Landon's induction birth story

Bumbledees

I had a regular doctor's appointment scheduled for last Monday afternoon. Since I was having a non-stress test and knew they would be checking for any progress, I left Savannah with a neighbor (the first time I EVER left her with someone other than family!!) and headed out. I felt like the NST took forever- I was literally counting the dots on the wall paper. The doctor came in and was looking over my previous blood pressures (my pressure has been elevated since right before Christmas, when I was put on modified bed rest) At the appointment, my pressure was in the 140s/80s, which he said was just too high. Since I was full term, he wanted me to head over to the hospital to be monitored in triage for a few hours and see how my pressure was over a longer period of time. He basically said there was a 50/50 chance I would either be induced that night or the following morning, but he wouldn't let me go past Friday. Yikes!! I called my mom first thing, to have her come up to watch Savannah. Then I called Brad and told him what was going on. I had just packed my hospital bag the night before- I couldn't believe I needed it already! I headed home to get Savannah and my things and headed to the hospital. Brad met me there and took Savannah home to wait for my mom. So I went back into triage by myself and was hooked up to the fetal monitors and the BP machine that checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. My first pressure was 140/104 and then after that it went back down but was hovering in the high 130s/80s. They also drew some blood for labs and then I just hung out watching a tiny, grainy TV. I think I watched TLC, I don't even remember! While I was in triage, I started feeling some pretty consistent contractions. I'd had some contractions and cramping the night before, but they were mild and inconsistent. But these were definitely more like labor contractions. The nurse came back and told me they were coming every 2-4 minutes. She called my doctor when my labs came back, and after hearing my pressure and that I was contracting on my own, they decided to admit me for an induction. Luckily, right after I heard that news Brad and my mom showed up. We waited in triage for about 30 minutes, during shift change, and then my nurse from L&D came over to take me to my room! The whole time my mind was going a million miles a minute- it was (and still is!) so surreal! I got to my room and they checked my cervix- I was about 2 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. I was hooked up to the Pitocin at 7:45. They started me on the lowest possible dose of Pit and never increased it. I asked when I would see my doctor, and apparently he had no plans to come in unless I needed him. Nice, right? So he had no intention of breaking my water- the nurse said if it broke on its own he'd come, otherwise he'd break it in the morning. Thanks, doc. I mentioned to my nurse (Anne) how fast I had gone with Savannah, so she started going ahead and getting the room ready for delivery. And it was a good thing! At 10:10 Anne came in and checked me again. I was at 3cm and still 70%. I wasn't sure what to expect- it wasn't until after my water broke that things started happening with Savannah and unless it broke on its own, it looked like we were in for a long night. My contractions were coming right on top of one another and I had wicked back labor. Every contraction would start in my stomach and the my whole lower spine would lock up and it was awful. I couldn't get into any position to lessen the pain at all. Anne came back in at 12:40 and I was ready to ask for some pain relief. I had planned on going med-free, but the back labor was so awful I couldn't go the whole night without some relief. She checked me to see if anything was going on- I was thinking I was MAYBE at a 5- so much to my surprise I was 7 centimeters! How did that happen?! Anne called my doctor and told him to head on over, we would see some action soon! Since I had already done the hard part med-free there was no way I was getting any pain meds at that point. Dr. Saavedra arrived at 1:15 and broke my water- and I was at 9 centimeters. He asked me if I wanted an epidural- I'm still not sure if he was joking or not. At 1:30 I started feeling like I needed to push, but not like I had to, so Anne told me to try a practice push. Well, that did it- it was time to go!! Dr Saavedra came back in and the baby was crowning- he barely had time to get his scrub clothes on because I couldn't stop pushing! I pushed 1 more time and the head came out, and then 1 last time and at 1:48 am Landon Dale was born! I still cannot believe how fast it all happened! I think all told I pushed 4 times!! We've gotten settled in at home now. Landon is a great eater and is sleeping really well. He's not much of a crier (yet) and hopefully it will stay that way. He is such a sweetie and we are all so in love with him. I've got some great photos of Savannah holding him that I need to upload- she loves her baby brother so much!

westcoaststyle

Congrats!

Hyfagal

What a wonderful birth story. You make it sound so easy . : )