Due to preeclampsia I was scheduled to be induced. My inducement date was Monday, August 20, 2018, a few weeks early. I was so excited to meet my baby girl! My husband, brother and dad and I all wendt out for a big dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants and then my husband and I went to the hospital. I was checked in and started on my drip, and Robert and I were so excited and ready. Well Monday came and went and by Tuesday morning I still had barely dilated, but was in labor. So we were kept in my room and kept on the pitocin.
By Wednesday night I had dilated enough to be moved to the delivery room. A guy doctor, whom I've never met, came in to check on why I haven't gone into active labor. As he was checking he informed me of a band I had that was blocking the exit for baby girl, and that he needed to snip it, or I wouldn't be able to have the baby vaginally without cutting open her head. (Apparently there's a small percentage of women who have this band!) As he was snipping it, he nicked my water, so that's how my water broke. Early Thursday morning (like between 2-3am), the anesthesiologist came in to do my epidural. They kicked out Robert and I started to get anxious. My nurse was holding my hand as the anesthesiologist started. She then found out she couldn't do my epidural because my blood count was low! So she left me there having a minor anxiety attack. My nurse was trying to keep me calm as the anesthesiologist talked to my gynecologist. The nurse finally had me lay down and got Robert back in the room. I explained to Robert I didn't get the epidural yet and we were all getting anxious now. Finally my blood count was good and a different anesthesiologist came in. He said he had to kick out Robert too, but this guy was much nicer and kept me calm. The epidural was so easy with him! Even my nurse felt how much calmer and relaxed I was. Finally my epidural was in and I was much farther along in my dilation. I slept as best as I could.
By 8am Thursday morning, August 23, 2018, I was woken up with intense pressure in my uterus! I was really feeling the pain so Robert woke up and rain over to call in my nurse. He also started my epidural drip back up. The nurse came in and said it was time to start pushing! I told her I wanted my gynecologist here, part of my birth plan, but she said she was in an emergency C-section so the on call midwife would be delivering. For some reason it made me nervous (looking back now, I can't remember why, I loved my midwife so much afterwards!). So I got put into my birthing position and was getting coached when the first big push started! I was getting so excited! Robert, my nurse, and I were the only ones in the room. My nurse was a saint and was so helpful! Robert stepped up and was amazing! Everything was going great. And then my hip popped out, at around 9:30am... it hurt so bad and I couldn't put it back in because y'know, active labor was happening. My hip out was more painful than the labor (thank goodness for the epidural lol).
Baby girls top of her head was out for the world and I was told to stop pushing! Next thing I know it was like the swat team came in! So many scrub clad people came in and they kept telling me to stop pushing... Finally someone was down at my crotch and told me okay, let's get her out! My lovely nurse told me it might take a few pushes. One push later and my baby was out! The first thing I said was, "Is she still a girl?" Hahaha. Anyway, they laid this beautiful little innocent babe on my chest and I just started crying. She was absolutely perfect and gorgeous! I had already planned on delayed cord cutting and delayed cleaning so my baby and I just laid there, attached to one another. They came to clean her and I told them not yet.
Finally, I let them take her. Robert cut the cord and I finished rubbing her vernix into her skin. They took her, weighed her, cleaned her, and did all the other checks. Robert then helped me pop my hip back in. The doctor guy from before then came back in to weigh my afterbirth and sew me up (4 different sticthings!). We finally got to go to my post-birth room. I got to push the button that played a lullaby throughout the hospital. Finally, 8 months and 70+ hours of labor later, and my little girl was in my arms and I never wanted to let her go.
