Long Birth Story

I figured I’d start trying to write my birth story now that I finally have time! So here we go...

Let me start off by saying my birthing plan did not go as I had planned. But, everything went the way that God intended and our baby boy arrived safe and healthy! I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to do what I had wanted so bad which was birth with no pain intervention. But after learning that I suffered a third degree tear and too many stitches to count I knew I had saved myself from so much unnecessary pain. Things don’t always go according to our plans, birth is completely unpredictable and we don’t know how ya and our bodies will react until we are in the moment.

I was due with our baby boy in May 26, 2019. On Friday May 10 (37 weeks) I lost my mucus plug. No contractions, no bleeding, just the mucus plug. When I went I. For my weekly visit on that following Wednesday May 15, I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced and baby boy was head down and ready to go. I was so excited and yet so nervous at the same time. We had everything ready and packed and in the car. The house was clean, the room was fixed. Now we were just waiting on our baby boy. About midnight that night (Wednesday) I started having mild contractions and lost what I’m guessing was the rest of my mucus plug. Nothing too severe but annoying enough that I couldn’t sleep. They were completely irregular so I just went into the living room to watch tv and time them. They continued all night and into the next day with a few 2 hour breaks here and there. Around 4:00 on Thursday May 16, they began getting closer together when they came (about every 5-10 mins) but were still irregular with no specific pattern and weren’t any more painful. But because of how far away we lived from the hospital, my doctor told me at our last appointment to start that way once they got to about 19 minutes apart. So, I called hubby and he came home from work and showered and we headed that way. Of course, with me knowing this could be my last chance to eat anything I made him stop at Texas Roadhouse for my “last meal”. While eating the intensity got a little stronger so I couldn’t finish my meal. We were literally 2 minutes from the hospital so don’t worry! Once we got to the hospital I was put in triage where they monitored my contractions for about an hour. When the midwife came in she said it didn’t seem like I was in labor to her, but when she went to check me to see how much I was dilated I bled severely which worried her so she then kept me for another hour to monitor that. At that point I was dilated only 3.5 cm. When she came back I had progress to 4cm and was 85% effaced. She didn’t really want to send me home since we lived so far away but at the same time wanted my contractions to be a little more intense before keeping me. So, she made us walk around the unit for about an hour. When my hour was up she then decided to admit us. It was official, we were having a baby soon!

After about 2 hours in our room my contractions hadn’t changed much so they decided to start me on the lowest dose possible of pitocin. And boy did it work! I had contractions all night and into the next morning and they were beginning to get so severe that I couldn’t talk through them and was beginning to become exhausted after so long. My plan was to have no pain intervention but by the time I was 5 cm I decided I had no other choice for my sanity but to get an epidural. And let me say it was the best decision I made! I was then able to FINALLY take a nap as I hadn’t slept since midnight on Wednesday and it was then Friday morning. After a few naps my dr decided to break my water. I honestly can’t tell you how many centimeters was at that point as I was so out of it with exhaustion. Around 1:30 pm I began getting extremely nauseas and ended up puking everything I had on my stomach up, which by then was only water and orange jello. (To this day I refuse to eat anything orange flavored) Apparently this was a good sign of things about to happen! Around 2:00 I began feeling some pressure in my bottom and called in my nurse. It was time to push! After 18 hours of labor and 45 minutes of pushing our baby boy had finally arrived at 3:15 pm on May 17. Weighing in at 7 lb 6 oz, 19.5 inches long.