My Birth Story

March 20th arrives and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one. Of course as this being our first child everyone said she would be late and not arrive on her due date. But with the symptoms and hope I thought for sure she would have arrived early! But alas we arrived at her due date with no end in site. I had a regular appointment scheduled for the day just in case. I arrived at my appointment knowing we would discuss being induced if she didn't make her way in the following days. 

Let me back up a little bit. My husband and I had tried all the wives tales and tips and tricks from the internet. I ate pineapple, drank teas, took pills, walked, did the deed, sat on a birthing ball. I did all this for about a week leading up to her due date. Of course I thought by doing all those it was a for sure thing to start labor. But the days would pass with nothing happening. But we still hadn't reached her due date so we couldn't be too surprised. 

Jump forward to my appointment on March 20th. I decided to do a cervix check and mentioned a membrane sweep if possible. Up until this point I was not dilated or effaced at all which meant a membrane sweep wouldn't be possible. I was expecting the same news of no progress. But I was actually 2 centimeters dilated! The pineapple worked, or something. So we did a membrane sweep. Which let me add, most of my reading and research on a membrane sweep had me scared it would be super painful but it wasn't. It was like any other gynecological check I've had before. Same with the cervix checks, not as painful as they were made out to be. But I may have a higher pain tolerance than some people so thats just my take on it. 

The doctor had advised this may or may not do anything and to not get my hopes up. Which I didn't since my luck seemed to point towards a late baby. We then discussed a possible induction if all else failed. They wanted to schedule it for a week from that day. So on my 41st week of pregnancy I would be induced to get this little one out of me. Of course this wasn't how I wanted things to happen with the birth of my child but I also didn't want to be pregnant for much longer. I felt like a whale and everything hurt and was uncomfortable and my doctor said it was their medical opinion it was best to be induced at 41 weeks. I trusted the doctors and signed my life away for the induction process. They of course have to insure we won't sue if my baby or I dies in the process. Which made it seem that much scarier. But all that meant was we were in crunch time with the natural remedies to start labor!

Throughout the day I felt some Braxton Hicks Contractions but nothing to write home about. When I got home from work my husband and I walked around our neighborhood up and down the hills. We just did our normal routine and were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one any day. 

That night I woke up at around 11 to empty my bladder as per usual. Then around 11:30 I felt a pain that woke me up again and the urge to go to the bathroom again, not per usual. As I stood up I felt a giant gush. I hurried to the bathroom and sure enough as soon as I sat down the rest of the gush happened. My underwear were soaked and my pajama pants were soaked. I knew this wasn't your run of the mill piss your pregnant pants scenario (which I had done before.) This was it. I noted the time in my phone and changed my undergarments and then woke up my husband. He says I poked him in the side and said " Nic wake up I think my water broke." He wakes up in a panic wanting to rush out of the house. I wanted to get ready with decent clothes, brush my teeth, grab our bags which were already packed thank goodness, and just take my time. As soon as my water broke the contractions were immediate. Not that painful but they were every 3 minutes or so for at least 30 seconds. And each time they got stronger. However, I was still able to walk and talk, I just had to stop and breathe when they happened. I knew this was just the beginning and didn't want to rush to the hospital but I also knew the clock started ticking as soon as my water broke. 

We got in the car and drove to the hospital and was checked in right at midnight. Nic was guest number 1 for the day. As soon as we got to the triage room I had to use the restroom again and sure enough my bloody show occurred on the bathroom floor and I knew for sure this was it! The nurse was checking me to make sure my water did indeed break but she was not convinced. I told her everything that happened and to go check the bathroom floor if she was not convinced. Nic could tell I was trying to convince them this was the real deal. She had to go get the doctor so they could actually do an exam and get a sample. As they were prepping me for the exam, vagina on full display, I felt another gush and was like umm just take a look, you don't need to go hunting for proof. And sure enough they took their sample from the fluid dripping onto the floor. A few minutes later the doctor came back to confirm that my water had indeed broke. Well duh. But his meant Harper was on her way! They did another cervix check and I was still only 2 centimeters dilated but my contractions were still every 3 minutes and just getting stronger. I knew it would be a little while before we met our daughter but I had no idea what I was in for. 

