PHOTOS SHOW SOME BLOOD AND A FRESHLY DELIVERED BABY

This is pretty long, so I apologize in advance!

I went in for a doctors appointment on the 8th (40+2) and got an NST and a growth scan. The scan showed low fluid, so the doctor checked me (I was 1cm, 60% effaced, and still very posterior) and then sent me to L&D for induction. When I got there around 6pm, they started getting my IV put in (which took forever because my arms and hands were too swollen) and then around 8pm I was started on cervadil. The cervidil didn’t really give me any serious contractions, but I did feel like I got hit in the vagina with a baseball bat, and it hurt to sit on the toilet to pee. I didn’t sleep much because of the achey pressure, but it wasn’t bad. After 12 hours of that, I was still 1cm, but 80% effaced. They gave me about an hour and a half to eat and shower and move around before I’d be started on pitocin which I had been whole heartedly dreading because my plan had been to have an unmedicated birth and I knew pitocin would make that difficult.

At about 10am they started the pitocin and had me lay in the bed to get a baseline for baby’s heart rate. Things were going great for a while, and I was walking around, but the heart rate monitor kept losing the baby, so they didn’t want me moving around. They also were having a hard time tracking my contractions so they kept upping the pitocin which was fine until my contractions were suddenly back to back and I had almost no time between them to catch my breath, and they started making me feel like I was going to pass out, plus baby started to have some heart rate dips. It got to the point where I was just bent over the bed screaming my lungs out into my pillow and sobbing uncontrollably. I kept telling my doula that i felt like i was going to throw up if I breathed, and that I needed to lay down because my body was too tired to stand anymore. This was after 20 hours of the induction process, and about 6 hours of pitocin. Pretty much as soon as I laid in the bed, I gave in and asked for an epidural. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. I was able to relax and start breathing better which in turn helped the baby’s heart rate. Getting the epidural wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. The numbing shots hurt pretty bad, and I could feel the needle go into my back, but it was quite manageable compared to the contractions I was having. The worst part was trying to stay still through contractions while they put the needle in. Also, they checked me right before the epidural and I was at 6cm and still about 80% effaced, so I felt pretty good about my decision. From there, I was able to nap and laugh, and enjoy the rest of my labor which ended up being about 5 hours. I kept myself at the lowest dose of the epidural so I could still feel my contractions and tell when baby was getting lower. They were rolling me from side to side, and then having me sit In the “throne” position in the bed to keep things moving along. At around 7pm they went to roll me onto my right side and i felt two small pops. I told the nurse, and she asked what kind of pop and I told her “I’m pretty sure it was my water breaking.” So she lifted my leg up, and I felt it come gushing out. My husband looked concerned, and then the nurse started wiping me up while calling over her headset to tell them there was a large amount of meconium in my water. She checked me after that, and I was 8cm and 90% effaced. They did shift change after that, and a new nurse came in. At about 8:15pm I told them I was pretty much ready to push, so they checked me. I was 10cm and 100% effaced, so the nurse gave me the go ahead to start some practice pushes while we waited for the doctor. After 3 practice pushes, they had me sit up in the throne position and breathe the baby down. After about 5 minutes of that i told her I NEED to push, so I did and baby was coming right down! She told me to hang on because baby was coming down much quicker than they expected, and they needed the doctor and NICU team there because of the risks with the meconium. The doctor came in and I said I needed to start pushing, so she said okay, and I pushed while she got gowned up. I pushed for a total of 30 minutes before my sweet little guy came out, and I even got to reach down and feel his head while I was crowning! He was born at 9:05pm on February 9th at 7lbs1oz and 20.6 inches 💙

When he came out, things got real. He wasn’t crying, and they had my husband cut the cord immediately which signaled to me that something was wrong because my hospital does a standard delayed cord clamp at 2 minutes unless there’s a medical reason not to. Once he cut the cord, they put my baby on my belly and he was grey and still not crying. They took him to the warmer and started working on getting him to cry which didn’t take long, but felt like the longest few minutes of my life. Meanwhile, the doctor starts saying she needs blood bags because I’m losing too much blood due to tearing an artery in my vagina. So she starts trying to stop the bleeding, and I’m sobbing because I don’t understand what’s going on. Once all was said and done, and I was holding my healthy boy, they explained that his cord was wrapped extremely tight around his neck which stunned him and that’s why he wasn’t crying. They also told me about the tear and my artery, and told me that they fixed everything and I only needed a couple of stitches. She showed me the placenta which was super interesting, and my doula took some pictures of my mom, husband, myself and the baby with the doctor and nurse that delivered our son. It wasn’t the experience I wanted, but I’m so happy that our son is healthy and that we were finally able to meet him.

Photos got a little messed up, but I still love them!

During the birth/as soon as he came out

After they got him crying and cleaned up

After his first bath

And now at 5 days old! His pediatrician is keeping an eye on him due to jaundice and weight loss, but he’s been doing great. We breastfeed, but have been supplementing as needed with formula to help him gain back some weight and to try and get his jaundice levels to go down.