I went into early labor on 03/26 in the morning. I woke up to period cramp feelings and slight bleeding. Because I had a preterm labor with my son which started the same way, I went to L&D where they confirmed I was having strong contractions and I was 3cm. My water wasn’t broken so they put me on magnesium and started the first steroid shot. The plan was to keep me pregnant in hospital until 34 weeks and then go from there but my water ended up breaking that same night around 2am (after a very rough cervical check done by my OB that was so painful and traumatic I requested that he no longer be my OB while in the hospital) since my water was now leaking they stopped all methods of stopping the labor (which is correct protocol) but kept me on strong IV antibiotics and I was able to get the second steroid shot thank god.

On 03/31 I could tell that she would be here soon. Around 2am my contractions got a lot worse. I have back labor with my labors so I only feel pain in my back and cervix, and it’s AWFUL. Feels like I’m being stabbed in the back constantly.

They took my back over to L&D around 6 am and I requested the epidural. They had a student do it and it took what felt like forever but was more like 30min. I could feel her descending lower into the birth canal while they were doing the epidural but there was NO WAY I was pushing until that thing kicked in.

I held the urge to push until it started working then told them I need to push NOW. They had me deliver in the OR in case there was an emergency. I pushed for 5 minutes and she was out!

She came out crying and they assessed her in the room. She weighed 5lbs 6oz and was 19inches. They couldn’t believe how big she was and she was breathing on her own. Since being born she’s needing no oxygen or cpap and isn’t having any heart dips. She just needs a feeding tube but we are going to start bottle feeding her today. She is doing amazing and I am so blessed that she is healthy and doing well!

They said I had an incompetent cervix, which I asked my OB for a cerclage early in my pregnancy but he kept insisting it wasn’t necessary and only put me on progesterone shots weekly. He also stopped my cervical checks too early and we could have caught this in time had he continued with the ultrasound cervical cheeks every 2 weeks the attending OB at the hospital said.

I had my son at 28 + 5 from suspected incompetent cervix but not confirmed but now I know for sure that that is an issue my body has.

I’m irritated that I didn’t get the proper medical care that could have prevented her coming so early but I’m blessed that I made it further than my last pregnancy and that she is alive and doing well. I also had high amniotic fluid with a level of 28. The attending OB said it was a combination of the weight and pressure of the fluid and my incompetent cervix not being able to handle all the pressure. The OB that delivered her was absolutely amazing and so were the nurses which was a big change from the delivery of my son.

Hopefully we will go home very soon but taking it day by day right now!