They admitted me to the birthing area shortly after. Or course I should have slept but the excitement and the adrenaline and well the contractions every 3 minutes were not allowing it. I was hooked up to monitors and they did their normal checks and had me wear a diaper to collect all the fluids that were falling out of me at an alarming pace. Well, alarming to me but probably normal for the process. I kept reiterating my goal was to do this medication free. No epidural or anything. I took a hot bath. I bounced on a birthing ball. I walked. I sat. Nothing helped. But I dealt with it. 

Because my water broke they prefered the baby be born within 24 hours to avoid an infection with me or the baby. We discussed I would have my cervix checked again in a few hours to determine progress and decide a plan from there. A few hours in and after my check I was only dilated to a 3. They advised of some medicines (Cervidil) they may want to give me to get the process going, the same medicine that would have been used to induce me the following week. This was not how I wanted to do this but if it meant a safe delivery then so be it. The medicine they wanted to give me was supposed to help soften my cervix and regulate my contractions. However, after monitoring me they advised because my contractions were so frequent (more than 4 in a 10 minute period) they didn't feel the medicine would be productive as it would just make more contractions and not help the situation. There was a period of time my contractions were back to back and I was getting no relief.

Around 6am (I believe) they decided to start me on Pitocin which was supposed to help my contractions be effective in dilating me as my body was not making it happen on its own and the clock was still ticking closer to that 24 hour period. After a few hours on Pitocin I was SLOWLY making progress. I decided to take another bath which was soothing for a little bit but the contractions NEVER let up. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't rest. Even though I was being told to rest for the big show later on. I was then offered Morphine to help me sleep through contractions. That did nothing. Then I was offered Fentanyl. The first dose was heaven sent. I fell asleep and felt nothing. That lasted maybe 30 minutes and the contractions starting revving up. I asked for another dose and it made me tired but I still felt every contraction. They checked my cervix and was barely at 4 centimeters and at this point we were about 15 hours into this labor and they said the Pitocin was just going to make the contractions worse. After debating and talking to my husband and nurses and doctor I decided I needed an epidural. I was nowhere close to having this baby and contractions were  about every minute. I was getting no rest and no relief. I could not recover from one contraction before another was on its way. I felt defeated but I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the process without rest. 

I got the epidural and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Honestly I feared an epidural more than birth itself. But as soon as it kicked in I felt nothing at all. No contractions. It. Was. Amazing. I fell asleep almost immediately and got some much needed rest. A few hours in to the epidural and I started feeling pressure. It was semi uncomfortable but not as bad as the contractions. 

When the 3rd shift change occurred we got the nurse who would help deliver Harper into this world. We placed bets on what time she would come. She talked me through some contractions and pressure pains. At this point I blacked out for a lot of it. Either I was asleep or my eyes were closed clenching through the pain. But I know she was amazing. 

As we drew closer to the final hours the pressure pain was more and more intense. I felt like I was going to shit myself (which I did.) But they kept telling me not to push because I was not dilated to a 10 just yet. The pain of trying not to push was hard enough and was miserable. On top of this I had a fever which could be a sign of infection. We had passed the 24 hour mark. Things started getting scary. I kept telling my nurse I needed to push and she checked my and sure enough I had reached 10 centimeters. She called the doctor and they advised to not push yet. Lets have her work her way down on her own with each contraction they said. But I couldn't, I told her I needed to push I couldn't stop it. She called the doctor he came in and checked and said alright, lets do this. 

What felt like 5 minutes, ended up being an hour and a half of pushing. Even with the epidural I felt the pressure of her working her way down. I felt the ring of fire. I felt the instant relief when she was here. And bam a little girl with a head full of red hair was placed onto my chest. They checked my temp again and it had gone down. We chalked it up to all the hard work my body was doing. Harper and I were okay. After 26 hours of labor, Harper was born at 2am on March 22nd. My water broke at 11:30pm on March 20th. All that time in the hospital felt like a fast blur. Nic unfortunately was bored, anxious, tired, worried, for that full 26 hours. But after all that we became parents to the cutest little ginger you have ever seen!