March 3rd started off as normal as any other day. I went to work and was excited for our appointment to see how big our babygirl has grown. We last saw her on the sonogram at 20 weeks and here we were a day away from being 37 weeks. I was hoping to also hear that we were making progress and I was already dilating. However, I wasn't prepared for what actually happened.
Once the nurse called my name, we did the usual urine test, weight, blood pressure, etc. My blood pressure was high apparently; I'm not sure how high exactly but high enough that my doctor said she was sending me to the hospital to run more test and for me to get emotionally prepared that I may be induced.
Hearing that I was possibly gonna have to be induced brought on emotions and I was not prepared. Being induced, forcing my little girl to make an appearance before she was ready was not in my birth plan and was far from what I wanted. Apparently, my urine test and blood pressure showed signs of Pre-eclampsia, something I heard of but never knew what it was exactly. We were still able to do the ultrasound and saw Little Love sucking on her wrist, it was the cutest thing and our doctor estimated that she was about 6-7 lbs in weight. Once we finished our appointment, I was sent to the hospital to run more test and I was told that even if my test were cleared that day, to come to my next appointment with my bags packed because Pre-eclampsia is something that worsens over time.
I cried on the way to the hospital and in the parking lot of the hospital. My day was spiraling down. What I thought would be a great appointment seeing my baby and than enjoying a lunch with my husband at our favorite place didn't happen. I was distraught not because my lunch plans were ruined but because there was a possibility that I would be induced and I read enough research to know what happens once the first intervention happens. Once I semi got myself together, we walked into the hospital and I finished signing off on my documents and went straight up to the delivery room for them to run test on me. I had hope way back in me that the test would come back fine and we would continue on our day, go to lunch and talk about our sweet little girl covering her face and sucking on her chunky looking wrist.
However, all my test came back and they were borderline so my doctor decided it was best that I be induced that day. I was a mess but I tried to keep it together and asked if I could eat before we got started as I hadn't ate since breakfast (8:30 am) and here we were in the late afternoon (3:30 pm) but I was told no. Anthony still needed to finish our hospital bag and pick up his work laptop so he headed out and I asked to take a shower before they started hooking up the IVs (another intervention I did not want but because I was being induced it was now needed). As I showered, I cried and cried and hoped and prayed that Little Love would be okay and these interventions won't cause more stress on her than my body was already doing.
Around 5pm that afternoon, I was induced vaginally. I do not remember the medication they gave me but I do not recommend it whatsoever. Before being induced, I was told that I was already having minor contractions which I was unaware of (and now I wonder why did they not allow me to have natural contractions and see where those went before continuing with the induction). The medicine didn't increase the pain but it overstimulated my uterus to the point I was having contractions about every 45 seconds so they decided to no longer use the initial induction medication and switched to Pitocin. Which honestly this part didn't make sense to me. If my uterus was overstimulated why keep inducing me? Wouldn't that mean my uterus needs a break, I don't see how continuing to induce me solved anything because it did not. I continued to have contractions every 45 seconds for 15 hours straight and at this point I did not have an epidural so I felt everything. I could handle the contractions fine and would have been able to do better had I had more down time between contractions as normal labor is but because they overstimulated my uterus, I wasn't having any real down time. So there I am 18 hours into my medically induced labor with an empty stomach and no sleep. Dilation was still only at 2cm (they checked in the middle of the night and I was a 2) and effaced 80%.
The nurse mentioned that my doctor may decide to come in to break my water, another intervention I did not want but often follows when you are induced due to lack of progress. Anthony was asleep and I was contemplating whether I should allow my doctor to do yet another intervention. My doctor came in checked my cervix (3cm and 80%) and broke my water. I didn't have time to react or ask questions or even object, it happened so quickly and Anthony was asleep so he wasn't even aware what happened. Breaking the bag of waters did intensify the contractions greatly and at this point I really started considering getting some type of pain medication but I wanted to hold off for as long as I could.
Side Note: Once I was told I was gonna be induced, I knew the possibility of me getting an epidural was now gonna be in play but I wanted to wait until I was at least 5 cm and re-evaluate to see if I could get through this without medicating my baby.
