Birth Story

This time around I desperately wanted to go into labor on my own. I had never experienced non-induced childbirth, and I felt like it was a rite of passage. Something I wanted to experience before I die. I tried everything I could leading up to my due date, including my first-ever trips to the chiropractor and acupuncture. I had my membranes stripped three times, did lots of walking, and ate dates. I had contractions here and there, and was dilated to a 3 1/2 on the day before my due date. I gave up hope of going into labor on my own, and scheduled an induction for a few days after my due date.

On my due date, we picked up my mom from the airport and went to dinner. I had a few really painful contractions during dinner, but I always get them. I didn't even think twice about it. I planned a fun day of shopping, dining, and getting last minute things done for the next day. I didn't even pack my hospital bag. I just went to bed to rest up for the impending sleepless nights. Then I woke up at midnight in excruciating pain. The contractions started coming hard and fast (for the first time in my life), and I knew I was finally in real labor. Without pitocin. It was a small miracle.

After about 20 minutes we headed to the hospital. When I got there I was dilated to about a 6-7. I was in quite a bit of pain (what I didn't know at the time was back labor), and hadn't slept in about two days. I lasted until I was at an 8 before the emotional/physical exhaustion took over and the nurse talked me into an epidural. It turned out to be the best decision ever, as we still had a VERY long night ahead of us.

About an hour after I got to the hospital I was at a 10. The epidural didn't work right away (only on my left side), and I was still in pain and exhausted. When the doctor came in and wanted me to push, I told her that I was too exhausted, and that I didn't feel the urge at all. They let me rest for 10-15 minutes, and then we started to push. And push. And push. After about an hour and a half, she looked at me and said "fourth babies don't take an hour and a half to push out, something is wrong". Ian and Ava both came out after about 15-20 minutes, so I knew she had a point. We talked about options, and I told her that I wanted to avoid a C-section unless it was absolutely necessary. The baby was not in distress, so she let me keep trying to push her out. I pushed for about an hour on all fours, a long time on one side with a leg twisted in the air, then on the other side. Then I pushed again on my back. After a long four (yes four!) hours, my doctor said that not a single one of my pushes had moved the baby's head at all. I started to panic when she told me the only options left were forceps, vacuum, or C-section. I couldn't even think straight to make a decision.

By this time it was morning, and my doctor called another doctor to get a second opinion. The other doctor came to the hospital, as she was more experienced at using forceps. When she got there, she said the baby's head was small enough that she could probably vacuum her out. They brought in the pediatric trauma unit (which raised my anxiety level even more), and told me I had one last chance to push her out with the vacuum before they wheeled me into the OR for a C-section. They turned on the vacuum and in less than one second she was crying and being whisked across the room to be examined. The doctor smiled and said "posterior and asynclitic!" as I sobbed tears of relief and complete emotional and physical exhaustion. Apparently her head was face-up and tilted sideways.

This has been one of my hardest recoveries. No permanent damage, but lots of bruising (tailbone), swelling, and sore muscles. Muscles that I didn't even know I had. I couldn't even hold the baby for a couple days because my arms were so sore from gripping the handles for hours while I was pushing. Things are finally looking up and I am feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for a sweet, beautiful little baby that has melted all of our hearts. She was worth every second.