Oliver's birth story

It was long.

I had definitely planned for an unmedicated, totally natural childbirth. That's what I wanted and I did a lot of research and reading. Birthing from Within was a great book. I also researched all the other options because I know that things can change and I wanted to be knowledgable about other options should they happen. From the Hips was a great book, too, fun to read and a lot of info from moms, too. 

I ended up getting induced because baby was so big and just not coming out on his own. They put in a foley ball catheter the night before my induction to try to dilate me. I went in at noon the next day 5 centimeters dilated and no contractions. They broke my water right away. The baby had had his first bowl movement already, so that was in the water. 

I still didn't start having contractions, so they hooked me up to a breast pump, because that can trigger contractions to start on their own. They kind of started, but not really, so we started pitocin, which I really didn't want. I don't have anything to compare it to, but the contractions on pitocin were not unmanageable. I feel like I handled contractions really well. 

I ended up having narcotics late that night because I wasn't progressing and needed to rest. I got to lay down for a couple hours and when they turned off the pitocin, I didn't really have any contractions. Bottom line, I wasn't really going to go into natural labor. 

After a few hours of rest, I had only gotten to six centimeters. We started pitocin again and I just worked through contractions until late Thursday night. At that point, I was falling asleep standing up. I couldn't lay down and have contractions. It hurt too bad to lay still and I had to be able to move and rock though the contractions. 

Since I wasn't progressing, a c section was becoming a real possibility. If I had to have contractions for 12 more hour, I knew I wasn't going to be able to have any energy to push, so the midwife and I decided together to have an epidural. My main reason that I didn't want an epidural is because I know they can stall labor, but that obviously wasn't a concern in my case, since we weren't getting anywhere anyways. I didn't do it because the contractions were bad, I did it because I had to be able to rest. 

I got the epidural (it wasn't bad at all) and slept for several hours while the pitocin was on. I could still feel contractions but I could sleep through them. I woke up after 3-4 hours a new woman. I was awake and alert and refreshed. I was checked again and was 9 centimeters dilated! The pitocin did its thing while I was able to rest! We decided to give it a couple more hours and then I was checked again and able to push. I felt strong and rested. I am also an epidural convert! The pushing was hard, so painful, but bearable up until the very end. 

I had a temperature and was checked for an infection late in my labor. I had an infection and had to have antibiotics during labor and once again 12 hours later. I was told that the baby might need antibiotics, too. 

The OBGYN on call (funnily enough, my original doctor for most of my pregnancy) had to end up coming in at the last second and help the baby out because his heart rate dropped. She, well, helped make the hole bigger. Haha.

Then, after 38 hours and 41 minutes of labor, he was out! It was amazing to feel him come out. He had to be whisked off to be examined, but it was right by me, so I could see and hear him cry. Then I held him in my arms while I got stitched up. It wasn't the birth that I had pictured, but I feel like every step had a positive result and I don't regret any of it.