PharmDMom birth story

PharmDMom · December 2016

On Wed 11/30 at my 39 week appointment my OB stripped my membranes around 11am. I had been miserable with prodromal labor for a few weeks and was hoping the stripping would get things going naturally. Ultrasound had showed he was a good size, plus my cervix was favorable, so she felt comfortable encouraging labor. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced at that time.

At 2:17pm that day I started having contractions- finally, they definitely weren't Braxton Hicks and they were pretty strong, but not super regular. I was also very nauseated and had diarrhea a few times. I laid in bed with a heating pad, got on the exercise ball, walked around a bit then got in the bathtub around 5:30pm. They started to space out a little and I figured it wasn't time yet. Told DH he could work late. Got out of the tub at 6pm and went downstairs to get something to eat. I decided to sit on my exercise ball while I ate because my back was sore. At 6:15pm I got a whopper contraction. Then they immediately started every 3-5 minutes. I texted DH that he needed to come home. By the time he got home at 7pm I was ready to go because the contractions were so painful that I wanted to get an epidural!

We got to L&D at 7:20pm. Nurse checked me and I was only 3-4cm. I couldn't believe it bc the pain I felt was as bad as when I was 6-7cm with my previous two labors. My OB was called and bc I was in so much pain and 39 weeks they said they would admit me, get me an epidural, start my antibiotic for GBS, and augment with pitocin if things didn't progress.

Got my epi at 8:40pm. It made my BP drop quickly and I almost threw up but that had happened before to me with my previous labors and I was mentally prepared. My nurse was really helpful through it all and I got some zofran to relieve the nausea. Got checked at 9pm and I was STILL 3-4cm. She said baby's head was kind of in a weird position but not to worry bc they could break my water after my four hours of antibiotics were in me and that could change things quickly. I was still skeptical. Hung out until midnight when my second bag of antibiotic was hung and they checked me again. STILL 3-4cm. What?!? I was about to freak out. This was my third baby and I couldn't believe I wasn't progressing despite having plenty of strong natural contractions on my own for 6 hours. OB told me to relax and see how things went after breaking my water. She felt that would get things moving and we wouldn't need pitocin. Well... she was right. Literally two minutes after she broke my water (a little before 1am) I felt all this pressure and had to press the button on my epidural PCA to get an extra dose. One hour later I was 8cm and about a half hour after that I was completely dilated. So I went from 4 to 10cm in 90 minutes. Whew!

I pushed through two contractions and Parker Matthew was born at 2:31am! I tore in the exact same spot as my other two deliveries but it was mild and easily repaired. Parker weighs 8lbs 5oz and is 20.25in long. I love his head of blonde hair and his big brother and sister are so enamored with him!