I was due on 3.31.13, such an awesome date. I was secretly hoping my boy would make his appearance that day. It was not his time, or God's time. Ryan and I prayed every night that he would come in God's perfect timing and that the labor and delivery would be fast. Well, God knew exactly what He wanted to happen...
I went to see my midwife on April 1st. She was the same midwife that had seen me the week before. We had discussed my concern of the baby measuring small since I was 36wks pregnant, and I had no progress in dilation or thinning since the week before. (I was 1-2 cm dilated and about 50% thinned) She decided to induce me during her shift the next evening through the next day. She explained that I would go to the hospital at 7pm and they would insert cervidil to soften the cervix. She said I would sleep all that night and she would take out the cervidil at 5 a.m. and I would take a shower then they would start the pitocin. I probably wouldn't have him until late afternoon on April 3rd.
So, I left the office, and I called Ryan and my mom to let them know the news. I went home and started cleaning some more and preparing the house. This time I knew I would be bringing home a baby that week.
I called the next evening to see if there was a bed available for my induction, and there was. We left our house around 5:30 p.m. and went to my parents house to drop off our dog, Rosie.
Here we are leaving my parents house:
After leaving my parents house, we went to FoodLion to get some snacks to snack on throughout the night...
We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 p.m. and checked in. Around 7pm, we got settled into the hospital room and my nurse had me get in my hospital gown and inserted my IV just to get some fluids in me before they started the cervidil. At 8pm, she unhooked the IV and my midwife came in and inserted the cervidil and left and said have a good night of rest.
I was like great, time to chill, get on the computer, listen to my ipod, talk to Ryan, and just relax. Boy was I wrong. Ten minutes after she inserted the cervidil the contractions started. After about an hour I was almost to the point of tears from the pain. I really thought I was being a big baby. My mom called and asked how I was doing, and I told her that I was having some major pain...she said, "Oh you just wait until the real contractions start!" When I got off of the phone, I looked at Ryan and said, "Oh my goodness, if this isn't the real pain, I may just die! My mom said to JUST WAIT FOR THE REAL PAIN!!" After a few more minutes and a few more huge contractions, I hit the button to call the nurse in.
The nurse came in and I told her I didn't want to sound like a big baby, but I was in a lot of pain. She looked at me with a sarcastic look and said well, I'll call your midwife to see what she says...She went out and came back in and told me just to breathe through the crampiness and if I can't take it anymore, she will call the midwife to take out the cervidil and just say "we tried!"...WHAT? Number one, CRAMPINESS? If this was crampiness, I might as well just be called the biggest baby ever. Number two, WE TRIED? What do you mean WE TRIED? Is the baby just staying in me forever?
At that point, I was feeling like a complete baby, in horrible pain, and felt like I was going to have the pain for the next 12+ hrs because she said I wouldn't deliver until the next afternoon.
Another hour of extreme pain went by. Ryan was by my side praying his heart out while I almost broke his hand off with every contraction. Let me tell you, those hospital beds are horrible to have contractions on...It was then 10pm. The cervidil was only in 2 hours and I called the nurse in again. This time I told her I couldn't take it anymore that I wanted that cervidil out. She called my midwife and she came and took it out and told me that it worked and I was completely thinned and about 3 to 4 cm dilated....Wait a second..You mean to tell me that it worked in 2 hours and I was supposed to have it in ALL night until 5:30a.m.? Huh, I guess I'm not a baby after all :)
The midwife went out and the nurse told me I could get in the shower if I wanted and I could use the birthing ball. I was completely ready to get out of that bed and into the hot shower where I could relax. She also gave me two Tylenol to ease the pain. ( I didn't even know what she gave me until after I delivered. HA! That Tylenol didn't touch the pain at all)
Even though the pain was terrible, the shower helped so much. I breathed through the pain and tried to bounce on the birthing ball. I decided there was no way I could sit on that ball while having back to back contractions. I stood in the shower and held onto the bars through each contraction. Around 11:30 I felt like I was pushing with every contraction. I told Ryan maybe he should get the nurse because I felt like I needed to push already. He looked at me surprised, and said "Are you sure?"....."Yes I'm sure!! GET HER!" haha
The nurse came in and I told her I felt like I needed to push. She looked at me surprised too and said, "Okay, if you think so, here, walk over to the bed and lay down and I'll go get your midwife."---The whole process, everyone thought I was some stupid 21 year old who didn't know what I was talking about, and thought I was some big baby.
My midwife came in and checked me..She said, "Okay, she is 8 1/2 cm dilated" (WHAT? Are you kidding?) The next contraction I was 9cm and she broke my water. Nurses started flooding in the room. The midwife said with the next contraction, "Okay she is 10cm, we are going to have this baby" and the nurses started getting her ready and bringing all of her stuff to her. I was in shock. I wasn't a baby after all. They inserted the cervidil at 8pm it was only 11:30 and it was time to push? My mom and sister were supposed to be in the delivery room and they weren't planning on coming until 11a.m. the next day!
Ryan was shocked! He asked the midwife.."Uhhh...should I call her mom?" The midwife said, "Well, if you want her to be here!!" I started pushing with every contraction while Ryan called my mom and sister. They were both in bed, and my sister didn't believe him at first. At 12:09 a.m. my mom rushed in the room with her pajamas and no makeup and exclaimed, "I have NEVER been out of the house without makeup, but I'm here"! At 12:19a.m. my sister rushed in as I'm pushing with all I have in me. At 12:29a.m. my beautiful baby boy was born, pooping all over the place, and me! :) I was in complete shock/happiness! Yes, a 4.5 hr start to finish, labor and delivery!
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| Levi Cross, April 3, 2013 |
Through the whole pregnancy, I tried picturing him and what he would look like, but it never really registers that you actually have a baby inside of you until he is right in front of your eyes and wrapped in your arms.
He did swallow a little bit of fluid, so they had to monitor him for a little while, which I was disappointed about because I couldn't hold him skin to skin for a little while. After he was okay, they brought him to me and I got to hold him!! After two hours they made me get up and take a shower! Ugh! So painful after just delivering!
The next few days were very emotional. We found out he had a very high bilirubin level and had to be put under the lights and wear a bilirubin blanket too. No one could hold him except when I nursed, and he still had to wear that hard light blanket. It was very hard to not hold my new baby boy. We had to stay an extra day in the hospital to make sure his levels were down. The day we could go home, he had to have his heel pricked again to check the results, he was circumcised, and he had his tongue tie clipped. My poor baby!!
All in all, I'm SO happy that I went into labor on my own with only the cervidil. I'm so blessed that I didn't have to go on pitocin and have a super long labor. I delivered all natural like I wanted, with no epidural, and only two Tylenol. I'm so happy to have a healthy baby boy.
