March 9, 2019 6:02PM my fiancé and I made our way to admittance at the hospital in order for me to get induced. This is the moment when our family of three will become four; we will be meeting our first born very soon. Our fur baby will no longer be the only child. I had soo many questions! What kind of personality will baby have? Who will he look like? Will he latch immediately?
I remember getting checked in and the nurses giving us a very warm welcome as they walked us into our suite, the place where I “thought” I would be meeting our son. I would be lying if I didn’t express how nervous I was that entire day; I had the jitters non stop. It’s not that I was scared to give birth, I just didn’t know what to expect being a first time mom. I changed into my hospital gown and sat on the hospital bed. This was the moment we’ve been waiting for. Things got real, real fast! My nurse began by adding an IV into my wrist/lower arm immediately so I can begin antibiotics due to receiving a positive GBS test three weeks prior. After the IV began, the nurses did their first cervical exam of the night to check my cervix for dilation. This exam for me personally was not my fav because my two nurses had problems finding my cervix. The first nurse was unsuccessful and the second nurse, the same. The shift leader nurse came in and performed the exam and saw that I was only about 1 cm dilated. I’ve been 1 cm dilated for the past two weeks so I was definitely hoping for more.
THE INDUCTION: Due to my cervix only being 1 cm dilated, the nurses inserted the medication Cervidil inside of me which should have served as a catalyst to ripen my cervix in order for labor to begin. By the time the nurse wanted to insert this medication I was already super sore due to the previous three cervical exams. The pain became pretty intense. Six minutes passed and the nurse was successful with inserting the medicine and I was instructed that we will wait 12 hours to see if the medicine worked. This is another one of those instances that we have to keep in mind that every woman is different. Some women react to the medication well and the dilation process advances immediately.
12 hours passed and it was time for the nurses to remove the medication. The pain was still very intense when the nurse went to remove it. I’ve never felt a more excruciating pain, it felt like there were pins and needles down there. The nurse wanted to perform another cervix exam and let me tell y'all, I was in no shape whatsoever for another exam to check my dilation. The nurses decided to give me the epidural in a low dosage just so I can get pass the pain of another exam. I don’t know about you all but I heard some horror stories about the epidural and to be honest that was the easiest part. When the anesthesiologist began the process it only felt like a bee sting. I think the hardest part was knowing I had to remain super still in order for the anesthesiologist to inject the medicine into the perfect place within my spine.
It turned out my dilation was still around 1.5cm after getting another cervix exam. I’m going to try my best to describe what happened next during my induction. To speed up the process my doctor inserted this balloon like catheter into my cervix, the largest size to be exact. After the insertion, the doctor raised my hospital bed all the way up and attached a bag of water to the opposite side so it can put pressure and assist my cervix in opening up. Four hours later, the balloon pulled through and I was about 5 cm dilated. My water broke shortly after and the show really was about to begin. I was now able to receive the Pitocin to speed up the labor. The nurse informed me it was time to begin pushing about five hours later because I was finally dilated to 10 cm.
LABOR AND DELIVERY: So we began pushing on every contraction. Before getting to this stage my main concern was not pooping in labor. Let me tell you, once you actually begin the pushing process that's the LAST thing on your mind! Luckily the #2 stayed where it belonged. It was soo weird because I could’ve sworn I had to do number two due to all of the pressure coming from down there. I'm assuming while on the epidural, your body has no way of distinguishing where the pressure is coming from since the two openings are so close to each other.
Back to the pushing… 20 minutes passed and all I can remember were the nurses faces showing stress. There it was, my sweet baby boy heart rate began beating very slow. So slow we had to begin skipping contractions during pushes to give his heart rate time to stabilize again. For the first moment during my delivery, I was scared. Theres really no way to describe hearing your baby’s heart rate drop so dramatically that it’s almost absent. I remember the nurses had my doctor on the phone and my doctor instructed that if the little one wasn’t born before she made it there, C-Section it is. Now I don’t know about you all but I never wanted to have a c-section, especially after laboring for two full days and pushing going on an hour now. One of my nurses wanted us to try everything we could in order for me to have a vaginal birth and I appreciated her for that.
10 minutes later my doctor rushed into my hospital room and looked at the history of baby’s heart rate/breathing and her first response was, “That's not good, I don’t like it!” She gave me a look and I knew at that moment I needed an emergency c-section. The nurses rushed me into the operating room and within three minutes, no exaggeration, my anesthesiologist was giving me a larger dose of the epidural. Surgery began a minute later. My fiancé stood next to me and held my hand and head as the procedure began. My body began to shiver uncontrollably. The doctors and the surgeon had a cover from my neck down blocking my view from my tummy because I had NO desire to see the surgery itself.
Seven minutes after surgery began ,my baby boy was out. Initially there wasn’t a cry. The staff rushed baby across the room with the other nurses. Four minutes passed and still no cry. My heart began to drop. My anesthesiologist who was on my right side the entire time walked over immediately to my baby to check on him. Maybe this was a sign that I watch too much tv because we all know a baby born silent with no cries within the first few minutes is usually not a good sign. I began praying. I remember asking God to take over and to ensure my baby is in good hands. I thanked Him in advance for taking care of my baby boy. Five minutes later, I finally heard a cry. At the sound of his cry I broke down and cried tears of happiness. It was a cry of relief, a cry to God, thanking Him. Two minutes later I saw my baby boy for the first time. Wow. My heart fell in love instantly!
I wasn’t able to hold baby once he was born due to the surgery. I finally got a glance at baby and the nurses took him and my fiancé to the recovery room where they will be able to do skin to skin. As my doctors were finishing up with my surgery, they explained to me that baby had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. That explained the sudden drops in his heart rate during the contractions and pushing, because he was literally choking every contraction. And once he made his appearance into this world he needed assistance to help jumpstart and stabilize his breathing, but all was well 14 minutes later. I am still beyond grateful that my doctor pin pointed there was a problem with no hesitation and rushed me to the operating room.
If you take anything from this post, remember to trust your instincts and to intentionally choose a doctor you trust. I trusted my doctor to make the best decision for me and even though I didn’t plan on having a c-section I knew that was the right thing to do. Listen to your body. Trust your body. And remember, no one knows your body better than you.
CLOSING TO MY FELLOW MOTHERS: It's okay to have a Birth Plan but its more important to remain open during your birthing experience. Go with the flow. No matter how you brought your child into this world, you are powerful. You are strong. You are brave. You are a fighter. Being a mother is a superpower. Giving birth has easily been the most profound, powerful thing I’ve ever experienced in life. Holding my baby boy in my arm is Gods greatest gift. Thank you all for reading my story and feel free to share your story below in the comments. I would love to hear your birth story. Sending you all much peace, love and positivity.
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