Birth Story Part 1: Yo Adrian, Let's Have a Baby

I had been mentally preparing myself for the possibility of a c-section since our baby had been breech the last few visits, but was determined to do everything I could to get him head down. I was curb walking, practicing inversion techniques, found a Webster certified chiropractor, and discussed with my OBGYN his comfortability performing an ECV if he hadn’t flipped by 37 weeks. At my 37 week sonogram, the tech informed us he was no longer breech and actually was sitting pretty low already. I took that as a good sign and hoped that might indicate a quick progression!

As it drew closer to the due date, my doctor suggested we schedule an induction between 41-41.5 weeks. I was good with that. I felt like my body would go into labor when it was ready, and I wanted to give it as much time as possible, especially because my lil guy was only measuring around 6 lbs. From 36 weeks on, I started having weekly visits accompanied by a cervical check. Each week I was 50% effaced/thinned and never dilated. I hadn't lost my mucus plug that I knew of. Every time someone asked I justified in my head well maybe I lost it in the middle of the night and just didn’t see it. When I went in for my 39 week appointment the day before Thanksgiving, my OBGYN recommended I go to the high risk clinic in Fort Worth, TX to get a better sonogram sometime next week. I politely reminded the nurse my due date was on Monday. Apparently they thought I was only 37 weeks along at this point. Woopsies. You’d think they’d have that written in red at the top of my chart. Mind you, this sonogram was from two weeks prior and at the last two appointments both times I was told "looks good!". Insert eye roll.

The concern was due to his leg length and in turn bone density. My doctor explained that if he needed to use a vacuum, it would be better to know that way we didn’t have to rush into a c-section if he got stuck. Needless to say, at 40 weeks pregnant we packed our bags and drove 2.5 hrs to the clinic. I wanted my OBGYN to be as informed as possible for the delivery and make sure our lil guy was healthy. At that appointment we were informed that he was actually about 8 lbs - I was shocked! He was measuring fine and there was nothing to be of concern. Thank goodness. Now all we needed was to get home safely. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I remember praying on the way home,“I know you have a plan for me and it’s all in your timing, but please don’t let me go into labor on the way home - after that we’re all good.”

Before even opening my eyes I started laughing to myself at the contradiction of my prayer. We would meet our lil man when He was ready. At my 40 week appointment I was told the hospital would call to schedule, but it would probably be the following week. A day later I got the call and we were booked for Saturday!

The day had come - I was 40 weeks + 5 days. We dropped the dogs off at our friend's house and enjoyed our last morning at home together. My OBGYN's office said to call Labor & Delivery at 3:30 pm and expect to arrive at 5:00 pm for cervical ripening for my induction and that they would explain everything then. Naturally I called at 3 PM. The nurse I spoke with said they were super busy and may not be able to get us in as scheduled and she would call me back when they could. Click. I decided to stay positive and roll with the punches. I picked up the house and took a nice long shower. When I got out I saw I had a missed call from the hospital. I called right back and the nurse I spoke with said go ahead and plan to come in at 5 as planned, we'll see you then and hung up the phone - it was 4:30. I didn't have time to ask questions, nor did I want to take up any more of her time since they were so busy. I'd know details soon enough. As soon as she hung up, I yelled to my husband and quickly changed. My husband hates being late and by late I mean if you're not 15 minutes early, you're late.

We were so ready to meet our little man and drove quickly to the hospital. We would NOT be late. We grabbed our bags, put our masks on (Yay COVID!), and waddled into the hospital (well at least I did). When we got into the lobby, we had our temperatures checked, were given visitor bracelets, and headed up to the fourth floor. After a while, a nurse buzzed us in and gave me some paperwork to fill out then disappeared again before I could ask any questions. As we waited a familiar song played over the loud speakers. Could it be?! They were playing the ROCKY THEME SONG over the loud speakers! What a cool hospital - they played the Rocky Theme song for births. I snapped my head to face my husband with much enthusiasm and said, "Yo Adrian, Let's Have a Baby!" I took a video for my birth story then saw a text come in from my brother that read,

"Grab your knees like you're doing a cannonball and yell like you're pulling #405 off the floor. He'll shoot out of you like he came out of a pitching machine!"

My brother, my hype-man. All the perfect references. I was laughing and ready to take on labor! I recalled the time when my brother was giving us the play-by-play from their first baby’s birth. If you know my brother, then you know he is an exuberant storyteller. He loves to entertain. I remember it so clearly - He put his hat on backwards, grabbed a leg, and their son shot out so fast that the OBGYN caught him like a football. I couldn’t wait to share our story!

A nurse then appeared to take us back to our room. She said it was the only one they had free. Evidently it was a good day to have a baby. I changed into my hospital gown and got acquainted with the room. I took a little video and sent it to our parents. I spun around and thought This is where I'd have my baby. This is where the magic happens.

