XP: Natural birth story with induction (long like my labor!)

Baby T was born at 40 weeks, 6 days on November 18 at 1:05 a.m.  He was 6 lbs, 15 oz and 21 inches of perfection.  He is our pride and joy.

Here is my birth story: my goal was to go natural with no interventions.  I succeeded at going natural, but I did have many interventions.  As is typical, things did not work out exactly like I wanted because my doctors recommended inducing me with pitocin.  I was 2 cm and 50% effaced for about 2 weeks prior to the induction.

DH and I arrived at the hospital at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.  By 10 a.m., my doctor had recommended that pitocin be used and an IV was started.  Because I was induced, I had to have the IV drip and be continuously monitored.  I was already having contractions for a few days but they were so weak I could not feel them.  I started to feel the effects of the pitocin around noon or 1.  By 2 p.m., the contractions were strong enough that I was having to breathe through them and eventually I dealt with them by standing up and rocking back and forth, while leaning against DH.  Around 3:30, my doctor broke my water.  The contractions went on for many, many hours.  The pain was difficult but manageable because I still remained committed to my goal to go natural. 

By about 7 p.m., I think I was in transition.  My mental goal was to get to transition because I knew by then I would be close to pushing.  Unfortunately for me, my transition stage lasted about 3 hours.  But fortunately for me, when the shift changed at 7, our new nurse was awesome.  She was young and had given birth to her second child naturally and understood my goals.  She really encouraged me, somewhat aggressively which I needed towards the end.  DH said later that her arrival was crucial to my success and compared her to a spin instructor yelling ?puuuuuussssssshhhh?, and I think that is a pretty good characterization.  I was her only patient, and she was with us pretty much non-stop from 7 p.m. until after 3:30 a.m.

Transition was very hard for me.  At the encouragement of our rockstar nurse, I labored in multiple positions including on the toilet and on all fours.  All modesty was totally gone at this point!  Because I still had to be monitored, my nurse actually moved all the stuff to the edge of the bathroom at one point and according to DH, was sitting on the floor of the bathroom encouraging me.  By the time I got to transition, I was so inwardly focused that I rarely opened my eyes until I delivered the baby.  Finally, around 10, my doctor told me that I had a tiny lip of cervix left but that I could begin pushing.  I remember opening my eyes to check the time because I had read that pushing could go very quickly for some and obviously that was my hope since I had been in labor for 12 hours at the point.

However, I pushed for over 3 hours before our son was born.  His head was stuck on my pelvic bone and after 2.5 hours of pushing, my doctor suggested the vacuum.  I was all for it, at that point.  She said that if the vacuum didn?t work, I would need a c-section.  The thought of a c-section after all those hours of natural labor was my inspiration for a while ? because I was still totally opposed to it. 

According to DH, at one point, the vacuum popped off and blood went everywhere.  DH said he screamed out and my doctor had to say to him ?that?s okay, that happens occasionally.?  I don?t remember any of this because the vacuum was so uncomfortable that I was completely inwardly focused.  My doc used the vacuum to move him past the perineum but then she took it off because she wanted me to push the rest of the way.  I remember that the neonatologist came in for the vacuum and that scared me a little but I also thought I was so close to him coming out, that I didn?t care.  After the first vacuum, I pushed for about 20 more minutes (going close to 3 hours here) and my doctor suggested an episiotomy.  Again, something I was originally opposed to that I was all for in that moment.  She did a second degree episiotomy but the baby would not come out and his head kept receding between pushes.  Finally, at this point, I was getting desperate and crying between pushes ?get him out? and ?I?m so tired ? I can?t do it any more?.  That?s when DH asked if we could use the vacuum again.  So, he was vacuumed again and a few pushes later, our son was born.  I could finally open my eyes and look ? they moved him very quickly to the incubator for an evaluation since the labor had been so difficult.  He had a huge conehead and a shiner on his left eye from being stuck, but he was beautiful!

After they checked him and did the APGARS (7 and 9), I got to hold him for the first time.  It was surreal.  DH was so proud of me, of the baby, that he was the one who got emotional.  I was too exhausted to cry.  I didn?t really get emotional until the next morning when we called our parents to share the news of his arrival. 

I am living proof that you can go natural if you put your mind to it, despite the odds stacking against you.  After my labor, all my doctors and my nurses kept telling me that I was amazing for having done this naturally, with a vacuum, episiotomy and long labor.  At my hospital, only 25% of women go pain-med free.  I must admit, I am proud of myself for sticking with my goal of going natural.  It hurt like hell and I am still sore (got hemorrhoids too ? lovely), but I proved to myself that I could do it. 

We are home now, and the love we feel for our son is almost incomprehensible.  I think he has brought DH and me closer together.  He is breastfeeding like a champ and gets cuter every day.  Good luck to all you ladies ? may you be as blessed as we are.