Harry Edward is FINALLY here! (long birth story)

gatsbygirl · June 2012

At last, our beautiful boy Harry Edward arrived 7 days overdue at 5:02 p.m. on Friday, June 15th. I really wanted a natural birth and tried to hold out as long as I could, but at 6 days overdue my doctor decided it was time. My daughter was a week overdue and I had a very difficult birth with her (forceps, 3rd degree tear, episiotomy). My OB felt letting him go more than 41 weeks would increase the chance of needing a c-section if he got too big so she gave him his marching orders.

I was feeling pretty disappointed at the idea of an induction. The thought of being hooked up to IVs, monitors, stuck in bed, etc. made me miserable. DH and I had a very quiet drive to the hospital Thursday night. We kept talking about how strange it felt to be driving so calmly to the hospital after preparing for so long for me to go into labor naturally. We got checked in around 8 p.m. and they gave me the cervadil at 10 p.m. I had really hoped the cervadil might be enough to get me into labor as I'd had a sweep a day earlier and already lost my mucus plug. I did start contracting regularly but they weren't too intense.

Unfortunately, when the nurse checked me at 4:30 a.m., I hadn't progressed much. I was 1.5cm and 60% effaced at my last OB appt. and the nurse said I was only about 2.5 cm and still 60%. She started the pitocin at 4:45 a.m. and I started contracting about every 2-3 minutes. I had not had any pain relief at this point and still hoped to get through the induction without any meds. I labored through the night with mild/moderate contractions but no progress. The next morning the contractions seemed slightly more painful and I asked to use the birth tub. Heaven! I added a few drops of lavender essential oil and wallowed in there for 2 hours. I was having to breathe pretty hard through contractions but they were still manageable.

Eventually, I decided to get out and bounce on my ball a bit. The nurses kept turning up my pitocin but nothing much was happening. I started at 4ml and by 10 a.m. they had upped it to 20ml. I was still only in moderate pain though and eventually the contractions started to taper off going from every 2 minutes to every 4 minutes and losing intensity. At 1 p.m., my OB came to see me. She checked me and said I had made zero progress despite being on pitocin for 9 hours. I was STILL only 2.5 cm dialated and 60% effaced. I felt completely deflated and was beginning to lose my strength after going almost 20 hours without solid food and no sleep the night before.

My OB said we were running out of options. She wanted to break my water to see if that might get me into active labor finally. If that didn't work, we would have to start thinking c-section. By this point, I just wanted my baby out. I said to go ahead and break my water and also requested an epidural. I did my best and gave it 15 hours of trying to labor naturally but I know my limits. With no food to keep my strength up and little energy, I decided getting an epidural and some rest was the best decision for my baby and for me. I slept on and off for a couple of hours contracting regularly. I could definitely still feel the contractions, but they were more like pressure than pain. At 2:30 p.m., she said I had made it to 4cm. By 4 p.m., I was at 8cm! Finally, real progress!

Then the real fun began. My nurse called my OB to say I was at 8cm and baby would be here within the hour. My doctor was on the other side of the city but the nurse said there should be plenty of time. Ten minutes later, I told my nurse I could feel constant pressure and thought baby might be coming now. She checked and sure enough, baby was literally right there. She immediately started calling for other nurses to come in and bring a delivery table and supplies. I really felt like I needed to push, but she told me to try not to if possible.

Finally, when I I said I couldn't hold off any longer my OB burst into the room asking for gloves. As soon as she was in place, I started pushing. A few minutes later, Harry Edward arrived yelling his head off and with a chubby hand up by his face. He weighed a healthy 8lbs, 13oz and was 21 inches long. I did still need a small episiotomy due to the scar tissue from my daughter's birth. My OB tried her best to stretch it but it wouldn't stretch enough to go over Harry's head. Nevertheless, my recovery is much better than with DD's. We're all doing great and loving getting to know our beautiful new son and enjoying being a family of four.