Birth Story
The last two weeks of my pregnancy were spent trying every natural induction technique I had heard of to avoid being medically induced by my doctor (who is pretty induction friendly) to no avail. I was induced with my first daughter and did not want to be induced again if possible. But once I passed my due date, my doctor encouraged me to reconsider induction because she was concerned about the baby’s size in relation to my narrow pelvis. Since I trust her judgment and was pretty ready to get the show on the road anyway, I agreed. I went in for the induction at 7 am on Saturday, May 9th. It took several hours to get me checked in and hooked up to all the IVs and pitocin. For several hours after that nothing at all happened. Finally my contractions started in earnest around 1 pm and my OB broke my water. I spent the next few hours in the rocking chair, alternating between squeezing my husband’s hand and tapping my fingernails wildly on the arms of the chair during contractions. I had a fabulous doula-trained nurse who was amazing at talking me through the tough ones. Just when the contractions were starting to get really hard and I was starting to lose my resolve, my nurse came in to tell me that her boss had told her she needed to go home and I would be getting a new nurse. The idea of not having her to help me through the next few hours was enough to have me asking for an epidural (oh, all the interventions!). The anesthesiologist came, did his thing, and left. During the administration of the epidural my nurse had turned off the pitocin. When she tried to turn it back on again and I had a contraction, the baby’s heart rate dropped. They would turn it off and then back on, but it continued to drop with every contraction I had. My OB came to assess the situation, other nurses came (it turns out that I was the only patient on the floor and was therefore the entertainment for the afternoon), they turned the pitocin on, they turned the pitocin off, they turned me on my side, my other side, raised my head, etc., but all for naught since the baby’s heart rate was still dropping with every contraction. My OB decided to turn the pitocin off for awhile and give the baby a rest. However even with the pitocin off, I was still having contractions – contractions that I could really feel. My OB didn’t think they were strong enough to be doing anything, though. Ha! Never tell a woman in labor that her contractions aren’t doing anything, because she will be sure to try and prove you wrong! They checked me after a time and realized that I had progressed from 5 to 7 centimeters in about an hour, much to my doctor’s chagrin. But the contractions were really starting to be painful for me, despite the epidural. It turns out that my epidural didn’t fully take and that my lower area including my pelvic floor and perineum weren’t numbed at all. So I spent transition stuck in my hospital bed breathing and attempting to break my husband’s hand during contractions. I was feeling a lot of pressure and had my OB check me several times: first I was at 9 centimeters and by the next check I was complete and ready to push! Yay! I was happy and exhausted and overwhelmed at the thought. As much as I had heard that pushing was a relief after contractions, I was also afraid I would have to push for 3 hours like I did with my first daughter and I wasn’t sure if I could manage it. But after about 15 minutes and several big pushes, Claire Elise was born at 7:52pm. She weighed 8lbs1oz and was 20 inches long – almost a full pound and a half bigger than my first! So even though I started off being medically induced, once they turned off the pitocin my body kicked into gear on its own to finish the job, which is evidently very rare - and pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!