When I became pregnant I started researching all of the options for labor and delivery. I read many books, articles and threads and decided that an unmediated, as close to natural birth is what I wanted. Well fast forward to my third trimester and I developed gestational hypertension, each week my blood pressure kept climbing. I went to the hospital multiple times for monitoring and tests to make sure I did not have preeclampsia. My doctor advised that it would be best to induce at 39 weeks. Part of me was relieved as the pregnancy was really starting to take a toll on my body but the other part was disappointed that I wasn’t going to have a natural birth. The last few weeks I ate dates, drank teas, ate pineapple, did squats, went swimming, etc. trying my best to prepare my body for labor. So I went in on Saturday morning to be induced, but was disappointed to hear I was only 1 cm dilated. So they started me on cytotec, after two rounds and not much progress we decided to try cervidil. On Sunday morning the doctor came into check on me, I had begun to experience contractions overnight and was hopeful. But I was still only barely 2 cm. So they started me on pitocin, the contractions began to get stronger but I was still not progressing. I was already exhausted and my doctor predicted I wouldn’t be having her anytime soon. So I caved and got the epidural, they then nicked my water, she was still to far up to really break it. My doctor told me she would be back in the morning to see how I was doing. The epidural gave me a chance to get some rest but at 10 PM that night my contractions were very strong, the epidural had warn off the right side of my body and I was feeling everything. A new doctor came in to check on me and low and behold I was 10 cm! But LO was still very high, so I had to bare down for two hours. By midnight I began to push, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It took almost 3 hours of pushing and one loud scream and my little girl finally arrived. 42 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing, not the magical birth that I had hoped for. After my labor my blood pressure spiked again and they decided to put me on a magnesium drip, so I would be bed ridden for the next 24 hours. The drip also makes you feel sick like you have the flu, I was in rough shape. The next day I was starting to feel like myself only to find out my LO had jaundice and would need to stay in the nursery. I was devastated. I felt like I was robbed again from the chance to bond with my baby. Also i had full intentions of breastfeeding my LO but in order to flush her system she would have to be supplemented. My husband and left the hospital and had to leave her there overnight, we tried to come back every three hours for her feedings but were so exhausted. Finally on Thursday we were able to bring her home. The last two weeks have been a struggle, with many sleepless nights and oodles of stress. Sorry my post was so long, but I wanted to tell my story and to let moms out there know that it’s ok if not everything goes according to how you planned. Remember that you and your babies health are what matter most!!!

Here’s a pic of my LO at 1 week old.