My baby boy is finally here! (Labor & delivery story - LONG)

jennyelf · May 2012

So my EDD was May 7th. I spent the weekend doing all sorts of things I had planned, went to a friend's Kentucky Derby party, saw The Avengers, had dinner with my sister, DTD with my husband on Sunday night knowing it might be the last time for a while. That night at 11pm, started feeling the first of what I recognized to be real labor pains. They were different from the BH contractions I'd been having all weekend, more painful and no longer just caused nausea.

Started timing them, but they were only 10 minutes apart. At 4am, went to the bathroom and had my bloody show.

At 6am, my husband and I discussed it and made the call that he should stay home from work that day. "Slept" until 10am, then finally decided to get up and start being a bit more active. Finally started losing my mucus plug during the day too.

Contractions got to 7 minutes apart, so called my doctor and they asked me to come in so that they could do some tests / monitoring which showed our little guy handling contractions just fine. An exam showed me at 2cm and 100% effaced. They sent me home saying to come back at 5 minutes apart.

Went home, and spent the next couple of hours working though my labor pains on the exercise ball and in the shower and with my husband dancing with me or giving me back rubs.

At 10pm, pains started getting worse and were finally consistently at 5mins or less. So back to the hospital. Got there, and monitoring showed he was still doing well, but that I was still only 2cm and 100% effaced. I was told that I couldn't be admitted at only 2cm and that I should just go home. Also that my contractions would change and be more pronounced somehow and when they did, I should come back. They were rather non-specific. By this point, I was having some trouble dealing with my labor pains and didn't want to go back home, but didn't appear to have a choice.They said they'd probably see me sometime the next morning.

Got home at 11pm, took another warm shower and then tried to lay down / sleep for a while. The labor pains got worse. I wasn't breathing through them / dealing with as well anymore. This is where things get a bit more blurry for me. My husband says that basically I was screaming in pain for the next 2 hours and he couldn't do much to help me anymore. We were still at home because I was now uncertain when to come in. Contractions were 2-3 minutes apart, and they felt different than earlier ones, but were they "different enough"? Finally at 1am, my husband got worried and felt that I was just in too much pain and we should go back to the hospital. He called to ask them, and they told us to come in, but that if I was still under 5cm, they were just going to send me home again.

He tried to get me out of bed and down stairs and to the car, but I was in too much pain and didn't feel like I could make it. Since I outsize my husband, he couldn't just carry me and he was getting more worried. Suddenly, I started feeling a ton of pressure on my cervix and really did start feeling the need to push. I started panicking more, I knew I wasn't supposed to push unless I knew for sure I was dilated fully, else I could do damage. My husband got really worried, and called 911 for an ambulance.

They took me to the hospital and we were there at 2am. Triage checked me out and found me at 5cm, so I was able to be admitted (finally!).

At this point, I'm not sure that I won't want the epidural, and state as much.

They started fetal monitoring, which lasted quite a while. When they were done with monitoring (less than an hour), another internal exam showed me at 8-9cm. I was told that my water hadn't yet broken, but that if I wanted, they could get a doctor over in 20-30 minutes and break it and I'd probably deliver soon after. I was also told that I could finally labor in the tub if I wanted. I opted to labor in the tub until the doctor could be found to break my water. As I got up, felt a trickle, and was told to wait a moment. Laid back down, and felt a gush. Didn't need a doctor anymore, my water broke on it's own. Unfortunately, this meant I couldn't labor in the tub. Some part of me realized at this point that an epidural probably wasn't going to happen, that I was out of time for that choice.

My doula finally arrived and she and my husband continued to help me through my contractions. Next thing I know, I'm being told that it's okay to push and instructed to tell them when I am about to and how to most efficiently do so. My husband and doula hold my legs and I push when I feel the need to. I hear that they see him, feel him crowning, and within twelve minutes, my boy was out only 2 hours after I'd been admitted!

Apparently there was meconium noticed when my water broke, so they had to clamp the cord immediately and move him to the warmer. I saw him as he came out and he looked red and completely limp, but in a second, he started screaming, and it was the best sound I'd ever heard. A few minutes later, they put him on me for skin to skin and I finally got to hold him. He was perfectly pink and wonderful with a full head of hair.

So my labor didn't quite go the way I expected. I figured I'd labor at home for quite a while, then go to the hospital and labor there for a while, walking the halls, laboring in the tub, and trying my best to manage my pain without medication. I got the laboring at home part, but the hospital part was waaaaaaaaaay shorter than I originally thought. I never walked the halls, never labored in the tub, never really had the time to think about pain relief options.

On the other hand, I had a completely intervention free birth, a very fast delivery, and a healthy baby boy at the end. So I'm happy enough. In retrospect, I probably would have preferred to stay at the hospital after my 10pm arrival. But as a FTM, they had no reason to believe I'd progress quickly since I hadn't in the last 8 hours. I feel a bit embarrassed about the ambulance, but it probably was the right decision given that I did deliver within 2hrs after they took me to the hospital.

All's well that ends well though! We're home now, and getting used to the new sleep schedule and addition to our family. But we're loving it. He's amazingly cute and we wouldn't trade him for anything.

mrsr708 · May 2012

Congrats! Enjoy adjusting to being a new mommy. Thanks for sharing your story

mrsbecky07 · May 2012

Congratulations!!

MrandMrsHull · May 2012

Actually cried a little reading this. May be my crazy hormones but your story kind of reminds my of mine- the first half anyways. Congratulations on your baby boy!!