No scary birth story here! If you're pregnant and need some reassurance that positive birthing stories do exist keep reading.
I felt like the majority of my pregnancy, especially toward the end, I was playing dodgeball. I was constantly trying to dodge horrific birthing stories that seemed to always start something like this "My baby and I almost died". Got one of these stories in the waiting room at the Drs office before a check up. Thanks for that. Don't get me wrong, that's horrible and I hate that ANYONE would have to go through something like that. I totally understand the need to talk about it but telling random pregnant women you don't know isn't helpful for anyone. Let's try and hype each other up, not terrify innocent pregnant women.
Without further ado, here's my story. I went in for a check up at 36 weeks. My amniotic fluid was on the lowest end of normal. Nothing to worry about yet, but something to keep an eye on. I went back the following Friday. I saw a different Dr who informed me that my amniotic fluid had gone down even more. To be on the safe side he said that he would like to go on and induce me the following week. He made an appointment with my Dr for the following Tuesday and said to go on and pack my bags and be ready to go to the hospital that night.
I handled the news well in the office. The second we left I started crying. Not because I was scared, but because it was setting in that in a matter of days (4) Tom and I would have an actual human baby.
I had a couple of friends who had recently been induced so I had a general idea of what to expect. We spent the weekend preparing ( as much as a new parent can) to bring home a baby. I had mentally prepared myself to be induced on Tuesday and at that point hoped that if I still needed to be induced, that it would happen Tuesday.
I went into the apt Tuesday, and my fluid levels were the same. But again, to play it safe he wanted to go on and get baby Knox out. He checked my cervix to see what our game plan was and to my surprise and excitement I was already 2 cm dilated which meant I could start the pitocin immediately. He made my apt at the hospital for midnight that night.
Tom and I went to dinner and I carb loaded - per the doctors orders. I ate ALL the bread and pasta. We went home and I just tried to remain calm and rest. I actually fell asleep for maybe 30 minutes and spent the rest of the time watching Schitts Creek (highly recommend).
We checked into the hospital at midnight, but it was poppin in there. I didn't get a room until about 2:45 am. Once I got my room, I answered some health questions and they started my Pitocin IV. The nurse checked on me every hour or so. By 4 am or so she told me I was having contractions every 7 minutes. I literally felt nothing. By around 9 am I felt contractions but they really didn't hurt at all. Had the nurse not told me that's what they were I wouldn't have known. She told me my Dr wanted to go on and break my water. My only birth plan was to get the epidural and she suggested I go on and get it because contractions would significantly increase afterwards. I was not in pain so I felt super weird about getting the epidural, but knew they knew better than me.
The epidural was nearly painless, and they talked me though it all. Shortly after, they broke my water and checked my cervix again ( just pressure - no pain). At that point I was at a 4. The epidural had fully kicked in and I was just chilling. They said it could still be quite a while, but if I started feeling a lot of pressure to let them know. I could feel very regular contractions and not too long after quite a bit of pressure. They came back to check and sure enough, I was at a 10 and it was go time.
My nurses were ROCK STAR cheerleaders. Literally. I thought for sure I would have that boy out in under 30 minutes. Props to me for believing in myself. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. BUT it was not bad. I pushed for a little over 2 hours to get little man out. I HIGHLY recommend listening to music. We listened to The Black Keys for two hours straight. It was just honestly not bad at all ( with the drugs obvi). Every time I would feel my contraction I would say "okay", and they would cheer me on while I pushed. Once I got him to a certain point, my Dr. came in for the final pushes.
Even had it not gone so smoothly, I know the second they put my sweet baby in my arms I would have forgotten it all. You got this ladies!
