rosalie12's Birth Story! - warning: faulty epidural

rosalie12 · October 2014

First of all, I apologize on this birth story being so late. I have been meaning to post it and have sat down twice to write it, only to be interrupted by a crying, hungry baby! (imagine that! haha).

Caroline Pip.er was born on October 11, 2014. (I put a period in her second name to make it unsearchable). I was 38w 2d pregnant, and had an induction scheduled for October 17 (at which time I would have been 39w 1d pregnant), due to GD and lupus. However, she had plans of her own!

On October 9, I was 3cm and 90%, and my doctor did a membrane sweep. For the next two days, I had contractions 5 minutes apart, progressing in duration and severity until the morning of October 11 at about 11am, at which time I went to the hospital. I also went to the hospital twice (on October 9 and 10), but was sent home both times because I had not progressed. My cervix had stayed at 3cm and 90%, and since I was not yet 39 weeks, induction was not an option. It was very difficult to have contractions for so long without relief, especially as the severity intensified. Then on the morning of October 11, I woke up after a restless night of contractions in a ton of pain. The contractions were every 3 minutes and about 45-60 seconds in duration. We made our way to the hospital for a third and final time (3rd time was a charm!). It was a miserable 45 minute drive, given my pain level, and I was praying that my cervix had progressed because I couldn't imagine being sent home again, and this time in unbearable pain.

I was admitted after being checked and the doctor confirming that this was active labor, as I was now 5cm dilated. I asked for an epidural because I was in so much pain, but it took a few hours to go through all of the steps to get the epidural. I was really nervous about the epidural placement, but while it was painful, it was not nearly as painful as the contractions I was experiencing at that point. I had no intentions of a medication-free pain, but my body had other plans. After a few hours of rest and being relatively pain-free, my contractions were getting more and more painful again. After some monitoring and tests, the anesthesiologist confirmed that the epidural had somehow become dislodged and was not working any longer. At this point, I was 7cm dilated and the contractions were unbelievably painful. I was given the choice to go through a medication-free delivery, or try to stay completely still and have them place a new epidural. Again, I elected for the epidural... but that never happened. The anesthesiologist was called to an emergency and never came back. So medication-free delivery from that point on was my only option! I was lucky that my labor progressed relatively quickly from this point forward.

I lost track of time during transition, but I would say that it took about 45 minutes to be complete. The pain was excruciating, and I barely had a few seconds to breathe in between contractions before the next one came. One of the hardest parts of labor was having the urge to push and not being allowed to. I was begging the nurse to let me push and she said that I couldn't, but finally the doctor then checked me and I was 9.5cm and she thought that she could help by pushing open the last bit to get me to 10cm. She said that I could start to push, and the focus came with pushing. I was very lucky - I only had to push about 15-20 times (just a guess), but then I felt the famous (and aptly named) ring of fire and my little girl shot out! I didn't feel her shoulders at all - she literally shot out as soon as her head crowned. I had a tear (I never asked the severity) and several stitches, including some in my urethra. My mom and DH were in the room, and DH cut the umbilical cord. It was the most amazing experience of my life! However, I hope that my epidural works next time!

Caroline was 7 lb 14 oz, 19.5 in. We are over the moon with her and are now adapting to the newborn phase and especially breastfeeding! And here are a few photos of her on the day she was born and in the last two weeks since her birth.