The contractions were so horrible and were still 45 seconds apart so my down time wasn't much of anything. As soon as the contractions were decreasing, the next one was increasing. I started crying and almost had a panic attack. I threw up and cried more. Anthony wanted me to get something for the pain but he understood my reasonings so he did everything he could to comfort me and help relax me as we learned in our Bradley Method classes. We eventually decided to call the nurse in to discuss pain medication options (after my doctor broke my water, she did highly recommend I get an epidural due to my blood pressure being elevated and once contractions got worse my blood pressure would rise, etc. etc.) and the nurse mentioned the doctors recommendation and said from her experiences as a nurse and my situation, she would recommend an epidural as well but she understands my position and didn't want to push it on me. After she left the room, Anthony and I decided I would go ahead with the epidural.
Compared to the pain I was feeling with my contractions, the epidural didn't feel like anything I expected. I am very terrified of needles, I do not do well with my blood being drawn or getting IVs or even checking my sugar levels; I start sweating just thinking about needles and hearing how big and long an epidural needle was, I was always scared to get an epidural way before we were even pregnant. I heard horror stories of having to be completely still, etc. so I was nervous. BUT compared to the contractions I was having (remember they were about every 45 seconds for over 18+ hours), I didn't even feel the needle and felt instant relief.
Since I had the epidural, I was now restricted to the bed laboring on my back which is not ideal and can put the baby in the wrong position. Luckily my nurse was very knowledgeable about being in different positions to move the baby for proper positioning so after awhile she would help me lay on my sides. We also decided to allow my sisters and mom (my godmother who raised me), to visit before pushing was gonna get started. Initially, we were not gonna allow visitors until after delivery because I wanted peace and quiet during my labor so I can focus on my relaxation techniques but that was when I was planning on an all natural labor & delivery.
It was a whirlwind adventure and the first 48 hours flew by faster than we realized and it continues to fly therefore I will start sharing monthly updates on my little girl's growth and everything else in between. I hope you enjoy following us along as we figure out this parenting thing.
Hearing that I was possibly gonna have to be induced brought on emotions and I was not prepared. Being induced, forcing my little girl to make an appearance before she was ready was not in my birth plan and was far from what I wanted. Apparently, my urine test and blood pressure showed signs of Pre-eclampsia, something I heard of but never knew what it was exactly. We were still able to do the ultrasound and saw Little Love sucking on her wrist, it was the cutest thing and our doctor estimated that she was about 6-7 lbs in weight. Once we finished our appointment, I was sent to the hospital to run more test and I was told that even if my test were cleared that day, to come to my next appointment with my bags packed because Pre-eclampsia is something that worsens over time.
I cried on the way to the hospital and in the parking lot of the hospital. My day was spiraling down. What I thought would be a great appointment seeing my baby and than enjoying a lunch with my husband at our favorite place didn't happen. I was distraught not because my lunch plans were ruined but because there was a possibility that I would be induced and I read enough research to know what happens once the first intervention happens. Once I semi got myself together, we walked into the hospital and I finished signing off on my documents and went straight up to the delivery room for them to run test on me. I had hope way back in me that the test would come back fine and we would continue on our day, go to lunch and talk about our sweet little girl covering her face and sucking on her chunky looking wrist.
However, all my test came back and they were borderline so my doctor decided it was best that I be induced that day. I was a mess but I tried to keep it together and asked if I could eat before we got started as I hadn't ate since breakfast (8:30 am) and here we were in the late afternoon (3:30 pm) but I was told no. Anthony still needed to finish our hospital bag and pick up his work laptop so he headed out and I asked to take a shower before they started hooking up the IVs (another intervention I did not want but because I was being induced it was now needed). As I showered, I cried and cried and hoped and prayed that Little Love would be okay and these interventions won't cause more stress on her than my body was already doing.
