At 41.5 weeks pregnant I was starting to think that I would be pregnant forever- not that I minded too much since I had such an easy pregnancy and I was still feeling pretty comfortable. But I knew that I was under a dead line since the mid-wives wouldn’t let me go over 42 weeks without inducing me. Stephe and I went on long walks and hikes hoping to move things along, and tried several different old wives tales hoping that I would go into labor on my own. We even bought Castor oil but I chickened out.
My family has a history of going way over their due date (we might be part elephant) and everything has turned out fine- my sister says “we are just slow cookers.” However, family history or not, the medical field has to worry about liability and malpractice issues and therefore they were pretty strict on having me come in no later than 42 weeks. So, at my last doctor appointment we made plans to be induced since no real progress was being made on my own.
On Sunday, July 19th Stephe and I checked into American Fork Hospital at 8:00 p.m. (Stephe, by the way, missed the Tool concert that he’d had tickets to for months because we both assumed that we would have a baby by then). The first step was to give me Cervidil because when I was admitted I was only dilated to a 0.5. Throughout the night I began having some contractions and things were starting to kick into gear. At 8:00 a.m. Monday morning I was given Pitocin to give me stronger more regular contractions. Even though I had to be monitored the whole time, I was able to do so mostly on portable machines so we took advantage of this and walked the halls a few times and I sat on a birthing ball- both things helped take the edge off.
Time line of the next few hours (brought to you by Stephe and his twitter updates since I had no concept of time until the end):
10:30 a.m – Dilated to 2.5 cm with contractions every minute and needing a lot of counter pressure on my back during each contraction.
1:00 p.m.- Dilated to 4cm and they let me get off the Pitocin which meant no more continuous monitoring and time to get in the tub. I loved being in the hot water- it really helped with the pain.
2:45 p.m.- Out of the tub and 5.5 cm. The midwife stripped the membranes. She told us our son definately has 2 ears.
3:30 p.m.- Back in the tub for a bit until my temperature got too high and they made me get out. I went back to the bed and Stephe and the Midwife did lots of pushing on my lower back.
5:30 p.m.- Back into the tub and I think I’m in transition and really moving along quickly… I’m not. Contractions are intense and I’m not getting any break between them. I couldn’t talk or react to anyone around me. When I was able to get checked again I was only at 6 cm and felt defeated.
7:45 p.m.- No changes are really happening so there is talk of what to do to move things along.
8:30 p.m.- Midwife accidentally breaks my water while checking me and there is meconuim in the waters. She also realizes that part of the problem is that he is turned in a funny position- head down but facing the side. I’m still at a 6 so she can’t turn him. I get up on my hands and knees and move my hips to get him to turn.
10:00 p.m- 10 cm! Back on Pitocin to get stronger contractions to help me push.
10:30 p.m.- Pushing
11:00 p.m.- Pushing
11:30 p.m.- Still pushing- making progress but then baby’s heart rate makes a quick drop and they turn off the Pitocin. They put me on internal monitors and oxygen. I’m starting to freak out a lot!
12:00 a.m.- Still pushing but without the Pitocin. My contractions are soo weak that they aren’t helping me and I am running out of steam.
12:30 a.m.- The Midwife calls in the on-call Doctor (Dr. Allen). He makes the assessment that the baby needs to get out quick and that it doesn’t look like I can do it on my own. He goes and gets his team to do a forceps delivery.
12:45 a.m.- Dr. pulls hard with the forceps while I push and nothing happens… He says “give her a local antithetic for an episiotomy.” I yell at him “I don’t want an episiotomy!!!” He explains that if I don’t I will tear really bad and I tell him I will slow down, not push, let things stretch on their own. He says we need to get the baby out now and trust him.
1:11 a.m.- Beautiful, beautiful, baby born. He had a bit of a rough start- APGAR score of only a 2, but after 5 minutes and some help from the nurses he bounced back and had a score of 8. Stephe went with him when they took him to clean him up and I had to stay and get everything finished up. I just wanted my baby! After hour they finally came back and I can’t even describe…
We are in LOVE! Stephe and I are in awe of how beautiful he is and how much we love him already.
First family photo (at this point we hadn’t slept in over 2 days)
He even has his dad’s hair cut!
Stephe is an amazing dad- they are best friends already.
I love this little guy! I am so blessed.
Thanks to all our family and friends who have been so suportive and excited for us.
*Also, Congratulations to my wonderful brother and sister-in-law who had their first baby on Wednesday morning at 12:30 a.m. Good job you guys!
. We did go visit Stephe’s family to see the little kids in their costumes.
