My induced birth story

DemoDoll

Here is my long birth story. Short version at the bottom.

At 40 weeks, 3 days, I had a regular Dr's appt and an u/s to check on baby. The amniotic fluids ended up being low (5 cm instead of the recommended 10 cm). My OB told me not to worry because it was only borderline low but that I hadn't progressed on my own and it was just time to get the baby out. For some reason I just had a feeling the whole pregnancy that I would get induced. Probably because I was super laid back about everything except that, it was my one thing I did not want.

My appt got done at 4 and we were told to go to the hospital at 6. We went home to grab our bags and pick up the house a little. I've never seen DH clean so much in his life, lol! We went to Subway for dinner then arrived at the hospital at 6. I was admitted and started on cervadil at 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced.

At 11 pm they gave me Ambien and I went to sleep with very light contractions. Up to this point I hadn't had a single contraction or BH the whole pregnancy so I was excited to have something! I woke up at 3 am with constant and painful contractions. I was up for the day but didn't wake DH until 8 am when I was ready to order breakfast. My nurse removed the cervadil and checked me, I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. At this point my Dr. decided not to start pitocin since I was progressing and having contractions on my own. They broke my water and barely anything came out They didn't make me sit on the monitors so DH and I ate breakfast, then walked the halls (they let me go where ever I wanted in the hospital so we went to the gift shop). 

I got hooked up to the monitors for 20 minutes every 3 hours. I labored in the tub, on the birthing ball, walked the halls, etc. I wanted to be as active as possible since I knew I wanted the epidural and would be strapped to the bed. Lunges are what helped me get through my contractions, which were inconsistently happening every 3-5 minutes about 1 minute long. 

Finally at 2 pm they checked me and I was at 5 cm and 75%. My Dr. said my contractions weren't as consistent as they would like to see so let's start pitocin and get things going. I decided to get an epidural at 3 pm since I was stuck in bed and the pitocin increased the intensity of my contractions. I was scared about the epidural because I'd heard horror stories of it not working, being super painful, etc. I started bawling and the anesthesiologist reassured me that it would work and I wouldn't feel any pain. Well she was right, I didn't feel any pain whatsoever, just a little prick in my back that hurt less than Novocain at the dentist. It worked wonders and they said my body took the epidural beautifully. I was on Cloud 9!

Basically from 3 pm-9 pm my labor was very uneventful. I had a room full of visitors and we just chatted and I giggled through contractions. Around 9 pm my nurse noticed that the baby was sunny side up.  I was 8 cm at this point and my nurse had me flipping in different positions to try to move the baby. One of the positions was to kneel facing the back of my bed and resting my arms on the head of the bed while it was in full upright position. The nurse said her and DH would to move me to this position because of the epidural but I just got up, turned around and got into the position. My nurse was shocked! I thought it was pretty funny!

After two hours of different positions, we think the baby flipped. My Dr. came in and I was 9 cm but I still wasn't progressing very fast. They put an internal monitor in for an hour to see if my contractions were intsense enough. Well they were! I still wouldn't get past 9 cm. Finally at midnight my Dr. said I was about 9.5 cm during contractions but baby was still -1 station. She was -1 station when I was admitted. It was really hard for the nurses to even find my uterus because it was so high. Baby's head was also coned at this point. So it was my decision to either push or get a c-section. I said I don't want to push then have a c-section but I also don't want a voluntary c-section. My Dr. said let's wait another 30 minutes, if she hasn't dropped and you aren't to a 10, then it's just not going to happen.  So we waited. At 12:30ish the Dr. came in again and after she checked me she looked at me and said, "you are getting a c-section, there are no changes and she is not going to come out down here."

DH and I were very nervous but my Dr. and the nurses walked up through everything. If they hadn't, I think I would have been terrified! My whole family was in the labor and delivery room when all of a sudden 10 staff members stormed into my room, doing all these different things to me and handing DH some scrubs to put on. I remember feeling sad for my family to see me rolled off to the OR room. I wasn't scared for myself or my baby at all, I knew everything was going to be okay, I was just sad that I knew everyone would be worried about me. I was completely content being alone in the OR room while they prepped me, even in high spirits. I just remember thinking my husband must be so scared and worried. Then they let him come in when the surgery was ready. I felt lots of tugging and pulling and the Dr told DH to get his camera ready and to stand up so he could see his daughter being born. About 15 seconds later, my Dr. held her up over the curtain and said "here's your baby!" Wow it was so surreal, I started bawling instantly. She was so beautiful. That moment was so weird to me because during the entire pregnancy I could never fully wrap my head around the fact that an actual human was inside of me. 

They told DH to come over and watch her getting cleaned off and weighed. He looked at me like "is that ok?" and I told him to go see our daughter! I just laid there getting put back together and tears were streaming down my face while I listened to my baby girl cry. I didn't get the vaginal birth with Brooke laid on my chest like I had dreamed of for the last 9 months but I don't care, it was such a beautiful moment and I would never take it back! DH finally brought her over to me all bundled up. We still hadn't decided on a middle name yet. I wanted Brooke Taylor and he wanted Brooke Marie. Marie is my middle name and both of our grandma's MN and FN. He showed me her and said, "look, she has your eyes." I couldn't believe how much she looked like me! I kissed her and said "I love you Brooke Marie!"

That's all she wrote! I had such a wonderful experience and my recovery was so fast, I don't get why people say c-sections are horrible. I had inverted disposable stitches and my Dr. has won tons of awards for being such a great OB so that could be part of it. I have to get a c-section with any future pregnancies because Brooke was 8 lb. 1 oz. and she couldn't fit through my birth canal so it's likely I'll have the same issue.

 Short Version: I was admitted to the hospital on 8/7 at 6 pm due to low amniotic fluid. Cervadil was inserted and I went to bed. Water was broke at 8 am and labored on my own until 2 pm when pitocin was started. Epidural was administered at 3 pm. I never progressed past 9.5 cm dilated 90% effaced and -1 station. Baby's head was coned and not able to fit through the birth canal. I ended up with a c-section and Brooke Marie was born on 8/9 at 12:54 am weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz and 20 inches long.

perfectlove09

You have a beautiful birth story. It's refreshing to hear someone say that while waiting for their husband before surgery they weren't scared. That's all I ever hear and have been afraid of that if I need a csection. Also your outlook on everything is so positive.
Congratulations : I love her name.
my mn is also Marie

lsummer618

Congratulations!!!

mAnYaSha

Congratulations and love you picture !

discohiker

awesome.... sounds kinda like what happened to me but i pushed.... see story i posted last night

princesst92703

Congratulations on your sweet girl. I've had 2 csections one emergency and on elective The first one is always the scariest, you don't know what to expect..but for me the 2nd was so easy, recovery too..I liked knowing what day and around what time she would be born.

jjetwedding

I'm in tears reading your story, it was beautiful!