double dose of medication with strong contractions, but was still only 2 cm dilated.

6 hours later - I was up to 5cm!

6 hours later - still at 5cm :(. We started on pictocin.

As I came in fasting to the induction, I had not had anything to eat for almost two days at this point. I was not allowed solid food as chances off a c-section were high, but they suggested orange juice. Big mistake for someone who had acid reflux for her entire pregnancy. I had unbelievable heartburn and started to run a fever. Baby's heart rate started to go up very fast. At this point it had been 24+ hours in l&d; and I was starting to crack and thinking about a c-section. I was given heartburn meds, fever meds, oxygen and a lot of fluids and was able to stabilize.

A few hours later (lost track of time with the fever). I started having pain and called to up the epidural. Nurses checked me again and I was at 9cm! Finally! The anesthesiologist changed up my epidural so I could feel contractions, then everyone left to go find the dr and the pediatrician who would be present at the birth as I was high risk. No one came back for almost an hour as I hung out in birthing position. They finally come back and all the machines started beeping - my IV was blocked. Dr and nurses worked for another half an hour to find a good vein (I have very thin veins and this was my third IV).

Finally we were ready to go. An hour of pushing and we were making progress, but my contractions were getting further and further apart and the dr. said my uterus was getting tired. We discussed options and decided to go with the vacuum. Two pushes later and she was here!

It was an extremely long labor (18 hours of waiting and 18 hours of "active labor") and almost everything went "wrong" except we ended up with a healthy baby girl and I have had an amazing recovery with no tearing. It was a long journey, but definitely worth it all.

Meet Aurora Faith born 30 September 6.2 lbs and 18.9 in long