Induced due to Preeclampsia, Went into labor with Cervidil, Quick Delivery

ckmac · September 2009

I went to my weekly doctor's appointment at 39 weeks and my blood pressure was very high (150/90 or something like that). I've ALWAYS had low blood pressure so this was very unusual for me. I also had trace amounts of protein in my urine. My doctor sent me to L&D for some bloodwork. Turns out I had preeclampsia so they decided to keep and induce me. They told me I would most likely deliver the next afternoon so so we told our parents to go to sleep, get up, go to work the next day and when I'm getting close, we would call them and have them come over.

At 10pm they inserted the Cervidil and told me to get some sleep. They told me that they would keep the Cervidil in until 10am the next morning, then get me up, let me shower, and start the pitocin. Well almost instantly, I started to feel some cramping in my back and belly. There was NO way I could even think about sleep! I knew there was a chance that I could go into labor, but the nurse made it seem unlikely. So I was a little confused why the cramping was hurting so bad. I kept telling them that I was in pain and all they said was "It's going to get a lot worse!" That scared me because they were very powerful at this point. Turns out they just didn't realize how quickly I was progressing.

After telling them several times that I was in a lot of pain, the nurse checked me and I was at 4cm and could get the epidural (she broke my water accidentally too). This was around 12:30am I only had the Cervidil in for 2.5 hours.

I always wondered what pain was so bad that I would look forward to getting a needle in my spine... I found out! At this point I was SO excited for the epidural. I had the shakes really bad but managed to stay as still as a statue so I could get the epi. It was the best pain I've ever felt!

The nurse checked me right after the epidural and I was already at 9cm! My husband quick called our parents and told them to hurry up and get here because I was about to push. Needless to say, we were all shocked! This was around 1:15am.

At this point I was still feeling a lot of pressure. I was actually surprised at how much pressure there was. I had to work pretty hard not to push.

The nurse started to prep the room. The moment I will always remember is when they pulled out the bassinet and turned on the warming light. THAT was the moment that made me realized that I was having a baby. I was totally skeptical for some reason until this point. Haha. That got me really excited to meet her!

My mom came rushing in around 1:45am and at this point I was 10cm and getting ready to push. She got there just in time to give me a hug and kiss, then went and stood outside the door. She called my husbands parents who were rushing like crazy to get to the hospial. She heard everything that was going on and narrated it all to his mom.

I pushed for 1 contraction and her head was right there, then pushed for a 2nd, and she was out. It was so quick! Cailin Leigh was born at 1:58am. She was very small weighing in at 5 lbs 1 oz. They think she was tiny because of the preeclampsia. Otherwise, she was completely healthy!

I needed some stitches... the doc didn't tell me how many but she was down there for a while. I didn't care though because I was busy with my daughter.

She is the sweetest, most content baby I could ever ask for. She's growing like a weed too.

Recovery was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was in quite a bit of pain for the first week and bleeding was heavier than I expected. I would say right around 6 weeks is when I felt like myself again. But as everyone says... IT'S ALL WORTH IT! Every minute of those 9 months of pregnancy, every contraction, every worry.... she's worth it all.