I was scheduled for an induction Wednesday, June 12th at 8:30 PM. My husband and I arrived at the hospital and were taken back to our room where they attempted to start my IV. I have superficial veins and am usually a hard stick so I was already feeling pretty anxious about this part. The nurse missed twice and then told me she had to call the IV team because my veins were too small for her. She left the room and shortly after the resident came in to get things set up for the foley bulb. While she was prepping she asked if she could take a look at my veins and found a good one in my hand. She managed to get the IV in on the first try with no pain! Around 9:00 she inserted the foley and honestly that was the most painful thing I’d experienced in quite some time. It made me cry. My husband and I watched some tv and tried to relax for awhile and eventually we fell asleep. Around midnight the nurse came in to check how dilated I was (I had been slightly less than a 1 before the foley). I was fully a 1 this time, so very little progress so far. After she left we tried to go back to sleep. I started having some mild contractions that felt like period cramps. They were regular, but super far apart. Enough so that I had difficulty falling asleep. At about 4 the nurse came in to start my Pitocin drip and check my cervix (still a 1). Contractions continued the same as before and I still had difficulty falling asleep. They didn’t hurt very bad, but were just uncomfortable enough to keep me awake. They continued to up the Pitocin and check on me until 8. Nurses changed over at 7 and at 8am Thursday morning I was still barely dilated (1.5). Contractions were regular, but still far apart and not very strong. They decided to try Cytotec to ripen my cervix which meant turning the Pitocin off. I was disappointed at this point, but knew things weren’t progressing well. Once that was inserted, contractions started getting stronger. I started having trouble talking through them and they became closer to 5 minutes apart. My husband enjoyed watching them on the monitor and relaying their intensity to me (he’s a vet and found it fascinating while I was like “I know they’re getting intense!” 🤷🏻‍♀️). At noon the new resident came by and the foley had come out! Yay! She said I was about a 3 almost 4 and restarted the Pitocin. Unfortunately from noon to 2:00, my contractions started to die down. They were still pretty regular at 3-5 minutes apart, but their intensity had decreased and I wasn’t dilating past a 4. My doctor came by at 2 and wanted to break my water. I knew things would get intense at that point and decided to get an epidural first. I was shocked at how quickly they came by! The epidural was inserted by 2:30 and I immediately felt so much more relaxed. The resident came by and broke my water and I fell asleep for the first time in awhile. From 2:30 to 6:00 Thursday night I continued to have contractions and dilate which thankfully I felt nothing. My husband said they were very close and strong. Unfortunately from 6pm to 10 pm that night I had gotten to 7cm dilated and never progressed past that point. When my doctor came by at 10 I could tell by her face that things weren’t going to go the way I had wanted them to. She said I had 2 choices. 1. Proceed with a c section, or 2. Turn off and restart Pitocin from the beginning. Unfortunately due to the baby’s head not being low enough and how long I’d already been in active labor, she worried that if we went the route of option 2 I would still be looking at a c section 6 hours later, only with a greater risk of hemorrhaging. My husband thought it was smarter to get a c section now and though I was terrified, I agreed with him. I never had the time to start feeling anxious though because things happened so quickly. I signed the forms and was given a stronger block before being quickly wheeled to the OR. They inserted even more of the block and made sure I couldn’t feel anything. I got nauseous, but they gave me some medication and it quickly went away. My husband was brought in and I felt much more relieved. The block was very strange for me because even my head felt heavy and full. I had a hard time hearing and speaking, but aside from that was relaxed and anxious to meet our little one. The procedure began shortly before 11:00pm and I felt nothing but minor touch sensations in my stomach. My husband and I had chosen not to find out the gender of our baby so it was a very special moment when he turned to me and said “It’s Leah.” That was when I finally started crying. Leah Claire Tanner was born at 11:01pm and weighed 8lb7oz. She was 20 inches long. My doctor said her head had kind of a come shape from trying to come down to my cervix and said a c section was the right choice. She probably wouldn’t have fit regardless of what we tried. I finally got to see her while they sewed me up and I was amazed at how much love I had for her almost instantly. My whole world was changed in that moment and suddenly everything I had gone through the last 2 days was so worth it. After being closed up I was allowed skin to skin and attempted to breast feed, which she latched and sucked for almost 30 minutes. We got moved to our post partum room a few hours later. Aside from a health scare late Thursday night where her temp kept dropping and she had to be under a warming lamp for an hour, she is perfectly healthy. Leah is now 4 days old and the love of our lives. She is spoiled rotten and already has her daddy wrapped around her finger. Being a mom is the greatest gift I’ve ever received and I wouldn’t change a minute of it.