One of my friend's recently posted her child's birth story and I thought it was a great idea. I don't think I've actually written down how Lucas' birth day was so here I go.
I was actually due with Lucas on May 20th, but I figured I would deliver earlier (thankfully) because the week before my due date I was already dilated to 5 cm. Working full time and standing on my feet all day, probably helped with this. I was also very lucky because I had a very easy pregnancy. I never had any morning sickness but like most women had some horrible heartburn the last couple months and also had a lot of difficulty sleeping which unfortunately was nothing new to me. I also ended up swelling up a little the last month so I had to borrow shoes then and also had this odd pregnancy induced rash. I think it is related up PUPPS since I was already prone to hives but both my dermatologist and OBGYN were unsure. Through out my pregnancy, I was thankful that I had some what of a medical background so I understand almost everything. My blood pressure stayed really low so I stayed cold like I always am and gained a ton of weight the last two trimesters (over 40 lbs in total).
I actually really liked my OB and the office but now that I have been through it all, I am definitely going to use a midwife the next time around. I am very low risk (thankfully)and I feel like they will give me a little more personal care. My OB was always late and since I was healthy during my pregnancy, it felt like a huge waste of my time. Whenever I saw a midwife, I'd be in and out of the office quickly which is important to me. Plus, everyone that I have talked to that used a midwife has been really happy with them.
So I stopped working on Thursday and had made some plans for my last free weekend. On Friday I just relaxed and on Saturday morning I woke up early (around 7am) and just felt off. Up to this point I had not had any contractions at all, just some tightness here and there so I knew something was happening. I decided to take a shower since I knew I wouldn't get to again for after we went to the hospital, and then I ate. Around 9:30am I called my OB's office because I was GBS positive, I need to get to the hospital at least a couple hours before I delivered Lucas so I could get antibiotics pumped into to me.
We checked into the hospital and they checked me and told me I was at about 6 cm and in active labor and it was probably after 10am at this point. They told me that if I wanted an epidural I needed to let them know now because they thought I'd progress quickly. Originally I thought, well, I'll try for a natural birth and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. On our way to the hospital (which wasn't that far), the contractions were stronger and I was starting to feel quite uncomfortable, so I did not hesitate to say YES to the epidural, and I am so glad I did.
The rest of the day went by quickly and is kind of hard to remember. I had a great epidural, still felt contractions and could feel my legs but the pain was less (but definitely not gone). I have no idea what time it was but they decided to break my water and eventually gave me a little pitocin to help me along. I think around 4pm they had me start pushing and I was probably pushing for about 2 hours at that time. Eventually they stopped and told me that Lucas was sunny side up and making it difficult to pass through the birth canal, so they gave me the option of a c-section or trying to external rotate Lucas. Of course I decided to try to for external rotation. So for the next couple hours, every 30 mins I had to change positions to get Lucas to rotate. I swear fighting the contractions was worse than pushing though so at this point, I was so glad I had the epidural. So probably around 7 or 8 pm they had me try pushing again. Thankfully Lucas was never under any stress and doing fine. So they I was pushing again for hours.. I tried squatting on my feet, changing positions, and nothing was working. They kept saying there was some band of muscle that his head could not get pass. Eventually, the doctor told me the options were an episiotomy with suction used, or a c-section. I was still with it enough to want to refuse a c-section as long as possible because I did NOT want one. I was in active labor long enough that they had to hang a second bag of the epidural medication and I had to bolus myself a couple times cause the contractions were so strong and I was still in alot of pain. I was fine the whole time, never screaming or freaking out in any way. So the OB on call told me I had to get Lucas out in so many pushes or else, C-section. Eventually with all my will and might I pushed that 7 pound 14 oz boy out and I was so incredibly exhausted and overwhelmed with feeling at the time time. The stitching up was not fun cause I could feel too much and needed to request that they numb me up a bit. Poor Lucas had a total cone head from being pushed for so long and having suction used on him but otherwise, he was perfect. They put him on my chest as soon as he was born which was wonderful, and Mark cut his cord. The whole thing was pretty amazing. The next day the nurse told me that I must have been in good shape to finally push Lucas out, but it was totally shear will power cause I would not allow myself to have a c-section.
We left the next day at around 7 pm and I was so glad to get home. My healing was a little slow but I was able to sit down without too much discomfort the 2nd day after discharge. Unfortunately, Lucas was really jaundiced to due all the head bruising but that's another story.
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