Our little chunk of hunk was born on 1/4/18, exactly 39 weeks, weighing in at 10lbs 2oz.

I am a type 1 diabetic and was scheduled to be induced today. I went in last week on Wednesday for my last appointment before induction. I had started to lose my mucus plug the day before and I was really hoping I would go into labor naturally before my scheduled induction. When I was getting my vitals done they noticed my blood pressure was a little elevated, and after checking it several more times it remained elevated. Nothing terrible - just higher than normal.

During my exam I was soft, cervix was mid position, and I was dilated to a three and thirty percent effaced. Also, I had started to lose weight in the last week and I was having loose bowel movements all day. I was so excited that it looked like labor was close.

However, the OB asked me to go to L&D; to get monitored because they wanted to check me for gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. I was so annoyed, not only did I think I had a few more days but I was also hoping to go into labor on my own.

When I got to L&D; they monitored my blood pressure, which remained elevated but just under the cutoff for preeclampsia or hypertension. My labs all came back clear as well. However, they pushed hard for me to induce then. They felt like with the rising pressure and my type 1 diabetes there were extra risk factors. They were also concerned because baby was estimated to be 10lbs, and big babies always make people jumpy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also, the triage nurse kept telling me I was essentially in labor anyway because I was contracting (although they weren’t timetable or particularly painful). My husband was a few hours away for work, and my sister was with me. After speaking with my mom and my husband I decided to agree.

They got me admitted. Let me walk for an hour which did make my contractions stronger. Then they took me to my room and got my pitocin started around 3pm. I was a little leery of the induction process, because with my daughter I was induced at 37 weeks and it took them two days and several interventions to get me into labor. With her the pitocin did nothing except give me frequent non productive contractions which stressed out my daughter. This time the pitocin immediately made my contractions stronger, but 100% bearable, and very regular. Over the evening they continued to increase my pitocin. I was able to rest for a few hours, but with all the monitoring L&D; is not an easy place to sleep.

By 3:30 in the morning I was 90 percent effaced and 5 cm dilated. They decided to break my water. From that point on I knew things would be more painful. I sat up in bed and rocked my hips through each contraction. Around 5 I needed to get out of bed and move more to make the contractions bearable. At first I was able to bounce on the birth ball and rock my hips in circles. That worked for a while and I was able to joke with my husband between contractions that next time it was his turn. Sometime between 5-6am I need to start standing up through the contractions due to the pain. I was able to rock my hips and use the bed for support. My husband gave me cool wash clothes for my neck and applied counter pressure to my lower back.

When they checked me at 6am I had only progressed to 6cm. The doctor and I discussed that I would probably progress a little more than a centimeter an hour as this wasn’t my first child, so I mentally prepared myself for delivering sometime around 10am.

I got back up and continued to sway with each contraction, but the pin got much worse. I started to feel like I needed to push with each contraction. I was terrified of pushing too soon, because with my daughter they very strongly told me not to push before I was complete or my cervix would swell and that would be all bad. I told my husband and nurse that I felt like I needed to push. My nurse offered to check me again, but I didn’t want to be checked and be disappointed. I was just checked and only a 6, and I was hoping for an all natural labor - if they told me I was still at 6cm it would have been so discouraging. The nurse asked where I was feeling contractions, my abdomen or back, just as another contraction hit. It was now to the point I had to squat with each contraction and felt like no matter what I did my body was pushing. I told the nurse I felt the contractions in my crotch. My husband convinced me to be checked and I was 9cm dilated. Another contraction hit and my body was pushing hard. I asked for fentanyl, because I was worried that I couldn’t stop pushing and it was too soon. I could tell by the look on the nurses face she wasn’t giving me any drugs but she said she would go ask the doctor. She left the room for less than two minutes and the contractions kept rolling and I kept having to push. The nurse said by the time she came back in the room she could see baby. Suddenly, the doctor and several more nurses came running in and everyone was suited up. Three pushes later his head was out and 2 pushes after that he was fully delivered. He was born at 6:46 in the morning. No tears and no stitches needed.