The birth

I'm going to go ahead and recap my birth story, for me and anyone interested. If you don't want the gory details (and I don't blame you) just skip this post. You've been warned.

I was really on the fence about an induction. I didn't want to force her out before she was ready, but given Mabes' size and speed, my doctor was willing to induce a little early. We had the date set for today, but last night I kept going back and forth. Plus, with it being the last day of the year, I thought we might get bumped. I decided that if L&D called this morning with space for me, then it was meant to be, but if I got bumped, I'd try not to be too disappointed.

I slept pretty poorly last night, and at 6:24 L&D called and offered to let me come in. I said we'd be there, hung up, and turned to Dave, "So...you want to have a baby today?" We took a picture before heading in, and I appreciate Dave standing in for comparison.



We got to L&D shortly after 8, I changed and settled into my bed and went through all the questions. A little after 8:30, my doctor came in, checked me (4 cm, still 80% effaced, -2 station), broke my water and started the pitocin. No going back now! Contractions were steady but bearable, though they warned me that if I wanted the epidural, it would take 30 minutes. I was feeling fine. Not much changed in the next 2 hours, though my nurse was happy with my contraction pattern. She checked me after an hour, and I was still 4 cm. I was starting to rethink the induction and worry that my body wasn't ready, this could take all day, and possibly end in a c-section (yeah, I'm impatient).

I wasn't sure about the epidural, because on the one hand, I didn't want it to stall labor, but on the other, I had heard that some women progress faster with the epidural because it allows their bodies to relax. The contractions were still bearable, but I didn't know how long they'd stay that way. So I told the nurse I might be wanting the epidural soon. A couple of contractions later--"Um, do you think I could get the epidural now?" Still not terrible (not like with Mabes), but I knew it wasn't going to get better.

Putting in the epidural seemed to take longer than with Mabes, but it was in by 11:30. I was feeling a lot of pressure (like I had to poop), but they said that was normal and just the baby slowly descending. I only remember back pain with Mabes. With the epidural in, the contractions soon subsided, but the other pain was increasing. My nurse checked me and I was at 6 cm, -1 station. Progress! I was relieved that the epidural seemed to be helping my body do it's job. A few minutes later (maybe 11:45 am), I was feeling great between contractions, but when one would hit, I told my nurse "Seriously, I need to poop." She said it was probably the baby and she'd check me again--8 cm! She left to page the doctor and get the delivery cart.

At this point, I'm still thinking I've got a way to go. Even when I was fully dilated with Mabes, it took 2 hours to push her out. Everyone assured me that it would go faster this time, so I was hoping for 30 minutes, but bracing myself for 45-60. Let's be realistic here, right? The nurse was gone for all of 5 minutes and I was still feeling terrible. I pressed the nurse call button, and Dave asked what was wrong and what he could do. I just clenched the bedrail, "It's embarrassing."

The nurse came back and I just said, "I'm going to poop. Now. I know it happens in delivery and you're used to it, but I just thought I'd give you a heads up. I'm really sorry, but I can't move and I need.to.poop.now." I was mortified, but the pain was greater. The nurse assured me I wasn't pooping and that it was the baby. I wanted to argue that I was only 8 cm and that I was, in fact, about to crap the bed. (All dignity flies out the window during labor.) She checked me and turned to the other nurse, "10 cm, +3 station--has the backup doctor been paged?" Then she turned to me, "The doctor will be here in just a minute. Until then, breathe like you're blowing out candles and just try to hold it." Awesome. I never had the urge to push with Mabes, so this was a whole new (rather disconcerting) sensation. People kept coming in--techs, baby nurses, it was quite the audience--but no doctor.

Dr. Bland came in at 12:15 and I've never been so happy to see someone. "I can push now, right?" No, he needs his gloves on. This made no sense to me, as he could do that during the practice pushes, right? It's going to take at least a half hour, and surely he can get his gloves on by then. But I blew the freakin' candles out through one more contraction, they put my legs up in the stirrups, and while we waited for the next contraction someone commented on the baby having a lot of hair. Uhhhh...you can see her head? And hair? "Okay, push!"

I pushed once, but knew I could do better. Took another breath, then pushed hard. Then all of a sudden, I just felt an odd feeling of something coming out. "What IS that?" I look down and see a head. "Okay, Allison, one more push--not too hard--and she'll be all the way out" my nurse calmly told me. I did as I was told but was thinking, 'how is this possible? I thought we were still on practice pushes?' And then she was out, crying, and I was crying in disbelief.

Delivering the placenta was not as easy, and the first couple of hours after delivery were rough. But comparing it to the pain and discomfort of the last few weeks, and being able to look at this adorable little girl made bearable.

She's an absolute doll and I can't wait for Mabes to meet her.