She Came on Her Due Date!

StephenW4 · June 2012

A birth story that went nowhere near according to plan...

Raegan Claire was born on June 8th (her due date!). Here's her story:

After mild contractions all day on Wednesday, DH worked from home on Thursday. By lunch time, I realized my contractions had been solidly 5 minutes apart and stronger than they were the previous day. We decided to go to the Birthing Inn and get checked out - and sure enough, I was 4cm and 90% effaced and were admitted to L&D. Things progressed pretty smoothly and my plan for a completely natural birth seemed to be going well. I was able to breathe through contractions and before we knew it, I was 7cm dilated. Things were right on track!

...or so we thought...

After another 6 hours, my OB checked me, and I had still not dilated any further. Not only that, but LO's head was so high up, it was as if I was only 2cm dilated, not 7. Baby did not want to drop, and I had obviously reached a stalling point. My OB recommended pitocin. Certainly not what I wanted, but if the Dr. was that worried about baby moving into position, I would try it. So I went from being free to move around and walk to being hooked up to an IV and strapped with an internal monitor to gauge contraction strength. The pitocin was miserable. It made my contractions feel un-naturally strong/sharp, which made it harder to breathe through. Then after not too long, the nurse informs us that the contractions are only half the strength they need for progress to continue.

Now the Dr. comes back in and starts going through everything with us, and stars to talk about the "e" word. UGH. I was so against getting an epidural that I initially said no. But after a few minutes, when the pitocin continued to work its evil, and the doctor expressed her concerns for the baby's and my health, and reminding me that if I did need to get a c-section, I would have to get one anyway, I reluctantly agreed to get an epi. The only time during my entire labor & delivery that I cried was at this point. Not out of pain, but out of frustration and anger. I was upset with myself for agreeing, mad at my body for not pushing through; feeling completely defeated because it had come to this. They said the epidural would help my body relax and hoped this would at least allow me to have a vaginal birth. A last-ditch effort to avoid a c-section.

The epidural had done it's job at relaxing my body and I could no longer feel the contractions. But the pitocin's damage had alread been done. When my OB checked me again, my cervix had swollen and I had un-dilated by about 1/2 a cm. I was barely at 7cm instead of the 7 1/2 I was at previously. That was the breaking point for the Dr. The baby still had refused to drop down any further and was no where near where she should have been by that point. A c-section was the only option at that point without risking our health any further. It was 11:55pm on Thursday when they started the prep work for the OR.

DH joined me for the surgery and at 12:45am on Friday, June 8th, DH saw his baby girl be born via c-section. She weighed in at 8lbs, 20 and 7/8ths inches long, and had a full head of dark brown hair. Perfect.

Did things go as planned? No. Did we have to make a lot of really difficult decisions along the way? Absolutely. But in the end, we got a beautiful, healthy baby girl to call our own. Baby Rae is now a week old, and still as feisty as when she came out! What more could we ask for?

Mom & Baby

To all the other moms-to-be reading this, I wish you all the best luck in your births. Things may go perfectly according to your plan, or they may go awry, but remember that you will be holding your baby in your arms soon - and that is the most important thing.

God Bless!