Two nurses came back. One reviewed my medical history while the other inserted the IV in my arm. I was answering her questions, but kept looking back down at my wrist thinking surely that wasn't quite right. It stung and was a little uncomfortable. The other nurse assured me that was normal and I'd get used to it. She then said night shift would be in soon and would explain everything. We turned on the TV to watch 25 Days of Christmas while we waited. We don't have cable, so that was a real treat for us.

My night shift nurse came in, introduced herself, and asked what type of cervical ripening my doctor ordered. Uh I don't know the kind where a baby comes out shortly after. She then stated my OBGYN's office had forgotten to send my chart and orders over, so they were going to try to get a hold of him. How typical. I made sure they had my allergy written down, double checked that I had my Epi Pen, and brushed it off. Today was a good day. We would be meeting our baby soon - or so I thought.

As the nurse was leaving, she goes, "I'm sure you guys ate before you came, right?!" I explained that we had a late lunch around 2 PM because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to eat. She said I could as long as I stopped eating after midnight. If we wanted to put in our order with dining services it would need to be done by 8 pm. It was 7:30. She also said my husband could leave and bring us back food, but she wasn't sure what time visitors could get back in, so he'd need to verify with the lobby. With policies constantly changing due to the pandemic, we didn't want to risk any issues with him leaving and not being able to come back in. Nevertheless, there wasn't anything close by except Whataburger. Normally I would have jumped at the chance, but I remembered that I'd likely poop all over the table during labor (yes that’s a thing) and really didn't want that experience to be enhanced by fast food.

The nurse then went back to the computer and started asking more questions. I politely interjected and asked again when was the last time we could call (knowing we only had a few minutes) as I looked down at my watch. The nurse goes, “oh shoot yeah go ahead and call and I'll come back.” 7:45. We called and dining services refused to give me anything except a liquid diet because I was on labor & delivery. My husband argued with her and explained over and over again, but I knew there was no time left to get food. I threw my hands up and decided to let it go. I told my husband I’d just eat the beef jerky, protein bars, and trail mix I had packed. I figured we'd probably have the baby at some point tomorrow, and I could go 24 hours without food. No biggie.

A while later the nurse came back and said I was getting the kind that is a series of pills, which had to be placed in my cervix every four hours. There were four pills. 16 hours before we could even be induced with pitocin. Oh and I couldn't get out of bed for at least an hour after each pill was placed otherwise I'd risk it falling out. Great there goes my plan to stay moving. I reminded myself it was over night and wouldn't be a big deal. Stay flexible. I would just relax and sleep. Then tomorrow I'd be up and moving around and we'd meet our baby. I started having contractions - hell yeah! As I watched the monitor, I kept thinking to myself how odd that my contractions are so close together - maybe it'll be sooner than we thought or maybe I’m not reading the monitor right. I dozed off and went in and out of sleep all night. Labor & Delivery beds are incredibly uncomfortable.

I woke up an hour after the third one was supposed to be placed. My husband was finally sleeping, so I told myself I'd wait a little longer before calling - I didn't want to be needy since I knew they were busy. After 30 more minutes and still no sign of my nurse, I hit the call button. My nurse came in and said, "oh yeah your contractions are way too close together. We can't give you the next one until they slow down." They hadn't let up all night. We were behind schedule, but were going to wait for my doc to show up in the morning for rounds.

The texts continued to flood in wondering when the baby would be here. My hubby had been doing all the updating, so I figured I might as well check my phone. A text came in from a friend with a single "?". It about sent me over the edge. A single question mark. While I was trying to stay positive, I was getting frustrated and hungry. She asked if I had started pitocin - I explained again about the ripening pills. Everyone was confused and equally as frustrated for us. I told her I was going to rest and to not expect a baby any time soon. She asked if my contractions were painful. My response was, "no this bed is what is painful." They were uncomfortable, but I wouldn't consider them painful at this point.

Per my nurse, I was a few cm’s dilated. They shared that they thought he was going to place a foley balloon when he got in along with the pitocin. The next shift came in, and I got the charge nurse - SCORE! 9 am Sunday. Another cervical check - Doc said I was barely dilated. A half centimeter. It took me a second to process then I stopped him and said, "I’m sorry, but did you say A HALF A centimeter?!" You've gotta be kidding me. After a night's worth of contractions and all those pills I was only .5 cm?! Great. So the plan was to keep going with the third and fourth dose and he'd check back at 2:30. My nurse advocated for me with my doctor saying that I really needed to eat something besides beef broth since it had been 24 hours already since I last ate. He agreed thank goodness. She changed me back to "solids" in the computer for a very brief window, so we didn't have another issue with dining services allowing me to eat. The nurse said to keep it light. I ordered a wrap and had some grapes on the side at 1 PM. My husband and I passed the time by walking laps with my IV pole around the unit. My nurse said I was her star patient and really hoped she'd get to be there for the delivery. I hoped so too. However, after 24 hours I had completed the four doses and was 1 whopping cm dilated. Things were off to a Rocky start, but I was on my way to pitocin.

Part 2 Coming Soon...

#pregnancy #laboranddelivery #induction #birthstory #firsttimemom