Very long (and late!) Birth story

BeetleLinz1125 · May 2011

So now that DD is a month old I figure that I should probably post my birth story LOL.I went in on March 30th at 6:30am to be induced because I was 9 days late. When I got there I was between 3-4 cm dilated and beginning to be effaced. They started the pitocin and checked me a couple of hours later, and there was no progress. So we kept waiting, waiting, waiting...finally 6 hours later I was dilated to a 5! It took a couple of more hours to get to 6 and 7, but finally I got there. After not dilating for so long they started to discuss a c-section, but luckily we decided to give it more time and I finally got there. I decided to get an epidural somewhere around 4 cm, so it was pretty early on. I know a lot of people are scared to get the epi, but it really wasn't a big deal, it actually went pretty smooth....until I started getting stronger contractions. So they give you this little button to press if you need a lil extra "juice." So I would press it when I needed it...but every time I pressed it I would get extreme pain in my neck. It finally got so bad we had about 4 doctors in the delivery room trying to figure out what happened. Apparently when they put the epi in there was an air bubble, and it was causing major problems. The air bubble was going up my spinal cord and causing the pain. The doctors were stumped at first because this only happens to one in about every 10,000 people I believe. Once they had it figured out, they switched the medicine in my epi and it took care of the pain...thank GOD!So since they had my pain under control now, they let me rest. My parents went home and we decided that we would call them when it was time to start pushing...they only live 10 minutes from the hospital, so we thought it would be best for them to get some rest. Finally about 1:30 they woke me up and started grabbing my legs telling me to push. That would have been great if they would have woke my DH up first lol. So I'm barely awake, he's still asleep and they are having me start to push....I stopped them and woke dh up and had him call my parents to come to the hospital. I ended up pushing for over 2 hours...and close to the end of the 2nd hour they started talking c-section again because they didn't think she could fit through. Luckily, she did. The doctor decided to try to use the vacuum, but once she got it attached to her head i had a contraction and dd shot out unexpectedly! It was actually pretty funny. Once she was out I couldn't believe it. She was perfect! She was 8lbs 6oz and 20 inches long. She was born at 3:43am on March 31. After they put her on my chest she just grabbed onto my finger so tight like she knew exactly who I was. I will never forget that moment! There were so many times where I didn't think I could do it anymore, and that it would be easier to just go in for the c-section, but I had some amazing nurses and my DH gave me the motivation to keep going. It was all so worth it!We had some trouble with breastfeeding in the hospital, but I tried pumping and that worked so much better, so now I am exclusively pumping. I really enjoy it because it gives other people a chance to bond with her and I don't feel like I have to be the only one who can take care of her. I have tried nursing her a few times instead of getting her a bottle, and she will still nurse if I need her to. I did unfortunately get mastitis and an abcess. It was the most horrible thing ever. I am still fighting with the abcess, and it will probably have to be drained a few more times. I felt so bad because there was a point when I had no stash left in the refrigerator and I couldn't produce any more milk because I was so sick and stressed out, so I did have to supplement with formula. Right now the breast that had mastitis is only producing about one ounce every 7-8 hours, while the other breast will give me up to 8 oz a pumping session. Its very frustrating but i just keep telling myself I am doing the best I can.The roughest part was honestly the recovery. I cannot stress enough to stock up on extra underwear and pads beforehand! Don't be afraid to ask for more pain medicine either.The one really awesome thing is that I have already lost all of the pregnancy weight! I was 223 when I got pregnant and as of last week I was down to 216. I ended up weighing 250 when I delivered.Sorry it took so long to write this up..but I look forward to seeing you all on the 0-3 board. Good luck ladies!I tried to upload pics in the post but it's not working...so here is the link to our website where you can view a few of her pictures. https://DickersonBaby.ourbabychannel.com