Nate's Birth Story

After 41 weeks of being pregnant I was induced. At first this was not what I wanted. During my pregnancy I became obsessed with TLC’s A Baby Story and 90% of mothers who were induced ended up having a c-section. This was not my plan. I do not like needles. I am afraid of surgery. I am afraid of the recovery of a c-section. But by week 41 I was cooked. Induction didn’t seem that bad to me.

Monday morning we had to be at the hospital at 6:00am. Joe and I packed our bags the night before, set our alarm and woke up early to go to breakfast just the two of us one last time. By the time everything was all hooked up and paperwork was filled out, the induction started at 8:00am. Cervadil was in.

It was a pretty quiet afternoon with mild contractions. My Mom brought lunch and we were bunkered down watching movies. 

2:00 my aunt visited me and this is when I started becoming uncomfortable. Back labor is awful and I would not wish it on anyone. It felt like a chisel was separating my hips every seven to ten minutes. I remember wanting a labor ball to stretch out but the nurses were all busy and my husband didn’t want to bother them. Thank the good Lord Auntie Jan came to visit because she got me the labor ball and it did help a lot. It was the only thing I could sit on (who designed hospital beds anyway?) that didn't feel like physical torture.

As the day drew on, the back pain got worse. I walked the halls in the vain hope of speeding labor along. The bed was so uncomfortable and it hurt my tailbone too much to sit so I walked and walked and walked. The nurses were in an “on shift” training program so I didn’t get the pain medication or sleeping pill my OB promised me. In fact, throughout the entire night not one single nurse came into my room. The only eventful thing that happened was Joe received third degree burns on his hand while trying to heat up my Panera soup for dinner.

6:00am – I was exhausted. At this point I had been awake for 26 hours with only limited sleep the night before (because who can sleep the day before they know theyre having a baby?!). The hospital bed was so uncomfortable I decided to try Joe’s guest cot. It felt like a cloud of pillows! Two minutes after I laid down I felt this large blob secrete itself. My water broke! Bloody water. So bloody that the morning nurses weren’t sure if it was really my water or something else. Upon checking me and learning that it was my water that broke, the nurse told me that the baby was positioned posterior, which was the reason for my bad back labor.

7:00am – My doctor came to check on me. She took one look at me and knew that something was wrong. She didn’t even have a chance to ask me about it before I broke down in tears. I couldn’t believe myself. I had been looking forward to THIS day for YEARS and I was still so upset about the lack of service and help from my nurses. I felt ungrateful for my journey and disappointed in the day and myself. The back labor was still awful and I wanted relief. More than relief I wanted sleep. I asked for the epidural and had to get checked first. I was excited. I thought for sure I would have been five centimeters or so. I mean, it had been 24 hours. 24 hours of contractions and back labor.
 

Two. I was dilated two centimeters. So I walked some more. And soaked in a warm bath while waiting for my fluids and epidural.

10:00am – Pitocin started and the epidural was in. I had the best nap EVER! It was amazing! We had visitors throughout the day and even though I was antsy I felt better.

1:00pm – Six centimeters. This is where the “c” word started popping up. The nurses approached me about a c-section because it had been so long since we had started. But I held firm. And grew agitated that they kept pressuring me to go this route. I had faith in the process and in my doctor because she knew my wishes and was following them.

2:00pm – Epidural was removed because the baby’s pressure kept dropping and the nurses felt this was a result of the epidural. Once again they brought up the option of having a c-section.

Pitocin was turned all the way up to “speed things up”

3:00 – Tornado warning was issued and we were told to prepare for evacuation to the center room if needed. Totally normal,right?!?

3:30 – We were told I was finally at nine centimeters. Finally!! I was excited but the nurses were not. Nate’s rates kept decelerating and they again suggested a “c-section would be easiest for everyone”.

While my doctor was visiting earlier in the day she had prescribed a transfusion. I remember the nurses doubting this and thinking it was unnecessary. But at this time it became evident why she had ordered one; to help me reach my goal of a vaginal delivery. Even though it was a long induction, my water had technically only been broken for nine hours but she wanted to make sure the umbilical was as moist as possible to endure the long labor.

Once the nurse told me I was nine centimeters I kicked everyone out of the room. Poor Joe tried leaving too but I brought him back in. From 3:30 until delivery I had the longest contraction EVER! Other Momma’s are probably laughing at me or can totally relate because they remember it too . While I was enduring this pain (the back labor was still here, too), Joe was sitting in the rocking chair watching “Everybody Love Raymond”. I was too distracted at the time to really care but I think he was so nervous and exhausted himself he just needed this time to regroup before the “real action” started.

4:00pm – My doctor arrived and we started prepping for delivery. Part of what I was feeling during the “longest contraction ever” was the baby moving down. He was definitely descending and I could feel him moving down my body and birth canal. So surreal!

Well thank goodness he did all that moving on his own (finally) because I only had to push about five times. I remember being so focused on the task at hand. I turned into a different person. I think THIS is where I turned into a mother. I asked for a mirror so that I could better see what different push techniques moved him down best. Me, a mirror?!

At 4:19pm on October 18^th Nate Joseph was born. I was able to deliver him myself. This was a first for my OB and I had to show her the video of Kourtney Kardashian delivering her own baby but she allowed me to do it and it was the best experience. Joe has already had the privilege of delivering babies so I was blessed to do this myself. It is one of my proudest moments and still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

Joe was able to cut the cord and helped give Nate his first bath and get him dressed in his baseball sleeper. He was the prettiest baby I had ever seen! Once I was all cleaned up our parents came in and soon after our extended family flooded the room to meet and snuggle with our little man.

And of course, I had to have a Publix sub for dinner. After not being able to have one during my entire pregnancy (which I craved every day), this was a MUST for my post-delivery meal.