Birth Story

They say you forget everything from Labor and Delivery so I wanted to journal so I can remember the day.

• I went in for the induction @ 6am.
• Dr. F broke my waters @ 7:15am.
• Pitocin drop was started @ 7:45 (the nurse FORGOT to hook it up the first 30 minutes).
• I was dilated to 4cm four hours later (close to noon) but stayed here for a while because I have a prominent spine which prevented Mason's head from putting the pressure on my cervix for further dilatation. We were concerned at this point that I might have to have a C-section.
• I definitely got the epidural when I hit 4cm...and highly recommend it! I had some initial fears about the insertion, but didn't even feel the local. My Anesthesiologist rocked.
• Finally at 3:30pm I made progress to 5-6cm dilation and then things quickened from there.
• I began pushing at 5:15pm and was able to stop 1 1/2 hrs later; I had to stop for the crowning to stretch the opening and especially for Dr. F to arrive and deliver Mason.
• Mason arrived @ 7:12pm and was immediately pink, healthy, and had a headful of beautiful hair with a 9.9 Apgar score.
• The tears came flowing of course. I was elated that he was alive and healthy!

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Side Notes:

For most of the day it was just about waiting. And I was HUNGRY! I wasn't allowed to eat after midnight the evening prior and I actually had an early dinner due to having to get up at 4:30am so basically I went without food for around 28 hours. If I had known how long I was going to go without food, I would have eaten my "Last Supper" at 11:45pm the night prior.

During L&D, the IV hurt more than anything else- it was a constant, dull pain and even 1 week later I'm still tender and bruised.

Contractions felt like menstrual cramps, just much more frequent. There were a couple of times when Mason's heartrate went down and we had to lower the Pitocin (and the contractions were really strong), but we both did well.

The hormones during L&D made me nauseous (I have an iron stomach, so this was a pretty big deal). The Zofran ended up helping, but I was already well into the pushing phase. Ice chips were a big help to keep my stomach from turning.

Also, I pushed for 1 1/2 hours but wonder if I could have decreased that time if I had been fully healthy. I came in with a slight cold and the congestion didn't really get to me much until it was time to push and I needed full lung capability and couldn't really breathe by my third push each contraction.

I ended up having a 1st degree tear that was minor; after delivery Dr. F wasn't able to see it until he completely had me cleaned up.

Take the pain meds if they offer them and get a prescription for postpartum recovery.