Around 5pm that afternoon, I was induced vaginally. I do not remember the medication they gave me but I do not recommend it whatsoever. Before being induced, I was told that I was already having minor contractions which I was unaware of (and now I wonder why did they not allow me to have natural contractions and see where those went before continuing with the induction). The medicine didn't increase the pain but it overstimulated my uterus to the point I was having contractions about every 45 seconds so they decided to no longer use the initial induction medication and switched to Pitocin. Which honestly this part didn't make sense to me. If my uterus was overstimulated why keep inducing me? Wouldn't that mean my uterus needs a break, I don't see how continuing to induce me solved anything because it did not. I continued to have contractions every 45 seconds for 15 hours straight and at this point I did not have an epidural so I felt everything. I could handle the contractions fine and would have been able to do better had I had more down time between contractions as normal labor is but because they overstimulated my uterus, I wasn't having any real down time. So there I am 18 hours into my medically induced labor with an empty stomach and no sleep. Dilation was still only at 2cm (they checked in the middle of the night and I was a 2) and effaced 80%.
The nurse mentioned that my doctor may decide to come in to break my water, another intervention I did not want but often follows when you are induced due to lack of progress. Anthony was asleep and I was contemplating whether I should allow my doctor to do yet another intervention. My doctor came in checked my cervix (3cm and 80%) and broke my water. I didn't have time to react or ask questions or even object, it happened so quickly and Anthony was asleep so he wasn't even aware what happened. Breaking the bag of waters did intensify the contractions greatly and at this point I really started considering getting some type of pain medication but I wanted to hold off for as long as I could.
Side Note: Once I was told I was gonna be induced, I knew the possibility of me getting an epidural was now gonna be in play but I wanted to wait until I was at least 5 cm and re-evaluate to see if I could get through this without medicating my baby.
The contractions were so horrible and were still 45 seconds apart so my down time wasn't much of anything. As soon as the contractions were decreasing, the next one was increasing. I started crying and almost had a panic attack. I threw up and cried more. Anthony wanted me to get something for the pain but he understood my reasonings so he did everything he could to comfort me and help relax me as we learned in our Bradley Method classes. We eventually decided to call the nurse in to discuss pain medication options (after my doctor broke my water, she did highly recommend I get an epidural due to my blood pressure being elevated and once contractions got worse my blood pressure would rise, etc. etc.) and the nurse mentioned the doctors recommendation and said from her experiences as a nurse and my situation, she would recommend an epidural as well but she understands my position and didn't want to push it on me. After she left the room, Anthony and I decided I would go ahead with the epidural.
Compared to the pain I was feeling with my contractions, the epidural didn't feel like anything I expected. I am very terrified of needles, I do not do well with my blood being drawn or getting IVs or even checking my sugar levels; I start sweating just thinking about needles and hearing how big and long an epidural needle was, I was always scared to get an epidural way before we were even pregnant. I heard horror stories of having to be completely still, etc. so I was nervous. BUT compared to the contractions I was having (remember they were about every 45 seconds for over 18+ hours), I didn't even feel the needle and felt instant relief.
Since I had the epidural, I was now restricted to the bed laboring on my back which is not ideal and can put the baby in the wrong position. Luckily my nurse was very knowledgeable about being in different positions to move the baby for proper positioning so after awhile she would help me lay on my sides. We also decided to allow my sisters and mom (my godmother who raised me), to visit before pushing was gonna get started. Initially, we were not gonna allow visitors until after delivery because I wanted peace and quiet during my labor so I can focus on my relaxation techniques but that was when I was planning on an all natural labor & delivery.
Around 4:30 pm maybe 5:00 pm on March 4th, I was 10 cm and 100% effaced and was told to get ready to push. I am not sure how many pushes it took but at 5:56 pm, Sophia Manuela was born. I remember first thinking how hairy she looked and when they placed her on my chest I felt like it was a dream that they handed me someone else's kid, there was no way I could be a mom.
It was a whirlwind adventure and the first 48 hours flew by faster than we realized and it continues to fly therefore I will start sharing monthly updates on my little girl's growth and everything else in between. I hope you enjoy following us along as we figure out this parenting thing.
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