My vaginal 11lb baby birth story *Long*

My baby was head down but he was not dropping. This had been going on for several weeks. I was 3cm dilated for a month but after I got to that point my little man decided he did not want to come into the world just yet. So the Dr said he wanted to start talking about an induction in about a week if I was still the same.

Monday November 8th came and i was due on Sat. the 13th. The Dr. checked for progress and again I was still the same. My blood pressure was also elevated too. So we scheduled the induction for Friday the 12th.

Thursday Nov 11th I was so anxious. I ran around the house trying to get everything done that I needed to. I unpacked all my hospital bags and repacked them just to make sure I had everything. I made sure to take a nap as well because I knew I would not be getting any sleep Thursday night. I took a Benadryl around 9pm to help me sleep as the Dr. had suggested. Didn't work! I wasn't nervous just VERY anxious to meet my little man. I finally feel asleep but woke up every hr staring at the clock.

Finally 5:30am came. I got up and called the hospital to make sure it was still ok to come. The Ok was given and I started getting ready. I made sure again that I had everything. Then I took a shower an put on some sweats. The hubby was still asleep so I woke him up to get ready and we started packing the car.

The hospital is an hour away from my house so I called my mom and told her we were leaving so she could meet us there. We left at 6:00am and the whole way there I could not stop thinking about how much my life was about to change. And that the next time we would come home we would have a baby with us

I got to the hospital at 6:45am and got checked in. I went up to labor and delivery and got settled into my room. A nurse came in and advised that if I had called 15mins later that we would not be having the baby that day. There were 3 OB emergencies so the nurse told us she would get to us as soon as she could. But for now we would have to just relax and wait.

At 8:30am the nurse came in and advised she was going to start me on Pitocin. She put the IV right on my wrist bone! OUCH! My first nurse was not very nice and she was not making my labor experience and very good one. The Dr Came in right after the Pitocin was started and he checked me, still 3cm, and broke my water. he felt my stomach and said "we are going to have a fairly big baby" when we asked what he thought the weight would be he said "about 8 or 9" We learned later he wasn't even close! It was a waiting game now. The baby kept moving a lot so the nurse had to keep coming in and adjusting the monitors. She braced herself on my IV! And when I said ow, she said "aw your fine" Yeah i was not a happy soon to be mommy with her.  

I labored in the room the whole time. I couldn't get comfortable so I would lay down for a while then get up and labor in the rocking chair. NCIS was on TV, a marathon , so that kept me occupied. Contractions weren't as bad as everyone had said. Just really bad cramps. I would watch the numbers on the monitors go up slowly, peak, then go back down. My husband was VERY supportive! He stayed by my side the whole time let me squeeze his hand, an coached me.

The nurse came in after about 5hrs of being on Pitocin and asked if I wanted an epidural. It was in my birth plan but at the time I really didn't think I needed it. I was getting through contractions fairly well. But the nurse said the anthesiolgist was on his way down to give another lady an epi and he would do mine the same time. I still didn't feel like I needed it but I also didn't want to get to the point where i couldn't have one. So I asked the nurse to check me and see how far along I was and would decide then. I was only 4cm. So I told her I would go ahead and take it and try and get some rest.

The anthesiologist came in and he was GREAT! The devil nurse was still there and she came into the room to coach me through the epi. I began to cry because I was very nervous about the needle that was about to go into my back, I have a fear of needles. The nurse looked at me and in a witchy voice said, "you need to decide right now if you want this, because if you don?t I?ll tell him to leave" She also keep yelling at my mom to stay back when she was clearly out of the way. So my mom had to walk out. I barely felt anything. He numbed me and the rest was gravy. He placed a spinal first, then he proceeded with the epi. After a few seconds I was numb but I could still feel my legs. He was done! Def. was not as bad i thought it was going to be. Afterwards I laid down and eventually fell asleep My husband and mom went to get something to eat.

As I was asleep there was a shift change of nurses Thank God! The nurse kept coming in and checking on me periodically, she always woke me, light sleeper. After about 3hrs of sleep I woke up because of pressure. I could tell it was getting close because the pressure was really bad. I hadn't felt a contraction the whole time after my epi but now I could suddenly feel every time I had one. My husband went and got the nurse and she came in and checked me. It was time to push!

After hours of pushing the Dr. came in and checked to make sure everything was progressing smoothly. He said the head was right there but that he would be back because it was my first baby and there was a lady about to deliver her 3rd kid in a room near mine. After about 3 pushes of laying my side the nurse yelled for another to get the Dr. NOW! The baby was crowning and about come out!. The nurse ran after the Dr. who was already dressed for the other birth. He had to undress and come into my room and dress again. All while I was told not to push anymore. GRRRR! I was in pain! The Dr. got dressed fairly quickly and I gave my hardest pushes yet. In just a few pushes his head was out! All I heard was "OMG OMG look at the size of that head" coming from my mom. Then I heard some scattered wows. I pushed again and the shoulders began to come out. I could feel the Dr. tugging on him to try to move the shoulders. So I stopped pushing because it hurt so bad. The Dr. yelled at me to keep pushing because we were almost there.

 Within seconds, 8:33pm, Mason Dale-Sterling was born and placed on my chest. He let out one cry then calmed down. Everyone was saying how big he was but I was so amazed I didn't pay any attention. They took him from me because he was starting to turn blue and placed him on some oxygen, got his vitals, and prints and weighed him. The nurses and Dr. and everyone else in the room took a guess on how much they thought he weighed. My Dr. was right on the dot. 11lbs 2oz and he was 23in long. I had the biggest baby in the hospital.

The worst part of my birthing experience was the Dr. stitching me up, I had a 2nd degree tear, but OW! It hurt so bad I was squeezing my mom?s hand. Other than that and the witch nurse my birthing experience was wonderful The Dr. was amazing and had such great bedside manner and the other nurses were so helpful.

After about 20mins I got to hold my baby boy again and get a real good look at him. He was beautiful. Spitting image of his daddy I got to breastfeed which Mason was a champ at the first time, after that he didn't take to it and I couldn't produce enough milk to satisfy him so I switched to formula.

We were in the hospital for 2days. I didn't have many visitors, as requested, and all the nurses kept coming in to see the mom who had an 11lb baby vaginally hehe. I felt very accomplished.

I let the nurses take care of Mason for a few hours each night so I could get some sleep, if I didn't I would lay and stare at him all night. And I'd go early in the morning and pick him up.

Mason's first night home was amazing, as they have been every night since. He sleeps through the night and only wakes up for feedings and changings. He?s a very happy baby! And all his ped appts. have been perfect. Hes in perfect health.

I could not imagine my life now without my son. He has changed my world for the better and God truly blessed my family in 2010