Whoever said first-time births take forever.. was wrong, at least in my case!

janneann1127 · February 2011

so, i decided to write out my birth story to keep in my baby book, and figured i'd post it here since i loved reading other's birth stories when i was pregnant.

On Thursday, November 18^th, I woke up feeling very crampy. I had a few errands I wanted to run that day, to pick up some remaining baby items, but I could barely do it. I felt the baby drop a week or two before, and he was so low that I could barely walk - it was putting so much pressure on my pelvis to walk around. So after two errands, I gave up and went back home. Even though I was only 37 weeks, I really felt like labor was around the corner.

Around 3pm that day, I started feeling the contractions. At 4pm, I lost my mucus plug. I decided to take a bath to see if it would ease the contractions, but they continued.. probably 20-30 minutes apart, so I started timing them. Around 5pm, I noticed a slow leak. I wasn't sure if this was my water breaking, or if it was just some urine leaking because the pressure on my bladder was so intense, but the leaking continued every time I stood up. The contractions slowly got closer and closer together.. until around 10pm, when we had to decide if we should go to bed, or head to the hospital. At that point, contractions were 5-7 minutes apart, and getting more & more intense, so we opted to head to the hospital.

At the hospital, it was a full moon and the labor rooms were all full. We had to wait almost an hour to get a room, so by the time we got settled in our room, it was midnight. The nurse was not convinced that I was in labor, and she really did not think that my water had broken. I had a feeling they were going to send me home. She checked me, and I was not dilated at all. However, she could tell that my contractions were 5-7 min apart consistently, so she sent to have the fluid checked though she told me "I would be REALLY surprised if it was amniotic fluid."

Finally, at 2:30am, the nurse confirms - it's amniotic fluid! So my water had broken, but it was a very slow leak. Finally, they agreed to check me in and got an IV running. At 3am, the nurse checked me one more time, and I had dilated 1cm. Progress! At this point, we decided to wait it out, because I was not planning to get an epidural until I was 3-4cm. So we figured, maybe around 6am. My contractions were very manageable up to that point.. that is, until the second the nurse left the room, when I was hit with the most painful, gut-wrenching pain I've ever felt. Literally felt like my back and my pelvis were going to explode! The contractions started rolling in, one after another, each the most painful feeling I've ever had in my life. I was screaming in pain, writhing around on the bed. DH kept reminding me not pull the IV out of my arm, but I could not control myself. It was awful. At 3:30am, I practically screamed for the epidural!

However.. since I was only 1cm, I think my epidural request was pretty low on the priority list, as I writhed around in pain until 4:45am, when the anesthesiologist finally came in. I was so relieved, I can't even begin to explain. Every five minutes I was asking "WHERE IS IT?!! I need my EPIDURAL!!!!!!" ha. Poor DH kept running out to find the nurse.

I could barely lay still for the epidural. I heard the anesthesiologist ask the nurse, "how far is she?" and the nurse says "only 1 cm". The anesthesiologist says, "she seems further along than that." Nurse: "well we'll check her after this."

Finally - at 5:00am, I was starting to feel some relief. The nurse checks me and just looks up at me in shock. I was 10 cm and ready to push! I had dilated the full 10cm in 2 hours. Well at least now I knew why I was in such intense pain!!! I'm not sure if that made me feel better, or worse, but at this point we have to wait a little bit for the epidural to wear off so I can push.

We rest until 6:30am, when I start to feel the urge to push. The nurse comes in, looks at DH, and says "grab a leg". So not what I was expecting! I ask "what about my doctor?" and she says, "well, we'll see how good of a pusher you are first." Ok.. I think, how hard can it be? So we start pushing. DH keeps saying he can see a head of dark hair! I just keep focusing on that head and with each push, I think about pushing that head out. After 30 minutes, the nurse calls me a "great pusher" and heads out to find my doctor. At 7:10am, she comes back with the news: no doctor from my practice is at the hospital currently. The on-call doc is in Culver City - a good hour drive away in traffic - and she wants me to STOP PUSHING and wait for her. It's 7:00am, Friday morning, rush hour traffic.

With each contraction, I feel the intense urge to push, yet I cannot. I have to wait. Thankfully, a new nurse comes in and she's great.. she coaches me through each contraction with breathing exercises. Finally, at 8:10am, in comes my doctor. My legs were going up into the stirrups before she even got her gown on. I was ready! After 11 minutes of pushing, out came the most beautiful baby boy we'd ever seen. Griffin Elliot, born at 8:21am on Friday, November 19^th, 2010. 7lbs, 9oz, and 19.5 inches long, with a head of thick dark hair.

When they went to put him on my chest, apparently my umbilical cord was super short, because it went snap! And blood was everywhere! Seth and I didn't know the difference, we'd never been in a labor room before, but apparently this is not normal. The doc says to me, "didn't anyone tell you you had a short umbilical cord?" and I'm just thinking.. "who would have told me? You??" ha.

Everything turned out perfectly, and probably because I had to wait so long to push, I did not require an episiotomy and had only minor tearing.

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AprilElder · February 2011

My first labor was super fast!! I was in labor a total of 7 hours. I went from a 4 to a 10 in 20 min while they were giving me my epi. Almost didn't get my epi!! Thats what I am scared about with my second cause my dr told me that this labor would probably be even faster!!! I can't imagine that lol!! Your little one is so cute!!

jess1984 · February 2011

Yeah I had a total of 6 hour labor... went from 4 -7 in 45 minutes, and 7-10 in 15 minutes. It was pretty quick. Pushing took a bit though. We will see how this one goes.

LovelyLou23 · February 2011

wow congrats on your little one! i'm keeping fingers crossed for a short labor!

NikkiandJohn12 · February 2011

Have you seen the show "One born every minute?" The first lady they showed had her baby in like 3 pushes!

jackiemk83 · February 2011

I love that you went from 1-10cm in two hours! It gives me hope!

JoyfulW&M · February 2011

I had a decently fast labor, though a more steady progression. I was 2 cm's and 70% effaced before I started. 3 1/2 hours after my first contraction we were at the maternity center and I was 6cm's and 100% effaced. 3 1/2 hours later I was 10cms, it took 35 minutes of pushing to crown him, and under 2 minutes later he was in my arms. Quick and pretty easy compared to what I was expecting. All those horror storied first time moms always hear. At least I knew about 1/2 dozen women who had perfectly normal births at home, so that really encouraged me.

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Whoever said first-time births take forever.. was wrong, at least in my case!

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