If you read my post about getting back into blogging, you learned that I had a baby during quarantine! H was born on December 29th, 2020 and she was 9 days overdue! I wanted to share my birth story as I feel it’s important to hear about different births and can help new moms when looking at labor.
First off, because H was overdue, my OBGYN was having me come in every few days for a NST, or non-stress test. At the non-stress test, they put two bands on your belly. One is to monitor for any contractions and the other is to monitor babies heart rate. What they are looking for is spikes in heart rate from the baby – which is the opposite of what you’d expect from a NON-stress test ha! Looking back, I think I had 3 or 4 NSTs over the course of my last couple of weeks of pregnancy.
December 28th
On the morning of December 28th, a Monday, I showed up to the office, frustrated and pregnant for my non-stress test. H and I passed with flying colors. Later that day, I had an ultrasound and an appointment with my midwife. I went home, glad that baby was healthy, but ready for her arrival. I think I came home and took a nap, as my appointment was at 8:30 and I was tired – sleepy tired, tired of being pregnant, tired of waiting, just full on tired!
That afternoon, I showed up to the hospital for an ultrasound, specifically an AFI, or amniotic fluid index. Essentially, they were checking to see how much fluid was in my uterus to make sure there was enough for baby to remain safe and healthy. The technician brought me back and conducted the ultrasound, taking measurements throughout. As I waited for the results, I received a call from my doctor’s office – which was located next door – and they told me “you need to come over here… you’re going to have your baby today.“
I called my husband, B, terrified with how ominous the office assistant sounded on the phone. I thought something was wrong. As a first-time mom and attending appointments alone due to the COVID pandemic, I immediately felt anxious. I drive over to my OB’s office to meet with my midwife. She immediately calmed me down and explained that the fluids were really low. However, I had the option to get induced tonight or get fluids at the hospital. Then the next day, I would get another AFI. Because I was hoping for a natural labor and birth, I opted for fluids. Before leaving, my midwife did a membrane sweep to hopefully start some contractions – even though the previous 3 had not worked this past week. Then back to the hospital I went! Little did I know, I wasn’t going to leave…
December 28th – Back to the Hospital!
Back at the hospital, I was sent to the birth center to receive my fluids. My nurse, her name was Bree (love her <3), set me up to receive fluids. While receiving my fluids, she also set up another non-stress test to monitor the baby since I was there. Everything was going as planned, until I had a small contraction and baby’s heart rate dropped for 2-3 minutes. The nurses had my move from my back to my hands and knees on the gurney. Once H’s heart rate stabilized, Bree looked at me and said “You’re not going anywhere.“
What was occurring was my fluid levels were so low that when I had a contraction, the umbilical cord was getting compressed. This resulted in a heart rate drop for baby. I will never forget the fear I felt when I saw the rate plummet down on the screen. Being a first-time mom, I had no idea what was going on.
I was admitted to labor and delivery with the plan of lots of fluids and then inducing labor. Before being moved from the exam room, I needed to call B to finish up our hospital bags and come to the hospital! However, the birth center at this hospital was in the basement and I had no cell phone service. So, Bree kindly let me use her nurse cell phone. And when I called, B ignored my first call. Like pushed the ignore button because “I didn’t recognize the number.” Like, it said from XX Hospital and your wife is at the hospital for tests and she’s 8 days overdue, but I digress.
So I called again and luckily he answered this time. First thing I said was “Don’t freak out, but they’re admitting me to the hospital.” I explained that he didn’t need to rush or panic, but he needed to finish packing our hospital bags and come to the hospital. We wouldn’t start induction without him or my doula present, but they wanted to get fluids into me as soon as possible.
Once I had B in the loop, I was given a COVID test, which came back negative. Then I was taken to the delivery room where the nurses and my midwife came to hang out while I waited for B to show up and I was receiving fluids. B says that when he arrived and saw everyone just hanging out in my room, he immediately calmed down and knew there wasn’t an emergency happening. Shortly after he arrived, my doula arrived as well. She explained how Pitocin will impact my contractions and that they will most likely be more painful since the medication makes your body contract harder.
Around 7 pm, I signed the waiver to begin Pitocin! Because H had a heart rate drop when I had a contraction before, we had to complete a contraction stress test. Essentially, if her heart rate stayed stable with three contractions in ten minutes, I could continue with Pitocin. If not, I would receive a c-section. With going back and forth between hospital and OB’s office, I missed dinner and still couldn’t eat in case I had to go into surgery. Luckily, I got to have a liquid diet – beef broth, jello, and lemon sorbet have never tasted so good.
After an hour, my midwife came in and told me H had passed the contraction stress test. Now onto progressing labor further! That night, the nurse kept increasing my Pitocin and I didn’t start feeling my contractions until about 4 am. Even though I didn’t feel my contractions, I still hardly slept – from excitement and anxiousness. Plus, being monitored all night means you don’t really get comfortable.
December 29th – Happy Birthday H!
Once I was feeling my contractions, I had B wake up. That morning, around 8 am, the doctor came in and checked how far I was dilated. I was at 4 centimeters. She offered to break my water, which I agreed, in hopes of speeding up labor some more. There was meconium in the fluid, which both the nurse and doctor said was normal since I was 9 days overdue and the baby had a heart rate drop.
The rest of the morning was spent trying to find ways to alleviate the pain of my contractions – birth ball, different positions, walking, TENS unit, warm bath. By the time I opted for the warm bath, I was exhausted. I was reaching hour 15 of labor and with little sleep, I just wanted to rest. So I opted for an epidural.
Epidurals are amazing when they work. When I first received it, I could feel a pinching on my right side whenever I had a contraction. When I told the nurse, they had me roll to that side and then I felt nothing from the waist down – weird, but so needed right then. Immediately after going numb, I fell asleep for a 2 hour nap. When I woke up, the nurse checked me again and I was at 10 centimeters, ready to push!
Reflection: When I opted for an epidural, they offered to check how much I was dilated, but I chose not to have it checked. With that in mind, my doula thinks that I was in transition, where the contractions are the worst, but I was around 8 centimeters. She told me that for being in transition, I was much more aware than most people were. So she was a little surprised when I was at 10 when I woke up!
As I was getting ready to push, we had to wait a few minutes as there was someone else pushing that needed to have extra nurses as well. Due to the meconium in my water, they like to have extra nurses in the room just in case. While waiting, I was told that it can take a couple hours to push, especially with your first. So I got pumped up – energy chews, water, taking deep breaths – so I could get through the hardest workout of my life!
Once the doctor and nurses arrived, we got started. They had to tell me when my contractions were happening since I didn’t feel them so that I could push. After 15 minutes, H was born at 2:54 pm.
