My Failure to Progress Birth Story

My oldest daughter recently had a birthday and it’s reminding me of her birth story. So, sit back grab the popcorn and listen to the story of how my oldest daughter came into the world.

A birth story can’t start without talking about how we found out I was pregnant. I and my husband (boyfriend at the time) were living in a one bedroom apartment and I had suddenly become very ill. My tummy was in pain and I was sick constantly. I couldn’t keep anything down and I was starting to think I had some kind of flu. Even though this was in the middle of summer I had no idea what was happening.

Pregnant?!

I went to the local ER because I was convinced something was very wrong. When the doctor spoke with me he said that I probably had IBS and that they had to run some standard tests before they could send me home. All of a sudden an ultrasound tech came in and was going to wheel me back for an ultrasound. Assuming these were the standard tests making sure my stomach wasn’t exploding I waved goodbye to my boyfriend and went off.

When I got to the room where they were doing the ultrasound there were multiple pictures of babies on the walls. Babies smiling, playing, and a mother snuggling a baby. I was confused by the decor and I started to wonder if they got the wrong person. Everyone makes mistakes. I knew they had the wrong person. When the woman doing the exam took out a gigantic wand with a condom at the end and started squeezing lube on it.

This is an interesting way to find out.

I stopped her and said “I am sorry ma’am you must have the wrong patient. I am here for stomach pain and vomiting. Just have IBS.” The woman promptly got on the phone to the doctor and stated that I was not pregnant. I then heard her talking in hushed tones but couldn’t make out what she was saying. She comes back to the exam table and says ” The doctor was supposed to tell you, but you are pregnant and we are checking how far along you are.” Talk about a shocker! I didn’t even know! A panic came over me as I was newly in recovery and it was very scary to have a child.

Fast forward nine months later I am now ready to pop and I have no idea what’s going on. I have read many books and attended the pregnancy classes offered by the birthing center but I still had no idea what to expect. You can read all the things in the world but you don’t truly know what labor or birth feels like until you go through it.

Birth Story

On April 6, 2013, I was 39 weeks pregnant my water broke in the middle of the night. I felt like I was having mild cramps and I tried to go back to bed. Awakening shortly after as I had my “bloody show” I was now concerned. I knew that these were parts to labor but I had convinced myself that we needed to get to the hospital. A friend of mine had told me that their mother had their first child in 2 hours and almost didn’t make it to the hospital. So, I was scared that we weren’t going to make it to the hospital in time.

Upon arriving at the hospital they took me in and set me up in a room. They checked to make sure that my water had broken and they weighed me. Put a hospital gown on me and the whole deal. At that exact time, 2 other women had come into the hospital and started to give birth on the elevator. So everyone ran to them and left us there. My fear was their reality so I was fine with it.

A couple of hours later I had called everyone to come, but I was told that I was in the early stages on labor and that it would probably be a while until we had the baby. They told everyone to go home, except for me for some reason. I was told to walk around to speed up the labor, do some pregnancy dancing, take a bath. I hated walking because it increased my contractions and I felt like a beached whale trying to move around in the first place.

Failure to Progress

Another couple of hours later they decided I wasn’t progressing fast enough, though they didn’t tell me that I was “failure to progress” they stated that they would like to speed things up and they asked if I was okay with this. I later was to learn that this was the term that they use. They explained to me that I was going to have a tube filled with liquid put in my cervix and that when your cervix contracts naturally it closes up a little bit. This balloon would prevent that from happening. They also started me on Pitocin. Which increases your contractions.

After having these things done I was unable to move around or find a good position and I was in so much pain. The contractions multiplied by what felt like times 1000. Then when the contraction was over it felt like my cervix was on fire from the balloon. I started screaming it felt like some kind of torture that I couldn’t get away from. I told the nurse that I couldn’t do this anymore and I wanted to go home. She informed me that wasn’t possible now. Stuck in this hellish hospital bed hooked up to all kinds of things and in so much pain. I asked them about an epidural but I was nowhere near being able to get one because I was not dilated enough. I started to cry, no not just cry sob.

Drugged Up

After a little bit of time, they told me that there was something that they could do for me for the pain and it was a drug called Nubain. This presented little risk to the baby as long as they stopped it before I got the epidural and it had little risk to me. So I signed the papers to get the drug. A few minutes later I felt wonderful. I no longer felt like I was in a medieval torture device.

I became very chatty and I had to tell everyone how much I loved them (including the exercise ball and pictures). My nurse returned and stated that most people don’t have this kind of reaction to the drug. She said most people just fall asleep, she encouraged me to do so. Which I did after I thoroughly told her how much I loved her.

The Epidural

It was now the middle of the night on April the 7th 2013 I had gotten a different nurse. They told me that I could get an epidural and they called in the anesthesiologist. I got the epidural and was told to lie on my left side and get comfortable. On my left side, I started to feel numb and I could feel the contractions in my right hip. I swear she was trying to come out of my hip. The nurse called up the anesthesiologist to check the placement and see if they needed to adjust the dose of medication. He told me that it was correct in place and they couldn’t do anything else. I later found out this happens with epidurals.

At 5:15 am in the morning they had me start to push. The nurse midwife asked if I would like to use a mirror to see her when pushing. It helped me push through the pain and after 3 pushes she was out. She was 7lb 6oz and 19 inches long. She had very light hair so she almost looked bald. Her face was perfectly round, I nicknamed her buddha because of this.

Baby!

My husband was asked if he wanted to cut the cord but I think he glimpsed down there at the wrong time and he was about to pass out. They quickly called another nurse in for him to grab a chair, and give him some water. My mother in law then cut the cord.

I was so relieved and so tired that shortly after putting her skin to skin and breastfeeding her they let me sleep. My husband helped clean her up, watched her get weighed and measured. The nurse talked to him about bathing and talked to him about taking care of the cord and general newborn care.

I woke up a couple of hours later feeling refreshed and I got my shower and went to the bathroom. Talk about painful. But that’s another story for another time. If you find yourself in this situation ask for the good drugs and hold on to your hats because it’s a wild ride. I am thankful that I was still able to deliver vaginally which doesn’t always happen for mothers. So, in all, it was a good experience.

If you like this story check out my induction birth story, you will probably also like the rest of my blog. Hit that subscribe button to get content right in your inbox!

Until next time…