The Story

I know, I know.

I sincerely apologize for taking so long to write this post.

I get so impatient when people don't immediately publish every detail of their pregnancy and labor.

So here it is-The birth story.

Even though this pregnancy was much different than my first, I still assumed labor would go somewhat as it had before. I prefer to try to go as natural as possible. I'm not going to go into all the reasons why on this post, maybe another time. I'm not a fanatic about it, it's just really exciting for me to feel what my body goes through to bring a new life into this world.

With Brooklyn my labor from start to finish was 12 hours. That was from the first remotely painful contraction. This time I started having painful contractions at about week 37. They were always inconsistent, and more frequent at night. But I thought for sure I was going to have him early. B was 9 days early and I thought Taylor would be even sooner. Not only was I having painful contractions but was also having intense aches and pains most of the time. In other words, the last few weeks were miserable. At my 38 week appointment I was still only 1 cm dilated (same as the week before). My doctor was going on vacation for a week and she was very confident that nothing would be happening before she got back. She wanted to schedule an induction for a week and a half later, and I indulged her because I was certain I would go way before that.

Let me add that I was going to a doctor in Pendleton and was also planning on delivering there. That is 2 hours from where we live. We got new insurance before we moved and turns out there are no preferred providers here so we decided to go with the same doctor that delivered B. We went "home" to Pendleton often enough we just scheduled appointments around when we were going to visit anyway. I was planning on staying with my parents the last couple of weeks of the pregnancy so that I didn't run the chance of being in labor on the road in bad conditions. Even though I was delivering out of town I still wanted to go natural. Since B's labor was 12 hours with the help of pitocin, I figured I would have enough time to make it to the hospital if I did go into labor before moving back to my parents' house. So, I wasn't ever planning on being induced.

Well, my baby apparently was pretty comfy. He didn't come and didn't come despite the contractions. The induction date was getting closer and I was trying to decide if I should call and cancel it and just wait for him to make an appearance. But I was so miserable. If I were to be induced we would go in at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning. Seth was in town that weekend and we started talking about it. If I were induced he would be better able to figure out what needed to be done at work without him, know what days to take off, he would for sure be there for the birth instead of frantically trying to make it back in time, among other things. I started feeling really good about being induced, even though it wasn't my first choice. I was so against it at first but the more we thought and talked about it it started looking like a good option.

We went in at midnight on the 31st. I had been having more consistent contractions starting at about 9 earlier in the night and was wondering what they would do if I came in to be induced but was actually already in labor? I mean what are the chances you would go into labor just before your scheduled induction? Maybe the chances are good. Anyway. I get my blood drawn and go up to labor and delivery. And surprise! My favorite nurse is there. One of my good friends from high school's mom. So off to a good start. The other nurse was fabulous too. I get changed into my lovely gown and settle in so they can explain the process. I had to be on antibiotics too so they got those started. Then they insert a pill like thing called Cytotec that is supposed to be what your body naturally produces to start the labor process. They said they would give me a dose every 3 hours depending on how I'm progressing. They hook me up to the monitors to keep track of the baby's heart beat and my contractions and tell me to try to get some sleep for the first few hours. Seth cozies up on the couch to do the same. A long nap sounded wonderful, except that I have started having contractions 1-2 minutes apart before the medicine could possibly have taken effect. I was so so uncomfortable, but also hopeful that maybe this would be a quick labor. I lay on my side and toss and turn trying to get comfortable but I HURT! Finally the nurse comes in around 3:30ish to check my progress and see if I need another dose. She surprised at my contraction chart but says I'm only at a 2 and no more effaced than I was when I came in. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure I had progressed really far. She said she would hold off on another dose since I was having so many contractions and would check on me in a bit.

At this point I'm a little depressed. How have I not progressed? And why is it so much more painful than last time? The next time the nurse comes in I ask if I can go to the jacuzzi. My contractions are starting to border on unbearable and I was hoping it would help me relax and breathe through them. This is around 4:30. Seth goes with me and plays with my hair and tries to relax me but it's getting worse. At this point I start considering an epidural. Since I was progressing soooo slow I knew I couldn't make it if this was going to go on all day. I get out of the tub and we make our way to the nurses station to ask them about hooking me up with some drugs. They say they'll be right in to talk about it. I get back in bed and the nurse explains the epidural and I say yes I think I need one. She wants to check me just to make sure I'm not to far. I'm expecting more bad news until she informs me I'm at an 8/9 and my water is about to break! I text my mom and tell her to get her tushy up there if she wants to see the arrival of her grandchild. This is a little after 6 a.m. In about an hour and a half I went from a 2 to almost 9. That explains the pain. And also means an epidural is out.

With Brooklyn I can honestly say the labor pains weren't too bad until it was time to push, and I think the pitocin had a lot to do with it. I think they had cranked the dose up at the end and when I got the urge to push I suddenly could not breathe through my contractions, which I had been handling fine before that. I pushed for 15 minutes when the nurses signaled to the doctor that my blood pressure and B's heartbeat had plummeted at which point I was given the mother of all episiotomies and out she came. That was not a fun recovery and I did not want to be torn or cut like that again, thank you very much.

So. The nurses are rushing around trying to get things ready for me to deliver, confident that he will be here any minute. I am in a lot of pain and really want a good pushing experience and am not feeling like I have enough handle on the situation to be very effective. I ask if there's anything I can have at this point and they said they could attempt a spinal, which I guess is like a quickie epidural. It's a one shot deal that numbs you up but only lasts two hours max. I said I'll take it. They get the anesthesiologist up there asap to see if he can even do that. He thinks he can. He said he has to give me a numbing shot that will "pinch" and then he will give me the shot, all of this in the back. The numbing pinch was soo painful. It didn't help that I was having super painful contractions a minute apart and in order to get the shot had to try to bend over my belly and hunch my shoulders as much as I could to expose my spine. Um, uncomfortable all around to say the least. He "numbs" me up and then starts searching for the sweet spot that will take the pain away. I say starts searching because it took him I could estimate 5-8 times before he found it. Each of those times felt like someone stabbing me with a bowie knife...or what I imagine that would feel like. Excruciating. I tried not to but I would cry out in pain each time an attempt was made. Starting to regret my decision for pain meds. I had forgotten to clarify that I wanted the pain taken away, not administered. Finally we get it and a couple minutes later my lower half relaxes. I still had full use of my legs, they just felt sluggish. My doctor comes in the I'm all set up to deliver a baby. She breaks my water and on the next contraction tells me to push. 10 minutes and no tearing later, he's out! I will say I am glad that I got something to relax me while pushing, it was such a better experience than last time. I felt it let me really focus on the task at hand and made me way more effective.

They put him on my chest and rub his back to get him to cry. He makes a few little noises but not enough to satisfy the nurses. I love how they do everything so calmly, even when they're really worried. I then find out the cord had been wrapped around his neck and he desperately needs fluids. He scored a 0 on the color scale. They whisk him away (calmly). I'm worried but don't really know what is going on and figure if it's really bad they'll tell me. They give him some liquid and run some tests. He's going to be ok. They'll just need to monitor him closely to make sure nothing is wrong and give him antibiotics. Phew. I'm really glad we came in to be induced. I now know why I had started to feel really good about that decision. They bring him back in and I finally get to hold my baby boy and love on him. He is perfect.