THE BEGINNING

I ended up having a c-section for emergency reasons and I’m incredibly grateful that everything turned okay. May 20th, I woke up at 3am with mild cramping and didn’t think too much about it until I noticed things were picking up at a pattern. I hoped in the shower as advised to see if the pain would end up going away, which they didn’t, so I decided to go to Labor and Delivery. To my despise, I was still only a cm and was advised to keep walking and come back. I drove myself to my Nanas and tried to get some rest since I hadn’t really got any rest in more than 24 hours at that point since I only went to sleep 30 minutes before the cramping started. I went back to Portsmouth with still no luck. I had my last OB appointment that day so when I went, she dilated me to 2 cm and told me that she expected me to go into active labor that evening... WHICH HAPPENED.

THE LABOR

I finally got admitted to L&D around 10pm that night due to Quincy’s heartbeat being irregular most likely due to my contractions (which comes to play later). My original plan was to use Nitrous Oxide for pain relief but I said FUUUCK THAT, I had contractions for about 19 hours at that point and I want NO parts so I got an epidural done (side notes: I have scoliosis and that also comes into play later). After my epidural, they put a catheter in me and that was the first sign something was wrong because I felt EVERYTHING going on, not just pressure. They had my lay with the peanut ball and alternate sides and I started to notice that I could start to feel my left side become less numb. I let my nurse know and she told me it’s because I was laying on that side so long and the blood was rushing to my leg. They brushed it off and I did to because wtf do I know.. Some nurse comes in after a while to check my dilation and I was dilated to I think 4-5 and they asked if I wanted to get my water broken since I was already close, I agreed and they proceeded to break my water (BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE). After getting my water broken and still having feeling in my leg, those contractions started hitting me HARD, to the point where I couldn’t even hold in the pain anymore and I begged the nurses to have the anesthesiologist come back in. I was so desperate at that point that I told the to readjust it and put it back in. The told me that they would come and check on me. After a while, I started feeling my leg AGAIN and they turned over with new nurses at this point and I tried to explain to her that I could feel my leg and have the anesthesiologist come back and she literally told me she knew what was right and to wait it out. I couldn’t even wait at this point, I started feeling urges to push and called my nurse in. She checked my cervix and told me it was time. She props me up, doctors come in and set up and they have me push about 3 times. The doctor had a funny look on his face and checked my cervix... I WAS STILL ONLY 6-7 CM DILATED AND THAT DUMB ASS NURSE HAD ME PUSHING EARLY. The doctor called her out and I’m there crying from pain and the fact my hopes were up that I’d finally meet him. I was still feeling urges to push and even though I was told not to, I physically couldn’t stop because I honestly felt like I was going to die. Nurses kept popping in telling me to try not to since when I did, it caused Quincy’s HB to become irregular. I begged them to check me again because at that point, I told them I needed a c-section because I didn’t feel like I could even make it anymore. They check my cervix again and I’m still 6-7 cm at this point, I was that for over 7 hours and longer that they broke my water plus his HB was all over so they decided to it was best to go through with a c-section. I get to the operation room and they’re trying to have me sit still for a spinal to numb me and I’m praying it works because they told me I’d have to be placed under general anesthesia if it falls through. They place the needle in my back and I took every ounce of me to not move as a contraction hit... I literally felt the pain drift away and I broke down in TEARS. My mom comes back in the operation room and we patiently wait as they operate to get my baby. 30 minutes pass and they feel like forever and I hear my baby cry for the first time and I couldn’t even stop the tears from coming down my face. Quincy was born May 21st, my due date, at 1:37 pm. I found out that I wouldn’t be able to see him because there was an infection of the amniotic fluid. Since they broke my water early and had checked my cervix so many times, that caused the infection. I wasn’t able to hold my baby for 8 hours after the operation and that honestly broke my heart at the time. BUT after all the pain and trouble I went through at during my labor, it was all worth it to see the beautiful baby that I waited SOOOOOO long to finally meet 💙

THE ADVICE

My advice to anyone going to give birth soon is to trust your gut. You know when something is wrong. My nurses almost risked my baby’s life because they though because they thought since that’s their place of work, they know what’s best. Also, don’t get your water broken unless it’s medically necessary. I was given that advice but was so eager and was told it would speed things up that I ignored it. Lastly, not everything may go to plan and to be ready if anything turns left. I went in expecting everything to go smooth since my pregnancy was healthy but it’s always best to be prepared.

TLDR;

I had a long labor and the amniotic fluid got infected, my epidural didn’t work because they placed the injection wrong from the curve of my scoliosis, and some of my nurses should lose their jobs. 😅