Big Ben's Birth Story

penelopemaria · January 2014

I enjoy reading the birth stories on here so I'll share mine

I woke up at 4 am on Dec 30th to bad contractions lasting only 30 seconds. They started off at 5 mins apart.

My OB called back and said he can't stop me from coming to the hospital but most likely I would get sent home as the comtractions need to be at least 1 minute long. I laboured at home for 4 more hours and at 2pm the pain was getting worse so we went to the hospital. Got checked and was 3-4 cm but they were still lasting only 30 seconds. They admitted me anyway.

At 4 pm I got the epi and at 6 pm the doctor broke my water and started me on pit to get the contactions to last longer. Epi was wonderful. I moved from a 4 to a 7 in a few hours and then at midnight I was a 10. It was time to push! I had absolutely zero feeling so pushing was weird and I had to be told when I was having a contraction.

After about 5 minutes of pushing I began bleeding. A lot. The doctor said he's never seen something like that but thought I popped a blood vessel. He said most first time moms can push for up to two hours but because of this bleeding I needed to get the baby out ASAP or I'll need an emergency csection. I agreed to use the vacuum and 10 minutes later the love of my life was born! He weighed almost 10lbs.

I have a very bad 4th degree tear but all things considered I am doing ok. Baby has some latch issues and seems more interested in sleeping than eating and waking him up is a challenge.

Here's a pic of my man: