Birth Story- Natural Induction

grnshdw · August 2008

We are so delighted to introduce our little girl to the world. She was born at 3:30 PM today!

DS was a precipitous birth so my doctor was very concerned about this labor happening in the car. I ended up agreeing to being induced but did not want pitocin. We went in a week before our due date- I pushed it back from his original date so that we could try to let her come on her own.

When I arrived at the hospital at 8 AM they did some monitoring, etc. The doctor arrived at 10:40 and broke my water.- I was already at 4 cm dilated. I discussed with him my concerns over the risk of cord prolapse, he explained that this is always a risk(even when water breaks on its own)- and not to be concerned because we are monitoring the baby so if anything goes wrong then he will be able to do something right away.

We sat there with no progress for a long time- ok like 2 hours. My nurse came in and suggested nipple stimulation since we wanted to avoid pitocin, we did and I had some regular contractions from maybe 12-1, but then they died down again.

The worst part is that my monitor was on wrong so they weren't catching my contractions. The nurse came in around 2 PM while I was in the middle of a contraction and she offered me some pain meds and told me I was having baby contractions. I asked her to check my progress- I was dilated to 7-8 and very stretchy. I am glad I asked because once again, I felt like if I can't handle this part I will never make it through transition.

We then turned to nipple stimulation again to really get things rocking! I told DH that I was ready to get this show on the road! And so we did! Beware, use nipple stimulation with caution! It is a powerful tool when used at the right time. Around 2:30-3 I went through transition and felt the baby drop down onto the cervix and knew I was ready to push. They called the doc back in- and he finally got there at 3:15- let me tell you those 15 minutes were the longest 15 minutes of my life. These nurses let me push her out without waiting for contractions- which was awesome! I had a tear and the doctor did use a little local anesthesia while he put in the stiches.

If you can get through the experience without med's I find it to be amazing- I could walk and get around as soon as it was over. The hospital staff told me that I am one of very few that didn't get an epidural here. In the thick of it I did think I was dieing, I did think I couldn't get through it, and I did! And when it is all over I had no more pain. It is truly amazing that it just comes to an end. If you can fight through the pain, I think it is worth it. Good luck to you as you create your own birth story!