Birth Story

Like any woman preparing for labor I had in my mind exactly how I wanted everything to go. I realized that for many women it doesn't go as planned and that could be the case for me too. 
It was. I feel like I can't complain about my birth experience because both my son and I are perfectly healthy and it wasn't traumatic but, I do wish it went differently. My perfect birth in my mind was a home water birth but we live in an apartment and I just didn't feel like it was the right place so we decided to go the hospital route. Unfortunately, none of the hospitals reasonably close to our home have birthing tubs so I had to give up on the idea of having a water birth altogether. So, our plan was to labor at home for as long as possible that way I could take a bath and use the birthing ball to be as comfortable could be. My son being stubborn from the womb didn't want to come out and after being 2 weeks overdue my midwife decided I should be induced. We were scheduled to go into the hospital on August 11th at 1 pm. 

2:00pm: They started me on cervadil to get things going.

4:30pm: Mild contractions start.

10:30pm: They give me something to help me sleep.

12:00am: My water breaks.

3:30am: By this time I'm only 3 cm dilated and I'm shivering in pain so I ask for an epidural. Chris was such a good coach. I told him ahead of time that I didn't want an epidural so he asked me several times to wait and if i was sure. I was sure.

4:30am: They gave me the epidural and I fell asleep right away.

6:00am: Only 4 cm dilated so they start the dreaded pitocin.

7:00am: Our friends Zak and Sage come by to visit. While they are there, the midwife tells me she's concerned that he's too big because his heart rate is dropping with each contraction. This is supposed to mean he's dropping but he's not. I panic at the thought of a c-section.

8:30am: By this time I'm 7 cm dilated but the contractions are so intense i can feel them through the epidural so they send for an extra dose.

9:00am: I start to feel pressure and the urge to push.

10:20am: They told me it was time to push but they want me to push on my side first to help him turn and drop. Since it was my first baby, it would most likely take 2-3 hours.

10:45am: I ask the midwife how much longer I have to push. She tells me that the earliest he could come is 11:30 but I could have another 2 hours so I need to keep strong. I decided that I didn't want to push for that long so I got really motivated.

11:00am: His head is half way out and they tell me to stop pushing and wait for the next contraction; longest 2 minutes of my life.

11:02am: My son is born! 

The first time I saw him is a feeling I don't think I can explain. It's a feeling I've never felt before. It's an overwhelming feeling of love and pride and awe. I couldn't believe that I really created a life..it's still hard to believe.